Into The Forest

This is a wonderful book. I am not prone to crying while reading a novel, but Hegland brings the characters so close to you, that I felt I was suffering with them. This is a novel that encourages you to preserve and cherish the natural world ...including yourself and your loved ones. And it reminds you that we are certainly overlooking the really beautiful and fundamental gifts from nature to grab at unnecessary things in this so-called civilization in which we live. This novel makes you want to turn inward, disconnect your phone, and absorb all the preserved knowledge that you can ingest. It made me want to fast on `white tea' ... just to remind myself. And it reminds the reader that nations can come and go, but mankind is much stronger and far more beautiful when pressed to accept his true nature. For instance, Eva's civilized and refined dancer's stamina pales and appears weak in comparison to her endurance of pain during childbirth. As Eva groans against the violent pain, Nell thinks ... "They are sounds that move the earth, the sounds that give voice to the deep, violent fissures in the bark of the redwoods. They are the sounds of splitting cells, of bonding atoms, the sounds of the waxing moon and the forming stars".
I don't think readers should get caught up in the 'feminist' aspect or the 'plausibility of plot' concept. I think that even a man could see himself through Nell's view of the world. And I believe that the framework of the plot just serves as a springboard for exploring the human experience in a certain light. I hated to finish the book because I felt that I was losing a friend or at least moving away from home. Beautiful work!

A lot of criticism has been levied against this book for its one short sexual scene between the two sisters. The scene itself fit both the characters and the situation -- I won't condemn the book for that portrayal. If it's going to bother you, don't read it.

What bothered me was the contrived ending that fit neither the characters nor reality. Both girls are smart, each in her own way. They survive because of good instincts, inner strength, and the availability of invaluable written information. Despite the narrator's constant dependence on books, she somehow arrives at the conclusion that it is better to be without them. In fact, she decided it is better to be without a house (which the narrator claims is too delapidated to be usable, but which rings completely untrue), without its furnishings (including a bath that has saved their psyche for endless days), without their garden that has proven remarkably useful, and without intellectual development (despite its proven value throughout every minute of the day). But nonetheless, they keep the gun and ammunition. Yeah, right!

The book starts as a novel and ends up as a polemic, arriving at a conclusion that is forced and pointless.

And yet the story up to that point is so compelling it is almost impossible to put the book down. Too bad there isn't a sequel showing the consequences of their ultimate rashness.

I really loved the journey that Jean Hegland took me on. The book was beautifully written. I cared so much about the characters and enjoyed watching them mature and deal with the problems that they faced.

Maybe I have a shred of doomsday thinking residing deep in my bones but this book rang true to me. Heglands deft use of words took me directly into this possible future world and left me inspired yet chilled to the core. I found myself exhilarated by each deeply instinctual survival mechanism the young women discovered. I was left wondering how I and my loved ones would behave if found in such a monumental shift of reality. Having a mother that lives a nature based/minimalistic lifestyle VERY similar to Eva and Nell's, the novel hits uncomfortably close to home. I would love to share it with her but I know it would send her deeper into her isolation and hatred of American over-consumption and men. This book left me depressed but wonderfully in touch with the ancient force of feminine survival. I, like many, was very uncomforatable with the incestual tryst between Eva and Nell but on some deep level I understood the necessity of it to heal the near mortal emotional wound of Eva's first sexual experience...a horrible rape.
I felt the act of sisterly passion was a powerful reclaimation of their souls...souls facing mortal emotional scars, scars whose only cure hinted at suicide. At first I was REALLY uncomfortable with the incestual scene but yet in the wild isolated state in which they found themselves, the act almost seemed natural/primal....like the forest itself.

Haven't you always wondered how great civilizations fell apart? How did great pyramids and whole cities just disappear in jungles and sand drifts?
For most of our lives, we've lived with the threat of nuclear holocaust, and the fear of "dropping the big one." But what if that's not the way it goes?
And what if it's started already....
Fill the water jugs, trim the wicks, and settle down for a good read. Everything looks a little different after you finish this book

Any reader who enjoys books about the outdoors, survival, and living off the land, in addition to stories about family bonds and learning to adapt, will love this book. It tells the story of two teenage sisters who are left to fend for themselves when the world suddenly changes abruptly, leaving them without power, phone lines, and oftentimes, food. It will make you really think about where our civilization may be headed. This is an extremely realistic story told touchingly by the younger sister's point of view in journal style (but it's not annoying like some journal style writing; it flows seamlessly and you won't find any dates here, because they have no idea what the old-fashioned dates are!). You really get to know the characters and feel for them. And you will really start reconsidering what you would do in this situation... because the time may come that we all must face something similar to this. Definitely recommended- you won't want to stop reading! :)

A gorgeous, rich novel with a thought-provoking and insightful narrative. Like a lot of people it seems, I was a bit uncomfortable with the ending, but it does work and is anything but weak. This is one of those books that gives the reader a new appreciation of life and the world. Thoreau would be proud.
Note: if it's not already too late, do *not* read the Kirkus review on this page, as it gives away the entire story from beginning to end. I don't know why they post those things.

In response to a previous reviewer who reviewed, um, previous reviews: the electricity in the book, and you'll understand this when you read it, does not go off all at once. It goes in and out; the girls' family live on acreage in a nice house out in the sticks. They don't live in town, which actually bodes better for their survival. They hadn't been to school and had thusly been educated by their parents and themselves. They knew how to grow food and preserve it; they knew how to build crude structures; they knew how to ID plants. How many of us know those things?
Anyway, the power. It's never reliable, and as illness and political unrest abroad make the infrastructure in the US more shaky, life becomes more primitive. Backup systems aren't designed to run forever; things can't get fixed if the workforce is decimated by antibiotic-resistant infections.
I thought this was an excellent, spookily prescient book. Reading it again really makes me think -- the troubles Eva and Nell face in their world come about by a war fought far away, coincidentally compounded by illness and domestic terrorism. If you think it couldn't happen here, in this day and age, I believe you're wrong. I'm not saying it will... I'm just saying it could.

