Reviews

• This is a wonderful book for anybody who is interested in Native American culture, but also for anyone who cares about how ancient societies have been trampled by more modern ones. Laughing Boy himself is a great character, but it is Slim Girl, bruised and cynical from her life among the whites, who lingers in the memory.

• I had a wonderfully synchronistic event recently. While researching the family name of Perry in my genealogy, the name of Oliver Hazard Perry LaFarge came up as a Pulitzer Prize winner in 1930 for this novel, “Laughing Boy.” It was finished in 1929 for his Masters Degree at Harvard. His field was anthropology. I rushed to find if it on Kindle. Yes, surprisingly, there it was. I was so excited to be able to read it immediately, thanks to Kindle. A shorter version of his name is used, Oliver LaFarge. I bought it immediately and started reading. As I write this review, I am acutely aware of writing this review like in a time warp after my ancestor’s famous book written so many years ago, feeling honored to do so. By the time I finished the second chapter, I knew I had found a fantastic page turner. I continued to read straight through, even all night, the only time I have ever done that and suffered a major withdrawal trying to return to the present the next day. Oliver was exceptionally talented at painting beautiful word scenes of the desert, a shack, a funny incident, so I felt I was there right in the story. I fully understand why it won the Pulitzer Prize and continues to be read today. A hard bound volume I came upon days later in a used book store, a 1963 Sentry Edition published by the Houghton Mifflin Company of Boston, states on its cover, “An American classic – the greatest novel yet written about the original American.” It is about the life of Native Americans at the time when Native children were being taken from their families and put in “American schools." It is not a political book. It is a love story, written by an anthropologist, who chose to write about an historical time in our country concerning the aftermath of what happens to these Native American children all grown up as they try to assimilate into society, but which society? Venue for this book is the Four Corners area of the West and the Navajo lands. It is rich in reporting Navajo spirituality and mythology. An incredible love story will tug deeply at your heart strings. The girl is "American Schooled" trying to survive now that she is on her own. The handsome boy is as native a Navajo as you can get, with a sense of humor too. He struggles to understand the beautiful girl he has fallen in love with, also admired by other men. The two characters with different backgrounds are challenged learning to live together as their love continues to grow. She helps him to become a talented and well-known silversmith. He helps her to discover how to weave again, and she too becomes recognized for her talented weaving craft, which is like a meditation for her. It helps to heal her soul. As each struggles to grow and mature in the artistic skills and in their love, they walk in the beauty together. Quotations can be found throughout the book of the Navajo chants of walking in beauty. There are exciting actions throughout like horse races, survival happenings, and difficult heartaches as each uncovers some unexpected truths about who they really are. Their strong love, cemented in high values and absolute dedication to each other, outstandingly exemplifies how love can get you through life’s difficulties. Always they walk in beauty. A ceremony of the Navajo culture told herein relates to today, their "Enemy Blessing," used to assist returning warriors to find their balance again. Psychologists are now studying this ceremony to apply to our own returning war veterans dealing with “moral injury.” It was fascinating for me to read this. I felt familiarity with this ancestor of mine through his writing. I would love to have met him. I could have. I was in my 20s when he died, if only I had known about him them. Growing up in Massachusetts in an area of Worcester, my grammar school stood on Native land and was called, "Tatnuck Grammar School," after the local Tatnuck tribe. My schooling years there were filled with Native American lore. My first boating experience was to learn to paddle an Indian canoe while singing the round with others, “Our paddles swift and bright, flashing like silver, swift as the wild goose flies, dip dip and swing, dip dip and swing.” Cape Cod, were we vacationed annually, is full of Indian lore and places with Indian names. I entered young adulthood with Indian jewelry, baskets, and a fascination with Indian mythology. “Laughing Boy” is so rich in colorful description of the Native American culture it brought back these childhood years, especially when referring to the silver work and weaving. Anyone interested in Native American stories will appreciate this. Besides, it is a darn good love story! Unforgettable. Times have changed. Not many are alive now to report about the horror those children suffered by being taken from their homes to “American Schooling” and left to find their own way afterwards. It is wonderful to have this book documenting those times. Rough as they were for the many who lived through them, the fabric woven in this story never loses the positive thread of the Navajo love of their people’s culture, though some are good and some are bad (also seen here), and the beauty of their land in the West. Toward the end the boy, now a mature successful man even in difficult times that are part of the human condition states, “In beauty it is finished, in beauty it is finished, in beauty it is finished. Thanks.” Reviewed for Kindle by “Easy Reader” July 2014

• Unfortunately I found the book boring - it like a narrative about something that happened, rather than a story. I tried hard to invest in the main characters but didn’t find them engaging at all. I finished the book but can’t say I particularly enjoyed it.

• This book provides a glimpse into the world of the Navajo, as they trade with Americans but keep to their ways. It’s a quick read, but felt slower paced, like their lives at that time. I loved reading about Laughing Boy’s life and how he adapted to new things; very enjoyable and peaceful.

• Work your way through this haunting and inspiring story about love, culture, and faith. Sprinkle in some universal human experiences, insight, and longing and the result is a timeless romance.

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