Book Description
"A path-breaking work, rich and mature, complex but readily accessible. It unites the many facets of . . . 25 years of innovative research and leads us out of the once-irresolvable dilemmas of contemporary archaeology."--Geoffrey W. Conrad, William Hammond Mathers Museum, Indiana University
"Charts a new course toward a broader understanding of Taino society, myth, and archaeology at the dawn of the Spanish colonial period. His approach livens the archaeological record and illuminates our reading of the documentary record."--Dave D. Davis, Tulane University
Applying the legend of the "stranger king" to Caonabo, the mythologized Taino chief of the Hispaniola settlement Columbus invaded in 1492, Keegan examines how myths come to resonate as history--created by the chaotic interactions of the individuals who lived the events of the past as well as those who write and read about them. The "stranger king" story told in many cultures is that of a foreigner who comes from across the water, marries the king's daughter, and deposes the king. In this story, Caonabo, the most important TaÃno chief at the time of European conquest, claimed to be imbued with Taino divinity, while Columbus, determined to establish a settlement called La Navidad, described himself as the "Christbearer."
Keegan's ambitious historical analysis--knitting evidence from Spanish colonial documents together with data gathered from the archaeological record--provides a new perspective on the encounters between the two men as they vied for control of the settlement, a survey of the early interactions of the Tainos and Spanish people, and a complex view of the interpretive role played by historians and archaeologists. Presenting a new theoretical framework based on chaos and complexity theories, this book argues for a more comprehensive philosophy of archaeology in which oral myths, primary source texts, and archaeological studies can work together to reconstruct a particularly rich view of the past.
Customer Reviews:
Beyond Archaeology.......2007-09-22
Archaeologists who cannot go beyond archaeology are just grave diggers. And Bill Keegan's recent work entitled Taino Indian Myth and Practice is an impressive effort to go beyond to enter the world of ethnohistory, mythology and linguistics and return the amerindian past some of its humanity. But more so when his attention is focused on the life and deeds of an individual, taino chief Caonabo of Maguana, who just happens to be the first american leader to oppose european conquest as early as 1493 in what was to be called Hispaniola. Caonabo is the first heroe for all of America. The interdisciplinary approach to history is the only intelligent way to recuperate the past with its human meaning. My congratulations !
Book Description
The story of the Sioux who moved into the Canadian-American borderlands in the later years of the nineteenth century is told in its entirety for the first time here. Previous histories have been divided by national boundaries and have focused on the famous personages involved, paying scant attention to how Native peoples on both sides of the border reacted to the arrival of the Sioux. Using material from archives across North America, Canadian and American government documents, Lakota winter counts, and oral history, Living with Strangers reveals how the nineteenth-century Sioux were a people of the borderlands. The Sioux made great tactical use of the Canada-United States boundary. They traded with the Métis of Canada-often in contraband goods such as arms and ammunition-and tried to get better prices from European traders by drawing the Hudson's Bay Company into competition with American traders. They opened negotiations with both Canadian and American officials to determine which government would accord them better treatment, and they used the boundary as a shield in times of warfare with the United States. Until now, the Canadian-American borderlands and the people who live there have remained a blind spot in Canadian and American nationalist historiographies. Living with Strangers takes readers beyond the traditional dichotomy of the Canadian and the American West and reveals significant and previously unknown strands in Sioux history. David G. McCrady is an independent historian living in Winnipeg.
Customer Reviews:
Rich with values and conflict that are sure to keep readers occupied long into the night.......2007-02-09
While Kaya still feels that she is mourning her beloved friend, Swan Circling, who recently passed on, she can't help but feel excited to be getting ready to celebrate the winter Spirit Dances. It is during these dances that Kaya's village will finally speak of Swan Circling, and wish her a happy passing, as well as celebrate the spirits of the past. While Kaya is helping to prepare these celebrations, she will spend much of her time looking after the little ones, as she has not yet been on her vision quest. Therefore, she is still considered a child. However, when a mysterious stranger arrives in Kaya's village, injured, and refusing to speak - either vocally or through signs - Kaya finds herself looking after more than just children, but looking after the silent stranger, as well. The stranger looks harmless, but, at night, she thrashes about, the victim of horrifying dreams and nightmares that plague her once the sun goes down; and, in the day, she takes Kaya's dog, Tatlo, with her as she explores the mountains, and searches for something that no one else can see. Kaya is confused as to why this stranger is not only silent, but why she is traveling alone, without a tribe. With the help of some of her friends, she attempts to uncover exactly what this stranger is here for, and why she acts so unresponsive and ungrateful at the friendly gestures her tribe provides to the woman. But, as Kaya digs deeper, she learns of a secret that the woman is keeping. One that even she did not know was hidden beneath her heart. And Kaya, even at her young age, must look inside her own heart, and place her dislike for this stranger aside, in an attempt to help save her from the demons that are riddling her mind, and give her some comfort. But sometimes it's hard for someone as young and Kaya to make an impact on an adult. Especially an adult who wants to be left alone to wallow in her own misery.
While I have read almost every AMERICAN GIRL book that has ever been released, I have never had the pleasure to read Kaya's tales, so THE SILENT STRANGER was actually my first taste of Kaya's lifestyle, and family. I can, in all honesty, admit that it will certainly not be my last. I have been fascinated with the ways of Native Americans for years, and always enjoyed the addition of them in the Kirsten Larson books, so I was extremely happy to see many of the customs they celebrate featured in this particular mystery. Kaya is a wonderful character, whose kind heart, caring nature, love for her animals, and do-good attitude make her appealing from the get-go. Her inner struggle to help the mysterious woman who invades her village, while at the same time feeling a dislike towards her for hogging Tatlo is invigorating to read about, and really gives the reader a chance to view conflict first-hand. I adored the fact that there is a blind character, Kaya's sister, Speaking Rain, as she truly illustrates the struggles of a blind girl in such an era - from relying on her sense of hearing and smell to really experience everything around her. Speaking Rain, while not being featured much throughout the story, is a heroic character, and her inclusion in the tale will, most certainly, teach readers more about facing life with such a disadvantage, and how appreciative they should be of their own health; while, at the same time, making her an interesting, unique character, who is both independent and brave, and extremely lovable. The interactions she shares with Kaya are enjoyable, and it's delightful to see no sign of sibling rivalry between the two of them - just sisterly love. Rich with values and conflict that are sure to keep readers occupied long into the night.
Erika Sorocco
Freelance Reviewer
Wonderful Story teaches value of nonjudgment.......2006-02-01
Kaya tries to befriend an injured stranger who is brought to their village. The women either can't or choses not to speak. When the woman does not respond the way Kaya expects she has difficulty trusting the woman. Much of the plot is discussed already so I will just add my thoughts. This book teaches the importances of not passing judgment based on how things and people may appear on the surface. Yes there is a sad part when a dog is killed by a cougar, but I feel death is something most kids of an age to be reading this can handle the way it is portrayed. My daughter is only 5 and very emotional so I told her prior to reading the book that I had heard that a dog dies in the book and did she think it would be too sad to read, she asked if it was Tatlo and I told her I didn't think so. (It's not.) She chose to read it anyway and I think having the information to expect the sad part made it better in her case. The conversations we have had based on this book have been wonderful. I do recommend that parents consider reading this book with their child as it has many good points to discuss. In my case I read it to my daughter but with an older child you could have them read it to you. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the Kaya books probably as much as my daughter did.
Very good!.......2005-12-15
I really enjoyed reading this book.I would say it`s good for girls atleast over the age of 10 to read.A strange woman comes to Kaya`s village.She is troubled by dreams and cannot speak to any one in their village.Kaya wants to help the poor woman and at first the woman will not accept it.In the end Kaya finds out the real truth and is able to help this troubled stranger.
