Book Review: ‘Winter’s Bone’ by Daniel Woodrell

First of all, a confession: I love Jennifer Lawrence. Like most people on the planet who know who Katniss is, I think JLaw and I would be best friends if we ever got to meet in real life. We share a similar “public awkwardness.” 

I had never heard of her before “The Hunger Games,” but became a big fan shortly after seeing the first film. Since then I’ve seen “Silver Linings Playbook” and “Catching Fire” and I think JLaw just gets better and better. I was curious though: how did the casting director for “The Hunger Games” ever decide to cast JLaw as Katniss? 

I decided to read and watch Winter’s Bone (written by Daniel Woodrell) to find out, and I was not disappointed.

As always, I like to read the book before the movie. I really had no idea what to expect, so I went in blindly and I am glad: I don’t think I would have read or watched the film if I had known any details up front. The topic is a bit gruesome, and the actions of the characters even more so. I do think the film staying true to the novel, for what it’s worth. Caution: spoiler alerts ahead.

The story is about 17-year-old Ree Dolly who is raising her two younger siblings in the backwoods of the Ozarks. Her mom is there, but has checked out of life and parenting, so Ree takes care of her and everything else. Her dad left months ago (not for the first time) after making bail on drug charges. When the local law drops by one day to tell her that her dad put up their house and land – the only sources of income and sustenance that she and her mom and siblings have – as bail and seems to have skipped town, Ree sets out to find her dad and hopefully keep them all from getting evicted. 

The book is short, but dense. Every page packs a major punch for the plot and the setting. While the story is sad and twisted and makes your heart just hurt for this lonesome girl, it is artfully done to make you keep reading even when you would rather not. 

The cast of characters is colorful. Woodrell leaves them all a bit underdeveloped, which gives them each an air of mystery. The reader cannot help but admire Ree as she approaches uncles and distant cousins with determination and urgency, even when they are dangerous, cutthroat, and scary people. It is no wonder that Jennifer Lawrence was selected to play Katniss after portraying Ree in “Winter’s Bone” – they are both in over their heads and trying to scale mountains to accomplish their goals. And they do it sefllessly  and without hesitation.

What sticks with me the most after reading the book is the language. Woodrell’s novel is poetic and rich. Lines like “She became ice as she walked” create an other-worldly tone for the events of the novel to take place. Another: “She smelled the frosty wet in the looming clouds, thought of her shadowed kitchen and lean cupboard, looked to the scant woodpile, shuddered.” Woodrell evokes so much with so few words.

And that I think is the true genius of this work: the juxtaposition of the harsh events and backwoods dialogue set against a lyrical and picturesque narration. 

Even thought many people in the novel are murderous and immoral, their words contain the truths of humanity. My favorite line in all the book is when Ree is sitting with her Uncle Teardrop, talking about her father. She is ashamed that her dad has been found out to be a snitch, but Teardrop reminds her that this was not always the case:

“Jessup wasn’t always a snitch. For lots’n lots of years he wasn’t a snitch. He wasn’t, and he wasn’t, and he wasn’t, then one day he was.”

Teardrop reminds Ree that people do what they have to in order to protect their family. Jessup was no different, and neither is she. 

This encouragement to remember people as they were nine times out of ten, instead of the one time they let you down is powerful. How often do we make the mistake of only recognizing someone for the one bad thing they did instead of for all the steadfast years that they were a better person? I think in our society, especially considering the media’s propensity to report on news that shocks, tends to latch on to the big negatives and not the string of positives. In our relationships we often latch onto the horrible and upsetting moments and memories, not remembering all the little times that our friend or spouse was caring and kind.