Take a photo of a barcode or cover
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
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
I can't believe this book did not win Canada Reads 2013. Richard's narrative is so compelling that I read this book in 2 days. It is the first time I had read any of his work but it will not be the last.
This was stunning. Absolutely fantastic. There's not even any qualifiers I need to add to that it was just a very very good book.
Saul Indian Horse tells his life story. He goes from being an Ojibway boy in the bush to surviving residential schools in the sixties. He discovers a talent for hockey and starts to play more competitively. The story chronicles his career.
- This story is a circle: I can't explain much without giving things away, but I loved how it stopped where it started, the same themes coming back. I loved seeing the blend of Indigenous storytelling format with the structure of a sports novel.
- I do not like hockey. This book loves it, though, and managed to do that magical thing where it translates some of that love onto the reader. It included a good amount of it - I hate when books are about a topic like school or sports and then don't have any scenes featuring that topic - without ever making the story suffer for it.
- The nature of residential schools is that this is a deeply disturbing book. It features violence against children that was hard for to read, including sexual violence. Protect yourself, but this is an important story and certainly one worth reading. I think we (this 'we' meaning Canadians) have a responsibility to witness the things our country did to its Indigenous people. We need to know our history.
Plot: like I said, it's a circle but also a sports story. I loved the way it combined the tropes of sports - the training montage, the working late at night using improvised equipment, the slow but steady rise. I also loved how it combined the hallmarks of Indigenous storytelling - the family histories as stories-within-stories, the visions and omens Saul sees, the personification of the land and the hockey rink, and of course its circular format, which is used so perfectly.
Characters: it's a short book, but they come through well. Especially Saul, who I adored. Since the story covers nearly forty years, we can see how he changes as he grows up, in a way that makes you feel like you know him. There aren't secondary characters who take up enough page time for us to really know them, except perhaps Virgil, Saul's older-brother figure, who I loved. The 'villain' is masterfully done.
Setting: excellent. The three main settings, land and school and hockey arenas, are so carefully described they feel almost like characters themselves - another hallmark of Indigenous storytelling done so well. Props again for making me love hockey for the space of 221 pages.
Prose: very good. The way Wagamese speaks about the racism Saul experienced in clear, poetic writing, was stunning. I think the best passage as an example, though, is this one, which made me excited about hockey for the space of thirty seconds before I remembered I hate hockey. "The towns and the players are all different. But the game is always the same, its speed and power. Hockey’s grace and poetry make men beautiful. The thrill of it lifts people out of their seats. Dreams unfold right before your eyes, conjured by a stick and a puck on a hundred and eighty feet of ice. The players? The good ones? The great ones? They’re the ones who can harness that lightning. They’re the conjurers. They become one with the game and it lifts them up and out of their lives too."
Diversity rating: good.
Saul Indian Horse tells his life story. He goes from being an Ojibway boy in the bush to surviving residential schools in the sixties. He discovers a talent for hockey and starts to play more competitively. The story chronicles his career.
- This story is a circle: I can't explain much without giving things away, but I loved how it stopped where it started, the same themes coming back. I loved seeing the blend of Indigenous storytelling format with the structure of a sports novel.
- I do not like hockey. This book loves it, though, and managed to do that magical thing where it translates some of that love onto the reader. It included a good amount of it - I hate when books are about a topic like school or sports and then don't have any scenes featuring that topic - without ever making the story suffer for it.
- The nature of residential schools is that this is a deeply disturbing book. It features violence against children that was hard for to read, including sexual violence. Protect yourself, but this is an important story and certainly one worth reading. I think we (this 'we' meaning Canadians) have a responsibility to witness the things our country did to its Indigenous people. We need to know our history.
Plot: like I said, it's a circle but also a sports story. I loved the way it combined the tropes of sports - the training montage, the working late at night using improvised equipment, the slow but steady rise. I also loved how it combined the hallmarks of Indigenous storytelling - the family histories as stories-within-stories, the visions and omens Saul sees, the personification of the land and the hockey rink, and of course its circular format, which is used so perfectly.
Characters: it's a short book, but they come through well. Especially Saul, who I adored. Since the story covers nearly forty years, we can see how he changes as he grows up, in a way that makes you feel like you know him. There aren't secondary characters who take up enough page time for us to really know them, except perhaps Virgil, Saul's older-brother figure, who I loved. The 'villain' is masterfully done.
Setting: excellent. The three main settings, land and school and hockey arenas, are so carefully described they feel almost like characters themselves - another hallmark of Indigenous storytelling done so well. Props again for making me love hockey for the space of 221 pages.