WARNING.......2005-06-12
Many, many tears have been shed over this book by my nine year old daughter. For reasons I do not understand...reasons that were completely unrelated to the storyline, a little dog that Kaya adores is killed by a cougar. There is absolutely no need to put this in the book. There are plenty of dead dogs in other books such as Where the Red Fern Grows for children to read when they are older, but why would anyone writing for little girls need to add this disturbing part of the book??
Great mystery for Kaya fans........2005-02-25
Kaya and her band of Nez Perce Indians have settled into their winter home in the Salmon River Country, and are preparing for the upcoming winter Spirit Dances. One day, two of Kaya's cousins find an injured young woman lost in the wilderness. They bring her back to the village. Kaya names the stranger Hawk Woman, and is determined to reach her. But Hawk Woman refuses to communicate and seems lost in her own world, and Kaya's beloved dog, Tatlo, seems to have abandoned Kaya for this strange woman. Kaya is worried that Hawk Woman may want to harm them, and so she decides to try and find out where the woman has come from, and why she was all alone.
This is good historical mystery that fans of the American Girls Collection, in particular those that are special fans of Kaya, are sure to enjoy. It's a longer, more detailed story than the other American Girls Collection books, so readers who are beginning to outgrow the regular books will appreciate the added length. It can also be enjoyed by girls who haven't read other American Girls books but who love historical mysteries. I really enjoyed this book, and I look forward to reading the other books in the new American Girls mystery series.
Customer Reviews:
Strangers in Blood.......2006-06-11
This book has a high "fog factor" and is difficult to read. It uses academic jargon and long sentences. The structure is complex and confusing. That is not to say that the book is inconsequential; indeed, the subject matter is quite important. It is simply difficult to access it through this book.
The back cover accurately describes the book as looking systematically at the families and offspring of the upper echelon of the Hudson Bay Company and the North West Company. Unfortunately, this was a male-dominated business and a male-dominated period in history. Men kept the written records. The author of "Strangers in Blood" relies heavily on anecdotal accounts of individuals, complete with many direct quotes. Thus, this is a book that follows the men of the fur trade. Their wives and offspring become adjuncts. The book partially compensates for this by providing information on societal pressures within the fur trade, as well as in Canada and England at the time. It also addresses the policies of the fur companies relative to dependents.
The book characterizes and contrasts family connections in the Hudson Bay Company and the Northwest Company. The presentation is roughly chronological from the late 1700 to the mid 1800s. The 1821 merger of the two companies is a focal point. Chapters and subchapters move back and forth between the two companies; as well as between various topics of gender and types of family relationships. The focus is on individuals, with every page containing a confusing array of proper names. The names of key individuals (men) reappear constantly until the reader longs for a wall chart to keep them straight. The author has even provided a few small pieces of such a chart and they are helpful.
One comes away with the feeling that the men of the fur trade took more responsibility for their families than one might expect. They usually tried to place their offspring, both male and female, in a position to start a life of their own. That included at least some education; an apprenticeship for men, and marriage for women. Fewer men stayed committed to the mothers of their children but some of the relationships were life-long.
From the early 1820s on, one man, George Simpson, had great influence over the fur trade and the people involved with it. He directed the Hudson Bay Company through the merger with the Northwest Company and for forty years afterward. He influenced the tenor of the fur trade and everything connected with it. Ms Brown shows his impact to be more negative than positive. Simpson, the clergy, and English women all arrived on the scene at about the same time. The result was increased racism, emphasis on class, and moral disapproval of "country marriages." These semi-formal unions with Indians and mixed-bloods were prevalent in the fur trade up until that time. The problems of integrating the descendents of the fur traders into society continue in Canada today.
Finally, I even want to complain about the title. "Strangers in Blood" is an English legal term for relationships that exist "in blood" but the law refuses to admit as legitimate. This book is about a much broader range of relationships. The author recognizes the problem in the final chapter. Someone in the publishing process should have insisted on a better title.
Book Description
The man in black and the woman he loves help a small town targeted by cattle rustlers. Can the Stranger keep Jim Logan's family from destruction and rescue a beautiful woman separated from the man she loves?
