Customer Reviews

Wind from an Enemy Sky

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There are no simple dualities in this story. Things don't simply stack up in white vs. red conflicts. McNickle has created a cast of white and Indian characters who line up across the spectrum of "purely" Indian and "purely" white. The motivations of each character are complex and frought with cultural misunderstandings, good intentions, and understandable anger and frustration. This is a novel about the complexities of understanding across cultures and languages, and a warning against the failure to do so.

I am told that D'Arcy McNickle took three decades to write this book. I was also told that it is based on a true story, even more significant today because of all the discussion of dam breaching and the terrible effect hydro-electric dams have had on the ecology.

McNickle writes excellent prose, but what I like most about his novels is his grasp of human nature. Perhaps because of his mixed heritage, he allows that people often do all the wrong the things for all the right reasons. This is not a book of racial hatred, but of deep misunderstanding.

This is a fairly straight-forward narrative. McNickle does not make as much use of spiritualism and ancient beliefs as some of the modern Native American writers. I think he was targeting the non-Indian audience and trying to create a better understanding of his own culture. If so, he succeeds admirably.

This book is difficult to put down once you start reading, although you get the feeling early on that things will not end well for those in which the story revolves...not by design but by misunderstanding (on both sides) and tragic neglect. This book is also on tape for anyone visually impaired...which I have also heared (years ago)...it's just as powerful and as haunting to hear...the last paragraph still makes me weep just thinking about it...but the story could not have ended any other way and be true to the spirit of its own narrative...

This is an exelent book full of detail, facts, laws and rules of life. This is one of the best books ive read you should try it to.