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House Made of Dawn

3.62 of 5 stars 3.62 · rating details · 2,326 ratings · 175 reviews

The magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of a proud stranger in his native land.

He was a young American Indian named Abel, and he lived in two worlds. One was that of his father, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, the ecstasy of the drug called peyote. The other was the world of the twentieth century, goading him into a compulsive c...more

Paperback, 198 pages

Published May 2nd 2000 by McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages (first published 1968)

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The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven by Sherman Alexie

Native American Fiction

25th out of 406 books — 255 voters

Pulitzer Winners: Fiction & Novels

54th out of 85 books — 914 voters

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Aug 08, 2007 Sean Forbes rated it 2 of 5 stars

I found some amazing quotes from the text about the Southwestern landscape, which I loved. I felt, however, that the characters of Abel and his grandfather, Francisco, are an enigma to me. I don't have a lasting memory of them as vivid characters. But what does stand out in the text is the landscape. Perhaps that was Momaday's main point.

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Apr 02, 2008 Christy rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: native-american-lit-and-history, readinglist1

House Made of Dawn is built on the model provided by John Joseph Mathews' Sundown and D'Arcy McNickle's The Surrounded: mixed race Indian finds himself unable to fit in on the reservation or in white culture. Momaday adds to this formula the fact that his protagonist, Abel, is an American war veteran as well as a more experimental narrative structure.

Momaday's novel is important less because it breaks new ground thematically (it doesn't, really) than it is because of its status as the first nove...more

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Feb 08, 2013 Thing Two rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Thing Two by: Rollins Winter with the Writers

Shelves: pulitzer-prizes-winner, rollins-winter-with-the-writers, ylto-rl-alphabet-challenge

Scott Momaday presents the story of Francesco, an old man living in the past. Woven into this story are the lives of other characters - Father Olguin, Abel, Tosomah - who live in the present, but also in the past. Momaday is exploring the past and its relationship with the present using dreams, myths, and symbols. Momaday is also a poet and artist, and his understanding of the oral tradition of storytelling comes across in his beautifully written sentences. However, and this is a big however, th...more

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Sep 07, 2007 Mark rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: pulitzers

I read this book in one sitting. I found it extremely well written, and throughout I felt like I was existing with the characters. This book achingly portrayed the plight of Native Americans in the middle of the twentieth century, torn between the ancient and modern ways, scourged by alcoholism. I really liked the way Momaday interspersed past and present, the same way that people actually experience life, in their minds. Although this work saddens me on behalf of the protagonist, it does offer...more

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Feb 11, 2009 Julie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Not a book one can rush through, and with it's lush, poetic prose why would you? Momaday captures the intrisic connections between the natural, spiritual and human worlds that are part of the American Indian experience. Pulitzer prize winner 1969.

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Dec 19, 2012 Nick rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Sep 25, 2012 Zeo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: colonialism-and-post, holocausts-and-diasporas, being-the-other, recovery, manhood

Okay, so, this is such a disjointed novel, told via descriptions of the settings of memories, and I read it so long ago, that it's hard to remember the whole picture or even much of the plot, but I had noted this quote down:

But the shoes were brown and white. They were new, almost, and shiny and beautiful; and they squeaked when he walked. In the only frame of reference he had ever known, they called attention to themselves simply, honestly. They were brown and white; they were finely crafted an...more

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Apr 13, 2012 Demisty Bellinger rated it 3 of 5 stars

So much of this book is description, hardly any dialog, and, it seems, most of what is being described are the landscapes, particularly the canyon area where Abel and his tribe—the Cañon de San Diego—live. Sometimes, Momaday offers the landscapes of the body, such as a brief description of Abel and Angela Grace St. John's bodies when they make love:

"She was very pale in her nakedness, and slight. But her body was supple and round. Her throat was long and her shoulders narrow and tapered. Her bre...more