Customer Reviews:
Great Christian Fiction Western.......2001-06-01
This is the first Al Lacy book I've gotten my hands on & I'm hooked! The story was a little hard to follow at first because of all the character stories getting linked to the stranger. I wanted to read all of Al Lacy's series in the order they were published, but I'll take them as I have access to them. I'm just sorry I can't afford to buy them all!
Angel Of Grace!.......2000-02-12
I just loved reading this book. I have many books by Al Lacy and he is a great writer. He really knows how to send messages and to get the message across. All of the books I have read have kept my attention. I read pretty fast and I am normally done with one of your books with in the hour. I read all of the books over and over again. I just wanted to tell you that God has blessed you with a talent and you are using it in the way I would think He would like. I am reviewing this book and I just want to say that this book is one of the best books I have ever read. I love it.
A western legend with a Christian foundation........1999-09-03
The legend of John Stranger, preacher and gunhawk, continues in this second book of the Journeys of the Stranger series. True to his writing style, Al Lacy moves the reader from one heart-pounding situation to the next, weaving the romantic tale of John Stranger and Breanna Baylor into a series of gunfights, fistfights, and hostage situations. Though this novel includes a few premature medical procedures (the Heimlich maneuver used in the post Civil War era?!?), the action-packed writing and achingly ill-fated romance keeps the reader hooked. A great read for those who choose to enjoy their westerns served "straight up", without the seemingly obligatory swear words and sex scenes.
Another excellent action packed western with romance........1996-12-30
This is a must read for anyone who loves fast moving, westerns with romance, action, and a God fearing hero. Once you read this book, you will want to pick up every Al Lacy western you can get your hands on
Average customer rating:
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Our Son a Stranger: Adoption Breakdown and Its Effects on Parents
Marie Adams
Manufacturer: McGill-Queen's University Press
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ASIN: 0773524002 |
Book Description
Book Four of the Journeys of the Stranger series finds the legendary John Stranger summoned to Apache Junction, Arizona, where a hard-fought land dispute between the local Apache and Zuni Indians has led to the wedding-day kidnapping of the son of Arizona's governor. As terms for his return, the warriors demand weapons that can only escalate the fighting between the tribes, as well as the white men who come to the area looking for gold or-as it's known to the Indians-"Tears of the Sun." Readers will experience the drama and adventure as John Stranger fights to rescue Ben Wheeler and shares the tears of a very different "Son" in a dramatic new installment of the Journeys of the Stranger.
Book Description
This collection of pieces is arranged using a series of 12 repeated questions, such as "How will you begin?" "Describe a morning you woke without feat?" and "Who was responsible for the suffering of your mother?" The manuscript is set in diverse places - Punjab, Afghanistan, Central America, England, Arizona - where the meditations on the 'interrogations' considered by the narrator are described in language that is segmented and seeking.
These short pieces reveal new ways of belonging in the world and possibilities for an art grounded in a 'localized' cosmopolitan culture.
Customer Reviews:
A Beautiful Cycle of Poems.......2005-04-19
This book is a lovely cycle of poetic exchanges between women. It is structured creatively as a type of philosophical dialogic touching upon the intersections of word, flesh, and spirit. A beautiful read, very worthwhile. VERTICAL INTERROGATION OF STRANGERS will make you think about life, womanhood, the world, and language: pretty much everything in one gorgeous collection.
This is not love, it's a baby changing itself........2004-05-04
Unfortunately I can not give this book a positive review. I bought the book based on a recommendation from a friend who knows my tastes in Poetry (Trackl, Jorie Graham, Kinnell). There was a great disparity in the comparisons to say the least. On the surface the language seems poetic. The connections seem deep. It seems as if she has done her homework. However, after the second and third readings it soon becomes apparent that this writer puts on a good front but lacks the depth of a true poet. She begins with an image, a thought, place or concept. By the end she twists it into nothing but a series of words that sound like they might have meaning but in reality they are the words of a writer who couldn't keep it together long enough to finish the connection and insteads just glosses it over with some fruity words. I don't care what anybody says, poetry means and simply because someone strings a few words together this does not make meaning. She writes, "The distances between my body and the bodies of the ones I love: grow. They are limited by coasts. I have a few questions to ask, but I do not know how to break the growing silence. I breathe in the salty mist, walk back along the wild, shifting edge of everything." She does this over and over again. She sets up the reader with something concrete then the flowery language starts with no meaningful connections. She does this over and over again. A true poet holds it together until the very end. She can not.
