Bush Runner by Mark Bourrie - March 26, 2020

In these difficult times of self-isolation and the COVID-19 virus that is spreading in our communities,  Muses & Views Bookclub members felt it was better to be creative and meet on-line rather than cancelling our meeting.  I think our dearly departed member Jolene would be very proud of us.  We will do anything that allows us to discuss our book choices. Present were  Beth, Carla, Colette, Janet, Linda, Michèle and Shirley.  We each had our own glass of wine and several of us had cheese and crackers or other nibbles.  Carla who was to be our hostess this month had made mini-tourtières! We sure hope we will eventually get a chance to taste them!

We met to discuss Janet's book choice Bush Runner : The Adventures of Pierre-Esprit Radisson  by Mark Bourrie.  Janet described Mr. Bourrie as an eclectic savante.  He has a Master's in Journalism, a PhD. in Canadian Media History and a law degree.  He is a part-time lecturer with both the University of Ottawa and Carleton University. He has written several books, all non-fiction on a variety of subjects, one on the Parliament Buildings, one on stories of the Great Lakes, one on Canada's youngest serial killer David Michael Krueger and several other subjects.   He was also a feature writer for the Globe and Mail, the Toronto Star a Hill Times reporter.  Bush Runner won the RBC Taylor Prize in 2020, the last year the prize will be awarded.

In many Canadian history texts, Radisson was portrayed as a fur trader and part founder of the Hudson's Bay Company.  In reality he was as Mr. Bourrie described him a hustler with few scruples.  He was born in France and sent to New France as a young teenager finding himself at the Trois Rivières Fort. He was adopted by a Mohawk family and later by an Iroquois family.  He found ways to charm people and with the Indigenous people, he was for the time he was with them, willing to learn their language, their traditions and he was always willing to help and do his part to survive with them.  This is probably why he survived. He did not try to take their land or steal from them.  Some have described Radisson as the "Forrest Gump" of the 17th century because he seemed to be everywhere. He was in Europe during the Plague, in England during the Great Fire, he was friends with King Charles II of England and travelled not only North American but many other parts of the World.

Most members appreciated the book and found the writing style  easy to read and understand and fascinating. For those of us who "listened" to the book, it was like having someone read us a story.  One of our members described how her husband laughed at the faces she made when she listened to the more violent combats and descriptions of human killings and cannibalism. There was some criticism of the writing style, one member finding it sometimes a little bit scattered. However the history she learned had her describe her attitude towards the book as a love/hate relationship.

As a biography, it gives us a history lesson much different than the little of this story we studied in school.  We appreciated the descriptions of the indigenous cultures, the geography of our country.  Many of us  were intrigued and fascinated by the description of parts of our country and names that are familiar to us. For our member who has a cottage in Huronia, she was excited to read about the area.  For another member from the Richelieu Valley, the names were so familiar and the description of Champlain Lake were interesting and oddly familiar.  Most of us found Radisson to be a bit of a sociopath, not a particularly good person and not particularly loyal to any one group he met.

Radisson's visit to England during the Plague reminded us of Geraldine Brooks book Year of Wonders that we read in 2011 and some of us mentioned that it allowed us to better understand Joseph Boyden's The Orenda that we read in 2014.

Thank you Janet for your suggestion, it was a great read.