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Permanent Astonishment
NATIONAL BESTSELLER
Capricious, big-hearted, joyful: an epic memoir from one of Canada's most acclaimed Indigenous writers and performers
Tomson Highway was born in a snowbank on an island in the sub-Arctic, the eleventh of twelve children in a nomadic, caribou-hunting Cree family. Growing up in a land of ten thousand lakes and islands, Tomson relished being pulled by dogsled beneath a night sky alive with stars, sucking the juices from roasted muskrat tails, and singing country music songs with his impossibly beautiful older sister and her teenaged friends. Surrounded by the love of his family and the vast, mesmerizing landscape they called home, his was in many ways an idyllic far-north childhood. But five of Tomson's siblings died in childhood, and Balazee and Joe Highway, who loved their surviving children profoundly, wanted their two youngest sons, Tomson and Rene, to enjoy opportunities as big as the world. And so when Tomson was six, he was flown south by float plane to attend a residential school. A year later Rene joined him to begin the rest of their education. In 1990 Rene Highway, a world-renowned dancer, died of an AIDS-related illness. Permanent Astonishment: Growing Up in the Land of Snow and Sky is Tomson's extravagant embrace of his younger brother's final words: Don't mourn me, be joyful. His memoir offers insights, both hilarious and profound, into the Cree experience of culture, conquest, and survival.
Capricious, big-hearted, joyful: an epic memoir from one of Canada's most acclaimed Indigenous writers and performers
Tomson Highway was born in a snowbank on an island in the sub-Arctic, the eleventh of twelve children in a nomadic, caribou-hunting Cree family. Growing up in a land of ten thousand lakes and islands, Tomson relished being pulled by dogsled beneath a night sky alive with stars, sucking the juices from roasted muskrat tails, and singing country music songs with his impossibly beautiful older sister and her teenaged friends. Surrounded by the love of his family and the vast, mesmerizing landscape they called home, his was in many ways an idyllic far-north childhood. But five of Tomson's siblings died in childhood, and Balazee and Joe Highway, who loved their surviving children profoundly, wanted their two youngest sons, Tomson and Rene, to enjoy opportunities as big as the world. And so when Tomson was six, he was flown south by float plane to attend a residential school. A year later Rene joined him to begin the rest of their education. In 1990 Rene Highway, a world-renowned dancer, died of an AIDS-related illness. Permanent Astonishment: Growing Up in the Land of Snow and Sky is Tomson's extravagant embrace of his younger brother's final words: Don't mourn me, be joyful. His memoir offers insights, both hilarious and profound, into the Cree experience of culture, conquest, and survival.
344 pages, Hardcover
First published September 28, 2021
164 people are currently reading
2250 people want to read
About the author
Tomson Highway
37 books197 followersIn the six decades since he was born in a tent in the bush of northernmost Manitoba, Tomson Highway has traveled many paths and been called by many names. Residential school survivor, classical pianist, social worker and, since the 1980s, playwright, librettist, novelist and children's author.
He is fluent in French, English and his native Cree. In 1994 he was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada -- the first Aboriginal writer to receive that honour. In 2000, Maclean's magazine named him one of the 100 most important people in Canadian history.
He currently resides in Toronto.
He is fluent in French, English and his native Cree. In 1994 he was invested as a Member of the Order of Canada -- the first Aboriginal writer to receive that honour. In 2000, Maclean's magazine named him one of the 100 most important people in Canadian history.
He currently resides in Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 237 reviews
October 9, 2021
Highly recommend the audiobook to get the flavor of all the Cree names and words. Growing up nomadic Cree Catholics in the sub arctic. Residential school. Music, two spirit.
December 28, 2021
I studied Tomson Highway at University and as luck would have it, at my graduation, he received an honorary degree and addressed our graduating classes. I’ve been a fan ever since! This book is a song of gratitude, despite the hardships endured. I absolutely love the utter delight he takes in language.
March 5, 2022
Though meandering at times, lacking a throughline many memoirs often deploy to keep things grounded, I know the authors work and was interested in his life and learning more about him, personally, because I live in Canada and am interested in indigenous culture.
A fairly big chunk is his childhood residential school story, so it’s worth pointing out trigger warnings for violence and sexual assault against minors. Though less brutal than others, some have contextualized this as sympathize to residential schools. I don’t think it is. He finds positive things about being there, like having an extended family, of sorts, in the people he went to school with and others who were forced to those places. But also talks about sexual assault he experienced personally. It feels fair and in it is his experience, he can contextualize it however he likes, imo.
Otherwise, I found the things he recalls about his life and indigenous experience valuable and insightful. He’s lived a long time and seen a lot of change in Canada, and applies a unique lens to the worst and best he’s witnessed.