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Apr 13, 2011 Kate Barber rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: contemporary-native-american-litera

Both Francisco and Abel are strongly connected to the past within this text, each paragraph of the present is contrasted against one of the past despite the fact that there is a generational gap between the grandfather and grandson. The past is strongly linked with better times, Francisco recalls “that year he killed seven bucks and seven does” (p.8) reminiscing over better times of his youth, before the problems of the present arise again, haunting him more than any past could. There seems to b...more

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Oct 22, 2010 Mikhilc rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. As a reader, I greatly enjoyed Navarre Scott Momaday’s novel House Made of Dawn. Momaday creates a unique and enticing read, as he uses a combination of oral tales and personal imagination to eloquently describe the psychological war a young Pueblo boy is faced with.
The book begins with a young boy named Abel returning from service in World War II to his home in the small rural town of Walatowa, New Mexico. In the beginning pages of the book, we can see Abel is changed from his war experience...more As a reader, I greatly enjoyed Navarre Scott Momaday’s novel House Made of Dawn. Momaday creates a unique and enticing read, as he uses a combination of oral tales and personal imagination to eloquently describe the psychological war a young Pueblo boy is faced with.
The book begins with a young boy named Abel returning from service in World War II to his home in the small rural town of Walatowa, New Mexico. In the beginning pages of the book, we can see Abel is changed from his war experiences, as he drunkenly stumbles off the bus into his grandfather’s arms, unable to recognize him. Right from the start, Momaday points out the social dislocation Abel faces, as he is torn between his native heritage and the industrialized world of contemporary America. This separation is further distanced as the novel progresses. Abel begins to have an affair with a white outsider woman named Angela St. John. Furthermore, he can no longer speak the native language, nor properly participate in the native ceremonies. At the Festival of Santiago, he is put to shame by an albino outsider who ceremonially smears Abel with the blood of a rooster. Later that night, Abel kills the albino man with a knife in a drunken daze, and is jailed. Abel’s life continues to spiral downward after he is released from prison seven years later. He still resorts to alcohol, losing his friends and job. Abel is finally awakened from this curse by the death of his grandfather and returns to the native reservation.
Overall, the House Made of Dawn gets a thumbs up rating. I was initially enticed by Momaday’s unique writing style and forced to read by curiosity. I believe it was because of the personality Momaday put in the story that really caught my attention. As the plot progressed, I found myself on Abel’s side as he struggled with alcoholism and psychological warfare.
The book is narrated in third-person through the author’s viewpoint for the beginning section, but is later switched to Abel’s view for a large portion. The author tells the story after the events had happened, so the majority of the novel is flashbacks and memories that Abel recalls. This allowed me to get a sense of Abel’s mind before and after it was corrupted. There is little dialogue throughout the book, making it slightly tiresome, but Momaday makes up for it in his beautiful landscape depictions. Momaday’s imageries made me feel like I was among the characters and created vivid pictures in my head. I admire Momaday’s personal approach writing style because it really allows the reader to get into the characters psyche. When reading the book, you can almost hear what the characters are thinking I also enjoyed Momaday’s originality of narration because I have never seen it before, and it was fun to read.
House Made of Dawn was difficult to read because the events were not in chronological order. Most of the book was set after the events had passed, and were told while reminiscing on past memories. I did not understand much of the first section, until reading further which was irritating. I appreciate clarity of presentation just as much as I value unique literature, so this aspect of the novel was off-putting.
It was difficult for me to show sympathy towards Abel for his addiction to alcohol. Although it was a reaction to his social conflict, it was a cowardly thing to do. In turn it ended up messing up his life, and hopefully will teach others not to do the same. I would give Momoday’s House Made of Dawn 4 out of 5 stars. I really enjoyed this piece of literature because of its vivid descriptions and intriguing plotline. I felt like I connected with this piece on a personal level and would definitely recommend reading it.