Very good read. Thought-provoking, with relatively well developed characters. I've always been very fascinated with the dynamics of relationships between family members. In this book the relationship between the two teenage sisters is heightened by the fact that they become increasingly isolated from the world, having each other and no one else to turn to. What fascinates me about this book is not that it is a reallistic description of impending world doom, but rather that the psychological world created by the two sisters is very engaging. Sometimes it is very moving and fascinating at the same time. From the reviews I've read, there were a few that express their disgust about the incestuous incident between them, calling it irrelevant, unnecessary and unlogical. Let me tell you that according to recent surveys, sex between siblings as an exploratory sexual act is much more prevalent than you think or be prepared to admit. I even know about a case of a friend of mine who made love to her sister after having been dumped by her boyfriend... Call it grief, call it solace, call it incomprehensible, but sometimes the need for love from someone you trust with your life is stronger than our society's taboos.

Into the Forest provides a touching and capturing look at a world in the end. This reflection of life when all electricity and phones cease to work is incredibally described. The two sisters share the times with memories and tragedies, and their struggles are the ones which bring out the most in a person and their decisions and character. For the adventurer, the feminist, the lively, and the determined, this book is a life-giving seed of wonder. Appropriate for ages 12 and over.

This story is told through the journal of one of two sisters living somewhere in a northern California forest. Initially, the plot, apparently set in the post-apocalyptic present, seemed intriquing because of its possibilities. The teenage girls are orphaned and, through the journal, readers learn what has happened to their parents, but no other history is related. The narrator laments the problems the sisters face being alone with no contact and few resources, and as the journal progresses, of the possibilities for their lives. Ms. Hegland's premise would a fine one but requires so much more work. Readers never learn the cause of the seeming apocalypse and this leaves the reader little possibility to fully engage in the tale. Was there a war? A plaque? Finally the sisters devise survival skills, which are the core of the book's plot, and several interesting encounters create some tension, but the basic problem is that the situation as fragmentally presented seems ridiculous and unreasonable. Is it possible they have no family, friends, contacts from before the apocalpyse? It's almost as if they have no history whatsoever, and that's the book's biggest flaw. It was probably an easy book to write because of this. This is a psuedo-political book and its message is solid--that the earth and her inhabitants are precious and fragile. But the plot is simplistic and therefore seems unresearched. Nevertheless, topically the theme is valid, so it would be a good book for high school-aged students because it would probably generate some excellent research topics and some good classroom discussions. Ultimately, as literature, Into the Forest is a simplistic, generalizing, and hopeless condemnation of humankind.

Sometimes you have to read a book for a class, but it isn't "your" book, and the annoyance makes the reading unbearably tedious. This book tries to to be the next generation's Island of the Blue Dolphins: two teenaged sisters who live off the grid in Southern Humboldt County weather the unexplained fall of civilization as we know it, though, being far from town, it affects them less than the townies who are dying from plagues and starvation. Many calamities befall the sisters, related in occasionally lurid detail (including a Flowers in the Attic scene that has given justification to single-minded readers who condemn the book for two short paragraphs.)

SPOILER ALERT. IF YOU'RE COMMITTED TO READING THE BOOK, STOP HERE AND COME BACK LATER.

A boy comes back for one of the sisters but leaves for the greener pastures of a mythical Boston, where civilization is rumored to have been restored. The other sister gets raped, gets pregnant, and nine months later, after she has the baby, she realizes that they can't depend on civilization any more, so the sisters burn down the wreckage of their isolated family home to live in the forest with the baby. What a stupid turn of events, and it made me angry. I loved Island of the Blue Dolphins when I was 12, but at 51, I'm too old and jaded to fantasize that I would be one of the survivors of the scenarios from "Into the Forest" -- yet the structure invites the reader to fantasize a satisfying feral existence along with Nell and Eva.

As a structural criticism, the 97 pages of flashback that began the book slogged it down, and clumsy foreshadowing reduced any real suspense. During the girls' time in the house, they always had unexplored rooms (father's workshop, mother's study) that were eventually coaxed to reveal crucial supplies or information. And yet it is all thrown away, including the food they worked so hard to can and dry. Leaving themselves with fewer options is a choice that destines them to unimaginable hardships, living as they are without the tribe they would need to thrive. Despite the litany of hardships, this is a ridiculously Utopian story. If you're only reading to find out what happened to civilization, or to learn if things really were better in Boston, give it up; those answers are not forthcoming.

This was a bittersweet story of teenage sisters who are left to fend for themselves after the collapse of modern society. The sisters were unusual from the start - homeschooled, taught to be independent and curious - and their experience after the collapse was equally unusual. Because they didn't suffer from the same trappings most modern teens deal with - peer pressure, materialism, etc. - how they ended up coping was both encouraging and heartbreaking. It would be wonderful if the author wrote a sequel.

I read this book a while ago but I remember that I really enjoyed it. And, in reference to another review, there was the one totally unnecessary scene that I could have done without, but otherwise loved the book.
Strong female characters, interesting situations. Hegland creates a wooded world and does a great job of letting readers experience the girls' loneliness and seclusion, their fear, and desire to survive.

Each one of us has thought, although it was probably only a brief moment, what it would be like if (insert end of the world tragedy here) were to happen. Into The Forest explores the prospect of life with no electricity by detailing two sisters' struggles with survival as the rest of the world around them goes dormant.

Readers will feel the full gamut of emotion... from happiness, to pity, to appreciation, to disgust. Hegland will push your thoughts beyond what you think is in the realm of possibility as Nell and Eva miserably live and overcome issues with love, sex, death, rape, incest and birth.

