I am not sure how this title got on to my wish list, but I am glad that it did. My Kentucky daughter says that it is mandatory for many school English classes in the southern states. It is told in the first person singular by a young boy who like the author eked out a living with his family in the remote foothills of the Ozark mountains in northern Oklahoma in the 1920s.
The story of Billy Colman’s deep longing for two coonhounds, acquiring them, then the fantastical stories of their hunting adventures is both far fetched and entertaining. The deep understanding and love between a boy and his dogs can probably be best appreciated by a farm boy who loved dogs and hunting as much as I did, but even city folk should be able to understand the deep affection that is tenderly portrayed. In some ways this is reminiscent of the adventures of Tom Sawyer or Huckleberry Finn, in a bit more modern setting. Sex is barely mentioned and women play only minor roles, except for BIlly’s overprotective mother. The outcome of her latest pregnancy is the only dangling item left to the reader’s imagination. Religious beliefs are not a major factor in the story, and are treated as mystical whims.
The very different personalities of the two Redbone hounds, Old Dan and Little Ann, are strikingly different but their loyalty to Billy never wavers. Their adventures and feats of courage are really quite unrealistic, but the reader will get caught up in them and wish them luck. The scenery is described beautifully, and although the family is strikingly poor, the childhood is portrayed as a happy carefree one. The significance of the old Indian myth of the red fern is revealed only in the last chapter but is a great finishing touch to a great story of love, loyalty, connections to nature, and coming of age. A great yarn that took me back to my own coon hunting days, albeit in a very different setting.
The Passionate Reader 