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Mar 18, 2013 Allie Whiteley rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is a fascinating novel but for me it was hard to follow. I don't know if it was the shifting viewpoints and/or the fact that I appear to be coming down with a cold, but it took me far longer to read than I thought for. Many paragraphs had to be reread several times.

The descriptive passages are gorgeous - you can tell the author is also a poet. As far as I could determine, the plot is as follows. Abel, a Native American, has grown up with his grandfather's stories and heritage. He learnt to...more This is a fascinating novel but for me it was hard to follow. I don't know if it was the shifting viewpoints and/or the fact that I appear to be coming down with a cold, but it took me far longer to read than I thought for. Many paragraphs had to be reread several times.

The descriptive passages are gorgeous - you can tell the author is also a poet. As far as I could determine, the plot is as follows. Abel, a Native American, has grown up with his grandfather's stories and heritage. He learnt to hunt with him and enjoyed running. Running seems to be a recurrent motif. He serves in the army in an unspecified war (presumably WWII). One supposes that he finds the transition to civilian life and the culture clash with his own heritage difficult to handle, because he murders a man with albinism since he believes him to be a snake. (According to the notes at the back, this is based on an actual incident known to the author where a similar defence was used).

On his release from prison he is in an even worse state than before and finds it increasingly difficult to adjust to normal life. Unable to hold down a job, he turns to the comfort of drink, "borrowing" money from friends to sustain the habit. On two occasions he is badly beaten up - the latter of the two results in hospitalization.

I did not feel that the characters were particularly well known to me by the end of the novel. The motives of Abel, in particular, were difficult to determine. In many ways, he reminded me of Meursault from Camus' L'Etranger. This was especially illustrated by his seeming detachment from himself when he commits the afore-mentioned murder and called to mind the murder scene in L'Etranger where, if I recall correctly, the heat of the day was blamed. Since Abel appears to feel he doesn't belong anywhere especially, it seems to me that there are indeed parallels between the two characters.

This novel is worth reading if only for the beautiful descriptive passages alone. But it is a novel which requires thought & hard work. Recommended, but don't read it if you have a cold brewing!!

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Apr 29, 2011 Maria rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Maria by: Dr. Marit MacArthur

Shelves: graduate-reading-list, native-american

N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn (1968) is one of those texts that require a certain kind of patience to read, especially in a world that has come to expect information to be reduced to fifteen and thirty second sound bites. The story is told in four distinct parts by different narrators, and the reader doesn’t always know who the point of view is coming from, or why. Even more disconcerting is the way in which the story is told in a nonlinear way: The explanations for many of the mysteries...more N. Scott Momaday’s House Made of Dawn (1968) is one of those texts that require a certain kind of patience to read, especially in a world that has come to expect information to be reduced to fifteen and thirty second sound bites. The story is told in four distinct parts by different narrators, and the reader doesn’t always know who the point of view is coming from, or why. Even more disconcerting is the way in which the story is told in a nonlinear way: The explanations for many of the mysteries in this story are provided in a fractured narrative that doesn’t become complete until the final pages of the book. I know that I had to go back several times and rethink a passage after realizing that the voice had changed or an explanation for an earlier situation is provided, and this can be extremely frustrating, especially in a book that that has less than 200 pages! This is also a book that can’t to be digested in one sitting; I’ve had to reflect on it through the lens of my experience as a first-generation American who understands that some cultural concepts are embedded in language, and nearly impossible to translate into the frame of another language. I’ve had to discuss this book with my peers, and hear their thoughts about what worked, and what didn’t. I’ve also chosen to read what others have written—both formally and informally—to gain a better understanding of how I feel about the book as a whole. This might be a little too much work for the average reader, but I feel this book, one of the first from a Native American writer to gain major recognition and critical acclaim, is an important contribution to Native American literature, and helps to provide some insight into the Native American experience.