-George
The fluidity of intelligence.......2003-07-22
I highly recommend this wonderful book. If you enjoy work that challenges and breathes, then pick this book. Amazingly gentle and deliciously tender.
Average customer rating:
- very interesting
- My Personal Favorite
- Strangers You Should Know
- 'Strangers You Should Know
- Dreaming your reality
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Killing Time With Strangers (Sun Tracks, V. 45)
W. S. Penn
Manufacturer: University of Arizona Press
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ASIN: 0816520534 |
Book Description
Palimony Blue Larue, a mixblood growing up in a small California town, suffers from a painful shyness and wants more than anything to be liked. That's why Mary Blue, his Nez Perce mother, has dreamed the weyekin, the spirit guide, to help her bring into the world the one lasting love her son needs to overcome the diffidence that runs so deep in his blood. The magical (and not totally competent) weyekin pops in and out of Pal's life at the most unexpected times--and in the most unlikely guises--but seems to have difficulty setting him on the right path. Is there any hope for Palimony Blue?
Don't ask his father, La Vent Larue; La Vent is past hope, past help, a city zoning planner and a pawn in the mayor's development plans who ends up crazy and in jail after he shoots the mayor in the--well, never mind. Better to ask Pal's mother, who summons the weyekin when she isn't working on a cradle board for Pal and his inevitable bride. And while you're at it, ask the women in Pal's life: Sally the preacher's daughter, Brandy the waitressing flautist, Tara the spoiled socialite. And be sure to ask Amanda, if you can catch her. If you can dream her.
What more can be said about a book that has to be read to the end in order to get to the beginning? That Killing Time with Strangers is unlike any novel you have read before? Or perhaps that it is agonizingly familiar, giving us glimpses of a young man finding his precarious way in life? But when the power of dreaming is unleashed, time becomes negotiable and life's joys and sorrows go up for grabs. And as sure as yellow butterflies will morph into Post-It notes, you will know you have experienced a new and utterly captivating way of looking at the world.
Customer Reviews:
very interesting.......2007-05-13
This is a book about dreaming. In native north american culture folks "dreamed" their lives. this is an excellent portrayal of this in (basically) present time case. This book conveys examples to some of the plights current youths face, having split up and mixed backrounds in native american heritage. But also the fading way of dreamers, people who IMAGINED life before letting it happen. Highly recommended if you have read anything about dreaming, also recommended if you know nothing about it but are open to the idea that reality is what you make it. A wonderful story stand-alone as well.
My Personal Favorite.......2002-04-04
I was impressed by W.S. Penn's Killing Time with Strangers. I thought the author was witty, intellegent, and understanding. The characters in the book were well developed, as was the plot of the story. I would be forced to disagree with anyone who rated this book less than a 5, for I have not only bought this book for myself, but also for my friends and family as gifts. This book has everything, romance, adventure, and a part of all of us that connot be left out. The author has a unique understanding of humanity, and therefore, his story telling is enhanced. This book can be enjoyed by everyone, no matter what their character. I was so happy that this book won last year's American Book Award, (obviously this proves my point about this being a good book). After reading this book, I know you will rush out to buy all of W.S. Penn's books.I reccomend this book over all other books on this website. Thank you all for your time.
