Customer Reviews

Spirit of the Raven: an Alaskan Novel

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

 

 

Extremely well developed characters, intense visual detail, a touch of mystery, and a little black humor all made this novel well worth reading. Great description/eplanationof Alaskan culture and landscape...This novel is definitely worth your time.

Awesome characterization coupled with a fast-paced narrative gives Spirit of the Raven a high readability factor. His subject is unique, rarely explored and has that unmistakable quality of a writer who knows his subject. Cherry has interspersed the eerieness of Alaskan mythology with a starkly down to earth and witty narrative about all too human misfits and old reprobates. Hats off to a superb first novel!

As a writer, Bob Cherry reveals his own raven qualities - teasing the reader with an apparent simplicity, while demonstratinig a complex mythology of realism which is played out in the exploration of a vast land (geographically, philosophically, egotistically - i.e. the male psyche). Readers of the novel confront the unknown in many ways, and if they stop to dwell among events, sift through the many layers and allusions, they may recognize their own counterparts - perhaps in an isolated cabin too far from any village, perhaps in making an extreme gesture toward freedom, or simply making preparations for a guest - seeking camaraderie close to the stove or close to the heart. Spirit of the Raven is a powerful novel provoking its readers to reexamine ideas of alienation and compassion, freedom and commitment. It is most suitably set in Alaska, where against a stark and frozen white terrain each individual (character) is observed with extreme clarity - and where it is still a long cold distance from one village to another.

A tale of intrigue and adventure set in bush Alaskan of the 1920s. Cherry has well-developed characters and makes you feel you're right there with them as the story unfolds. At times I felt I was Phineas Farrow trying to make it all work out even when I knew events were somewhat beyond my control. Abundant subtle humor is present throughout the story, especially in the development of many of the characters (Delmar and Yael for example). Highly reccomended. Also recommended: A Patchwork Planet - Ann Tyler A Widow for One Year - John Irving All the Pretty Horses - Cormack McCarthy

Bob Cherry writes an amazingly complex and rewarding story with an incredible cast of colorful characters. I was drawn in by the fast-paced narrative with an abundance of subtle and incisive humor - I could not put it down! Truly a poignant and realistic look at the human struggle of early rural Alaska. Superb reading

I'm a writer ("Pigs,A Trial Lawyer's Story"; ISBN 097200503X) and the owner of a small press. I'm always intrigued by other regional writers. Though the jacket of this book is replete with accolades (one from Larry McMurtry) trumpeting the writing and plot of this novel, I am sorry to say that the reviewer of the Library Journal (see above reviews) got it right. There are bits and pieces of acceptable writing throughout this book but the plot is confusing and the dialogue alters between period and contemporary. This unfortunate editing lapse leaves the writing with an uneven feel. The references contained on the book's jacket praising the novel's renditions of Native spirituality remain just that: unexplored references. Readers looking for a mystery imbedded with Native spirituality should read Tony Hillerman.