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language: Inuktitut (English tr. Valerie Henitiuk and Marc-Antoine Mahieu)
country: Canada
year: 1970
form: novel(-ish)
genre(s): historical
dates read: 7.3.24
meanwhile, I just finished Markoosie Patsauq’s Hunter with Harpoon (translated from the original Inuktitut by Valerie Henitiuk and Marc-Antoine Mahieu), which is one of the two texts (along with Mitiarjuk Nappaaluk’s Sanaaq) that’s sometimes described as the “first Inuit novel” (though it was written after Sanaaq and isn’t exactly a novel), and I loved it.
it’s a gripping and face-paced account of an Inuit community where a group of hunters set out in search of a polar bear that attacked without provocation (atypical behavior). I was especially impressed with the writing in the action sequences — the balance of detail and terseness is just right, so the narrative is always pressing forward towards its (tragic) conclusion.
it intersperses four perspectives: the young hunter Kamik, on his first real hunting expedition with his father; his mother, Ujamik, waiting anxiously for her husband and son to return; the messengers Aisa and Mitiq, sent to the neighboring island to get help when the hunters don’t return; and, in one section, the polar bear. each perspective appears for a paragraph or two before switching to another one, so the text is always moving. I wish Markoosie had written another novel/unikkaatuaq.
moods: adventurous, dark, tense