Prose: very good. The way Wagamese speaks about the racism Saul experienced in clear, poetic writing, was stunning. I think the best passage as an example, though, is this one, which made me excited about hockey for the space of thirty seconds before I remembered I hate hockey. "The towns and the players are all different. But the game is always the same, its speed and power. Hockey’s grace and poetry make men beautiful. The thrill of it lifts people out of their seats. Dreams unfold right before your eyes, conjured by a stick and a puck on a hundred and eighty feet of ice. The players? The good ones? The great ones? They’re the ones who can harness that lightning. They’re the conjurers. They become one with the game and it lifts them up and out of their lives too."
Diversity rating: good.
There are some minor spoilers in this review. No details are given away, but I do name Saul's trauma experience.
To summarize this novel in a single word: trauma. From its opening pages, Indian Horse makes it clear this story is about collective trauma and how it manifests in individuals. The novel attempts to illuminate the history of so many Indigenous people who have been chewed up and spit out by the Canadian state.
Saul's story details his entire life, beginning in the 1960s when he lived with his family in the bush -- an attempt to stay hidden from the Indian Agents that hunted down Indigenous children and their families in order to put them into residential schools. Despite their best attempts, Saul's family is unable to survive during winter in the wild and he is shipped off to a residential school, where he's introduced to both horrific systematic abuse, as well as hockey as a coping response. Hockey becomes Saul's entire world and he does anything to be a part of the game, whether that's volunteering to care for the rink in the early morning or getting close with Father Leboutilier, the priest at the school that coaches the team. Eventually, Saul's hockey skills are recognized and he begins a career that brings him right up to the NHL -- until his trauma catches up to him. In order to heal, Saul has to stop hiding behind hockey and alcohol, and face the abuses that haunt him to this day.
Wagamese drew on his own experiences when writing this novel, which feels obvious when reading. Much of the book is written with first hand experiential details that bring the story to life in a quiet but real way. The more upsetting subjects, such as physical and sexual abuse, were handled with care and weren't milked for drama or tension. Wagamese depicts the trauma and abuses with incredible compassion and care, and demonstrates how powerful forgiveness can be in shifting one's perspective. Saul doesn't hold any resentment towards his parents for their neglect, as he recognizes it's a result of their own trauma. This compassion towards his abusers continues all throughout the book and builds on themes of forgiveness and healing as a source of strength.
Indian Horse expertly mirrors the experience of abuse survivors coming to terms with childhood trauma in their adult years. Throughout most of the novel, Saul doesn't directly address the worst abuses he faced, though some readers might pick up on the 'elephant in the room,' a subject not addressed but the presence of which can be felt in every scene. Trauma survivors have a tendency to downplay their experiences in an effort to cope, which is reflected in how Saul focuses on the pain of others while quietly downplaying his own experiences through vague language. This vagueness is stripped away at the end of the novel and direct words like 'rape' are finally attached to Saul's experience, forcing both the character and the reader to come to terms with what he's experienced. This flip from vague avoidance to direct language is reminiscent of how victims of childhood abuse come to understand what has happened to them -- a slow denial that ends with hard, unavoidable realizations. In order to survive, victims may identify with their abuser, or they may be too young to comprehend why a caregiver would harm them, and create justifications to explain it. During healing, these layers of repression are stripped away and the victim faces the truth of what happened to them in order to overcome it. Wagamese recreates this experience within the text and allows the reader to go through this realization alongside Saul to fully empathize with this experience.
Indian Horse exists as one of those books that allows readers to empathize with a perspective they never would otherwise. This book sets itself against the multitude of stereotypes that divide Indigenous Canadians from other communities in Canada, tackling issues like identity, race, racism, systematic oppression, and intergenerational trauma. All this builds a picture for why some Indigenous people present and behave the way they do from a place of understanding and compassion.
All in all, 4/5 stars. A beautifully empathetic character study of an Indigenous man living in a racist society.
To summarize this novel in a single word: trauma. From its opening pages, Indian Horse makes it clear this story is about collective trauma and how it manifests in individuals. The novel attempts to illuminate the history of so many Indigenous people who have been chewed up and spit out by the Canadian state.