Pick this book up and read it. Get through the meandering of Eva's dancing and get to the juicy stuff. In the end, it'll be worth it.

Have fun,

David Tobias,
Redondo Beach, CA

I don't remember who or what turned me on to this novel, but I read it over the span of a few days to amuse myself while on the bus or on break at work. It chronicles the lives of Nell and Eva, two teenage sisters who are considering what to do in their first adult years. Nell, who reads voraciously, wants to attend a prestigious university, while her sister wants to employ herself as a ballerina in the relatively nearby Bay area. The book is written in Nell's point of view, to which I consider her the major protagonist, though observations on her sister feature predominantly.

My suspension of disbelief nearly unhinged on the first page, as the protagonist writes in this new notebook she has just been given, and the reader follows along as she begins to write. Right away, we're told that the notebook is this rare thing. With that information, I have to question why the protagonist is writing in such a wasteful way. "Nobody writes like this," I kept thinking to myself as I read the first four paragraphs. I let my protests on that die down, before continuing on. Setting aside that complaint, I forged onward.

There aren't enough details to satisfy my curiosity about the simplistic way in which everything is presented. There's a gradual breakdown in society but we're not told from what or whom, there's an oppressive breakdown in communication, and community, and finally, the protagonist and her family are just living out there in the woods, with the (very) occasional interaction with a passerby. I understand that the author lives in the same sort of area and setting described in her novel, but she could have at least tried to include the world at large in this myopic little landscape. I grew up in a little town of 3000 people 70 miles away from the nearest larger city, so I do understand the rural nature of the setting, but I was never so far from the media and creature comforts of modern society that there wasn't at least a vague idea of what was happening.

The ending of this story snuck up on me. I was reading it on an electronic tablet and chose to ignore what page I was on, focusing on the story itself. All of a sudden, I realized that I was reading the last page. There seemed a lot of story left to go, but the author had chosen to pull the plug prematurely, setting the scene for another chapter that never came.

What was the purpose for these older children to set fire to that building in the last chapter? Was such a punctuation mark of finality required so that the author could point at it and say, "There, now there's nothing to do but end this story"? Exactly what is the protagonist to do with a book that is nothing but a list of words, referring to another book that went up in smoke with the rest of their belongings?

I feel that this book did way too much telling and not enough showing. The protagonist writes that her sister's clothes are twice-patched, but the scene in which the clothes are patched is not presented. A bear lumbers through the setting, but nothing more is said about it.

I rated this as three stars out of five, because I did enjoy this book on some levels, but I object over it on others. It could have been a much better novel with more time spent on plot progression, perhaps more character development. I'm not dissatisfied with the experience, but it is unsatisfactorily short and underdeveloped.

I also felt that the sex scene between the protagonist and [spoiler] was forced. That came out of nowhere, there were no hints of the story going that way before, and nothing more was mentioned of it after. It seemed gratuitous and unnecessary, as if the author had suddenly thought of a way to make the story "edgy" and a bit taboo, and then backed away from it uncomfortably, never to be referred to again. It came off as odd to me.

This was an awesome book. I first started reading it as an assignment for an independent project for my English class. The book sounded interesting, so I chose to read it. I was a little confused in the beginning as I didn't understand why their electricity was going out. But I soon understood and really got into the book. I was reading whenever I had a free moment, and had the book read well before the assigned date. I really like the book because you don't know what is going to happen to the sisters next. When you think they are already in the hardest position yet, living without their mother and father with no electricity or ANYTHING, something harder comes along that they have to make it through. It illustrated that although siblings fight, in the end, they are the ones who will stick by you till the end. When times are tough, they are the ones you depend upon. It was an awesome book and I recommend you to read it. It really makes you think about what you would do if you were in the same position as Nell and Eva. Would you really be able to do some of the things they eventually HAVE to do JUST TO SURVIVE??

Into the Forest really surprised me. I found it at a used book store and was impressed by the first page, purchased it, and proceeded to let it sit on my bookshelf for six months. Once I began to read it, however, I couldn't put it down. Not only is it a very neat concept- post-apocalyptic US through the eyes of a young woman, but also acts as a really neat how-to book. The girls in the story continually have to use their wit to derive new, original ways to survive. From dehydating fruit with a bridal dress to storing fresh water in a bathtub , I learned quite a bit of info I'll probably never use! The book offered no dull moments, and the protaganist had a truly unique, sweet and enjoyable outlook on her struggles, and day to day life with her sister.

Despite the fact that five months have passed since I read Hegland's stirring novel, I can still smell the redwoods and pines, taste the acorns, feel the moisture from the forest floor. The characters and their apocalyptical world also remain vivid. The story altered my perspective about the way I live and galvanized me to make some serious changes in my life. I will read this book again for the enjoyment of its prose, though I doubt I will need to remind myself of the power if its message, which will continue to inspire and haunt me. What more could you ask from a novelist?

I picked this book up at the library when it first came out. It sounded like an interesting read so I checked it out. It was unforgetable. The story stuck with me for weeks after I finished reading it. The writer, Jean can really tell a wonderful story. It flows so smoothly that you cant put it down.
Lots of reviewers didn't like the part of the story that involved sex between the sisters but I think they missed the point of it. The older sister gets raped so I think the sex between the sisters was to replace the violence of the act with something tender and nice. At least thats how I took it. It's a small part of a beautiful story so don't let that stop you from reading this book. You won't be sorry you did.

This is one of very few books that (1) have kept me up all night to read it start to finish, and (2) lures me back to re-read it periodically. I'm a voracious and omnivorous reader, but a highly critical one; Hegland's book is superb. The intricate family relationships resonated particularly strongly with me, but more than anything the story forced me to examine my beliefs in my own resourcefulness. How would I cope with the losses Nell confronts, in unforgiving conditions? Would I make the same choices? A haunting story of a human life, it is even more insidious for the terrible beauty of its setting. The reader smells and tastes and hears, as well as sees and feels. Into the Forest is a complete experience -- rare and wonderful.