This story is told in four parts and, aside from part 3, The Night Chanter, is told through the lens of Native American storytelling conventions. The story revolves around Abel: At the beginning of the book he has returned from years abroad serving in WWII and arrives off the bus so drunk he falls into his grandfather’s arms without recognizing him. As the story progresses, the book takes on a timeless quality; the mysteries of the book and Abel’s profound alienation from both Indian and white cultures are revealed in glimpses and flashbacks. This can be very frustrating for a reader that isn’t familiar with this storytelling convention, but this different concept and appreciation of time is important to Native American culture and is reinforced by the orality of their traditions. Time becomes a central theme—all of the chapters are dated—and the sensation of being somehow outside of time pervades the entire story. This is especially important for Abel, because he is attempting to reintegrate with his tribe, but he has been gone for years and has lost his connection to the ebb and flow of his culture, which leads to a worsening of his alcoholism and an ill-fated affair with a married white woman who briefly visits the area. Events come to a head when Abel kills an albino in his village while in a drunken stupor, claiming the man is a demon spirit, and is sentenced to prison for almost seven years. As the story winds to its conclusion the question remains: Will Abel be able to find his way back into the rhythms of his world, or will he remain isolated and lost, and ultimately destroy himself?

Without a doubt, this book is not intended for light reading: the language reveals and reflects a distinct Native American landscape and, in a subtle and oblique way, stresses how this relationship demonstrates the manner in which anyone can be recuperated by adopting a powerful cultural narrative. The novel spends a great deal of time reflecting on the meaning of words and how it takes time and patience to communicate, especially when these words are used to accomplish the goal of speaking across cultures to create understanding. I enjoyed the prose descriptions of the southwest and gained insight into this storytelling convention, but will admit that a great deal of patience is required to make it to the end of the story and even then many loose ends are left dangling. The emphasis seems to be on the frame Momaday is creating and the use of a specific set of narrative techniques, and sometimes the story suffers for this. There are few likeable characters, and little time is spent on developing them to any degree. Nevertheless, I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Native American culture and an oral tradition that is still young in developing a literary form.
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Oct 25, 2012 Kara rated it 2 of 5 stars

House Made of Dawn was required reading for my university course on the American West. While I only had time to read passages at the time, I finally went back for a full reading recently.
Momaday does an excellent job weaving Native American culture and the view of typical modern American culture from the point of view of the newly exposed Native American. Being able to understand and fully follow the story required knowing a bit about Momaday and this writing style as it jumps locations, time f...more

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Sep 17, 2012 Christopher Rex rated it 2 of 5 stars

So, the guy won the Pulitzer Prize for the book AND the lead character shares my name ("Abel"). Plus, I've always been a big fan of Native American studies/literature/history/etc., so I figured I would give it a whirl. Now that I am done, I just don't know. I THINK I "got it," but I'm just not sure. I understood what the author was driving at w/ the story, but I just couldn't get his rhythm going. I felt like it "jumped all over" too much and I just didn't get into the lead character's mind as w...more

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Sep 26, 2009 El rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: late20th-centurylit, native-american

I seem to be drawn to these books where the main character is psychologically or spiritually trapped between two cultures. At some point I'll really have to investigate that and find out how that information can be applied to my life. But that's a heavy load to take on on a Saturday night.

Abel is an American Indian who has returned to the reservation after returning from war. The issue here is his father wants him to remain on the land, to learn from it and live off it and be a part of it, just...more

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Jan 26, 2013 Connie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites

Maybe two or three times in my life I have had an experience like the one I had while reading this book. At first blush, I have no reason to connect so intimately with this novel: the internal struggles of a Southwestern Indian, newly returned from WWII. But from the very first, Abel's hurts were my own. The book is true and sad and very human.