Strangers You Should Know.......2001-10-25
William Penn's novel Killing Time with Strangers, winner of an American Book Award for 2000, is not just exceptional literary craft, it's great fun. Penn seems to be saying some wonderful, optimistic things about the human condition, while poking fun at our preoccupation with the trivial and forcing us to consider basic questions, such as, what are we really doing here? Is life really just a matter of `this, then that?' Such questions are gently woven into a highly imaginative and extremely funny story. The novel shows us the LaRue family, and in particular, son Palimony Blue, whose tale is narrated by a weyekin, or Indian spirit guide, dreamed by his mother Mary. The story works on many different levels. Its structure is highly sophisticated yet unless you are examining it from the perspective of literary criticism (which you can -- this work has already received one prestigious award, and will no doubt be examined in college classrooms, if it isn't already) -- you just appreciate the ease with which it joins the stories of Pal's family, his mixblood Indian father, Indian mother, generations of native American ancestors, the story of Pal himself from infant to man, the women in Pal's life, the loves of his life (including his one true love, Amanda), ending with hope and promise in the birth of his own children. The book shows you, in splendid real-life color, the connections between all things. Before Pal is able to dream his true love, Amanda, he seeks, finds or thinks he finds, Love in a series of humorous and often lustful encounters along the way with many colorful 'strangers'. These characters make for a very entertaining story. And, unlike so many books thrown at us today by popular writers, where the characters are `born, drink coffee and die', and whose messages (if any) don't matter one whit to life or literature, this book offers in a new and imaginative way some reassuring messages: that love really makes a difference; and we can (and need to try) to hope and dream a better world. Along the way, Dreaming is an engine that propels us, and a vehicle to create our path and vision. And laughter is, still, wonderful medicine for what ails us.
Also recommended (same author): This is the World (short stories): The Absence of Angels (novel); Feathering Custer (essays); All My Sins Are Relatives; As We Are Now (Editor, essays); The Telling of the World (Native American folk tales)
'Strangers You Should Know.......2001-10-19
William Penn's novel "Killing Time with Strangers", winner of the American Book Award for 2000, is not just exceptional literary craft, it's great fun. Penn seems to be saying some wonderful, optimistic things about the human condition, while poking fun at our preoccupation with the trivial, and forcing us to consider basic questions, such as, what are we really doing here? Is life really just a matter of `this, then that?'
Such questions are gently threaded into a highly imaginative and extremely funny story. The novel shows us the LaRue family, and in particular, son Palimony Blue, whose tale is narrated by a weyekin, or Indian spirit guide, dreamed by his mother Mary. The story works on many different levels. Its structure is highly sophisticated yet unless you are examining it from the perspective of literary criticism (which you can -- this work has won one prestigious award already and will likely be examined in college classrooms, it's that good!) -- you just appreciate the ease with which it joins the stories of Pal's family, his mixblood Indian father, Indian mother, generations of native American ancestors, the story of Pal himself from infant to man, the women in Pal's life, the loves of his life (including his one true love, Amanda) and finally, the hope and promise of the future, the birth of Pal's children. The book shows you, in splendid real-life color, the connections between them all.
Before Pal is able to dream his true love, Amanda, he seeks, finds or thinks he finds, Love in a series of humorous and often lustful encounters along the way with many colorful "strangers". These characters make for a very entertaining story. And, unlike so many books thrown at us today by popular writers, where the characters are `born, drink coffee and die', and whose messages (if any) are momentous in the sense only of, 'of the moment', and don't really matter a whit to life or literature, this book offers in a new and imaginative way some enduring and reassuring messages: that love may really make, not just 'a' difference, but 'the' difference; and we can (and need to try) to hope and dream a better way in this world. Along the way, Dreaming is both an engine that propels us, and a powerful vehicle to create our path and vision. And laughter is, still, wonderful medicine for what ails us.
Dreaming your reality.......2001-05-16
After reading this book, I think that Magical Realism, Native American style, may catch on as a distinct genre. The author, an "urban mixblood Nex Perce" is an English professor and it shows through in echoes from classical literature, but Penn also includes the classics of the Americas (such as the Popul Vuh) which makes this work unique and why I think that Penn may have opened up a whole new genre (if anybody can follow this act).
