‘The Yearling’: Excellent example of prose

I have been a voracious reader since 1986 and have always had two or three books I am reading at all times. The Yearling is a novel written by Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings and published by Charles Scribner’s Sons in 1938, that I am currently reading along with a book on David Hume’s philosophy.

Rawlings’ bear hunt is fabulous prose and worth reading. When I read it the first time, it evoked my anger at, Penny, the father of Jody, because in the midst of the hunt for Slewfoot, a huge bear that had killed their hog, Penny tried to shoot the bear and his gun back-fired on him. 

My anger at Penny is due to the story’s dogs, Julia and Rip, doing their job in attacking the bear so Penny could get a shot at him. Penny knew his muzzle-loader had issues before the hunt, which resulted in a back-fire and the female dog, Julia, getting hurt by the bear.

My point is this, the vignette of the bear hunt evoked my anger at Penny for not securing the safety of the gun prior to the hunt, which ended up getting the dog Julia hurt by the bear.

This is an example of excellent prose due to the fact it solicited my emotional investment in the story as I am a dog lover, with 12 English Setters at Woodmont of Virginia, and I really hate to see any dog suffer in pain.

At Woodmont Writers Enclave I can teach you to write prose like Rawlings and like my own, as I have already written a bear hunt chapter for my novel, Eden’s Clan, which is as enthralling as Rawlings’ vignette!