House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

This Pulitzer Prize-winning novel was first published in 1968. It's centered around Abel, a young Native American who returns to New Mexico from serving in the war in 1945. But he is no longer the young man he once was. 

"Abel walked into the canyon. His return to town had been a failure, for all his looking forward. He had tried in the days that followed to speak to his grandfather, but he could not say the things he wanted; he had tried to pray, to sing, to enter into the old rhythm of the tongue, but he was no longer attuned to it."

Things get worse. In 1952 he ends up in Los Angeles, just out of prison, still lost, and still drinking too much. 

Momaday's writing is very descriptive and poetic, though not always straightforward. There are jumps in time and narrative voice that I found confusing in places; there's also a dream-like, surreal quality to his slowly unfolding narrative that I didn't love. It made it hard to connect to Abel. In fact, over half of the novel isn't even told from his point of view. The author gives the reader glimpses from his past, and one memory from his time in the war, and a few scenes with him in Los Angeles, but the biggest part of his story is related by his roommate, Ben. It's a unique way to tell a story but one that didn't quite work for me. 

Abel's story is very sad, and I had a lot of sympathy for him. And I thought this novel was interesting. But I didn't love it. Still, I'm not sorry I read it. Especially because it counts as my "Classic by a BIPOC Author" for Karen's Back to the Classics Challenge. 

Happy Reading!

For a much better review of this book, check out Kathy's at Reading Matters; she's the one who first made me aware of this classic novel. 

 

The Drifter by Nicholas Petrie...

8 Things to know about Peter Ash:

• "Peter was lean and rangy, muscle and bone, nothing extra."
• "He had the thoughtful eyes of a werewolf a week before the change."
• "He'd fought two wars over eight years, with more deployments than he cared to remember."
• "But he liked fixing old houses. He'd done it with his dad in Northern Wisconsin. ... The job today was simple, a battle he could win using only his mind, his muscles, and a few basic tools. He could get lost in the challenge and let the war years fade."
• Peter is suffering from a unique form of PTSD. "He called it the white static. His very own war souvenir." It makes it impossible for him to stay inside for very long. So for the past year he's lived outside, wandering the North Cascades, hiking, camping, breathing, and hoping the static will go away.
• When he learns that his friend and fellow marine, Jimmy Johnson, has just committed suicide, Peter knows he has to come down from the mountain to do what he can to help out Jimmy's widow and their two little boys. 
• Somehow Peter ends up with the meanest, ugliest, and smelliest dog he's ever seen...because he can't make himself take it to the pound.
• When he fixes Dinah Johnson's front porch (for free), he finds a bag filled with money and plastic explosives. And Peter knows he has to find out how it got there, and who wants it back, before Dinah and her boys get hurt.

Action. Mystery. A totally likable character. And a dog! This book has it all. And it reads fast. I really liked this one. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.

Happy Reading!