Emerson writes beautifully and her description of Navajo life in western New Mexico is vivid and evocative. The gritty realities of the protagonist's Emerson writes beautifully and her description of Navajo life in western New Mexico is vivid and evocative. The gritty realities of the protagonist's job as a forensic photographer are balanced with intense supernatural scenes. That said, I wanted a little more from the plot. Although Rita's grandmother is my favorite character, Shutter would benefit from a little less back story. ...more
Gripping crime novel about a native enforcer on the Rosebud reservation. Solid story, strong writing, and memorable characters. Hugely compelling debuGripping crime novel about a native enforcer on the Rosebud reservation. Solid story, strong writing, and memorable characters. Hugely compelling debut. ...more
An entertaining and thought-provoking rumination on a world running out of uses for nature. Pico brings together disparate entities to underscore the An entertaining and thought-provoking rumination on a world running out of uses for nature. Pico brings together disparate entities to underscore the absurdity of the way we live now. ...more
In Irvin Morris's collection of Navajo stories, he lays out the creation myths of the Diné people, explores the arrival of Europeans and their subsequIn Irvin Morris's collection of Navajo stories, he lays out the creation myths of the Diné people, explores the arrival of Europeans and their subsequent conquest, and moves into modern times, where much of the narrative is focused. Focus, however, is not the right word. The mix of mythology, fiction and "fictional memoir," make for uneven reading. In Leslie Marmon Silko's Storyteller, one of my favorite books, I found her mixing of genres and inclusion of photos fascinating. While From the Glittering World provides arresting insight into the mind of the modern Navajo, I wanted a clearer sense of the line between fact and fiction in Morris's story....more
I thought I'd read this collection several years ago but many of the stories felt new while others were very familiar. Perhaps I skipped around, whichI thought I'd read this collection several years ago but many of the stories felt new while others were very familiar. Perhaps I skipped around, which would have been appropriate since the stories in this collection operate in a variety modes and were composed at different times in the poet's career. Some lean on cultural traditions, others are autobiographical. Ortiz's principal theme is cultures in conflict, namely anglo vs. native. While known principally as a poet, Ortiz's prose is powerfully clear. There's a lot of anger on the page. (I was going to say "white-hot anger" but that's misleading and "red-hot" is even worse. Old fashioned Faulknerian anger. Anger in the age of massacres as cultural memory -- but when is that ever not the case? The anger of Ortiz's characters is the anger at learning that the Michigan governor willfully poisoned its own citizens or that the Arizona school board banned teaching ethnic studies or that now North Carolina is going to start policing bathrooms. It's the anger in the face of the dim-witted brutality of tinpot bureaucracy. Anger that solves nothing. Anger that makes everything worse. Anger that leads only to more shame. The anger of Ortiz's protagonist vibrates through the pages. Even though the reality of this reader is remote from the native experience Ortiz makes that anger relatable and relevant, except, perhaps, in the case of "Woman Singing," which is a tragedy of Shakespearean proportions and leaves me wounded and wondering if there is any hope for the human project. Art intercedes when life lets us down; but sometimes art opens up a chasm with no bottom and then what are you supposed to do? ...more
Storyteller is an arresting portmanteau of stories, tales, poems and autobiographical prose mixed together with photographs depicting the author and hStoryteller is an arresting portmanteau of stories, tales, poems and autobiographical prose mixed together with photographs depicting the author and her family. Not all the pieces are titled, and there's an overlap between the stories where they old and the new bleed together. Some come from family history, some are culled from the larger tradition of the Laguna Pueblo in New Mexico. Some of the poems tell stories and some of the stories express images and metaphors in poetic language. Trying to parse the pieces and categorize the material, like what I'm doing here, casts the reviewer into the role of a tour guide at a museum: "This way to the prose wing... Artifacts of poesy over here." It's neither satisfying nor easy. I don't feel this impulse to delineate while reading Sebald, for instance, so I probably shouldn't do it here.
Whatever genre she's working in, Silko pays scrupulous attention to the land. The forests and rivers, lakes and mesas are described over and over again. In a story about Laguna people of long ago, Silko tells of a devastating flood that forces the villagers to run for the hills. In a story set in Alaska--my favorite in the book--the coming winter is described as a polar bear stalking a hunter. In the mind of an inventive storyteller, the past inhabits the present in a way that teaches us something about both.