A fairly big chunk is his childhood residential school story, so it’s worth pointing out trigger warnings for violence and sexual assault against minors. Though less brutal than others, some have contextualized this as sympathize to residential schools. I don’t think it is. He finds positive things about being there, like having an extended family, of sorts, in the people he went to school with and others who were forced to those places. But also talks about sexual assault he experienced personally. It feels fair and in it is his experience, he can contextualize it however he likes, imo.
Otherwise, I found the things he recalls about his life and indigenous experience valuable and insightful. He’s lived a long time and seen a lot of change in Canada, and applies a unique lens to the worst and best he’s witnessed.
October 5, 2021
Yea I really loved this. Every chapter was a different story from Tomson's childhood, and each was magical in its own way. I just really do like his writing, Tomson does bombard readers with fun facts that almost always connect to the story he's telling.
I think anyone who hasn't had a chance to read his books yet should really get onto that!!
I think anyone who hasn't had a chance to read his books yet should really get onto that!!
December 25, 2021
Wow! Wow! Wow! This is positively brilliant!! (But what else would I expect??)
It references - but neither dwells on nor blames - the darkness… as in residential school abuses, forced relocation of communities and/or TB patients and/or pregnant women, and the scourge of alcoholism. Those events are not the focus here… he has explored them elsewhere - in his writing - literary and dramatic - and in his music.
This is a joyful celebration of family and culture… a boy’s (informed) memories of the important people and events in life, the early formative years that imprint upon us and make us the people we become in our adult years. This is also an exploration of language - specifically the author’s love of language… how that came to be, and the ways in which language is fluid, and is able to bring us together and/or keep us from truly knowing and understanding each other. This celebrates self-reliance, resiliency, creativity and ingenuity.
This is part family history, part social history, part sociological analysis, part environmental education. This brings it all together with heart and passion… and love.
An absolute must read title.
It references - but neither dwells on nor blames - the darkness… as in residential school abuses, forced relocation of communities and/or TB patients and/or pregnant women, and the scourge of alcoholism. Those events are not the focus here… he has explored them elsewhere - in his writing - literary and dramatic - and in his music.
This is a joyful celebration of family and culture… a boy’s (informed) memories of the important people and events in life, the early formative years that imprint upon us and make us the people we become in our adult years. This is also an exploration of language - specifically the author’s love of language… how that came to be, and the ways in which language is fluid, and is able to bring us together and/or keep us from truly knowing and understanding each other. This celebrates self-reliance, resiliency, creativity and ingenuity.
This is part family history, part social history, part sociological analysis, part environmental education. This brings it all together with heart and passion… and love.
An absolute must read title.
May 26, 2022
I went to the same school of music as Tomson Highway and although he would not remember me, I certainly remember him, his beautiful long black hair and his beautiful piano playing. His latest book is no less impressive.
In the telling of the first 15 years of his life, we learn of the hard life in the sub-arctic, the love of family, especially his dad and mom and little brother Rene, (who becomes famous in his own right) and attending residential school. His descriptions of the beauty and danger of the far north and his life there are astonishing. The Cree language is used liberally, with translation.
An amazing book...sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes very funny, and always written with the flair he is known for.
In the telling of the first 15 years of his life, we learn of the hard life in the sub-arctic, the love of family, especially his dad and mom and little brother Rene, (who becomes famous in his own right) and attending residential school. His descriptions of the beauty and danger of the far north and his life there are astonishing. The Cree language is used liberally, with translation.
An amazing book...sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes very funny, and always written with the flair he is known for.
January 19, 2022
Another synopsis isn't needed here, so I'll just note two things: I wish I'd listened to the audiobook version (it would have surely been a joy to hear so much Indigenous language spoken aloud, and appropriately) and, to borrow from another Goodreads reviewer, "this is a song of gratitude."
November 18, 2021
I first want to tell anyone who has not read this yet ... get the Audio version, the narrator is fkg awesome. He knows all the languages in this book and does use all of them sometimes in one sentence. Love his telling of the story and I found myself laughing at so many parts. The Cree language is so beautiful and you SERIOUSLY need to hear it as you would never be able to figure out how it is really pronounced in real life.
I was fully expecting to give this AUDIO book a 5 star rating but by the end it just didn't live up to it.
LOVED IT IN MANY WAYS ... BUT ..... there were too many chapters ... especially the last one that didn't move the story ahead .... talks of birds, recipes, fishing the land, very little about his life. Yes these were parts of his life but not character driven. The last chapter ... about a bird.
I was sort of expecting his story to go further into his life after school. I wanted more!! How he and Rene continued.
I was not expecting ... nor did we get much on any abuse that occurred in the school system. Yes a short segment is dedicated to it but as I said ... it is short. He doesn't want to address it and doesn't.
Again loved it but just got a little bit boring and skipped through a few parts.
I was fully expecting to give this AUDIO book a 5 star rating but by the end it just didn't live up to it.
LOVED IT IN MANY WAYS ... BUT ..... there were too many chapters ... especially the last one that didn't move the story ahead .... talks of birds, recipes, fishing the land, very little about his life. Yes these were parts of his life but not character driven. The last chapter ... about a bird.
I was sort of expecting his story to go further into his life after school. I wanted more!! How he and Rene continued.
I was not expecting ... nor did we get much on any abuse that occurred in the school system. Yes a short segment is dedicated to it but as I said ... it is short. He doesn't want to address it and doesn't.
Again loved it but just got a little bit boring and skipped through a few parts.
February 3, 2023
Some 70 years ago, in a snow bank in what is now known as Nunavut,Tomson Highway was born. The 11th of 12 children, his childhood in this harsh environment, that he calls the most beautiful place on earth, was filled with the warmth of his parents love. Heroic stories of his dad Joe and mom Balazee and funny tales of childhood hijinks with his siblings fill this memoir of Highway’s younger years. Even through his years at the Guy Hill Residential School on the Saskatchewan–Manitoba border, he recollects many more happy memories than horrific ones. Truly a glass half-full fellow, this storyteller’s overwhelming tone is of gratefulness for his life.
“There are so many people out there to fall in love with and be loved by. There are so many people to thank for the love they’ve given me, my parents not least. There is so much laughter, so much joy, to be engaged in, so much music to dance to. The very act of breathing, for me, is reason a plenty for permanent astonishment.”
Excellent on audiobook, even though not narrated by the author.
“There are so many people out there to fall in love with and be loved by. There are so many people to thank for the love they’ve given me, my parents not least. There is so much laughter, so much joy, to be engaged in, so much music to dance to. The very act of breathing, for me, is reason a plenty for permanent astonishment.”
Excellent on audiobook, even though not narrated by the author.
December 17, 2021
3.5* - This book was hit and miss with me. Much of it was excellent but there were also sections that just didn't work for me. There is no doubt that Tomson Highway is a very smart and talented man who has had an interesting childhood. I appreciated learning about this great Canadian Indigenous artist.
December 21, 2023
3.5 ⭐️
My favourite thing I learnt from this book was that in Cree there are two verbs for berry picking:
Moominee- to pick them and eat them right from the stem
Moysoo- to pick them and eat them later
My favourite thing I learnt from this book was that in Cree there are two verbs for berry picking:
Moominee- to pick them and eat them right from the stem
Moysoo- to pick them and eat them later
January 13, 2023
This memoir was a gift. A joy. An education. Awe-inspiring, laugh-out-loud, and goose-bump-inducing.
Tomson Highway’s stories taught me far more about the Cree people, their way of life, and their language than I ever learned growing up and going to school in Canada.
Listening to Jimmy Blais’ narration of the audiobook was an added gift, as he brought the Cree language, names, and places to life for me. In fact, he does a fantastic job bringing to life all of the languages (English, Cree, French, Dene) and accents involved in the narrative. Highway loves to play with language, and it’s both fascinating and entertaining. I am truly in awe of Tomson Highway’s life and this work.
Tomson Highway’s stories taught me far more about the Cree people, their way of life, and their language than I ever learned growing up and going to school in Canada.
Listening to Jimmy Blais’ narration of the audiobook was an added gift, as he brought the Cree language, names, and places to life for me. In fact, he does a fantastic job bringing to life all of the languages (English, Cree, French, Dene) and accents involved in the narrative. Highway loves to play with language, and it’s both fascinating and entertaining. I am truly in awe of Tomson Highway’s life and this work.
September 30, 2021
This was a great Indigenous read.
I learned a lot.
I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of traditions and cultural items and events.
Highway is an impressive writer!
4.2/5
I learned a lot.
I enjoyed the detailed descriptions of traditions and cultural items and events.
Highway is an impressive writer!
4.2/5
July 3, 2022
Joy. Pure joy.
December 29, 2023
Okay, so I'm writing yet another review where I came into reading the book with really high expectations and left feeling... a bit mediocre about the book? And simultaneously tons of mixed feelings, in which I so appreciated so much of this book and what it has to offer, and I also very much felt frustrated, tired and annoyed by a lot of this. Here I'll explain with a "on one hand, on the other hand" format.
On one hand the book seemed to be beautifully written at first, and then throughout much of the book, the writing style sentence for sentence never declined. The book was written in vivid detail that brought clear images to my mind, and there was a sense of awe and wonder brought about in the descriptions of nature, the stars, the universe and connection to family, culture, tradition, ritual and childhood memory. There was a tenderness and humour as well as awe-inspiring way that the book was written that pulled me in at the start, and got me excited for what was to come.
On the other hand, what was to come was more beautifully written, vivid, and detail, oh so detailed, oh so descriptive chapters of childhood stories and memories. There was detail ad nauseam, and it became... unfortunately tiring after a while. Many of the chapters were accounts of memories from life in Brochet, the Reserve that Highway grew up on, or Guy Hill, the residential school he attended, or memories of nomadic life with his family, which was extremely interested and such a valuable record of life, history and culture, but then, while I thought I would be given a taste of these stories so I can build up a sense of his world as he delved into deeper reasons and stories that would lead us through the arc of the book, no arc really came. We did get into a few chapters that delved into darker times of his life, but most of the book simmered around these vignettes that made the rhythm of the book a bit exhausting, and honestly felt more like a relatives' list of childhood stories they'd tell around a dinner table without much realization that folks are starting to drift, rather than really a coherent memoir.
