Ordinary Wolves

A Novel

By: Seth Kantner

Narrated by: Neill Thorne

Iñupiaq Eskimo and white culture collide in this national bestselling novel of life in the contemporary Alaskan wilderness

Ordinary Wolves depicts a life different from what any of us has known: Inhuman cold, the taste of rancid salmon shared with shivering sled dogs, hunkering in a sod igloo while blizzards moan overhead. But this is the only world Cutuk Hawcley has ever known. Born and raised in the Arctic, he has learned to provide for himself by hunting, fishing, and trading. And yet, though he idolizes the indigenous hunters who have taught him how to survive, when he travels to the nearby Inupiaq village, he is jeered and pummeled by the native children for being white.

When Cutuk ventures into the society of his own people, two incompatible realities collide, perfectly capturing "the contrast between the wild world and our ravaging consumer culture." In a powerful coming of age story, a young man isolated by his past must choose between two worlds, both seemingly bent on rejecting him (Louise Erdrich).

©2004 Seth Kantner (P)2023 Tantor

Solitary and Moving

This is a beautifully written novel that hold loneliness and longing of not only Inuit culture, but of self and life.

A truly authentic Alaskan story

I truly appreciated this novel set in a part of the real Alaska. It touches on several facets of culture, Alaskan and American, told in sophisticated prose and village vernacular. As a life-long Alaskan, I got a smug thrill from recognizing names and descriptions offered without translation or explanation and despite the ugliness that was often revealed, it reminded me how proud I am to belong to The Great Land. I hope this won’t be Seth Kantner’s last novel.

What I Needed

I was glad to read this book in these troubled times. It has the feeling of loss, hope and acceptance that I realize now, I need to look at these times through the same lens. Seth's words are magical and put together to paint the picture he is talking about. I live in Alaska and feel the same ache for the past that this book convays to me. I miss the simpler times and my long gone dog team. I can see that change is the only constant.

Should be rated “R.”

The book sucks you in with an interesting story, then the language turns filthy. By chapter 14 too many F bombs dropped, and I stopped the book.