Saul's story details his entire life, beginning in the 1960s when he lived with his family in the bush -- an attempt to stay hidden from the Indian Agents that hunted down Indigenous children and their families in order to put them into residential schools. Despite their best attempts, Saul's family is unable to survive during winter in the wild and he is shipped off to a residential school, where he's introduced to both horrific systematic abuse, as well as hockey as a coping response. Hockey becomes Saul's entire world and he does anything to be a part of the game, whether that's volunteering to care for the rink in the early morning or getting close with Father Leboutilier, the priest at the school that coaches the team. Eventually, Saul's hockey skills are recognized and he begins a career that brings him right up to the NHL -- until his trauma catches up to him. In order to heal, Saul has to stop hiding behind hockey and alcohol, and face the abuses that haunt him to this day.
Wagamese drew on his own experiences when writing this novel, which feels obvious when reading. Much of the book is written with first hand experiential details that bring the story to life in a quiet but real way. The more upsetting subjects, such as physical and sexual abuse, were handled with care and weren't milked for drama or tension. Wagamese depicts the trauma and abuses with incredible compassion and care, and demonstrates how powerful forgiveness can be in shifting one's perspective. Saul doesn't hold any resentment towards his parents for their neglect, as he recognizes it's a result of their own trauma. This compassion towards his abusers continues all throughout the book and builds on themes of forgiveness and healing as a source of strength.
Indian Horse expertly mirrors the experience of abuse survivors coming to terms with childhood trauma in their adult years. Throughout most of the novel, Saul doesn't directly address the worst abuses he faced, though some readers might pick up on the 'elephant in the room,' a subject not addressed but the presence of which can be felt in every scene. Trauma survivors have a tendency to downplay their experiences in an effort to cope, which is reflected in how Saul focuses on the pain of others while quietly downplaying his own experiences through vague language. This vagueness is stripped away at the end of the novel and direct words like 'rape' are finally attached to Saul's experience, forcing both the character and the reader to come to terms with what he's experienced. This flip from vague avoidance to direct language is reminiscent of how victims of childhood abuse come to understand what has happened to them -- a slow denial that ends with hard, unavoidable realizations. In order to survive, victims may identify with their abuser, or they may be too young to comprehend why a caregiver would harm them, and create justifications to explain it. During healing, these layers of repression are stripped away and the victim faces the truth of what happened to them in order to overcome it. Wagamese recreates this experience within the text and allows the reader to go through this realization alongside Saul to fully empathize with this experience.
Indian Horse exists as one of those books that allows readers to empathize with a perspective they never would otherwise. This book sets itself against the multitude of stereotypes that divide Indigenous Canadians from other communities in Canada, tackling issues like identity, race, racism, systematic oppression, and intergenerational trauma. All this builds a picture for why some Indigenous people present and behave the way they do from a place of understanding and compassion.
All in all, 4/5 stars. A beautifully empathetic character study of an Indigenous man living in a racist society.
This book gripped me from the very beginning, to the very end. I could not put it down when I read it a few years back. To this day it's details stick with me, the passages stick with me.
There's a twist towards the end that made be uncomfortable, but that's okay. The uncomfortable twist is necessary. It's something that happened, and it needs to be acknowledged and confronted.
Knowing what I know about the Residential School system, having lived in Brantford, visited the Woodland Culture Centre, and having taken an Indigenous Studies minor alongside my pre-law degree in university, I was initially surprised when what became the twist had not been brought up before in the novel.
But I'm glad it was brought up, and being used as the twist the way it was speaks volumes to the human psyche and the way we deal with trauma.
This is a book every Canadian should be mandated to read.
There's a twist towards the end that made be uncomfortable, but that's okay. The uncomfortable twist is necessary. It's something that happened, and it needs to be acknowledged and confronted.
Knowing what I know about the Residential School system, having lived in Brantford, visited the Woodland Culture Centre, and having taken an Indigenous Studies minor alongside my pre-law degree in university, I was initially surprised when what became the twist had not been brought up before in the novel.
But I'm glad it was brought up, and being used as the twist the way it was speaks volumes to the human psyche and the way we deal with trauma.
This is a book every Canadian should be mandated to read.
challenging
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I originally acquired this audiobook when it was free on Audible for some limited time offer. I saw "hockey" in the description and figured I wouldn't really be interested since I am not a hockey fan or really a sports fan at all. But I absolutely loved this book. I cried. I laughed. I cried some more. The description of the horrendous atrocities of the residential school system was gut wrenching, heartbreaking and disturbing. But for all the horrors, there was also joy, freedom, peace, love and healing. The descriptions of gameplay were absolutely riveting and the description of Saul's relationship to the game was so beautiful. I never knew hockey could be so beautiful!!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
What an incredible read. Easy to read and addictive, but covering such horrible and difficult to read about events. It breaks my heart that I've only just discovered Richard Wagamese *after* he passed away.
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Only wish is that the hockey scenes were less repetitive.