Most Helpful Customer Reviews
20 of 20 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking work of beauty, March 29, 2000
This book presents Momaday's work--new and old--concerned with Bear and the idea of wilderness. It offers poetry, drama, and painting all centered on Bear as a representation of the wilderness. Momaday's idea of the wilderness reflects neither the central strand in American life that comes down from the Puritans, nor the preservationist ideology of urban-bound environmentalists, but his writing critically reflects upon both these traditions. Momaday finds Bear, and hence the wilderness, in a conversation between God and the original bear while eating huckleberries, on a train in Moscow, in the drawing for a bronze statue, and many other such places. Throughout this book, the author's life-long concern for the life of the imagination as our best existence (as he has often said) shows forth. This book is an excellent introduction to the work of a great American writer, as well as a beautiful addition to any collection already well-stocked with Momaday's work. I taught this book as the first in a sequence of five books in a course on Native American poetry. The students loved it. Some of our discussions of the paintings were among the best my classes have had.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
In the Wilderness, September 19, 2009
This review is from: In the Bear's House (Paperback)
Momaday's IN THE BEAR'S HOUSE contains a dramatic dialogue, varied poems and some prose passages. The book also includes many of Momaday's unique paintings and illustrations--all variations of Bear, the elusive wilderness that Momaday describes and explores through his thoughtful introduction, poetry and prose. Momaday alludes to a certain "nature's spirit," I think, that the reader can apprehend by cultivating the proper vision, a "tricky" vision, to be sure, one that can come in many forms. To anyone interested in tracking the path of a human being from either a Kiowa or a Pan-Indian perspective, I recommend this particular collection and, as always, all of Momaday's works.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Beautiful Book of Mostly Great Content, August 8, 2007
N. Scott Momaday's *In the Bear's House* is an interesting mix of Momaday paintings, poetry, prose, and dialogues. N. Scott Momaday's bear paintings that adorn this book throughout are worth the price of admission on this book alone. From simple single color outlines to rich, colorful interpretations, the artwork will bring you back to this book over and over again. The poetry and prose about bears and their representation of wilderness and all things wild is simple, elegant, and expressive.
What I didn't care much for and why I give only 4 stars as a rating is the dialogues that dominate the first half of the book. These dialogues are between Bear and God, and frankly I found them a bit tedious and pointless. I was hoping for a much more meaningful exploration of God and his/her/its role in the world - specifically the wilderness. Instead, these conversations with God seem to meander into a wilderness of their own, getting lost along the way.
>>>>>>><<<<<<<
A Guide to my Book Rating System:
1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.
Help other customers find the most helpful reviews
Was this review helpful to you? Yes
No
|