On one hand, while the detail and even the story telling style was important- the record of all the names, places, roads, ways that his father catches his fish, etc, etc, are an incredible record of Cree culture, and even the way the memoir is structured may not follow a typical formula but more of a story-telling style that is valuable in it of its self...
On the other hand, I guess it wasn't my cup of tea after a while?
I also want to get into a bit of a discussion here around something some other people in the reviews have touched on in terms of Highway's depiction of residential schools. I am not the authority on whether or not Highway's memoir does overall damage to our collective understanding of the damaging and disgusting legacy of residential schooling. I am also of the belief that no experience is solely good or bad, and if it so happened that Highway had many good memories at his residential school, then he has full right to write openly and honestly about his experiences in a truthful way. All that said, reading this book, it was surprising to read so many positive and warm accounts of the residential school, the staff, and Highway's experience to the point that it did raise my eyebrows. On further research, it looks like even Highway's brother has spoken out about Tomson's positive portrayal of residential schools, saying that Highway didn't tell the whole story and that for what he did tell, him and his brother were some of the "luckier ones". Tomson does discuss his experience of abuse in a particular chapter of the book, and there are definitely other moments and things that he cites were common practice at his school that are reflective of not the best of institutions, but on the whole, Highway writes about his experiences with a lot of positive nostalgia, and while those are allowed to be his personal experiences, I find it difficult to digest for a few reasons.
One- Highway, being in his sixties now is well aware of the legacy of residential schooling on the whole, and by not heavily contextualizing his positive experiences as an exception, to that of MANY others or at least, recognizing the larger historical legacy of residential schooling while writing about his own experiences, I feel concerned that although he does mention he was abused, those who have less education on the genocidal history of residential schooling for Indigenous kids, may come out of reading this thinking that this was representative of many people's experiences and the dark history people talk about is overblown in some way. Yes, he experienced abuse, but a more ignorant person reading this may just make that out to being an abuse moment and a bad apple in an otherwise safe and appropriate environment which it is and was not.
Second, beyond reader interpretation, there actually are accounts of Highway's words being use to downplay the importance of addressing the continued affects and disgusting history of residential schools, such as the actions taken by New Brunswick senator Lynn Beyak who put up posters featuring quotes by Highway, and who has real political influence. It is not Highway's fault his words are twisted against him and I don't believe his intention is to contribute to residential school denialism, but the effects need to be weighed.
Last- even in the chapter where Highway mentions his abuse, again he shows respect and care for other victims who were his peers who dealt with lifetimes of trauma from the abuse they experienced, but in the next paragraph he goes on to talk about how he lives his life looking for the good, learning from his dad who taught him to make beautiful things out of ugliness, and living in permanent astonishment at every breath. I found that this section, while somewhat poetic, was also somewhat distasteful since, while I don't think this was the intention, Highway basically contrasted his reaction to abuse with that of his peers by going on to talk about how he looks to the silver linings in life in order to survive, and that honestly comes off in an insensitive and toxic positive way to me. Don't get me wrong, Highway was just explaining his capacity for resilience, but I still find that since the book focused so little on those abuses and any criticism/ critical discussion of residential schools, going on about his capacity to see silver linings in the next sentence after mentioning the lifetime trauma your peers had to deal with, feels uncomfortable at best.
So, I guess ya, tons of mixed feelings, I appreciated reading this and don't regret it, but a 3 is all I can honestly rate this one
On one hand the book seemed to be beautifully written at first, and then throughout much of the book, the writing style sentence for sentence never declined. The book was written in vivid detail that brought clear images to my mind, and there was a sense of awe and wonder brought about in the descriptions of nature, the stars, the universe and connection to family, culture, tradition, ritual and childhood memory. There was a tenderness and humour as well as awe-inspiring way that the book was written that pulled me in at the start, and got me excited for what was to come.
On the other hand, what was to come was more beautifully written, vivid, and detail, oh so detailed, oh so descriptive chapters of childhood stories and memories. There was detail ad nauseam, and it became... unfortunately tiring after a while. Many of the chapters were accounts of memories from life in Brochet, the Reserve that Highway grew up on, or Guy Hill, the residential school he attended, or memories of nomadic life with his family, which was extremely interested and such a valuable record of life, history and culture, but then, while I thought I would be given a taste of these stories so I can build up a sense of his world as he delved into deeper reasons and stories that would lead us through the arc of the book, no arc really came. We did get into a few chapters that delved into darker times of his life, but most of the book simmered around these vignettes that made the rhythm of the book a bit exhausting, and honestly felt more like a relatives' list of childhood stories they'd tell around a dinner table without much realization that folks are starting to drift, rather than really a coherent memoir.
