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Ledfeather
A story of life, death, love, and the ties that bind us not only to what has been, but what will be
After burning up the blacktop in New Mexico with The Fast Red Road and rewriting Indian history on the Great Plains with The Bird is Gone , Stephen Graham Jones now takes us to Montana. Set on a Blackfeet Indian reservation, the life of one Indian boy, Doby Saxon, is laid bare through the eyes of those who witness his near-death experience, his suicide attempts, his brief glimpse of victory, and the unnecessary death of one of his best friends.
But through Doby there emerges a connection to the past, to an Indian Agent who served the United States Government over a century before. This revelation leads to another and another until it becomes clear that the decisions of this single Indian Agent have impacted the lives of generations of Blackfeet Indians. And the life of Doby Saxon, a boy standing in the middle of the road at night, his hands balled into fists, the reservation wheeling all around him like the whole of Blackfeet history hurtling towards him.
Jones’s beautifully complex novel is a story of life, death, love, and the ties that bind us not only to what has been, but what will the power of one moment, the weight of one decision, the inevitability of one outcome, and the price of one life.
After burning up the blacktop in New Mexico with The Fast Red Road and rewriting Indian history on the Great Plains with The Bird is Gone , Stephen Graham Jones now takes us to Montana. Set on a Blackfeet Indian reservation, the life of one Indian boy, Doby Saxon, is laid bare through the eyes of those who witness his near-death experience, his suicide attempts, his brief glimpse of victory, and the unnecessary death of one of his best friends.
But through Doby there emerges a connection to the past, to an Indian Agent who served the United States Government over a century before. This revelation leads to another and another until it becomes clear that the decisions of this single Indian Agent have impacted the lives of generations of Blackfeet Indians. And the life of Doby Saxon, a boy standing in the middle of the road at night, his hands balled into fists, the reservation wheeling all around him like the whole of Blackfeet history hurtling towards him.
Jones’s beautifully complex novel is a story of life, death, love, and the ties that bind us not only to what has been, but what will the power of one moment, the weight of one decision, the inevitability of one outcome, and the price of one life.
212 pages, Paperback
First published August 10, 2008
47 people are currently reading
2485 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Graham Jones
233 books14k followersStephen Graham Jones is the NYT bestselling author thirty-five or so books. He really likes werewolves and slashers. Favorite novels change daily, but Valis and Love Medicine and Lonesome Dove and It and The Things They Carried are all usually up there somewhere. Stephen lives in Boulder, Colorado. It's a big change from the West Texas he grew up in.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews
October 25, 2011
My experience with “Native American literature” is paltry. I can't even safely say that I am all that familiar with Native American culture in general. I've been to a reservation, I know all of the words to a Foxwoods commercial that used to be played relentlessly during Celtics games on TV, and I refuse to watch “The Last of the Mohicans” to spite a friend who is obsessed with Daniel Day Lewis. Obviously, my reference points are standard, stereotypical, and lacking in depth. To make matters worse, the only book my high school assigned that concerns the plight of Native Americans is “Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee,” and it wasn't assigned to my particular English class. Most of the students who did read it complained, and if anything, their discussions of the book were far more a reflection on the defensive, independent nature of kids from New Hampshire (a typical argument described being forced to feel guilty about something they had nothing to do with) than they were about Native Americans at all. This considered, I was excited for Ledfeather, not only for its literary merit, which I had heard praised, but for the light it might shed on a part of U.S. history that I know little about.
Steven Graham Jones does not disappoint. His rhythm is thrilling, his voice honest and visceral, and he refuses to let the shortcomings of people overshadow the triumph of humanity. The characters in this story are burdened by the horrors of a past few could ever understand. In the present, they suffer from the ramifications of that past; from a sometimes desperate, self-destructive culture and from the actions of those who have become complicit; alcohol and gambling abuse, poverty, hunger, and the omnipresent realities of the cold winter. But if ever anything goes wrong - a life, even - there is always the opportunity for redemption, whether in the form of an elk's tongue, used to nurse a dying child, or stolen meat, left by a man at the porch of his estranged family. This is a book about tragedy and hope, which are of course intimately connected.
