Part of my personal goal for this blog is to just write more. So sometimes I'd like to share my thoughts, feelings, or "reviews" of books I've recently read. I won't totally spoil the ending but hopefully get you interested in reading it too. I'll call this series of posts "Book Worm".
First up is The Orenda by Joseph Boyden.
Do read this! Don't read it while eating maybe. It's vicious, bloody, disgusting, confusing, will make you glad not to live in that time period, but will grab you from beginning to end.
The characters are extremely human; all are imperfect, vengeful, and self-righteous. A French Jesuit priest, a winter-hardened Huron warrior, and a embittered orphan Iroquois girl end up as a patchwork "family" in a time before the French and Indian War in the Great Lakes region. Just in case you forgot your Native American history the Huron and Iroquois fought brutal wars with each other over trade partnerships and hunting grounds, one finally wiping out another. The priest is a harbinger of other extinctions to come at the hand of the French/Dutch/English. You think this sets the scene for a bloody three-way clash, and what you get is an insightful look at the parallel ideas about love, bravery, and endurance that lie underneath cultural and religious facades. Subtly told, each character fulfills another's beliefs.
The characters are extremely human; all are imperfect, vengeful, and self-righteous. A French Jesuit priest, a winter-hardened Huron warrior, and a embittered orphan Iroquois girl end up as a patchwork "family" in a time before the French and Indian War in the Great Lakes region. Just in case you forgot your Native American history the Huron and Iroquois fought brutal wars with each other over trade partnerships and hunting grounds, one finally wiping out another. The priest is a harbinger of other extinctions to come at the hand of the French/Dutch/English. You think this sets the scene for a bloody three-way clash, and what you get is an insightful look at the parallel ideas about love, bravery, and endurance that lie underneath cultural and religious facades. Subtly told, each character fulfills another's beliefs.
Each chapter is told from one of the three main characters' point of view. I'm not usually a fan of changing voice, but this story needs to be told that way. Each chapter highlights a characters' misunderstanding for the others and the events that bind them together. Boyden let's the characters develop for themselves instead of encoding them with stereotypical or even "archetypal" ideologies for this particular storyline (Indian vs. Missionary). The priest could easily have been written as a hypocritical missionary trying to convert the "savages", the Huron warrior could have been written as a broken old man losing control over his world, the Iroquois girl could have been written as a helpless pawn in tribal warfare. But they aren't those people. This isn't the conquest you're expecting. There is a lot between the lines in this book and I'm still digesting it all.
Fin.
I loved this book. You really summed up the essence of the book in a very thoughtful way. Great read. Great critique.
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