On one hand, while the detail and even the story telling style was important- the record of all the names, places, roads, ways that his father catches his fish, etc, etc, are an incredible record of Cree culture, and even the way the memoir is structured may not follow a typical formula but more of a story-telling style that is valuable in it of its self...
On the other hand, I guess it wasn't my cup of tea after a while?
I also want to get into a bit of a discussion here around something some other people in the reviews have touched on in terms of Highway's depiction of residential schools. I am not the authority on whether or not Highway's memoir does overall damage to our collective understanding of the damaging and disgusting legacy of residential schooling. I am also of the belief that no experience is solely good or bad, and if it so happened that Highway had many good memories at his residential school, then he has full right to write openly and honestly about his experiences in a truthful way. All that said, reading this book, it was surprising to read so many positive and warm accounts of the residential school, the staff, and Highway's experience to the point that it did raise my eyebrows. On further research, it looks like even Highway's brother has spoken out about Tomson's positive portrayal of residential schools, saying that Highway didn't tell the whole story and that for what he did tell, him and his brother were some of the "luckier ones". Tomson does discuss his experience of abuse in a particular chapter of the book, and there are definitely other moments and things that he cites were common practice at his school that are reflective of not the best of institutions, but on the whole, Highway writes about his experiences with a lot of positive nostalgia, and while those are allowed to be his personal experiences, I find it difficult to digest for a few reasons.
One- Highway, being in his sixties now is well aware of the legacy of residential schooling on the whole, and by not heavily contextualizing his positive experiences as an exception, to that of MANY others or at least, recognizing the larger historical legacy of residential schooling while writing about his own experiences, I feel concerned that although he does mention he was abused, those who have less education on the genocidal history of residential schooling for Indigenous kids, may come out of reading this thinking that this was representative of many people's experiences and the dark history people talk about is overblown in some way. Yes, he experienced abuse, but a more ignorant person reading this may just make that out to being an abuse moment and a bad apple in an otherwise safe and appropriate environment which it is and was not.
Second, beyond reader interpretation, there actually are accounts of Highway's words being use to downplay the importance of addressing the continued affects and disgusting history of residential schools, such as the actions taken by New Brunswick senator Lynn Beyak who put up posters featuring quotes by Highway, and who has real political influence. It is not Highway's fault his words are twisted against him and I don't believe his intention is to contribute to residential school denialism, but the effects need to be weighed.
Last- even in the chapter where Highway mentions his abuse, again he shows respect and care for other victims who were his peers who dealt with lifetimes of trauma from the abuse they experienced, but in the next paragraph he goes on to talk about how he lives his life looking for the good, learning from his dad who taught him to make beautiful things out of ugliness, and living in permanent astonishment at every breath. I found that this section, while somewhat poetic, was also somewhat distasteful since, while I don't think this was the intention, Highway basically contrasted his reaction to abuse with that of his peers by going on to talk about how he looks to the silver linings in life in order to survive, and that honestly comes off in an insensitive and toxic positive way to me. Don't get me wrong, Highway was just explaining his capacity for resilience, but I still find that since the book focused so little on those abuses and any criticism/ critical discussion of residential schools, going on about his capacity to see silver linings in the next sentence after mentioning the lifetime trauma your peers had to deal with, feels uncomfortable at best.
So, I guess ya, tons of mixed feelings, I appreciated reading this and don't regret it, but a 3 is all I can honestly rate this one
May 17, 2024
Born in the far north, the author grew up in a warm loving Cree family but had to live hundreds of miles away during the school year. Experience of residential schools was not as brutal as some, but then he sees things in such a positive light and I do admire this about him. I could have used far less indigenous vocabulary and more explanations of where some of the fascinating names and terms originated. But that’s just me. The detail describing the way of life and the setting offers the reader a true window into Cree and Dene culture.
February 4, 2023
A great story teller, Tomson has such a love for his family and friends, it was a joy to read, I recommend it.
March 25, 2022
I just love this wo/man. I think he is telling us that who he is is down to the land where he was born and raised, and equally so his parents, their parenting - vital energies that fully nourished him, and have set him in permanent astonishment.
Amazing recall, and such a storyteller. Brilliant.
His account of HIS abuse at residential school - boarding school as he saw it - was unshirking, skillful. In it's place, no place.
He emanates joy and love and humour and generousity. What a being!
Amazing recall, and such a storyteller. Brilliant.
His account of HIS abuse at residential school - boarding school as he saw it - was unshirking, skillful. In it's place, no place.
He emanates joy and love and humour and generousity. What a being!
