The Holy Road

Rating:
Summary: Reader's Imagination
Review: At every turn in this book, Blake let the reader's imagination take over. Instead of lengthy descriptions he let dialog, actions, and situations plant the pictures in my head. I felt incredibly sad at times, mad at times, amazed and informed at times. I don't know if this was intended but that's how it read. I really enjoyed it and though I was a little miffed in the beginning that Dances With Wolves wasn't the main 'goin concern', I quickly got over that. This book delt with the tribes, their different views with white relations, and their struggle for survival.

Feeling Kicking Birds gut-wrenching realization that his way of life was forever lost was sobering. There could be no happy ending to this story and the lack of embellishment to the popular character's deaths, I think, coincided with the white mans attitude toward the Indians. (They didn't give it a second thought.)

Rating:
Summary: No Illusions Here---But Great Storytelling
Review: In this sequel to "Dances With Wolves", we take a long, deep and suffering breath as characters we have grown to love and admire face the unstoppable, disheartening and inevitable encroachment of Indian land by white settlers and soldiers. Blake tells his story from many, mainly Indian perspectives: Ten Bears, the senior member of the village, who although intrigued by the marvel of the spectacles that somehow "make his eyes young again",can never forego his free life on the Plains---- Smiles Alot, the young horse whisperer who through the tragedy that befalls the village, finds his place as a brave warrior and wins the girl of his dreams---Kicking Bird, the one Indian who wants to understand the whites, thinks white technological advancements may actually help his people---Wind-in-his-hair, born a warrior, he prefers to die free and wild rather than ever acquiesce to the whites and Dances With Wolves and his family--Stands With a Fist and their three children who have eschewed the ways of their cultural pasts for the communal mystery that embraces all the Commanches. Even though the outcome has been dictated by history, Blake does a great job of telling a story befitting the best campfire. He does not overlook the details, but rather allows us entry into each of the Indian minds --- we smile as an Indian delegation goes by train to Washington and one of the members has a panic attack as the train goes into a tunnel; we feel the pain of Dances with Wolves when white rangers intercept Stands With a Fist and try to reunite her with her blood relatives--we cringe along with Ten Bears as he discovers the way white men "make meat" and shutter when Smiles Alot and his family are carted off to the white man's jail. The amalgamated story wonderfully provides us with a piece of each of the Indian spirit that fits together to form a rich tapestry of the village life. Although it ends sadly, describing a retricted life on a reservation, I found myself thinking about those huge Indian casinos that are now as fascinating to the whites as the buffalo tongues once were.

I listened to this story on audio cassette---it was the perfect mixture of good plot and simplistic style that allowed me to concentrate on my exercise and follow the story at the same time. Recommended to all who enjoyed Dances With Wolves and wanted a closer glimpse into Commanche life.

Rating:
Summary: PLIGHT OF THE NATIVE AMERICANS
Review: Michael Blake continues to speak for the Native American in The Holy Road.The author continues the saga of Lieutenant John Dunbar's sojourn as he becomes a warrior determined to keep the invading white men from taking over the land of the buffalo.Wanting only to be left alone, he and his adopted tribe of Comanches struggle to live as their ancestors did for many generations. Along with being a great book to read, its interpretation of Indian life on the frontier will put this winner among the greats of Western literature. I couldn't put it down. (NOTE Since I have written novels about this period, I wonder about Quanah Parker and an Indian chief being gassed in a hotel room in Washington D.C. From my sources I was led to think that the hotel was in Fort Worth, Texas. I'd be interested in more information on this incident.)