Posts
1 day ago
Showing posts with label Native Americans. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Native Americans. Show all posts
22 March 2016
Empire of the Summer Moon, S. C. Gwynne
I read this book a while ago and somehow failed to put it in this journal. My recollection of it at this point is poor. Therefore, I will provide this link to a review in the Chicago Tribune.
04 April 2015
Prudence, by David Treuer
This novel is set from about 1942 - 1952, mostly in northern Minnesota. The Washburns, Emma and Jonathan, own a summer house--"The Pines"--on a lake. Jonathan, a physician, spends only a little time there, but Emma goes for the whole summer. They employ a caretaker named Felix, who is a Native American. Several other Native Americans are among the characters, including Prudence, of the title. (Mr. Treuer is a member of the Ojibwe tribe.)
The Washburn's only son, Frankie, comes to visit just before he is about to ship out with the Army Air Force as a bombardier. Just before his arrival, a prisoner escapes from the newly-constructed prison camp not far from The Pines. Local people have formed search parties, and Frankie is eager to search for "The German."
The tragic accident that occurs at this point is the focus of the novel, which gives a good picture of what life might have been like in this area during World War II and the years right afterward. There is also an unavoidable comparison between the Holocaust and the genocide perpetrated against Native Americans by the European invaders of America.
Review and audio from NPR's Fresh Air
Washington Post Review
More than once it has occurred to me just how often the firing of a gun determines the course, outcome, or resolution of a piece of fiction. This novel is no exception.
The Washburn's only son, Frankie, comes to visit just before he is about to ship out with the Army Air Force as a bombardier. Just before his arrival, a prisoner escapes from the newly-constructed prison camp not far from The Pines. Local people have formed search parties, and Frankie is eager to search for "The German."
The tragic accident that occurs at this point is the focus of the novel, which gives a good picture of what life might have been like in this area during World War II and the years right afterward. There is also an unavoidable comparison between the Holocaust and the genocide perpetrated against Native Americans by the European invaders of America.
Review and audio from NPR's Fresh Air
Washington Post Review
More than once it has occurred to me just how often the firing of a gun determines the course, outcome, or resolution of a piece of fiction. This novel is no exception.
18 January 2015
A String of Beads, by Thomas Perry
This is a well-plotted book, the latest (I think) in a series about Jane Whitefield, a woman who is an expert in helping people disappear.
Whitefield grew up (so the story goes) in the Tonawanda Seneca clan in Western New York State.
I will read more of these, most likely. I've read better prose, and Perry employs a great deal of exposition, but the characters were interesting, and to an expatriate New Yorker, so was the setting.
Kirkus Reviews review
Whitefield grew up (so the story goes) in the Tonawanda Seneca clan in Western New York State.
I will read more of these, most likely. I've read better prose, and Perry employs a great deal of exposition, but the characters were interesting, and to an expatriate New Yorker, so was the setting.
Kirkus Reviews review
07 December 2014
Darwin's Radio, by Greg Bear
I don't think I've read anything by Greg Bear before. I'm happy to say that, as he has written quite a lot, and I will be looking forward to reading more of his work.
Darwin's Radio is science-fiction set ca. 2000. Notably absent from its technology and current events are ubiquitous "smart" phones, the overwhelming presence of the Internet (it's there, just not as "there" as it is now) and the security-hysteria of the post-11 September 2001 age. The book has its own security-hysteria, though, which comes from the general misunderstanding of a biological phenomenon that is observed as a 48-hour virus which affects heterosexual couples (there aren't any gay people in this book, either, come to think of it) and their subsequent pregnancies.
I'll admit to being more or less snowed by most of the biology in this book, but I found that I could just kind of plow through it and accept that I didn't really understand it, and still follow the story, which has more to do with the lives of its characters, and with the political mess that ensues as this phenomenon begins to proliferate.
Due to a virus, I had little ambition to do much of anything except read this weekend, so I completed this book between Friday night and Sunday morning. It's well worth reading, entertaining, and provocative.
I'm a little uncertain about Bear's politics. He seems more or less OK by my standards, but there is a mention of "Fox News" that gave me pause.
One thing I'd like to mention about this book: toward the end there is a description of childbirth that is graphic and moving. I don' t know that I've ever read a better one. While I, like Mr. Bear, have the handicap of being unable to have this experience, and so I'm not really qualified to judge its authenticity, it certainly had me convinced.
An Interview with Greg Bear.
This site numbers Darwin's Radio among "The most ludicrous depictions of evolution in science fiction."
SFReviews.net review
Darwin's Radio is science-fiction set ca. 2000. Notably absent from its technology and current events are ubiquitous "smart" phones, the overwhelming presence of the Internet (it's there, just not as "there" as it is now) and the security-hysteria of the post-11 September 2001 age. The book has its own security-hysteria, though, which comes from the general misunderstanding of a biological phenomenon that is observed as a 48-hour virus which affects heterosexual couples (there aren't any gay people in this book, either, come to think of it) and their subsequent pregnancies.
I'll admit to being more or less snowed by most of the biology in this book, but I found that I could just kind of plow through it and accept that I didn't really understand it, and still follow the story, which has more to do with the lives of its characters, and with the political mess that ensues as this phenomenon begins to proliferate.