Despite the painful premise of this book (the breakdown of our lifesytles as consumers), this is such an empowering book--not just for women, but for all of us. The hardships the characters endure and survive and then their eventual triumph and merging with the forest put the reader through a gamut of emotions, some horrifying, some breathtaking.
I am an English professor who teaches an Environmental Literature course, and this fall, I will have this book on the reading list. The many reasons include:
--believable characters as young people who rise to the occasion
--a spring board for thinking about our place in this modern world and how we have overused resources
--a point of departure for discussions about the very real possibility that we could run out of fossil fuels, etc. and how would we as individuals cope?
--a way to discuss how we can get more intimate with our surroundings in nature before an apocaplyse...can we turn off our TVs and computers and study plants, see spirit in nature, and dream the dreams of trees and bears?
Anyway...I know my students will enjoy it as much as I did.

Okay, I have to admit. It's hard to put this book down. Two teenage girls living in the forest, 3 years of firewood, stores of food, a gun and rapidly devolving way of life. BUT, there are serious gaps in logic here. Not to give too much away but would anyone question moving your family miles from the nearest town in second growth forest but yet know nothing about that forest or what it has to offer? Would there be no adaptations to the environment in which you live? Would such a family really be so reliant on electricity and modern conveniences? Still, there are things that get one to thinking about just how well one would survive if our modern way of life were to gradually devolve to say the turn of the 20th Century. How well would we be prepared for that? It's a short book and a fast read with an alluring topic. See what you think.

I read this book during the summer when I was living in Northern California and we were having the "electricity crisis." So understandably, it seemed frighteningly plausible to me. I have no trouble with the premise. And I enjoyed the writing and the development of the relationship between the two girls.

But I was unable to find this book inspiring, for the simple reason that these girls, despite their dire situation, have advantages that most Americans will never have. Conveniently, they already live more or less "off the grid," in a house surrounded by woods and nature's bounty. Their father has taught them the virtue and the skills of self-sufficiency. Their mother, conveniently, was an expert herbalist who, even more conveniently, left behind a house full of reference books. And finally, they live in Northern California, where winters and summers are mild and it is actually possible to live in a tree stump for awhile.

These factors may have helped them survive, but I live in a city, on the grid, in a climate where nothing grows for several months a year. So the book felt to me more like an explanation of why, when the crisis comes, I'll be one of the first to perish. What's inspiring about that?

Inot the Forest is an extreamly haunting book set in the near future. Although one person commented that characters have no backstory, I would argue with that. I wonder if she even read the book, as it explains the childhood of the two sisters very well.
As for reading it to teenagers, I would say that you could. I may just be naive, but untillsomeone said that, I didn't realize that was a lesbian scene. *sigh* I'll have to go re-read it now. Not like that will be a bad thing, but I so hate gaps in my knowladge

Hegland absolutely captures the readers attention from the first page. The theme continues to haunt me as I am now so much more aware of a taken for granted commodity...electricity. The story is also available as a book on tape (6 hrs), and I highly recommend it for one of those long boring car trips...the time will fly.

Recent newspaper headlines and fast-breaking stories on cable networks have dramatized the power shortages and outages in California. Drawn by the jacket description, I picked up the audio version of Into the Forest from my local library -- and I was soon drawn into an extremely realistic -- and impassioned -- scenario of what could be in the not-too-distant future. You MUST, MUST, MUST listen to Alyssa Bresnahan impart her linguistic/oratory style of storytelling to grasp the intensity of the book. Yes, I plan to purchase the hard copy in order to pull quotations and to read again and again the struggles and triumphs of WOMEN who depend on themselves and one another for survival -- who are "their own person." Wow. What a book. If I knew Oprah's phone number -- I'd tell her this one needs to be included in her "club."

With 102 previous reviews, there's not much I can add about this book. I agree with the majority of reviewers that it is a good read. I found it very engaging.

A few reviewers downgraded the book because they found the premise (collapse of our economy) to be implausible. Another reviewer I think properly stated that you don't need to find it plausible for the book to work. Its fiction - accept the premise and enjoy the book, or move on.

But I personally find the premise quite plausible. Our economy is dependent on oil. Every year we have about 80 million more humans on earth and about 30 billion fewer barrels of oil. Modern agriculture has been described as using soil to convert oil into food. It takes about a kilogram of oil to produce a kilogram of wheat.

Oil is finite. Accordingly, oil production is oil depletion. Global oil production will inevitably peak and begin to decline. The question is when. Predictions of declining oil are nearly as old as the petroleum era and have been proven wrong repeatedly. But one guy got it right. In 1956, an oil geologist named M. King Hubbert predicted that American oil production would peak around 1970. He was widely derided for this pessimistic projection until 1970 when U.S. oil production peaked right on schedule. People using his methods today predict that global oil production will peak around 2008.

Global oil discoveries peaked in the 1960s, and oil production has exceeded oil discoveries since 1980. Recent price rises reflect the fact that we no longer have excess capacity. Everybody is pumping full out, and if anything knocks off production anywhere, the price goes up. A strike in Nigeria, a bomb in Iraq, a hurricane in the Gulf of Mexico - with no swing producer to pick up the slack, price is the mechanism that balances the equation. See [...] or google peak oil, oil depletion or Hubbert's curve for more info.

But the book is premised on a fairly quick near total loss of oil. This seems unlikely, but again it could happen under various scenarios. Shortly after peak oil is reached we could have wars to control whats left. As Iraq has hinted, such wars can result in production stopping. Or perhaps the war would leave oil production intact, but cut off tanker traffic out of the Arabian Gulf, leaving pipelines to Europe and America left to fend for ourself.