At every turn, the particulars of the events serve to emphasize the depth and connection of all people. Difference and distance are at once closeness. Time is fluid, life and death interact in impressive fashion during a cold, winter storm a century ago, and people run – to, from, towards. And then people drive, to nowhere exactly, while their hands touch ever so slightly. This story is moving and serious, but not pretentious. It isn't sentimental as much as honest. My only complaint is that Jones sometimes lacks clarity, but despite any shortcomings, Doby, Frances, Yellowtail, Chris, and the imagery of basketball and nature persist in making this story a glory.
Steven Graham Jones does not disappoint. His rhythm is thrilling, his voice honest and visceral, and he refuses to let the shortcomings of people overshadow the triumph of humanity. The characters in this story are burdened by the horrors of a past few could ever understand. In the present, they suffer from the ramifications of that past; from a sometimes desperate, self-destructive culture and from the actions of those who have become complicit; alcohol and gambling abuse, poverty, hunger, and the omnipresent realities of the cold winter. But if ever anything goes wrong - a life, even - there is always the opportunity for redemption, whether in the form of an elk's tongue, used to nurse a dying child, or stolen meat, left by a man at the porch of his estranged family. This is a book about tragedy and hope, which are of course intimately connected.
At every turn, the particulars of the events serve to emphasize the depth and connection of all people. Difference and distance are at once closeness. Time is fluid, life and death interact in impressive fashion during a cold, winter storm a century ago, and people run – to, from, towards. And then people drive, to nowhere exactly, while their hands touch ever so slightly. This story is moving and serious, but not pretentious. It isn't sentimental as much as honest. My only complaint is that Jones sometimes lacks clarity, but despite any shortcomings, Doby, Frances, Yellowtail, Chris, and the imagery of basketball and nature persist in making this story a glory.
September 22, 2020
Ledfeather by Stephen Graham Jones
This is an engrossing, fast moving read in an uncommon narration style, seemingly disjointed, that is at times maddening, shocking, and revealing, with a touch of tenderness. The surface reader will likely miss a good deal, even possibly give up in not seeing the thread of the story. On the other hand, the thoughtful reader, keeping the characters and time shifts straight in their mind, will gain much as the story sorts itself out.
One specific aspect, relative to my familiarity with the general setting, is that I found that the author captured the voices and thought trains of the characters fittingly. Another aspect, hand in hand, that I appreciated, is the characters are not paper cutouts.
I especially liked how honest the portrayal is, including, but not limited to, the ample cultural depictions that will infuriate the horse-blinkered among us. An example being our hypocritical Western (Christian) culture's perspective of many Native Americans:
“... the Piegan (Blackfoot: Piikáni) have no real sense of personal property, are not possessed of the proper amount of greed necessary to cultivate civilization.”
which reminds me of:
“Success, like war and like charity in religion, covers a multitude of sins.” ~ Sir Charles Napier
Granted, I'm not a champion of our culture that in its pleonexia is leading us to an abyss.
“The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think. ” [Edwin Schlossberg]; which this book delivers.
This is an engrossing, fast moving read in an uncommon narration style, seemingly disjointed, that is at times maddening, shocking, and revealing, with a touch of tenderness. The surface reader will likely miss a good deal, even possibly give up in not seeing the thread of the story. On the other hand, the thoughtful reader, keeping the characters and time shifts straight in their mind, will gain much as the story sorts itself out.
One specific aspect, relative to my familiarity with the general setting, is that I found that the author captured the voices and thought trains of the characters fittingly. Another aspect, hand in hand, that I appreciated, is the characters are not paper cutouts.
I especially liked how honest the portrayal is, including, but not limited to, the ample cultural depictions that will infuriate the horse-blinkered among us. An example being our hypocritical Western (Christian) culture's perspective of many Native Americans:
“... the Piegan (Blackfoot: Piikáni) have no real sense of personal property, are not possessed of the proper amount of greed necessary to cultivate civilization.”
which reminds me of:
“Success, like war and like charity in religion, covers a multitude of sins.” ~ Sir Charles Napier
Granted, I'm not a champion of our culture that in its pleonexia is leading us to an abyss.