I haven't read the Goodreads reviews yet, and still I know there will be dissension. More than half of this book is description of the rain or the mesas o...more

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Dec 13, 2010 Marty rated it 4 of 5 stars

Inspired to read it by hearing the author lecture in OKC. After hearing him tell stories and read poems, I wanted to read more of his poems, especially. He described this novel as one long poem. At some points, it is almost, but not quite, too much so -- I found myself getting lost in the lyricism of the New Mexico landscape, reading and re-reading the same passage again and again before the meaning sunk in. (The same was true for Stegner, which I picked up right after.)

But just when I thought I...more

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Feb 22, 2012 Olga rated it 3 of 5 stars

It was a hard read, but after finishing it I really appreciate this book.
First two chapters are a real challenge. The descriptions of nature and native american rituals are really beautiful but except for enjoying them there is not much to like in those two chapters. The plot is rather complicated and I actually had no idea what was going on - the point of view is constantly changing, at times I wasn't even sure who is the focalizer at the moment, there are many flashbacks and it is also hard t...more

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Apr 02, 2012 Brooke rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

I enjoyed reading about one of the cultures of Native Americans and how they were both isolated and separate from the rest of the world and forced into having to integrate and learn how adapt to the dual living/lifestyle of the foreign atmosphere of the outside world away from their villages.

The main character is highly symbolic to the idea of a beaten, silent Indian whose spirituality and words have been stripped from his culture.

My main complaint is that the narrating is not linear, and the co...more

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Nov 19, 2011 Eden rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: borrowed-from-the-library, native-american-and-first-nations

This is a book that I've been wanting to read for awhile, it is one that I was excited about reading when I borrowed it from the library. But for some reason, I just couldn't get into it. I don't know why, but it just didn't draw me in.
It seems, anyway, that I've been having bad luck with books I've really wanted to read for awhile. Lately, they all turn out to be disappointing.
I wish I could of got into this book; I've heard and read so many good things about it, which is why I was excited to r...more

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Mar 07, 2013 Derek Emerson rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-books-read

N. Scott Momaday's first novel, "House Made of Dawn," is noted by some critics as sparking a renaissance in Native American literature. Published in 1969, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize, rave reviews, and a place in the canon of contemporary literature.

So, it is with some hesitation that I admit to not enjoying the novel too much. There seems to be an attempt at being elusive, at showing only part of what is happening, in a way many post-modern novels do. I actually enjoy many novels without t...more N. Scott Momaday's first novel, "House Made of Dawn," is noted by some critics as sparking a renaissance in Native American literature. Published in 1969, the novel won the Pulitzer Prize, rave reviews, and a place in the canon of contemporary literature.

So, it is with some hesitation that I admit to not enjoying the novel too much. There seems to be an attempt at being elusive, at showing only part of what is happening, in a way many post-modern novels do. I actually enjoy many novels without the normal narrative, or rising plot structure, but Momaday's books just fails to connect the pieces when needed.

The novel centers around Abel, who returns to his reservation following his time in World War II. Not long after arriving at home, he murders a man. We pick up the story seven years later in Los Angeles, when Abel is let out of jail. At first, we get the story (or lack thereof) from Abel's mind, but then it switches to the Priest of the Sun, John Big Bluff Tosamah, who gives a long sermon. The sermon shares many stories of the Kiowa tribe, to which Momaday belongs. The tales are interesting and create a better understanding of the Kiowa tribe, but the connection of these to Abel's situation is not clear. The last major section switches to Abel's friend, Ben Benally's, viewpoint of Abel. It is not a pretty picture. He cannot understand the way other Native Americans have assimilated to white culture, and he begins to drink and leaves his job. Eventually, he just disappears.

The narrative comes full circle, and is at its strongest, in the final pages of the novel. Abel disappears so he can return home to care for his dying grandfather, and there seems to be a return to his starting point as he reenters the traditions of his heritage.

