Reviews

American Indian Stories by Zitkála-Šá

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readingwithcoffee's review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense slow-paced

4.5

The short book (though my copy was 151 pages so I don’t know if the ten others were just the title page etc that gets count on Libby or something else) is a collection of memoir excerpts, short stories, an essay and poetry by Native American artist and activist Zitkala-Sa. The poetry from the time period of the late 19th and early 20th I Can be be very hot and cold to by mood but it did remind me of other old poetry I found of good quality if not my preferences, the short essay ends fairly curtly but perhaps it is only an excerpt. I think it would have been good for an editor to remind a modern reader or someone unfamiliar with the continent’s history this was before native Americans had American citizenship and why they wanted it etc.

I love the short stories (and I think the collection builds on the arrangement and prices chosen very well) my favorite were “The Soft-Hearted Sioux” and “the wide spread enigma concerning blue star women” they were complex and multilayered short stories I think did a lot emotions while discussing multiple issues of the time.

Content Warnings

catladylover94's review against another edition

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5.0

a collection of stories about her childhood of her family and her boarding school she was sent to after the white men took and killed her family

lisa_kl's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective slow-paced

5.0

amittaizero's review against another edition

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5.0

Unexpectedly fierce and poetic. This is great American writing that goes far beyond a recounting of legend. Zitkala-Sa blends memoir, fiction, and advocacy to create a book that's ahead of its time. Damn.

"It was a paradox upon a land of prophecy that its path to future glory be stained with the blood of its aborigines."

itsroryo's review

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emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

jz_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

2.5

not sure if I like this approach to modernism but still a gorgeous short story collection. I highly appreciate the colonialism and capitalism slander.