“The skill of writing is to create a context in which other people can think. ” [Edwin Schlossberg]; which this book delivers.
March 12, 2009
I'm entirely floored by this book, which stands as one of the most upsetting, disorienting, moving, and beautiful texts I've read.
April 14, 2020
I liked this book a lot, in part because it greatly reminded me of an all time favorite: Beloved. This film's blending of place, time, and memory crosses over greatly with Morrison's concept of rememory, which I'd describe as primarily an essence of trauma that haunts and marks the location of whatever event is being remembered. It doesn't have to be a traumatic memory, I don't think, but that's the shape it often takes in Morrison's book as well as Jones' book, Ledfeather. An interesting, some would say fantastical (though they'd be missing the point), extension from rememory here is how the past literally plays itself out across time, breaking through into the present and seemingly bound to stretch out, shattering any illusion of the future having infinite possibilities. No, from Jones' perspective, the past is never truly dead. And that's for better and worst.
I love anything that plays with temporality and this novel challenges you to keep track of who's who and what's what, but, as tempting as it is to try and 'make sense' of everything, I actually think that would be another mistake. To read this novel is to confront identity in terms of relation and how the individual consciousness is a mixture of varied sources related to what's human and nonhuman, living or dead, natural or civilized. Our (western) ways of learning rely on these foundational binaries, but the structure of this book challenges those expectations to know in a major way. To accept the text on these terms is a difficult but rewarding endevour; I believe this could be an iconic text when it comes to exploring the potentials of literature and storytelling.
I love anything that plays with temporality and this novel challenges you to keep track of who's who and what's what, but, as tempting as it is to try and 'make sense' of everything, I actually think that would be another mistake. To read this novel is to confront identity in terms of relation and how the individual consciousness is a mixture of varied sources related to what's human and nonhuman, living or dead, natural or civilized. Our (western) ways of learning rely on these foundational binaries, but the structure of this book challenges those expectations to know in a major way. To accept the text on these terms is a difficult but rewarding endevour; I believe this could be an iconic text when it comes to exploring the potentials of literature and storytelling.
October 8, 2011
Stephen Graham Jones has a voice that transcends time and play. This journey back and forth between two different Blackfoot Indian histories is both an archive and a comment on today. This story sucks you in from the beginning, sprinkled with letters that may or may not ever have been mailed, and ends with a revelation and bit of magic takes this novel to a whole other level. The mythology and lore in here is captivating, shocking, and touching in its scope. I always enjoy Stephen's work, and this is one of his best.
May 26, 2009
Stephen Graham Jones’ writing has definitely improved over time, and while the initial style of Ledfeather is enticing, it soon dissolves into that jigsaw puzzle type of novel I can’t be bothered to piece together.
When it comes to works that are difficult to understand, there are usually strong reactions involved. Some readers flagellate themselves for not having the chops to grasp the prose, intending to return again later in attempt to absorb more the next ride through; others go after the author for being so vague. After two Stephen Graham Jones novels (the other being All the Beautiful Sinners), I find myself without the passion to point the finger in either direction.
Set on a Blackfeet Indian reservation, Ledfeather opens with some hooky prose. Teenager Doby Saxon has spent his life trying to futily kill himself by stepping in front of speeding cars. Doby’s story bookends the middle tale of an 1884 Indian U.S. Government agent, his story told via unsent letters to his wife. One of these early letters describes the agent watching a 12-year-old boy throwing rocks in the air to stone himself. This beautiful and heartbreaking prose is strong enough that I was willing to push through the downhill slide (both in quality and in the sanity of the writer) of those letters to get back to the Doby Saxon tale again, hoping that the spark from that beautiful letter would return. Though the desperate, helpless nature of life on the reservation appears in both tales, Jones never recaptures the strength of the earlier letter and my heart for the novel flatlined.