Another possibility is that shortly after peak oil hits, oil exporting nations will choose to export less to make their supply last, or to use their declining oil to support there own economy, causing the supply available to us to fall faster than depletion alone would cause. Note that the North Sea oil production has been falling by over 7% a year since passing peak, so depletion alone can be quite a kick in the pants.

None of this is to say that the collapse scenario set forth in "Into the Forest" is inevitable. But the longer we maintain our shortsighted energy policy and unsustainable consumerism, the more likely this scenario becomes.

Reading this book helped me to visualize this scenario - put flesh and bones into the graphs and charts that lay out a possible future. One reviewer pointed out that she lives in a city and doesn't have hundreds of acres to grow corn, gather acorns or shoot hogs in, making this a depressing read for her. All the more reason to challenge our unsustainable path while we still have time to set a new course. This book can be read as a wake up call instead of just good fiction.

My husband and I both loved this story.
So often books are read and then forgotten,
but this one will stay with me forever.
A fantastic story that captures your mind
and your heart. I only wish Jean Hegland
would write another novel. I would be the first
in line at the bookstore. Extraordinary!

This book stands out in my memory as the best post apocolyptic novel. I love that it deals with teenagers and that it describes a family with pre existing problems disintegrating. I like how they respond to events, the issues that cause problems in their relationship and the decisions they eventually make. Always looking for a new take on this genre.

I read this book years ago and I have been trying to remember this title to recommend it to everyone. I am glad I have found it now and I will be purchasing my own copy

It's funny that so many of these reviews focus on the "one scene" that offends them. It's also sad that one scene could so derail readers from the overall story. This story is something that is not so far removed from the reality of our world today. The book itself makes a strong condemnation about our reliance as a society on technology, and about our continued separation from nature. I think the basic idea is about returning to our roots as a species, about learning to love and live from the land. As far as the sex scene between the two sisters goes, in reality the scene was a couple of sentences long, and I think is less about "sex" than about connection and need. This book made me think, about what we have done to ourselves as humans, and about what we need to do and change in order to thrive...

"I had never read it, never done more than glance through its thousand pages, but suddenly I knew it was the third book I would take. I lifted it down, traced its title with my finger: Index: A-Z. ... I could not save all the stories, could not hope to preserve all the information ... [b]ut I could take the encyclopedia's index, could try to keep that master list of all that had once been made or told or understood."

It is a well written book, taught me and inspired me to write. I loved the characters, Eva and Nell, and I related to them, to their plight, to their love for each other. There is a time when one of the characters chooses her sister over her lover... If that isn't a superior form of loving someone, I do not know what that is.
The book moved me deeply and made me think. Think about one's choices. I took a decision that has changed my life and I can't thank Jean Hegland enough for it. She made me a better person, a less selfish one - I hope.
Please, buy the book if you haven't already and you'll cry, laugh and fall in love with Eva and Nell as I did.

This is a tale of being at the end of the road, isolated from the main stream of society, and then the breakdown of society as we know it.

A story about two sisters who are home schooled and live in the redwood forest with their parents. The story takes these sisters through the loss of their mother, the society that we all know, the waiting to return to normal, and the efforts they make to survive.

An increadible story that is hard to put down. I listened to this book on tape, and the narrator adds alot to the story through pauses in all the right places. I would recommend the audio version.

I have two daughters and the two sisters in this book really had my heart. I love apocalypse themes and this brought that theme together with a calmer, more personal story. I read it quickly and that is not typcial for me - very good. I guess I would have liked to know a bit more about what happened in the world around them but I also accepted that the story was more about them than an apocalypse - nice book.

This is a mildly feminist account of post-apocalyptic sylvan survival. Stress is less on the apocalypse itself than on self-sufficiency and self-realization. Poetic prose, very enjoyable read, fades a little when you think about it afterwards.

I am somewhat mystified by the negativity of some of the reviews, but I guess that's people.

As an American Soldier who just came back from Iraq (chaos), who grew up on the edge of a beautiful forest in northern Arizona, who tended to a rather large garden in childhood, and is currently experiencing emotional isolation due to my wife still being in Iraq, I can say that this story had a strong emotional impact for me.

I realize that not many people may be in a position to cry all the way through this book like I did. And there are always the fundementalists who reject it entirely because the sexuality falls out of the norm for a brief instant.

And I don't understand the intense criticism of the end. It seemed to me that they were simply making a commitment. It was ceremonial.

I really liked this book. If you think the electricity is going to shut off someday, forever, you might like it too.

I realize that this book meant to envoke thought and perhaps discussion of how much our society relies on material things, but I think it could have done so with better character development and without ruining the ideas the book presents by adding an unnecessary incest scene. I skimmed the book after that.
What was the point?

I'm so annoyed that I only have about 3 pages more to read and it's the dumbest book I have ever read. I see other reviews and maybe I read a different book, because this one made no sense AT ALL. I'm still waiting for the big PUNCH LINE. If it wasn't for a book club, I would have stopped a long time ago--like after 25 pages. WHAT A WASTE OF TIME

A story of survival and coming of age for two teenage, orphaned sisters, set in the northern California redwoods during an apocalyptic disaster. A suspenseful read, with beautiful prose that called to mind the writing in Barbara Kingsolver's more recent novels.

...The prospect that the novel sets up is fascinating. The world as we know it has been destroyed-largely because of over consumption, and ecological and political problems. Nell and Eva must learn how to face this new world without all of the luxuries that we are used to and with many new dangers. However, too much of the story involves reminiscing about the past, rather than showing the reader this new world-the here and now. Also, while I don't mind an author having an agenda, the message in this novel was painfully overdone. ... It illustrated the point the author wanted to make...The characters were never really fleshed out to begin with (Eva in particular), and that was a problem in itself. ... The message of the novel is valid. We are a materialistic culture. ...I can only see a connection to the stereotypes of women as earth mothers, creators and nurturers. But these are simply stereotypes. In reality, women are as materialistic as men.

