Customer Reviews

In the Bear's House

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

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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.

The bear is a truly unique being in literature, and has a special place in famed author N. Scott Momaday's heart. "In the Bear's House" Is a collection of prose, poetry, art, and more surrounding the ursine creature. With much spirit and thought, Momaday creates a unique vision and provides a textual and artistic treat with black and white illustrations throughout. "In the Bear's House" is superbly crafted, a top shelf pick. "The Khanty Bear Feast": Consign me to ritual/on pretexts of sacred kinds./Unbutton my coat, and have/children pay me their --------prespects-------./Fasten my eyes with bright coins./Let me hear the singer say,/"Whose house is this?" And reply,/Behold, this is the bear's house."/And I shall preside with wild,/disinterested kindness.

Brilliant, moving, insightful, memorable. Momaday is a treasure, and this is his best yet.