You know that vague first-person narrator that always seems to show up in short stories? The one who doesn’t have physical details and is just telling the tale as if to themselves? Imagine if several of those narrators showed up in one novel and refused to identify themselves. That’s what reading Ledfeather is like. With the constant time jumps—sometimes through Doby’s life, sometimes to older eras—and perspective jumps, it’s tough to keep up if you’re unwilling to run the race, especially since Jones doesn’t mark the trail. Though some of the chapter breaks are creative (often breaking a sentence in two then starting the latest section with a name, as if it might still be in the letter format) and the prose can be enjoyable in the moment, there’s not enough cohesiveness here to recommend Ledfeather as a novel. Two stars. Barely.
When it comes to works that are difficult to understand, there are usually strong reactions involved. Some readers flagellate themselves for not having the chops to grasp the prose, intending to return again later in attempt to absorb more the next ride through; others go after the author for being so vague. After two Stephen Graham Jones novels (the other being All the Beautiful Sinners), I find myself without the passion to point the finger in either direction.
Set on a Blackfeet Indian reservation, Ledfeather opens with some hooky prose. Teenager Doby Saxon has spent his life trying to futily kill himself by stepping in front of speeding cars. Doby’s story bookends the middle tale of an 1884 Indian U.S. Government agent, his story told via unsent letters to his wife. One of these early letters describes the agent watching a 12-year-old boy throwing rocks in the air to stone himself. This beautiful and heartbreaking prose is strong enough that I was willing to push through the downhill slide (both in quality and in the sanity of the writer) of those letters to get back to the Doby Saxon tale again, hoping that the spark from that beautiful letter would return. Though the desperate, helpless nature of life on the reservation appears in both tales, Jones never recaptures the strength of the earlier letter and my heart for the novel flatlined.
You know that vague first-person narrator that always seems to show up in short stories? The one who doesn’t have physical details and is just telling the tale as if to themselves? Imagine if several of those narrators showed up in one novel and refused to identify themselves. That’s what reading Ledfeather is like. With the constant time jumps—sometimes through Doby’s life, sometimes to older eras—and perspective jumps, it’s tough to keep up if you’re unwilling to run the race, especially since Jones doesn’t mark the trail. Though some of the chapter breaks are creative (often breaking a sentence in two then starting the latest section with a name, as if it might still be in the letter format) and the prose can be enjoyable in the moment, there’s not enough cohesiveness here to recommend Ledfeather as a novel. Two stars. Barely.
October 11, 2024
I can't give this book five stars because that would be admitting that I understood all the nuances in between each page and I most certainly did not. Some of this book went over my head and I took my time with it. I think this book requires multiple readings in order to see the story between the words. And that's not a bad thing it just means SGJ is more brilliant than most writers. Despite probably not having grasped all of the story, it evoked emotion in me. I don't know Doby Saxon, but it feels like I do. The writing style that flips between first person, second person, epistolary, and more was initially confusing but once I understood what was going on, I found it fascinating. This book very much is a master class in how to use point-of-view. I cannot wait to discuss this one with book club and learn what other people's interpretations of it are!
December 30, 2017
This book was haunting. Uniquely told from bouncing back and forth between the viewpoints of modern native teenagers and an Indian agent from 100 years ago. Jones somehow pulls off a book half told by found letters from this Indian agent going mad and half told by bits of every perspective of one incident. It kept me reading, re-reading, and soaking it in. The twists and turns were so unexpected I’ve been thinking them over the past few days. It also draws a line fro federal intervention in native culture to native issues today which made me think through its ramifications in a unique way. Great book, highly recommend it for fans of mysteries and for fans of history.
December 2, 2022
This book continued to SGJ's informal, almost conversational tone. A young boy named Doby slowly uncovers the horrid things that were done to his people, the Blackfeet, by the US government. He becomes slowly more and more engrossed in the past and ultimately acts on the information. The story wasn't an uplifting one and was incredibly bleak, but I found myself not totally devastated at the end of the story. On to more SGJ!