The book was promising to be sure at the beginning. I was intrigued by the characters, especially Nell. The first 100 pages or so exposes her deepest thoughts and shares her perspective on how she sees the world. Pretty realistic 14 year old stuff. As life is full of disappointments and loss, she reacts with haughty teenage attitude. Her dad is pretty witty, while her sister and mom just prefer their own company.

When the trouble starts, It is graphic and again seems to reflect probable reality after over consumption leads to shortage of all resources. But then about the time Dad dies, the story starts to get both boring and bizarre at the same time. The weird thing was that it was when it was boring, that I most enjoyed it.

The book was about 230 pages and with big font, but after page 92, it just got cheeeesy. The end was absolutely ridiculous!!!! It was so entirely inconsistent with the story, the characters and the general flow of the book - I wish I had skipped it. Had I known, the ending, believe me, I would have stopped 5 pages short of the last page.

I would NOT recommend this book. Swan Song - now that is a brilliant piece of work with some similar themes, but much better!

I think that the book Into the forest was so good. I wish that every book I read was that good If only that book could have gone on forever. I was hooked to that book like a magnet on the refridgerator. Awesome!!

The novel forces one to think about what would happen if America could no longer rely on modern conviences (such as electricity). Survival is all that would matter, yet somehow, the two main characters still cling desperately to their dreams until they realize that there are more important things to life. The only complaint I had with the book, is that the rape was a bit contrived and it seems Ms. Hegland only put it in to have a baby in the novel. What a shame. It makes it seem like women are victims of their biology.

Incest!!!!
I could not believe it. As a fan of post-appocalyptic fiction, I picked this book up on a recommendation from a fellow the storeian. I was intrigued at the prospects of 2 teenages, Nell and Eva, trying to survive after the collapse of civillization, disease, hunger..etc.
Granted that about 2/3rds of the book deals with 2 normal everyday teenagers living with their parents in the boonies of Northern California. A war, economic depression, rampant plague or a combination thereof causes a collapse of the United States government. Nell and Eva loose their parents, the mother to cancer, and the father to improper use of a chainsaw. The 2 teenagers must survive on their own without any modern convience i.e.; supermarkets, electricity, running water..etc
It is only in the last 1/3rd of the story that we are treated to the brutality of the world that Nell and Eva now live in. Eva is raped by a passing transient while she was chopping wood. Okay, I was expecting this to happen in a story of this nature. Well, Nell, in trying to heal her sister, has sex with her?!?!
Hello? Did I just fall of the Earth? I have no clue to where the author came from with this scene. Granted in the entire scope of the book, it takes up a small percentage of the story, but kills any sympathy I have for the characters in exchange for disgust.
Granted Jean Hegland's writing is very moving, and she seems to have the making of a great story teller, but her choice of situations to expose her characters to are something to be desired. If the scene of incest was left out of the book, I would have given this story 5 stars with hopes that the store raise the scale higher so I could give this book more stars. Yet that scene with the sisters having incestual sex together? Nothing poetic about it.

Through the journey of the protagonist's struggle for survival, the reader is presented with the emmence potential of human power, and at the same time, human vulnerability. "Into the Forest" provides the reader with a glimpse of how a future world could look like without technology. A whole entire universe that never existed was suddenly created out the past. Overall, an intriguing and interesting book!

This is a very powerful, and uniquely female, coming of age story involving two sisters who are alone in an apocalyptic time. They can survive only if they love each other and learn to love the Earth. I don't read "sci fi" and this is not your typical futuristic tale. Best book I have read in a long time.

The books starts off strong: interesting premise, good characters, well-written. Then, about halfway through, it gets weird and out of character and tedious. The end of the book made no sense at all; the final action is childish and immature, everything the girls proved they weren't as they survived. Maybe it was to show they are still children, despite everything that happened. There's also one "scene" between the girls that is disturbing and didn't really seem necessary, like it was written only for titillation. Anyway, it's a decent read, but not on par with Atwood.

I gave this book a 2 because the author is a good writer and I hate to beat her up too badly on sheer emotion but WOW! What a new age classic: men-BAD, women-GOOD. Everything natural-good. I don't understand how a book about two sisters who intentionally choose almost certain oblivion can possibly be uplifting or inspiring. First off, all the men in this book are in one of two categories, well-meaning oafs or violent brutes. I don't have to give away the plot, here, pick any male. The father? He barely makes it to human level because he stayed with the family, held down a job and changed their diapers. Check out what happens to him. well-meaning oaf. Check out the boyfriend, a great conversationalist with a ridiculous plan to travel 3,000 miles across post-apocalyptic America. Oaf. The store clerk? Geek. And of course, the violent male characters are self-evident. Finally, it begins to dawn on you where this infernal story is going! I could not believe the quotes from Sally Bell, the lone survivor of an atrocious act of genocide perpetrated on her tribe by white male settlers. There is no doubt that genocide against native peoples is an historic reality. But to use the Sally Bell story to justify the eventual outcome of this book is absurd at best, as anyone who has ever done any real camping will testify! But of course, nature is all good, warm, and fuzzy! Sally Bell and all the rest of the genocide survivors ( like Ishi) did not choose to live in bushes in the rain as a sort of religious exercise! Their people were slaughtered and their HOMES WERE BURNED BY THE INVADERS!!! People on vision quests and hunting trips generally figured on coming home to SHELTER! Hey, if you want to talk about saving the environment and our wildlife, this is one omnivore who is with you. But sheesh! The hunting segment was not bad, but I would have like slightly more detail on the rifle. Nothing Tom Clancyish,but I don't know. We quickly returned our copy, so I can't refer to the text. This is a story of two twit sisters who intentionally choose death, certainly for the baby, rather than take a chance on meeting other people who MIGHT be violent males but more likely will be looking for mutual aid! Do you get the picture? "Let's choose certain death for the innocent baby and probably slow death for us rather than TAKE A CHANCE ON LIFE!" This is the kind of new-age mentality that insists on gassing a stray cat if it can't be returned to a strictly indoor environment. Better to have the cat DEAD on principle than perhaps a happy life,spayed, on a farm somewhere where it MIGHT get killed!!! Can somebody explain this to me?

I really enjoyed this fast paced and interesting story of two teenage girls who must find a way to survive as the world around them collapses. True, the ending is a little weak but it didn't stop me from reading the book in one evening.

Of all the "what if" books on the future of our world this book was eerily realistic. The writing was great and kept my interest from line one. The focus is strongly planted in the female heroines and done in a very believable way. It is easy to follow the journey's twists in this eye opener.

Nell and Eva are easier to read about if you suspend reality. As previous reviewers have referenced any "end of the world" scenario is going to happen the way the author decides. What I found well done was the relationship between the sisters, the diarizing of one sister's experience--which, in effect, becomes the novel we read-- and their perspectives on what they have gone through. It is a worthwhile read, but remember--it's fiction.

I was totally engrossed in the story of Eva and Nell. I couldn't put the book down until it was finished. A little farfetched, but beautifully written.It makes you wonder what life would be like without the many things we take for granted.

Oh, this book. Where to even start. I've been devouring dystopian/post-apocalyptic fiction for a while now, and was eager to read one from the '90s meant for young adults before it was such a craze. When I finished, there were elements I was neutral about and elements I hated.

These characters were annoying, naive, emotion-driven, and frustrating. The ridiculous, perverted scene between them is just that -- ridiculous and perverted. It has no real implications on the story, is never mentioned again, and is present only for the shock value.

The author is talented enough that the writing wasn't unbearable, even though I usually dislike poetic prose. Then I got to the end, and had to scratch my head.

SPOILER

I understand the point is that humans were finally being forced to return to nature, but something just felt off to me. Sorry I can't be any more articulate than that.

END SPOILER

In the end, this book reminded me of We Have Always Lived in the Castle by Shirley Jackson, which I really enjoyed. Sadly I can't say the same about this one.

*SPOILERS AHEAD*

When I started reading this book, I thought it was a really good story with a few flaws. But about 3/4 into the book is a totally unnecessary and disturbing scene. I would not have read this book if I had known about it and that is why I am writing this review.

I was about 5 hours into reading the book when I was appalled by the incest scene between the two sisters. I'm not sure why the author felt the need to add it. Also, neither sister even questions or seems bothered by it afterwards. I really think something needs to be mentioned on the description about it.

To give the book some credit, and the reason I gave it two stars is that it is a compelling story. It is a fascinating idea that two sisters have to learn to survive and develop new skills when society collapses. It is a critique on our consumerist society that is tangible because you as the reader experience the daily hardships with the sisters as they slowly run out of food and gas and the house falls apart. The writing is clear and descriptive without bogging. The descriptions of the woods and gardening, and facts sprinkled through the story are great.

On the downside it is not entirely believable that society would completely shut down like it does in the book. The explanations just don't ring true. Also, no one seems to be doing anything except hiding in their houses. I can imagine in the first shock that would be the case, but after awhile at least some people would be industrious. And of course the above mentioned scene. I am disappointed because I thought the story was pretty good, and I could have gotten over some of the plausability flaws.

What is scarey about this book is that it is all possible. In fact, if we really listen and observe, some of what Hegland is revealing is beginning. Beautiful story and writing. I hope Ms. Hegland will bless us with more of her talent and imagination. Read it!

The novel is finely crafted, slashingly lacerating, endlessly delusional, and compellingly suicidal. Once they overcome the unbelievably bad education they got from their parents, the girls quickly teach each other to fear all contact with other humanity. Through a rather complicated substitution of lesbian incest for rape, they create an aura of procreation and survival without having to actually survive. In the end, they pull their hole in upon themselves, mouthing reassuring ignorances about primativist survival, and crawl off to feed themselves to the boars, the bears, and the bananna slugs.
Spectacular skills turned to dismal projects.

Jean is a personal friend of mine from high school, and it is awesome to see her success in literature. I loved reading "Into the forest" because of the futuristic format. This type of theme is one of my favorites. I am currently reading "Windfalls" and it is a book that I cannot seem to put down. Thanks Jean for your geat story telling

Of course, this story is not far fetched. Our lives or the lives of our children could play out this way, but where is the hope? It makes me sad to read this book and the reviews and see so many people living their lives without hope and faith.

It is a common theme to think that human's are arrogant and poor stewards of the earth and its' resources. But consider this: Isn't it also arrogant to think that we alone are in control, that our use of the resources as we know them today will cause the end of civilization?

I don't believe in accidents; I believe in God. The resources of the earth are ours because God granted them to us. Yes, we are honored to be the stewards of the gifts of the earth and must respect and cherish that gift.

For those of you who have children, do we strive to be good parents only to expect the children to end up as criminals or immoral human beings? I pray that as a good steward of the gift of my children they will lead productive and fulfilling lives. I pray that as good stewards of the earth and her bounty, our civilization will also be prosperous.

This book is a nice reminder that we all need to conserve and be good stewards, but it's doomsday prophesy leaves me to think that the depletion of hope is far more a critical topic than the depletion of oil.

A terrific premise, but very badly written. The author seems to have too little insight into her characters to give them distinctive voice beyond the broadest of cliches. Note in particular the narrator and the father as examples of the worst sort of TV-drama dialogue.
The awkward, obvious social criticism is simplistic and cliched.

