A report to Matt Bell’s In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods

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A report to Matt Bell’s In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods

Matt Bell’s novel, In the House upon the Dirt between the Lake and the Woods is a very remarkable book. The book talks about love, marriage, and the challenges that come along when two people choose to stay together. The main characters in this book, the unnamed husband and his wife set out to start their marriage life far away from their home. As a result of this, the married couple departs to the wilderness, an untamed wilderness, where soon after they discover that it is not easy living there.

In deed, as Edna St. Vincent the poet writes “Love is not all,” this is true. There is more to love than what meets the eye and Matt Bell clearly shows this. As the couple starts their lives in the wilderness, the husband soon takes up his roles as the provider of the house while the wife tends to her husband. This is evident in the roles that the husband does, building a house as well as gathering food. As much as marriage is meant for companionship, recreation is also a very central part of it and this couple soon longs for children. Several times before their first born, the couple faces challenges resulting from crushed fetuses which drive the husband mad to the extent of eating one of them. With the boy at hand, the jealousy in the husband causes the wife to withdraw with the son from him and find a place where they will be safe. He is left alone in their house recalling what his father taught him about marriage life.

Personal reflection

The journey through this book was interesting as well as breathtaking. It takes the reader through a series of events that the author narrates in a way done by no other. The author in his uniqueness brings out a special way of expressing emotion of his characters. This is made possible by the way he brings fiction into his work, making it alive in the narration that surpasses all other fairy tale stories that are common with many fiction writers. The writing styles of Jorge Luis Borges and Italo Calvino are at some point evident in this book.............