March 11, 2022
I really loved these stories from Highway's life. His joy of language was amazing and the humour and joy embedded in the Cree language is magical. The Cree-English pronunciation of names never stopped being funny. The audiobook is definitely the way to consume this book. I loved the stories of the weddings and the dances and the food. The stories drenched in joy about his mother and father. I did though get the sense that his brother Rene was meant to be familiar to the reader in some way but I'm not. I also loved references to the sled dogs as the owner of a malamute/husky. I cannot imagine leaving him with a pack on an island to largely fend for themselves over the summer.
I've seen some reviews which say that Highway is a residential school apologist as he only very briefly touches upon the sexual abuse and other types of abuse many children suffered in the school. That one scene was though incredibly heartbreaking in the way it as written. Comparatively, his experience at residential schools was overall a positive one. Which makes me sadder in a way- education can and should be a means through which students can thrive and achieve progression impossible for previous generations and that's how Highway saw it and why his parents sent him away to attend school. His experience of learning and educational support should have been the norm and not the outlier. At no time in the book did he indicate the teachers/handlers/ priests/nuns at the school maintained or expressed racist anti-Indigenous policies. They banned the speaking of Cree and Dine in order to encourage the learning of English but not because the language itself was evil as it has expressed by others who were made to hate themselves and their culture in those institutions. One nun created a game system of tokens to get other kids to stop speaking their native languages but they weren't beaten or abused for it. The school had sports days, Christmas pageants, play time, movie nights (very weird that they showed Westerns though), and encouraged his love of music. This was what school should have been for everyone. That this one institution seems to have been run with good intentions does not though erase the government policies and colonist attitudes underpinning the entire enterprise of educating the child by killing the native. The entire book is very much written from a child's perspective (I admire his memory) so there isn't much societal analysis or criticism.
I've already ordered one of Highway's novels and will be looking to hear his music.
I've seen some reviews which say that Highway is a residential school apologist as he only very briefly touches upon the sexual abuse and other types of abuse many children suffered in the school. That one scene was though incredibly heartbreaking in the way it as written. Comparatively, his experience at residential schools was overall a positive one. Which makes me sadder in a way- education can and should be a means through which students can thrive and achieve progression impossible for previous generations and that's how Highway saw it and why his parents sent him away to attend school. His experience of learning and educational support should have been the norm and not the outlier. At no time in the book did he indicate the teachers/handlers/ priests/nuns at the school maintained or expressed racist anti-Indigenous policies. They banned the speaking of Cree and Dine in order to encourage the learning of English but not because the language itself was evil as it has expressed by others who were made to hate themselves and their culture in those institutions. One nun created a game system of tokens to get other kids to stop speaking their native languages but they weren't beaten or abused for it. The school had sports days, Christmas pageants, play time, movie nights (very weird that they showed Westerns though), and encouraged his love of music. This was what school should have been for everyone. That this one institution seems to have been run with good intentions does not though erase the government policies and colonist attitudes underpinning the entire enterprise of educating the child by killing the native. The entire book is very much written from a child's perspective (I admire his memory) so there isn't much societal analysis or criticism.
I've already ordered one of Highway's novels and will be looking to hear his music.
October 5, 2021
Brilliant, brllliant, brilliant
January 26, 2022
Tomson Highway's "Kiss of the Fur Queen" has stayed with me decades after it was written, outlining the horrors of adolescence and early adulthood for Tomson and his younger brother René after they come to Winnipeg for their high school education as survivors of residential school abuse.
Permanent Astonishment strikes me as whitewashing of this earlier account, portraying a wondrous and wonderful childhood in residential school and during summers, working hard to help their parents with their fishing camps. The priests in the area are portrayed as kind and the parents and their family members are ardent Catholics.
Life can be both wonderful and horrible but this change in focus seems extreme at a time when the remains of indigenous children are being exhumed every week at residential schools across the country. Still, Highway writes well and he portrays a pre-technological era that will never return.
Permanent Astonishment strikes me as whitewashing of this earlier account, portraying a wondrous and wonderful childhood in residential school and during summers, working hard to help their parents with their fishing camps. The priests in the area are portrayed as kind and the parents and their family members are ardent Catholics.
Life can be both wonderful and horrible but this change in focus seems extreme at a time when the remains of indigenous children are being exhumed every week at residential schools across the country. Still, Highway writes well and he portrays a pre-technological era that will never return.
May 25, 2023
The Arctic has always seemed like a separate and fascinating world unto itself. After learning that Highway (a famous Canadian pianist and playwright) had written a book about growing up in Northern Manitoba, I couldn’t resist picking it up.
Highway's writing style reflects his mindset of always emphasizing joyful and humorous moments. If it is a story that made you smile, then it is a story worth sharing.
The pacing is slow, and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to stick with it. I didn't realize that the book is limited to his childhood, so I was continuously waiting for his adult years to arrive.
However, Highway's calming narration still made it an enjoyable read. A big thank you to Highway for sharing a glimpse into his corner of the world.
Highway's writing style reflects his mindset of always emphasizing joyful and humorous moments. If it is a story that made you smile, then it is a story worth sharing.
