Wolfsong

by Louis Owens

In the Cascade Range of northwest Washington, Tom Joseph, a young Indian who had gone south to attend college, returns for his uncle's funeral and finds himself caught up in the old man's fight to save the wilderness from destruction. In his first novel, Louis Owens exposes the raw edge of the current American land-rights controversy and poses questions about authenticity and the common bonds that American Indians, of very different or mixed backgrounds, are in the process of discovering today.

Genres: Native American, Fiction, Environment

255 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

Reviews

[Jhenisha Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

There were times that it was interesting but then it just lacked. The novel wasn’t intriguing enough to allow the reader to keep reading, it became boring at times.

[Michelle Boyer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This story has some interesting themes:
Colonization
Devastation of the landscape
Effects of boarding school
Traditional vs. Contemporary world

The only problem is that Owens does not engage me as an author. This is one of the texts that the "Canon" says is a must-read American Indian text. Perhaps it is, but there has been a lot written since that is much better.

But if this was a book you enjoyed, I recommend Wind from an Enemy Sky by D'Arcy McNickle. It has similar themes and if you enjoyed this, I think that Wind might actually be more engaging.

[ajoyim · Rating 5 out of 5]

read this a long time ago, loved it