It all starts out very promising -- two teenage sisters left to fend for themselves in their solitary forest home, the power gone, widespread rumours about diseases and the collapse of civilisation. The environmental aspects feel important and relevant, the sisters' reactions are believable (expecting the power to come back any moment, they keep up with studies and dance training so as to be prepared once normal life starts up again).

But then the oldest sister is raped, and things start to slide downhill. I could accept the rape part, if written sensibly, but when the author cannot find a better way for her characters to heal from it than by having incestous sex with each other, well, then I'd rather find something else to read. I also got tired of all the not-so subtle stereotypes of the "men are bad, white people are bad, civilisation is bad" kind. While some of it might be true, that's certainly not all there is to it. The environmental parts that fascinated me at the outset were more or less abandoned in the favour of some sort of female/nature mythology, and the ending was a real cop-out. Skip this one.

Jean Hegland's end-of-the-world-as-we-know-it novel is very well written. The "end" is generally believable. The main characters are likeable and also believable. If you are interested in end-of-the-world novels or just well written novels, you'll enjoy this one.

I do have several problems with the novel, however. It seems that all the men portrayed in the novel are typecast right out of Feminism 101. The father, who lovingly tries to care for his two daughters as the world collapses, once took their mother away from her promising ballet career. Gee, what a jerk. Then there's the assistant store manager. He's described as crazy. Well, of course he is. Did I mention the rapist yet or would that be a spoiler?

The two girls also commit a number of incredibly bone-headed mistakes that any other person in such a situation would avoid like the plague. I realize that these mistakes are necessary to move the story, but then again, other authors in some classic end-of-the-world novels have the major characters avoid these without difficulty.

Having read numerous end-of-the-world novels, I can honestly say that there is a great difference between how many women write such novels and how most men write such novels. The female authors (even Yasbro perhaps) write much more emotional scenes. Their characters do much more soul-searching...and whining. Also, if you read the novels written by women, you might see the almost obsessive interest in food that their books often contain. I know food loss and starvation must play a large part in any end-of-the-world novel, but female authors are more obsessed with those issues than men. There's a doctoral dissertation in there somewhere, but I'm not going to write it.

Hegland's novel generally is well written in any case. That's GENERALLY well written.

Oh, and did I mention the lesbian sex scene between the two SISTERS? I think the scene was completely unnecessary. I suppose it is a feminist's living-in-the-woods sex fantasy come true. The only thing more peculiar than the incident itself is how quickly some reviewers have defended it.

As other reviewers have pointed out, the end of the novel is...well, it will disappoint a number of people simply because it doesn't make any sense.

This book is one of the hardest to swallow pills I've attempted in a long time. I do not refer to the story-- I'm referring to the manner in which it's written. I initially attempted to read through this with a friend (it was a mutual summer reading assignment for a college orientation program), but the idea was quickly abandoned. Every sentence lasted words and words beyond what would have been acceptable or eloquent. The woman can pontificate, but it's about absolutely nothing at times. She drones. The long sentences lead me to believe that she absolutely loved reading her own sentences. It seems to me like Nell is a character so wide and vague that she could only be a self-portrait of the author. I was embarassed for her at times.

In addition to bumbling sentences and uninteresting, self-absorbed description to show off her vocabulary, the book was too preachy and tried far too hard to be an Oprah's Book Club type of inspirational. I'm giving it two stars because the premise is captivating and I chuckled a few times at the father's dialogue.

As a voracious reader, I am not afraid to toss a book if it gets too dull to finish. After forcing myself to read half of this book, I began skimming it to find out when and why they finally go into the forest. I gave it one star because some of the writing was poetic, and because I like the idea of 'Nell' finally getting intelligent enough to look outside of herself for answers - finally! But I really couldn't like either girl enough to care what happened to them, and that's what makes a good story. This isn't.

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland had the potential to be a great book with an interesting plot. Two orphaned teenage sisters living on their own in the forest far from town after the collapse of society. The character development was up to par and the story was flowing smoothly, until the gratuitous incestuous sex scence between the two sisters. Ick. I put the book down in disgust. I returned to finish the book only to be disappointed with the conclusion, in which the girls burn down their house and go off to live in the forest like primitive peoples. I guess they still have each other...if the mood strikes them.

I enjoyed the prose and the flow of the book, but then well into the book, there is an entirely gratuitous lesbian sex scene between 2 sisters. It is so far into the book that it diminishes the whole of the work, and is pointless for the story line.

Reviewers who say just ignore it just CHOOSE to ignore what they secretly dont mind reading. If it were racism or homophobia, they would not ignore the point!

I haven't actually read this book, so take this with a grain of salt, but the more reviews I read the more irritated I got that so many people so easily accept, with barely an explanation, that all electricity everywhere would just stop. Pardon me? What about back up generators? What happened to them? How about alternative sources of power that are already in use such as nuclear, solar, wind, water, etc.? I am just too logical to tolerate nonsensical plot devices to humor a fledgling author . It's called deus ex machina, folks, and it went out with the Greeks. I'm going to avoid this book as I can see it is just going to aggravate me. There are too many good books for me to waste my time on a author who isn't willing to put the same effort into her plotting as she does her prose (and I'm just accepting this on faith because I can't imagine this stupid plot could have been what captivated so many readers).
I don't want to ruin the rating to much for this author considering I haven't read the book---thus the 3-stars.

I previously wrote a review for this book about a year ago, which for some reason was removed. Anyway, this book is just so ham handed with its stereotypes and its "message". Men bad, women good, earth good, natural herbs good, got it. I am fairly liberal politically, quite liberal on environmental issues, so the theme of the book sounded appealing, but the author has no sense of character development, or making charaters complex, real people; the male characters especially are so one-dimensional. And "that scene" with the sisters is repugnant, not to mention completely superfluous. Skip it.