The pacing is slow, and I wasn't sure that I'd be able to stick with it. I didn't realize that the book is limited to his childhood, so I was continuously waiting for his adult years to arrive.
However, Highway's calming narration still made it an enjoyable read. A big thank you to Highway for sharing a glimpse into his corner of the world.
November 3, 2021
This is such an incredible memoir. I just finished and it makes me want to laugh and cry. I am so inspired and awe-struck by Tomson Highway. Anyone who genuinely wants to work on reconciliation and understanding colonization must read this book.
I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Jimmy Blais who was exceptional.
My heart is struck by this one. It's one of the 5*+++ books. I think I will revisit.
I listened to the audiobook which was narrated by Jimmy Blais who was exceptional.
My heart is struck by this one. It's one of the 5*+++ books. I think I will revisit.
July 16, 2022
Although I found this book long and for that reason the humour and stylistic quirks wearing a bit thin at times, I liked this book a lot — for the insights into a way of life, and for TH’s ability to write so beautifully about the natural world, the rituals of his life, his love of family. Permanent Astonishment is a perfect title for this book.
January 25, 2023
It was a good read but I do find his views of residential school problematic.
March 14, 2022
I had seen the most breathtaking and moving production of The Rez Sisters years ago (with Michael Greyeyes dancing, no less) so Tomson Highway has always been on my radar: and I’d heard of the legendary dancer Rene Highway for years as well. I’m still in the process of reading this book but every time I pick it up it feels like a gift from the author. It's an intensely intimate and exuberant celebration of his young life and his family and their lifestyle, their languages and laughter. It’s incredibly immediate - you’re right there in the moment with him, carefully and beautifully and eloquently written. He has found a way to balance his actual education at residential school against the years of abuse at the hands of a pedophile priest, as he has clearly risen above those experiences. It was immensely reassuring to see that he had teachers capable of showing kindness and even, occasionally, compassion, and he does express thanks to those supporters. And he has taken to heart what his father Joe Highway has taught him: from disaster make something spectacular. The reader can’t help but learn some of the Cree language as they go along, and the book begins with a useful glossary of Cree words and phrases. In fact, so much of this memoir is about language, as young Tomson ends up speaking and understanding not only Cree and Dene but English, French, the Latin of the Catholic mass, and the Italian of music terminology.
When disaster strikes, you don't take fright, you don't panic. You Just lie down and take the most beautiful nap the world has known. And when you wake up four hours, two years, or three decades later, you will find yourself at your destination.There are so many examples of the Cree philosophy of life that I've taken to heart, and so many descriptions of natural surroundings we city slickers miss.
What catches my eye hangs high above me. There, ten trillion miles into that night sky hang ten trillion stars, the arc of that dome flawless in its roundness, the only sound a ripple - paddles dipping into Reindeer Lake, water swirling in response to their movement... And there in the water all around the drifting canoe and stretching out into infinity is the exact same dome of ten trillion stars, a perfect reflection of the night sky above...I do not want this book to end, and sincerely hope the author is working on a followup about his years in high school and beyond. Many thanks to you, Tomson Highway, from this very appreciative moony-ass reader! Highly recommended for everyone.
April 4, 2022
content note: brief description of child sexual abuse
This was the first Tomson Highway book I've read.
It is a "trickster memoir" that covers the period of time before Highway was born until he finishes residential school at 14.
This is the cheeriest residential school narrative I've ever read. Highway makes it sound like a grand old time. The children are well cared for. The teachers are kind. The food is good. Children are encouraged to speak English to learn it but are not punished for speaking their mother languages. Highway learns to play the piano and puts on school pageants and participates in sports tournaments. The only exception that Highway describes to these idyllic years is that for a brief period, he and other boys are sexually abused by one of the priest-teachers. He does not dwell on this experience, however, and describes it as if it did not really affect him negatively, but notes that it ruined the lived of many other boys, leaving permanent psychological scars. I think it's not so much that he wasn't effected, but rather that he doesn't want to make it the focus of this story, instead remembering what was on the whole a happy loving childhood. I haven't read it, but understand his novel Kiss of the Fur Queen is a much darker take.
The story was funny. The cast of characters endearing. I particularly loved reading about Highway's summer life living nomadicly with his parents while they fished and foraged and the family lived in tents. I also enjoyed the inclusion of Cree words and humour throughout, as well as Highway's depiction of his two-spiritness throughout his childhood, which is accepted by his family and community. This was an enjoyable portrait of a life very different from my own. Although I appreciated a story about a joyful Indigenous life, I felt a bit uneasy, truth be told, about what some (white settler) folks might take away from this book. It's very much not representative of residential school experiences as a whole or the inherently genocidal nature of these institutions.
This was the first Tomson Highway book I've read.
It is a "trickster memoir" that covers the period of time before Highway was born until he finishes residential school at 14.