"Without storytelling, human beings don't exist" says Penn's narrator (a "Wyekin" or spirit guide, who, in his comic incopetence reminds me of Ed's Indian spirit guide in TV's "Northern Exposure").
This is the story of Palimony Blue Larue, son of Mary Blue and La Vent Larue, misnamed in the hospital becuase a nurse couldn't imagine anybody naming thier kid "Palomino" after a horse! So Pal goes through life trying to please and be liked as his father before him did, while his mother and her Weyekin spirit guide try to prevent him from making his father's mistakes and teach him how to dream his way out of the white world. His mother didn't want him in their world. Says Mary Blue, "I want him to envision and make a world of his own in which they are not foolish but all their knowledge and instinct don't matter because they don't have any effect."
This must have been the spirit that prompted the famous Ghost Dance.
Pal's mother, Mary Blue, is the spider woman on the set, goddess of wisdom and time, endlessly beading and feeding strangers and friends the way Penelope did - or one of the Fates. She has "...years of her Dreamer's practice at harmony, at the balance that comes from not judging until it's time and even when it became time, ususally not judging the person but maybe the results, and not harshly, which came full circle from the balance achieved by not judging, but putting the thing itself in perspective, by connecting it to five hundred years of human activity and thought, by seeing that very little about real human beings really changes. Once you realize that, once you learn to dream, which helps to create that realization, you gain humor - sometimes, outright laughter - but always the humor that is the resilience of survival."
How much of this is like the Australian aboriginal dreamtime, I wonder?
Pal gradually catches on, but with his own spin. His yellow butterflies become post-it notes by which he dreams his ideal woman, Amanda, into existence. But Amanda does declare towards the end of the book that "I'm real." Not something Pal dreamed. "Dreaming is an imaginative act. But it's very real," he says. "Like telling stories. The Navajo beleive that by articulating something, putting it into words, you actually make it exist. You bring it into being. Dreaming's like that. It makes things exist by imagining them with power. It makes them exist by imagining a world in which they mean a lot."
Pal's epiphany comes when he burns his post-it notes and says they're "dead lectures...names and dates and questions that have to mean what people have already decided they have to mean. Not a single hidden meaning in one of them. Nothing that lets you glimpse the other side of things or look for what's behind or between the words, like stories."
Besides the classical references, there are echoes of other authors in this work - Erdrich and Silko, Anaya and even Alexie - but Penn still has his own voice. He could have used a better editor who would have weeded out sentences such as, "Odd how they don't want their listeners to take part in how their stories make the world, though, isn't it?" which is simplistic at best and patronizing at worst. And you have to connect the dots and pay attention or else you have to go back and check the author's definition of terms. But it's worth it for the world view.
I'm making this work sound like a literary exercise - which it isn't. It's an entertaining story, but you have to pay attention or miss the point. You have to read it to the end to get to the beginning. So it's not light reading. But again, it's worth it.
pamhan99@aol.com
Books:
- The Art of War by Sun Tzu - Special Edition
- The Blind Side: Evolution of a Game
- The Cancer Treatment Revolution: How Smart Drugs and Other New Terapies are Renewing Our Hope and Changing the Face of Medicine
- The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-term Health
- The Complete Pinball Book: Collecting the Game and Its History (Schiffer Book for Collectors) (Schiffer Book for Collectors)
- The Epic of Gilgamesh: An English Verison with an Introduction (Penguin Classics)
- The Explorations of Captain James Cook in the Pacific
- The Gardens of Roberto Burle Marx
- The Lost: A Search for Six of Six Million
- The Naval War of 1812 (Modern Library War)
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- The New Yorker Book of Dog Cartoons
- The Transparent Touch
- Kitchener: Architect of Victory, Artisan of Peace
The Archaeology of the Caribbean (Cambridge World Archaeology)
Cave of the Jagua: The Mythological World of the Tainos
Sons of Yocahu: A Saga of the Tainos' Devastation on Hispaniola
The Tainos: Rise and Decline of the People Who Greeted Columbus
The Earliest Inhabitants: The Dynamics of the Jamaican Taino