July 30, 2021
Absolutely stunning. Was completely floored by this book; soooo, so glad I picked it up at last!
May 5, 2013
I have thought this for some time now, - verily, whenever I inhale, skim or touch one of his works - but it must be written somewhere, anywhere, so why not here: existing now, alongside Jones, and reading his copious literary releases just as they're released, is to run alongside a literary master as he elbows the profligacy of independent authors and literary experimentalists away, galloping toward some wide, critically lauded level where he so rightly belongs. If it never happens, it is to be considered a crime against the reading public.
Ledfeather is astounding.
To see the features of the narrative face eventually figured into some logical, natural, glorious countenance bespeaking significance, utter significance, is an event with the wherewithal to rend me from that place where I'm a reader, reading, and lay me gently unto where the experience is inextricable from me. Astounding, just astounding.
The narrative sprawls through time and viewpoints, all of them congealing into a markedly succinct tale, one with the narrative that simply reaches in order to encapsulate the emotional quality, the characterization, the poetry in the vernacular and in the mundane, packing its cheeks with threading that, at times charmingly matted and lackadaisical, forms a consummate and beautiful tapestry.
Ledfeather is a dormant beast that, from the first page, rises toward full volume, length, glory.
For a man in no want of potency in his work, this is his most potent book.
Ledfeather is astounding.
To see the features of the narrative face eventually figured into some logical, natural, glorious countenance bespeaking significance, utter significance, is an event with the wherewithal to rend me from that place where I'm a reader, reading, and lay me gently unto where the experience is inextricable from me. Astounding, just astounding.
The narrative sprawls through time and viewpoints, all of them congealing into a markedly succinct tale, one with the narrative that simply reaches in order to encapsulate the emotional quality, the characterization, the poetry in the vernacular and in the mundane, packing its cheeks with threading that, at times charmingly matted and lackadaisical, forms a consummate and beautiful tapestry.
Ledfeather is a dormant beast that, from the first page, rises toward full volume, length, glory.
For a man in no want of potency in his work, this is his most potent book.
November 5, 2009
This was probably one of the toughest reads I have had to date. The story is very creative, intricate and complex and a book I would have to read a couple of times to understand everything that is happening. The last couple of chapters do bring the story together but there are so many twists and turns it's difficult to stay up with who is who and what is what. Then of course, it's an American Indian novel and that is the point. I think. Then of course the author might say otherwise. Some of the historical content is accurate and someone picking it up might need a little background about American Indian literature, but I would like to read something else by this author to get more of a feel for his writing. I would recommend this to even high school students and I can see teaching some excerpts from it regarding Thanks Giving and what happened between the government and Indians.
November 6, 2021
I AM SPEECHLESS.
This book is not for everyone, I want that to be known. It’s very confusing, and you kind of have to let yourself be taken along with it.
The way things are found out is so like Stephen Graham Jones. It’s so crafty and unique; we literally learn about Doby Saxon through everyone else, and we’re given a second-tense narrative in order to piece everything together! And in true Stephen Graham Jones fashion, he leaves you practically strung out to your wits end trying to connect everything when it all comes together so WONDERFULLY at the end.
There are so many great conversations in here about colonialism, Indigenous people’s problems with the govt. and modern day issues they face with the bleakness of reservations themselves.
This is such a wonderful story, and it’s just so heartbreakingly beautiful at the end that you can only truly understand if you’ve read it.
This book is not for everyone, I want that to be known. It’s very confusing, and you kind of have to let yourself be taken along with it.
The way things are found out is so like Stephen Graham Jones. It’s so crafty and unique; we literally learn about Doby Saxon through everyone else, and we’re given a second-tense narrative in order to piece everything together! And in true Stephen Graham Jones fashion, he leaves you practically strung out to your wits end trying to connect everything when it all comes together so WONDERFULLY at the end.
There are so many great conversations in here about colonialism, Indigenous people’s problems with the govt. and modern day issues they face with the bleakness of reservations themselves.
