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4.47 AVERAGE
4.47 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Simply SO MUCH hockey
Saul Indian Horse is sent to a residential school for Indians in Canada. While there, he is introduced to the game of hockey. He quickly shows a true talent for the sport that eventually gives him an escape from the horrors of the school.
I fully fell into this story. I loved the characters, the themes, the hockey, the history, and the resolution. I learned a lot about the Indiginous people and their horrific experiences in these schools meant to reform them and remove their culture. The repercussions were seen and felt through the character of Indian Horse.
Though there were some bleak times in the book, I felt like it also offered hope. I couldn't help but cheer for the happy ending Indian Horse deserved and I was satisfied with the conclusion. This book was exceptional!
I fully fell into this story. I loved the characters, the themes, the hockey, the history, and the resolution. I learned a lot about the Indiginous people and their horrific experiences in these schools meant to reform them and remove their culture. The repercussions were seen and felt through the character of Indian Horse.
Though there were some bleak times in the book, I felt like it also offered hope. I couldn't help but cheer for the happy ending Indian Horse deserved and I was satisfied with the conclusion. This book was exceptional!
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I can definitely see how Richard Wagamese is the ultimate Native American author whose novels are the gold standard for their culture and is a must read for every single American. As I was reading this story about a Native American boy who was “re-educated” into the American/Canadian ways by Catholic priests and nuns at a school named St. Jerome’s - or St. Germs as they dubbed it - I was absolutely horrified at the amount of physical, emotional, and sexual abuse done to these children in the name of saving them for God. Who could blame them for rejecting a God that only led to their suffering, torture, and abandonment?
I was further destroyed by this boy’s story as he started finding a way out through being part of a hockey team, rising eventually to the NHL with tenacity and perseverance despite tremendous racism, and at first he reminded me of Jackie Robinson who had to reign in his fighting spirit so that the others would not have reason to complain against him. But Saul Indian Horse could only hold it in so long though he loved the game more than his own life, and when you find out why he eventually left to regain his soul in the solitude of nature, your heart will break in pieces.
At the end, though, Indian Horse has quite the story to tell that should wake all of us up so we never, ever repeat such atrocities to anyone of the human race. Wagamese, too, writes with such beautiful prose and catches you up in the excitement of hockey that you never knew could get inside of you, all the while feeling every single emotion that Indian Horse experiences.
What a phenomenal book. I cannot recommend this one enough, though I will caution you that this will have a veritable profound effect on you, and you will look at the world very differently. Isn’t that, though, the point of reading - to be changed and then, in turn, change the world?
I was further destroyed by this boy’s story as he started finding a way out through being part of a hockey team, rising eventually to the NHL with tenacity and perseverance despite tremendous racism, and at first he reminded me of Jackie Robinson who had to reign in his fighting spirit so that the others would not have reason to complain against him. But Saul Indian Horse could only hold it in so long though he loved the game more than his own life, and when you find out why he eventually left to regain his soul in the solitude of nature, your heart will break in pieces.
At the end, though, Indian Horse has quite the story to tell that should wake all of us up so we never, ever repeat such atrocities to anyone of the human race. Wagamese, too, writes with such beautiful prose and catches you up in the excitement of hockey that you never knew could get inside of you, all the while feeling every single emotion that Indian Horse experiences.
What a phenomenal book. I cannot recommend this one enough, though I will caution you that this will have a veritable profound effect on you, and you will look at the world very differently. Isn’t that, though, the point of reading - to be changed and then, in turn, change the world?
This book was great for the first few chapters and then only went downhill. The writing was bland and the chapters about hockey were repetitive. It didn't help that I didn't like the book but also had to read it for school. An important story with a mediocre execution. I would recommend the movie to this.
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism