Being me, a 'read the book before you watch the movie' and fierce Leo DiCaprio lover, reading this book was a no brainer. Except for the fact that I generally don't enjoy western novels.
The Revenant is a story of survival and revenge, the revenge part being a keen motivation for the survival part. It centers around real-life frontiersman Hugh Glass and the episode of his life where he gets attacked by a grizzly and left to die by his two comrades who were supposed to tend for him and bury him when his time eventually came.
If you're a western lover, I'm sure you'll love this story : it's written beautifully and emotionally with a lot of love for the country and has quite an amount of encounters with Native Americans. What struck me is how you go on a journey with Glass and think about all the things you take for granted : light whenever you want, food, medicine, gps and cell phone. He's all on his own and his survival is just so very impressive.
The way Punke describes the country, the animals and Glass' pain is so real you can see it.
I'm curious to see how they translated this story in motion picture. With about 300 pages, it is a short and easy read and I would recommend it for sure.