Customer Reviews

Sun Chief: The Autobiography of a Hopi Indian (The Lamar Series in Western History)

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

 

 

I enjoyed this book so much that I finished it in a couple of days. In my opinion, Don Talayesva is a charming narrator. His sometimes humorous, many times heart-breaking recollections underscores the tremendous cultural, social and religious upheavals the Hopi tribe were going through at the beginning of the 20th century, as no anthropological or historical work could ever do.

It's a little ironic that they listed the "author" of the book as Leo W. Simmons when this is actually an autobiography of Don Talayesva. Nonetheless, it's an excellent account of the life of a Hopi man during a time of great change. Talayesva was born in 1890 and the book covers his life up to 1940. This was a period of great change for the Hopi in the pueblo of Oraibi. Talayesva lived through the great social conflict that caused the split of the village and the aftermath of that split, as the traditional ways at Oraibi were steadily eroded by the white Christian government, settlers, tourists, and missionaries.
Talayesva's account of his life is an important and lasting record of the hard life of the traditional Hopi people. Unfortunately, nobody has taken the time to complete the account of Talayesva's life and I was left with a sense that the story is unresolved. Surely, he had another 10 to 40 years of life left after the end of the book, but that isn't covered here.

Wonderful autobiography tells of a Hopi Indian's life in plain matter-of-fact way! The author comes across as honest, sharing his thoughts, feelings, and beliefs regardless of the fact that he knows his story will be read by mostly white Americans who reject Hopi beliefs as nonsense. This book can teach everyone a valuable lesson about their own life, as well as about history and the culture of the Hopi Indians. Every time I pick up this book, I am reminded how easy I have it; we can go to the store for food, drive cars and have access to antibiotics/medication. Fascinating and revealing autobiography is highly recommended.

Arrived in a timely manner and was in the condition that it was said to be.

I haven't read this book yet, but wanted people to know the Hopi themselves recommend it. See this website: www.hopi.nsn.us/Pages/Read%20List/readlist.html.

I had this book as required reading for a college course. For someone thoroughly interested in the topic, go for it. If you have a passing interest in Hopi culture, or are looking for an interesting read, pass on this book. Very dry, definitely felt directed towards academics; this book is a LIFE HISTORY written BY AN ANTHROPOLOGIST for ANTHROPOLOGISTS! If that's what you're interested in, full speed ahead; if you're interested in a good read, pick up something else.

Alhtough I wasn't thrilled about the reading book it did come very quickly although it was clearly aged it was still in good condition.

Reading is the most boring human activity there is... unless it comes to reading certain books, those actually being the only objects that should be called "books"as opposed to the rest which are just printed paper sheets. Writing a real "book" takes the best there is in humankind and the authors were lucky enough to have it all during the writting of this book.

This book is incredibly uninteresting and poorly written. The writing style doesn't flow well, and there is no particular plot to speak of. I wouldn't recommend it.

If I were to pick a more accurate rating I would make it a -2. This is book is very thorough and detailed to the point of boredom. It should have about 160 pages instead of 380.

If you are into this topic then you would love it. But as for me I had to force myself to read 5 pages in a setting. The only reason I read it was because I had to write a paper on it.