Due to a virus, I had little ambition to do much of anything except read this weekend, so I completed this book between Friday night and Sunday morning. It's well worth reading, entertaining, and provocative.
I'm a little uncertain about Bear's politics. He seems more or less OK by my standards, but there is a mention of "Fox News" that gave me pause.
One thing I'd like to mention about this book: toward the end there is a description of childbirth that is graphic and moving. I don' t know that I've ever read a better one. While I, like Mr. Bear, have the handicap of being unable to have this experience, and so I'm not really qualified to judge its authenticity, it certainly had me convinced.
An Interview with Greg Bear.
This site numbers Darwin's Radio among "The most ludicrous depictions of evolution in science fiction."
SFReviews.net review
23 June 2014
The Miracle Life of Edgar Mint, by Barry Udall
Edgar Mint is a young boy living on an Indian reservation in Arizona. At the beginning of this book, his head is run over by the tire of a Postal Service Jeep. As a result, he spends quite a long time in a hospital, recovering (miraculously, it would seem) from his injuries. In the hospital, he meets some people who figure prominently in his life for many years.
This story is oddly captivating. I found the book one of those that I wished would go on when it was over. Edgar's naive view of the world, the lot of his fellow Native Americans, his disabilities, the Western characters who are both cruel and kind to him in this story, are all beautifully drawn. I cared about Edgar to the last period on the last page.
This story is oddly captivating. I found the book one of those that I wished would go on when it was over. Edgar's naive view of the world, the lot of his fellow Native Americans, his disabilities, the Western characters who are both cruel and kind to him in this story, are all beautifully drawn. I cared about Edgar to the last period on the last page.
27 September 2009
Bone Rattler, by Eliot Pattison
A Mystery of Colonial America. Counterpoint. 2008. 460 pages. ISBN-10: 1593761856 ISBN-13: 978-1593761851
When we heard that the author of the many Inspector Shan mysteries had written a new novel set in the American Colonies in 1758, we were eager to find out what that would be like, and were not disappointed.
Duncan McCallum is a prisoner aboard a convict ship bound for the New World. He is a Scot, unfriendly to the British king, whose life and family have been destroyed for his treason to the Empire. During the voyage, there are some strange and actually surreal events that set the stage for what transpires when he lands in New York, indentured to Lord Ramsey as a teacher for his children.
Ramsey's children include an elder daughter named Sarah, who seems afflicted with some great sadness from a past about which no one will speak. As events unfold in the New York wilderness, her story and character are revealed to be quite fascinating.
Native American lore and culture play an important role in the plot of this complex mystery. As we move deeper into the fabric of the story, the Iroquois characters increase in number, depth, and function. It is hard to read this without thinking of Pattison's obvious love and respect for the ancient culture of Tibet reflected in the Inspector Shan series. The parallels between China's invasion and destruction of Tibet and that of the British and French invasion of America and destruction of its native culture and people are unavoidable.
Pattison explores the spirituality of the natives of America in the face of the European invasion, and lays upon that the tapestry of England's exploitation and domination of Scotland and its culture and people. Scots allied with Indians against the English oppressors in this story make the point clear if not obvious. The history of our world is one of domination, disrespect for indigenous culture, and the trampling of religion and tradition in the name of whatever power has the upper hand.
With all this history and moralization included in the text, one might think this would be a dull read, but Pattison's masterful writing and plot delivery keeps us involved in this excellent mystery and more or less painlessly feeds us a great deal of factual information about the Colonial period and the deeds of those who founded what became the United States of America.
When we heard that the author of the many Inspector Shan mysteries had written a new novel set in the American Colonies in 1758, we were eager to find out what that would be like, and were not disappointed.
Duncan McCallum is a prisoner aboard a convict ship bound for the New World. He is a Scot, unfriendly to the British king, whose life and family have been destroyed for his treason to the Empire. During the voyage, there are some strange and actually surreal events that set the stage for what transpires when he lands in New York, indentured to Lord Ramsey as a teacher for his children.
Ramsey's children include an elder daughter named Sarah, who seems afflicted with some great sadness from a past about which no one will speak. As events unfold in the New York wilderness, her story and character are revealed to be quite fascinating.
Native American lore and culture play an important role in the plot of this complex mystery. As we move deeper into the fabric of the story, the Iroquois characters increase in number, depth, and function. It is hard to read this without thinking of Pattison's obvious love and respect for the ancient culture of Tibet reflected in the Inspector Shan series. The parallels between China's invasion and destruction of Tibet and that of the British and French invasion of America and destruction of its native culture and people are unavoidable.
Pattison explores the spirituality of the natives of America in the face of the European invasion, and lays upon that the tapestry of England's exploitation and domination of Scotland and its culture and people. Scots allied with Indians against the English oppressors in this story make the point clear if not obvious. The history of our world is one of domination, disrespect for indigenous culture, and the trampling of religion and tradition in the name of whatever power has the upper hand.
With all this history and moralization included in the text, one might think this would be a dull read, but Pattison's masterful writing and plot delivery keeps us involved in this excellent mystery and more or less painlessly feeds us a great deal of factual information about the Colonial period and the deeds of those who founded what became the United States of America.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
