I think transgressing in this way makes her see how she’s transgressing against herself and her own soul in other ways and makes her refind her own sense of self. First, Lou has a tendency toward self-sabotage, self-loathing, and self-punishment.

I viewed the transgressive act with Bear as serving two purposes. I didn’t find it particularly shocking, but I’m a millennial from the internet generation that grew up with the internet urban legend about the woman with the dog and the peanut butter so. Third, does she actually have sex with a bear? Ok, slight spoiler warning here. Lou’s boss is a man, and this is relevant to her negative work experience. I also thought this book does an excellent job of showing how even though librarianship is a feminized profession, those in the positions of greatest power within libraries and archives are men.

It is an exploration of what it means to be a working woman and how the world views working women, even when our work is performed outside of the public’s eye (perhaps especially when our work is performed outside of the public’s eye). Second, I would definitely say the librarian part is essential to the story. She wondered by what right she was there, and why she did what she did for a living. When the nameless Institute she works for sends her to this estate that has been left to them to inventory their materials, her time in nature and her experiences with the locals (yes, including Bear), reveals her massive burnout to her. I in all honesty would say this is a book about burnout. The point, in spite of the murmurings about it, is absolutely not about sex with a bear, whereas in erotica, the point is the sex. So, now that I got this book from the UK and read it (in one weekend), let me answer these questions for you.įirst, I wouldn’t call this erotica. Third, does she really have sex with a bear? Then I became even more intrigued when I discovered I couldn’t get this book digitally but only in print AND it’s out of print in the US so it’s far cheaper to purchase it abroad and have it sent here. First, this sounds like erotica – how is it a classic? Second, as a trained librarian I immediately wondered if the librarian part was essential to the story. There’s this book that’s considered a Canadian classic where a librarian has sex with a bear.

I don’t recall anymore how I heard about this book, but this is what I heard about it: A librarian named Lou is called to a remote Canadian island to inventory the estate of a secretive Colonel whose most surprising secret is a bear who keeps her company–shocking company.

Bear by marian engel summary