Customer Reviews

The Holy Road

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

In this sequel to "Dances With Wolves", we take a long, deep and suffering breath as characters we have grown to love and admire face the unstoppable, disheartening and inevitable encroachment of Indian land by white settlers and soldiers. Blake tells his story from many, mainly Indian perspectives: Ten Bears, the senior member of the village, who although intrigued by the marvel of the spectacles that somehow "make his eyes young again",can never forego his free life on the Plains---- Smiles Alot, the young horse whisperer who through the tragedy that befalls the village, finds his place as a brave warrior and wins the girl of his dreams---Kicking Bird, the one Indian who wants to understand the whites, thinks white technological advancements may actually help his people---Wind-in-his-hair, born a warrior, he prefers to die free and wild rather than ever acquiesce to the whites and Dances With Wolves and his family--Stands With a Fist and their three children who have eschewed the ways of their cultural pasts for the communal mystery that embraces all the Commanches. Even though the outcome has been dictated by history, Blake does a great job of telling a story befitting the best campfire. He does not overlook the details, but rather allows us entry into each of the Indian minds --- we smile as an Indian delegation goes by train to Washington and one of the members has a panic attack as the train goes into a tunnel; we feel the pain of Dances with Wolves when white rangers intercept Stands With a Fist and try to reunite her with her blood relatives--we cringe along with Ten Bears as he discovers the way white men "make meat" and shutter when Smiles Alot and his family are carted off to the white man's jail. The amalgamated story wonderfully provides us with a piece of each of the Indian spirit that fits together to form a rich tapestry of the village life. Although it ends sadly, describing a retricted life on a reservation, I found myself thinking about those huge Indian casinos that are now as fascinating to the whites as the buffalo tongues once were.

I listened to this story on audio cassette---it was the perfect mixture of good plot and simplistic style that allowed me to concentrate on my exercise and follow the story at the same time. Recommended to all who enjoyed Dances With Wolves and wanted a closer glimpse into Commanche life.

At every turn in this book, Blake let the reader's imagination take over. Instead of lengthy descriptions he let dialog, actions, and situations plant the pictures in my head. I felt incredibly sad at times, mad at times, amazed and informed at times. I don't know if this was intended but that's how it read. I really enjoyed it and though I was a little miffed in the beginning that Dances With Wolves wasn't the main 'goin concern', I quickly got over that. This book delt with the tribes, their different views with white relations, and their struggle for survival.

Feeling Kicking Birds gut-wrenching realization that his way of life was forever lost was sobering. There could be no happy ending to this story and the lack of embellishment to the popular character's deaths, I think, coincided with the white mans attitude toward the Indians. (They didn't give it a second thought.)

The first 40 pages were tough to get through because of the narritive style. After that the story flies. Illustrates vivdly the conflict between two cultures. Real literature. Not the fluff that is published so much today. Looking forward to the movie.

Michael Blake continues to speak for the Native American in The Holy Road.The author continues the saga of Lieutenant John Dunbar's sojourn as he becomes a warrior determined to keep the invading white men from taking over the land of the buffalo.Wanting only to be left alone, he and his adopted tribe of Comanches struggle to live as their ancestors did for many generations. Along with being a great book to read, its interpretation of Indian life on the frontier will put this winner among the greats of Western literature. I couldn't put it down. (NOTE Since I have written novels about this period, I wonder about Quanah Parker and an Indian chief being gassed in a hotel room in Washington D.C. From my sources I was led to think that the hotel was in Fort Worth, Texas. I'd be interested in more information on this incident.)