This is the cheeriest residential school narrative I've ever read. Highway makes it sound like a grand old time. The children are well cared for. The teachers are kind. The food is good. Children are encouraged to speak English to learn it but are not punished for speaking their mother languages. Highway learns to play the piano and puts on school pageants and participates in sports tournaments. The only exception that Highway describes to these idyllic years is that for a brief period, he and other boys are sexually abused by one of the priest-teachers. He does not dwell on this experience, however, and describes it as if it did not really affect him negatively, but notes that it ruined the lived of many other boys, leaving permanent psychological scars. I think it's not so much that he wasn't effected, but rather that he doesn't want to make it the focus of this story, instead remembering what was on the whole a happy loving childhood. I haven't read it, but understand his novel Kiss of the Fur Queen is a much darker take.
The story was funny. The cast of characters endearing. I particularly loved reading about Highway's summer life living nomadicly with his parents while they fished and foraged and the family lived in tents. I also enjoyed the inclusion of Cree words and humour throughout, as well as Highway's depiction of his two-spiritness throughout his childhood, which is accepted by his family and community. This was an enjoyable portrait of a life very different from my own. Although I appreciated a story about a joyful Indigenous life, I felt a bit uneasy, truth be told, about what some (white settler) folks might take away from this book. It's very much not representative of residential school experiences as a whole or the inherently genocidal nature of these institutions.
June 8, 2022
I really wanted to like this book. And I did. I love the first-hand account of living in sub-arctic Canada. An account that is Cree in culture, before modern technology reached the fringes of our northern society but after European colonization. I also found the first-hand account of Tomson Highway's experience in a Manitoba residential school invaluable, insightful, and enlightening.
The distinctive and defining style of Tomson Highway's writing is undoubtedly the way he continually juxtaposes the sacred with the profane. I don't think this is bad, in fact, at times it is quite profound. However, this juxtaposition also gives Tomson Highway the ability to narrate any event with a continual sextual undertone (particularly religious narratives), to the point that the book is saturated with sexuality. It is this sexual undertone that wore on me as a reader by the time I finished the book.
Tomson Highway will (and does) make the argument that the taboo juxtaposition in his writing comes from his experience as a native Cree speaker. To a point, I take him at his word, I believe him that the Cree language and culture innately tends towards humour and discussion that would be vulgar to a 20th century English speaker. However, as influenced as he undoubtedly is by his first language, I have little doubt that the sexual nature of Tomson's language equally comes from his own personal perspectives and sexual beliefs (which tend to be very modern in nature).
The distinctive and defining style of Tomson Highway's writing is undoubtedly the way he continually juxtaposes the sacred with the profane. I don't think this is bad, in fact, at times it is quite profound. However, this juxtaposition also gives Tomson Highway the ability to narrate any event with a continual sextual undertone (particularly religious narratives), to the point that the book is saturated with sexuality. It is this sexual undertone that wore on me as a reader by the time I finished the book.
Tomson Highway will (and does) make the argument that the taboo juxtaposition in his writing comes from his experience as a native Cree speaker. To a point, I take him at his word, I believe him that the Cree language and culture innately tends towards humour and discussion that would be vulgar to a 20th century English speaker. However, as influenced as he undoubtedly is by his first language, I have little doubt that the sexual nature of Tomson's language equally comes from his own personal perspectives and sexual beliefs (which tend to be very modern in nature).
January 14, 2024
This was an unusual book for me; usually I’m a sucker for any memoir but I really struggled to get into this one, probably would have given up if it wasn’t a book club choice.
I think it’s Highway’s writing style that isn’t a great fit for me - he really takes his time and circles around his point, rather than getting there directly. He also gives lots and lots of background details. This isn’t inherently bad, many might really enjoy it, but it wasn’t my favourite approach.
That said, his life experiences are *fascinating.* Having grown up in northern BC, I thought I understood remoteness but his family’s experience is a whole other level. I am in awe of their self-reliance, their knowledge of their natural environment and the amount of labour they expended daily to survive, all while maintaining a home filled with love and laughter, if not always heat.
Clearly he had a very challenging childhood, but he still finds joy in everything. He seems like a remarkable person and I imagine his book will stay with me for a while. Overall, I think the subject matter is 5 stars, the writing is 3 stars so it works out to 4 stars
I think it’s Highway’s writing style that isn’t a great fit for me - he really takes his time and circles around his point, rather than getting there directly. He also gives lots and lots of background details. This isn’t inherently bad, many might really enjoy it, but it wasn’t my favourite approach.
That said, his life experiences are *fascinating.* Having grown up in northern BC, I thought I understood remoteness but his family’s experience is a whole other level. I am in awe of their self-reliance, their knowledge of their natural environment and the amount of labour they expended daily to survive, all while maintaining a home filled with love and laughter, if not always heat.
Clearly he had a very challenging childhood, but he still finds joy in everything. He seems like a remarkable person and I imagine his book will stay with me for a while. Overall, I think the subject matter is 5 stars, the writing is 3 stars so it works out to 4 stars
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