As noted before, the novel is seen as creating a publishing spark for writers such as Leslie Marmon Silko, Louise Erdrich, and Sherman Alexie. Their novels seem are clearer in their narratives, but perhaps Momaday's challenging storyline reflects the struggle of Native Americans in contemporary life. It hits many of the themes that will dominate other novels, such as assimilation, alcohol abuse, racism, loss of tradition, and a return to Native American roots. Because of its influence, it is worth reading.
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Jul 19, 2007 Adam rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, pulitzer-prize-for-fiction

Boring, disjointed, and vague. Momaday's attempts to express the mystical and largely oral tradition of his Native American roots with soporific English prose just never worked for me. White guilt is the only explanation I can think of for why this won the Pulitzer.

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Jun 19, 2011 Brian rated it 3 of 5 stars

I should start documenting how books make it to my 'to read' list, because I no longer remember where I heard about House Made of Dawn or why I wanted to read it. This mystery made me keep reading even though I struggled through Part 1. I had no idea what was going on.

After finishing, I confess I don't know if I grasped the whole story. I wonder if I marked it to read because the writing about the setting is beautiful. I wonder if I marked it because it is very much Western. I wonder if I marked...more

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Nov 21, 2008 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: pretentious people/poets

Shelves: award-winners, post-modern, war

You know, I kind of get why this won the Pulitzer. I really do. It was all revolutionary and shit. Except, I have a problem, because I feel like this isn't so much a story with characters as it is a poem in prose with like one million words. And that's not really my thing. I need to fall in love with characters, or at least get to know them for better or worse, and that wasn't possible. There wasn't really anything to get to know.

On top of that, I never connected with the overarching metaphor, w...more

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Oct 28, 2012 Michael Carolin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Dypaloh. For most of this novel–right up until the last 15 pages–I was not really enjoying it much. If you asked me mid-book what my rating was, I would probably say a 2.5-3 stars. When I finished it, however, something changed. And upon coming here and writing this review I have decided that labeling a book, any book, with a certain numerical rating is an incredibly flawed, wrong, and unjust practice. I'll tell you why.

House Made of Dawn is not your run-of-the-mill story. Author M. Scott Momada...more Dypaloh. For most of this novel–right up until the last 15 pages–I was not really enjoying it much. If you asked me mid-book what my rating was, I would probably say a 2.5-3 stars. When I finished it, however, something changed. And upon coming here and writing this review I have decided that labeling a book, any book, with a certain numerical rating is an incredibly flawed, wrong, and unjust practice. I'll tell you why.

House Made of Dawn is not your run-of-the-mill story. Author M. Scott Momaday has crafted something more akin to a tapestry: a complete collection of paintings as one piece that tells many stories, all made to unite as one. When I heard that Momaday originally wrote this as one long poem, I wasn't surprised. Vast stretches of this book are vividly poetic, imagery-based abstractions of the world. Many pages for example are entirely devoted to descriptions of the sun and landscape, and you would be hard pressed not to call it beautiful and thought-provoking.

The issue with this, however, is that most of the story's actual plot is incoherent and difficult to piece together. You know that there is an Indian man named Abel, among an assortment of other characters, and that he is struggling (after fighting in war) to assimilate not only into American society but his own native American life. Beyond that, the plot is fairly disjointed. It switches between several characters, memories, stories, all seemingly without transition or explanation. The third section of the book is the only exception, but it serves to only clarify the bare minimum necessary and has its own set of abstract passages.

So what do we get when we combine a incoherent, disjointed story with long, poetic descriptions? Well, the best thing I can say is this: meaning. That's essentially what we look for in books and stories. We look for meaning that can be applied to every day life, to make sense of the world, to help us understand it. Somehow, by the end of the book, this is what I felt resides in House Made of Dawn. More than just resides in it, it's OVERFLOWING with messages and meaning that anyone can enjoy and respect. It is so full of meaning that I know that I must re-read this book, perhaps several times, to get a full grasp of it.