Recently read the book "Dances with Wolves" and anticipated getting this book for Christmas. Blake does an excellent job of weaving the wisdom of Ten Bears, the leadership of Kicking Bird, the strength of Winds in his Hair, and the courage of Dances with Wolves into this historical fiction. I should add that he put a lot of effort into developing the the Indian women and their lifes as well. As I read the description of the Indian sorrow when they saw their brother, the buffalo, destroyed by the Buffalo hunters I was reminded of the sorrow we felt on Sept 11 as we looked on horror of that tragedy. I enjoy the way Blake was able to skillfully choose his words throughout the book and make the situation come alive for me.
Before I even started reading I knew it would be difficult to bring the book to a happy ending. Blake did an adequate job with this, although I might have liked the ending to have been developed a bit more. Highly recommend this book to anyone looking for insight into the Indian culture, and the struggles they faced as they begin to come to grippes with the loss of their way of life.

I think it would be challenging to write a sequel to a novel that was made into such a popular movie. I, like others, was a fan of the movie, and though it took me awhile, I picked up this book because of the movie.

Unlike Dances with Wolves, there is no 'main character' in this book. That is both a plus and a minus.

On the plus side, it allows Blake to share several very distinct points of view (from staunch resistance to resigned acquiescence) - which is probably a very accurate depiction of the internal struggles of the Native Americans (considering the history in play here). I was impressed by Blake's ability to do this.

On the minus side, it is difficult to empathize with any one character when you're jumping from one head to another every chapter. For me, the minus over-rode the plus - in the first story I cheered for Dances with Wolves as I got to know him and his deep struggles. Although I could feel respect toward the various characters in this novel, that strong bond between reader and character did not have a chance to form.

After having ready The Holy Road, I will probably go back and read Dances with Wolves. For the most part, I enjoyed Blake's style of writing. However, I do agree with another reviewer who wrote that the passing of such leaders as Ten Bears, Wind in My Hair, Kicking Bird and Dances with Wolves was certainly not elaborated upon as much as I would have liked to have seen. I suppose after having watched the movie "Dances With Wolves" so many times, [since I own a copy of it] I have associated those actors with the names and wanted every scrape of details.
Other than that, I commend Blake for his efforts on this sad but true topic.

Heart breaking, gut wrenching & like the first an absolute page turner, amazing to say the least. I was left moved & agape by this story. It truelly gives the extent of the last Indian's.

Plus it was sad the way Winds in his hair, Kicking Bird slowly fell away along with Dances With Wolves compared to the first book. It was a way of live deminishing & dissapearing and not being able to stop it and of course Ten bears. All the characters that made the film so all inspiring.

never the less well worth the buy & Smiles A Lot grew into such a influencial character, great work there & the story was simply amazing, true story telling at its best, remarkable even though you know what is coming to them, which makes it all the more painful.

Ten out of ten one book worthy of another read!

Didn't know there was a sequel to Dances with Wolves until after watching a bio of the making of Dances with Wolves. After hearing about it decide to get the book. It's amazing. Wish that there would of been a movie but after reading I understand why it would of been a very very long movie to cover everything in the book the way Dances with Wolves was there is not anything in the book of Dances with Wolves that was not covered in the movie. Michael Blank is a excellent writer. I plan to purchase more of his books.

Rather a disappointment compared to Dances with Wolves. Blake just tries to do too much in too few pages (although I'm not saying it should have been longer). Dances With Wolves was so good because much time was given to develop the characters and set the scene. I really felt transported when reading it. In this one there is too much action and too many events to allow for any real plot or character development. **SPOILER ALERT** Just about every main character from Dances With Wolves is killed and yet, Blake glazes over their deaths and nobody seems to miss them when they're gone -- including the reader.

Also, there is some sloppy history, though this really isn't a historical fiction novel. One, the depictions of Gen. Sherman, and especially Pres. Grant, are complete caricatures. Grant was not the Indian hater that Phil Sheridan was, but you wouldn't know it from this book. Two, when Kicking Bird and Ten Bears visit the White House Blake mentions the "back-skinned slaves" in the room where they meet with Grant. There were never slaves in the White House, much less when Grant was president (after the Civil War!).

All in all, a disappointing follow-up to one of my favorite books.