Shaman

(...)

Again, linear and simple doesn't mean bereft of content. There are insights about the nature of time, the importance of mothers & women, the verbal nature of peace. Shaman is a Bildungsroman that's just as much a story about discovering a world that doesn't exist anymore, as it is about discovering our present-day selves.

It's apt that Loon, the main character, starts the story naked, alone and without any tools. That first part not only shows the brutal nature of the conditions then, and the ingenuity of the human mind, it also serves as a metaphor for us readers, ready to embark into a world which we know nothing about, and in which we would not be able to survive more than a few days.

In the end, it turns out this novel is also about a pragmatic morality and the guilt that may come with that. Still, the Ice Age people deal with things - as the hand that was dealt to them was clear and simple indeed. It might be a cliché, but we could all learn from that.

(...)

Please read the full review - 2300 words - on Weighing A Pig.

A quick remark on Illegible Scrible's review on this site ("Basically, it's a litany of bodily excretions peppered with random survivalist violence."): she totally missed the point, but that would be easy if you only read 25%. This book is anything but random, but a careful construction, amongst other things about being human.