This is why the rating system is flawed. How can I rate a book whose plot was so frustrating and incoherent to the point that I often was lost and I felt like ditching the book altogether? At the same time, how can I rate such a book so full of complexity, meaning, and lessons for anyone? Essentially, this book defies ratings. I gave it four, because I feel like I have read books greater than this and more pleasurable, but that does not mean it is a four. It may be a five. It may be NOTHING! Ultimately, you'll have to find out yourself. So read it, read it again maybe like I will, make your decision. You might hate it, but I doubt anyone will say it lacks meaning or substance.

Wholly recommended. Qtsedaba. (less)

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Mar 27, 2009 David rated it 4 of 5 stars

This Pulitzer Prize winner (Fiction 1969) explores some of the struggles faced by native Americans in the 20th century. It's a somewhat challenging read, almost fragmented - written with past events interwoven with the present and story mixed with myth and legend. But that felt right for the characters and the culture. The central character, a young man named Abel, returns from fighting in a foreign war to find himself torn between his father's traditional ways and the forces of industrial Ameri...more

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May 08, 2013 Harry Maier rated it 5 of 5 stars

House Made of Dawn won the Pulitzer Prize in 1968 and was haled as a watershed moment for native American fiction on this continent. Nomaday offers a beautiful and poignant account of a protagonist who returns from WW II to encounter the aboriginal culture he no longer inhabits. The story takes us through cultural dislocation, urban alienation, and finally a kind of redemption. The descriptions of Jemez Pueblo, New Mexico, are luscious. Momaday evokes colour and light and its transformations of...more

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May 07, 2013 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: western-literature

Lyrical, honest, spiritual, and tragic - an outstanding portrait of the struggle of being native and yet alienated in the United States. While the protagonist is a Native American grappling to reconcile two worlds - the novel also addresses the power of language to connect us with the spiritual. Beautifully written, albeit slightly challenging to follow in parts (think Faulkner).

I dislike graphic material, so the three scenes of sexuality were too much for me - he should have left them out or b...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Casey rated it 4 of 5 stars

For a book I picked up off the shelf, this was absolutely stunning (although I did pick it up since it had the pulitzer winner banner, so its not like I chose this completely at random)

The author, N. Scott Momaday, was a Kiowa Indian who lived on a number of reservations, and this was his first novel. The realism and power in imagery, and the incredible variety of voices that sound off throughout the book leave it unforgettable. There were parts that had me lost for a while, but by the end every...more

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Jun 05, 2013 Nancy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013, fiction, classics-club

Atmospheric as all get-out. Some really gorgeous passages. I did find it hard to follow the plot--so much as there is one--but I didn't really think the plot was important. Still, if you're going to give it a go, know that it sometimes seems that things just happen, then aren't mentioned again, or are referred to in really oblique ways so you're not sure if Momaday is talking about something you read about or if it's a new thing. But it was definitely worth the read--thinking about this book, ev...more

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About N. Scott Momaday

N. Scott Momaday's baritone voice booms from any stage. The listener, whether at the United Nations in New York City or next to the radio at home, is transported through time, known as 'kairos"and space to Oklahoma near Carnegie, to the "sacred, red earth" of Momaday's tribe.

Born Feb. 27, 1934, Momaday's most famous book remains 1969's House Made of Dawn, the story of a Pueblo boy torn between th...more

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Books by N. Scott Momaday

The Man Made of Words: Essays, Stories, Passages

In The Presence of The Sun: Stories and Poems

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Quotes from House Made of Dawn

“They have assumed the names and gestures of their enemies, but have held on to their own, secret souls; and in this there is a resistance and an overcoming, a long outwaiting.” — 8 people liked it

“Coyotes have the gift of seldom being seen; they keep to the edge of vision and beyond, loping in and out of cover on the plains and highlands. And at night, when the whole world belongs to them, they parley at the river with the dogs, their higher, sharper voices full of authority and rebuke. They are an old council of clowns, and they are listened to.” — 8 people liked it

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House Made of Dawn

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