The Icelandic Canadian - 01.11.2006, Qupperneq 36

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 60 #3
Book Reviews
Trapper’s Wife Claims to
have Found the Missing Link
by Ingi G. Bjornson
Reviewed by Gail Halldorson
$19.00
Ingi Bjornson is an enigma.
He’s a folksy woodsman—“Yup, it
just goes to show that many people would
be genuinely surprised to find out what
ingredients go into the making of per-
fumes. So, a man does not necessarily have
to lose all of his Casanova instincts merely
from being sprayed by a little skunk only
an hour prior, ...” P. 23
He’s a philosopher—“What can our
perceived personal opinions be, aside from
our upbringings of culture, caste, wealth,
and experience? Are not our opinions
merely the sum-of? What is right and what
is wrong, and are there really absolutes? P.
77
He’s a humourist—“Perhaps it is like
the statement my friend said to me: ‘Don’t
ever take Viagra and iron pills at the same
time.’ ...’Why not?’ ‘Because you’ll
always point north.’” P. 69
He’s a sensitive nature-lover—“ There
are the sounds of whistling as the wind
weaves its way through the willows and
shrubs, with percussion-like sounds com-
ing from the tall grasses mixed within.
Indeed the whole forest dances in flowing
waves of unison....The wind moving
through the trees will not be so easily inter-
preted while listening to loud music on a
Walkman, sitting by a computer screen, or
while rushing along the busy corporate
schedule.” P. 140
Ingi lives in the boreal forest of
Northern Manitoba with his wife, Cindy,
and his two sons, Forrest and Fraser. He is
a trapper, bear hunting guide, fishing guide
and camp owner. All of the stories in this
collection are taken from his own experi-
ences in the north, although the reader can
easily see he is not as naive as he sometimes
portrays himself. In Prehunt of 1997, he
seems oblivious to the fact that the
Americans coming up to hunt bear are
laughing at his 10-Step Plan B (which is
necessitated by the fact that the ice is not
off the lakes yet). He still makes it clear to
the reader, however, that they are thinking
they’re going to be enduring one of Ingi’s
unreliable multi-step plans again.
I find this pretense rather annoying. If
he really is the uncomprehending country
bumpkin he pretends to be here, then I
apologize.
In his short story, Computers are
Kinda Neat, Ingi speaks as a “certified