Reviews

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

doyouevenreadbruh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

mooventures's review against another edition

3.0

Beautiful writing, but it was hard to follow. I do love this quote: "He was running, and his body cracked open with pain, and he was running on. He was running and there was no reason to run but the running itself and the land and the dawn appearing the sun rose in the saddle and shone in shafts upon the road across the snow-covered valley and the hills, and the chill of the night fell away and it began to rain."

allieta's review against another edition

3.0

Beautifully written passages, especially those about the land and man's relationship to the land. The story was challenging for me to follow, with a broad arc bringing it all together at the end. I found myself highlighting and copying specific quotes, they were so beautiful! The writing was 4 stars, the plot and storyline more of a 2.

ahamiltonrohe's review against another edition

3.0

At times, I thought that this was one of those novels that no one understands so therefore it’s considered art. But the poetry of the language and the evocation of pathos and overall ache was too powerful to ignore. No doubt I was glad when it was done — this is no Moby Dick. But the alienation, loneliness and stark beauty all left me with a profound sense of loss and wonder and what white men and women did when they seized their ‘manifest destiny’ and how different this world would be had white settlers and the power structure in Washington leaned into compassion, diplomacy and mutual regard.

paigehf's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

1.75

cgcpoems's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The storytelling style of this book is unlike anything else I’ve ever read—a kaleidoscope of images, memories, and scenes, that are presented almost all at once, rather than linearly. There was a learning curve as I figured out how to read and understand this, but once I got into it I was transfixed by the story. I’d be interested to read more of Momaday in the future, to see if this style is unique to this work or characteristic of himself.

abby_nicole97's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

ahome4flowers's review against another edition

3.0

momaday has beautiful writing but beautiful writing can only go so far. characters left much to the imagination. did not gaf about the grandfather (one of the core chrs in the novel) until like the last page and then he died LOL. female characterization made my stomach churn.

tbh i think i need to read this book again on my own time to decide whether i really like it but for now 7/10

annebennett1957's review against another edition

2.25

 Oh boy. What can I say? This book has so much potential but it is terribly confusing, especially in the audio format which I consumed.

It contains lots of Native/Indigenous stories about creation and how events of history have played out for them, but the back and forth nature of the stories and main plot of a man trapped in his own version of confusion and anger was just so hard to follow...and how many narrators were there? I couldn't tell. 

califmom's review against another edition

Couldn’t get into it, through no fault of the book.