This is such a wonderful story, and it’s just so heartbreakingly beautiful at the end that you can only truly understand if you’ve read it.
July 18, 2019
That was something! Got lost in it a few times, but holy, great storytelling, great story. SGJ doesn't know how to write a bad book, methinks.
February 2, 2024
this was the most confusing book i’ve ever read
March 20, 2024
I bought this book in 2022 at a bookstore in Boulder; I was looking to get a book by a local author as a souvenir and Stephen Graham Jones teaches at UC Boulder so that counted for me.
It’s been almost 2 years since that trip and I finally read it. I’m not sure I entirely understood the ending or the way(s) Doby and the modern world are connected to the past and the Indian agent. But if my tentative interpretation/understanding of the book is right then the connection is unsettling and also quite cool.
This took me a while to read and wasn’t my favorite book, but I’d be curious to read more of Jones’s work. I’ve seen some great reviews of The Indian Lake Trilogy which is a horror series that I would probably pick up next from him.
It’s been almost 2 years since that trip and I finally read it. I’m not sure I entirely understood the ending or the way(s) Doby and the modern world are connected to the past and the Indian agent. But if my tentative interpretation/understanding of the book is right then the connection is unsettling and also quite cool.
This took me a while to read and wasn’t my favorite book, but I’d be curious to read more of Jones’s work. I’ve seen some great reviews of The Indian Lake Trilogy which is a horror series that I would probably pick up next from him.
March 6, 2019
Not sure what took so long for me to read this, but WOW, just WOW!
Erdrich's Love Medicine stands as a favourite, but I have to say, Ledfeather is right up there with it.
I want to write a book like this some day. Thank you Stephen Graham Jones.
Erdrich's Love Medicine stands as a favourite, but I have to say, Ledfeather is right up there with it.
I want to write a book like this some day. Thank you Stephen Graham Jones.
December 10, 2023
If you like puzzles, this is a great book for you! It made my brain hurt, but in a good way.
January 10, 2024
When the book is already a difficult read and then the author stops using quotation marks 🥲
I need to think about this book for about 2-3 lifetimes
I need to think about this book for about 2-3 lifetimes
October 23, 2024
One of my top SGJ stories now
December 1, 2024
What an excellent read!
June 28, 2025
Gorgeous story
December 5, 2022
A trippy, time-shifting and poignant story, one that probably needs at least two readings to fully understand.
July 16, 2023
3.5 stars. Very nicely written, with some poinient scenes. It did lose me a bit in the last 4th, though so the ending was not as impactful as it could have been.
November 24, 2010
Ledfeather is what good writing should be, the type of story that can only be done justice with the ambiguity and individual relevance of language.
How to describe this book?
Well, there's Doby Saxon, an Indian boy living in contemporary times on a reservation in Montana, who seems determined to destroy himself with drugs, gambling, and suicide attempts. We see his story from several different perspectives, and with each story his troubled life becomes more clear, and in some ways, more muddled.
We also learn about Francis Dalimpere, a federal agent living on the Indian reservation in the late 19th century. Though he sets out with good intentions, he makes several choices that backfire against him and the Indians he is employed to manage. The torture of his errors is played out in letters to his estranged wife.
These two very different lives are revealed to be linked through culture clashes, failure, and a crippling crisis of identity. However, there is something else that links these two lives, something neither immediately understands.
There were moments when I wasn't sure what was happening, and I read several sections of the book twice. But this was enlightening rather than annoying. A second read helped me catch certain elements that I'd missed before, and the story became more ingrained in my mind. Jones' prose is almost ghost-like, his words haunting your memory before vanishing into the ether, yet still leaving an indelible impression. At times it demands close reading. He uses key words and images to connect different parts of the story. This worked especially well with this story, with the constant shifts in time and narrators.
All in all this was a riveting read, one that will stick with me for some time. Though the structure of the novel is a bit scattered at times, the last 30 pages really tie everything together in a fantastic way that makes the story become more than just the sum of its chapters, as if it lives on even after the reader has read the last page.
