About this title: In Momaday's first novel, Abel is a Jemez Indian returning to his tribe after World War II. An outsider among his own people because of his war experiences and because of the fact that he is the illegitimate offspring of a Navajo, Abel is humiliated at a ceremony, then he murders the man who offended him. After serving an eight-year sentence, Abel moves to Los Angeles, where he is confronted by the Reverend Tosamah, a Kiowa Indian based on a parodic view of Momaday himself. Tosamah proceeds to victimize Abel because he is a "longhair"--an unassimilated Indian. Abel is victimized in other ways ...
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Description: Near Fine. Trade Paperback. Harpercollins, 1989. Near Fine Book. Lightly handled, with minimal wear to book. Aside from light toning, overall a clean and tight copy. Media Mail packed in protective bubble lined shipping bags, Priority in a Flat Rate Envelope. Shipped quickly. Prompt response to questions. read more
Description: Good. No Dust Jacket as Issued. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. Book shows moderate wear/ spine tight/ covers slightly creased and scuffed; moderate edge wear/ several pages have underlining and margin notes/ corners creased/ several page tips creased. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Harpercollins
Date Published: 1989
ISBN-13:9780060916336ISBN:0060916338
Description: A wonderful copy with some minor edgewear to the cover. Book has tanning or browning due to normal aging process. -, Trade PaperBack, Very Good / read more
Description: Very good. Book has appearance of light use with no easily noticeable wear. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
"i don't have a good history with pulitzer winners overall. there have been a few exceptions, but this was certainly not one of them. it was all i could do to force myself to skim this book. i was over halfway through before i found a page or two that mildly interested me, and it was short lived. i think there were spots where the writing was nice, but i couldn't bring myself to engage enough to find out for sure.
ok, ok, i'll give you a quote that is kind of lovely and thought provoking:
"The people of the town have little need. They do not hanker after progress and have never changed their essential way of life. Their invaders were a long time in conquering them; and now, after four centuries of Christianity, they still pray in Tanoan to the old deities of the earth and sky and make their living from the things that are and have always been within their reach; while in the discrimination of pride they acquire from their conquerors only the luxury of example. 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."
while this is well written i find it in part problematic in content, but i'll let that slide. even so, i like this passage but can't say that it was worth reading to book to get to it. so i've saved you all the trouble...."
"I found that this book dropped me into a bit of cultural confusion. Stuff in Los Angeles made some sense but I couldn't understand all that was going on on the reservation. There was a lot that I couldn't understand throughout the book. I kept reading anyway and then at the end, I was entranced into revisiting parts of the book I read earlier to see how they fit in and led to the conclusion."
"I thought that the worst book ever was "The Shack" but I've changed my mind. This was everything you wouldn't want a book to be. It was confusing (different narrators, time periods, etc.) with no "way in" to figure it all out. It was pointless. It was dull. It was pompous. There were long descriptions of setting that were meant to be beautiful and poetic, but which were actually terribly tedious. The fact that it won the Pulitzer makes me lose any faith I might have had in literary awards. There was nothing redeemable whatsoever about this novel."
"Abel returns to the reservation after serving in World War II, but has trouble adapting to his life there. Very depressing. I was most amazed with the way this author brought me into his world through the use of sensory details."
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