How to describe this book?
Well, there's Doby Saxon, an Indian boy living in contemporary times on a reservation in Montana, who seems determined to destroy himself with drugs, gambling, and suicide attempts. We see his story from several different perspectives, and with each story his troubled life becomes more clear, and in some ways, more muddled.
We also learn about Francis Dalimpere, a federal agent living on the Indian reservation in the late 19th century. Though he sets out with good intentions, he makes several choices that backfire against him and the Indians he is employed to manage. The torture of his errors is played out in letters to his estranged wife.
These two very different lives are revealed to be linked through culture clashes, failure, and a crippling crisis of identity. However, there is something else that links these two lives, something neither immediately understands.
There were moments when I wasn't sure what was happening, and I read several sections of the book twice. But this was enlightening rather than annoying. A second read helped me catch certain elements that I'd missed before, and the story became more ingrained in my mind. Jones' prose is almost ghost-like, his words haunting your memory before vanishing into the ether, yet still leaving an indelible impression. At times it demands close reading. He uses key words and images to connect different parts of the story. This worked especially well with this story, with the constant shifts in time and narrators.
All in all this was a riveting read, one that will stick with me for some time. Though the structure of the novel is a bit scattered at times, the last 30 pages really tie everything together in a fantastic way that makes the story become more than just the sum of its chapters, as if it lives on even after the reader has read the last page.
April 16, 2021
I'm trying to be really pushy about making people read Stephen Graham Jones (most of you have only read The Only Good Indians) but I don't think I'm being pushy enough. So I'll just keep doing it. Because THISBOOKOHMYGOD. The premise of this one is kept pretty vague for essential reasons. There are two main characters: Doby Saxon, a suicidal boy living on the Blackfeet Reservation in modern times, and Francis Dalimpere, white Indian Agent for the Blackfeet in 1884. These stories are connected in the most brilliant way and show the consequences of American colonialism and genocide of Indigenous peoples and how it impacts one community and one teenager. If you decide to read this book (make your library purchase it like I did), be aware that the first half will leave you feeling confused and disconnected but then it all pays off in the second half. I immediately had to go back and read it again from the beginning after finishing to fully experience SGJ's genius. He's the king of using details of a story to "show not tell", so when you read his books, every word feels important. I don't know why more people aren't talking about this book. It's a new favorite that I will read over and over again. (@thunderbirdwomanreads explains on her feed why it's important to not classify Indigenous stories as fantasy/sf when they are rooted in cultural beliefs, so I will avoid attaching it to a genre and just say that it blew my mind. Most people categorize him as a horror author but he writes so many styles.)
December 15, 2012
I literally just finished this book a few minutes ago, and I am still reeling from its echoes. I feel haunted. Breathless. Still. Full. Broken by the beauty of it.
It isn't the easiest read. It jumps around to different character points of view a lot, and you have to kind of just go with it even if you aren't sure who's talking. Just flow with it. Be in the sensory experience of it. Pay attention but don't try to think to hard. It really does all tie together in the end, and you understand why the story is told in the way that it is.
The ending makes it all worth it.
It isn't the easiest read. It jumps around to different character points of view a lot, and you have to kind of just go with it even if you aren't sure who's talking. Just flow with it. Be in the sensory experience of it. Pay attention but don't try to think to hard. It really does all tie together in the end, and you understand why the story is told in the way that it is.
The ending makes it all worth it.
September 20, 2015
It was very engaging, the storyline was stellar, if it was edited in a better way where it felt chucked together rather the story should have merged into one, it made me feel at the end haunted by peoples failures that lead into present day, that by one ignorant move it effects the future in far reaching manner that people go into cycles of self destruction until they learn from it
November 26, 2021
I love SGJ, but this one was a pretty difficult read. I really struggled to make sense of all the letters from the 1800's. I was always waiting to get back to Doby's story. It gets there, and ties up nicely.
February 27, 2016
Takes a couple reads, but is a great discussion starter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 91 reviews