House Made of Dawn: Amazon.ca: Natachee Scott Momaday: Books

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Red Power Murders

by Thomas King

5.0 out of 5 stars (1) CDN$ 14.56

A really good brown girl

by Marilyn Dumont

CDN$ 10.64

Not vanishing

by Chrystos

5.0 out of 5 stars (1)

Brebeuf's Ghost

by Daniel David Moses

CDN$ 16.75

Kiss of the Fur Queen

by Tomson Highway

4.5 out of 5 stars (4) CDN$ 16.06

› Explore similar items

Product Description

-- New York Times Book Review

"Superb." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

American Literature

"A new romanticism, with a reverence for the land, a transcendent optimism, and a sense of mythic wholeness...Push[es] the secular mode of modern fiction into the sacred mode, a faith and recognition in the power of the world." --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Product Description

Inside This Book (Learn More)
Browse and search another edition of this book.

First Sentence
The river lies in a valley of hills and fields. Read the first page

Explore More
Concordance

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover

Tag this product

(What's this?)

Think of a tag as a keyword or label you consider is strongly related to this product.
Tags will help all customers organize and find favorite items.

Customer Reviews

26 Reviews

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

Average Customer Review

3.9 out of 5 stars (26 customer reviews)

Share your thoughts with other customers:

Create your own review

Most helpful customer reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Enigmatic Story, May 7 2004

By	grasshopper4 (Arkansas) - See all my reviews

Ce commentaire est de: House Made Of Dawn Classics (Paperback)

This novel is a fascinating, albeit challenging, read. The basic plot and the main characters do emerge upon a first reading, but the book needs to be read at least twice for one to see its richness. I find it especially interesting to read _House Made of Dawn_ along with _Way to Rainy Mountain_. Reading both books makes each of them clearer and yields a richer understanding of Momaday's artistry. It also would be useful to read a great about Kiowa folklore and history between different readings of both books.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report this

4.0 out of 5 stars A Special Kind of Dawn, April 9 2004

By	Jerry Kelley (Riverside, CA USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ce commentaire est de: House Made of Dawn (Hardcover)

This 1969 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel alternates between vivid observations of nature coupled with intense word pictures which are a joy for the reader to enigmatic sketches that can leave the reader with a sense of bewilderment as to the possible symbolic meaning. This patchwork construction of the piece begs a second reading of the work even by the careful reader. This is not a work to be undertaken lightly but will be most rewarding to the careful reader.

The Author takes us on a journey through the life of Abel from his beginnings on the reservation through his tragic life in urban society to his eventual return to his roots on the reservation.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report this

3.0 out of 5 stars poetry and loss do not make a novel, Jan 11 2004

By	Robert S. Newman "Bob Newman" (Marblehead, Massachusetts USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Ce commentaire est de: House Made Of Dawn Classics (Paperback)

I'd read and admired Momaday's short stories before I started reading HOUSE MADE OF DAWN. I recognized him as a major American writer and certainly one of the most acclaimed Native American voices in literature. Furthermore, as a person always interested and concerned with cross-cultural understandings, I wanted to appreciate this work as a powerful contribution to what a Native American author wishes to say about life. I must say I was surprised and disappointed by the novel. On the one hand, Momaday's eye and descriptive ability of moments, of natural beauty, and of the shifting sweep of weather could impress anybody. The colors, sounds, and tiny details are true American haiku, not often found in the novels of others. I would say HOUSE MADE OF DAWN was an epic poem unfortunately poured into the mold of a novel. The second strong feeling one gets from Momaday's first major work is of quiet loss---what the Native Americans once had and how, through the violence he scarcely mentions, it was all taken away. Abel, the protagonist, grows up in beauty in the Southwest, walks in beauty, but goes to World War II, has largely unspecified bad experiences, comes back twisted, but confident, couples briefly with a rich white woman, murders a white man, goes to jail, and emerges broken to try to survive amongst urban Indians in Los Angeles. Drink and anger consume him. Will there be any healing ? Momaday offers the frail hope of the old ways at the same time as he realizes the difficulty of holding on to them in the modern world. As a novel illustrating the difficulty of changing worlds, this one certainly has moments of brilliance, but there are caveats.

HOUSE MADE OF DAWN is a novel made of fragments. Each fragment contains beauty, contains understated truths, but the whole does not add up to a novel as I understand novels. I derived a feeling. I empathized with the characters as survivors in a time that was not theirs. But the 'silent spaces' within the novel grew too great. I thirsted for a little explanation. I wondered what went on in Abel's mind, because I found only his memories of better times. I could not connect several of the events, some of the characters. They may be finely drawn portraits, but they walk alone, unconnected to each other. That is why I found this novel difficult, why I think that it could have gone directly to my heart if it were poetry. Comparisons to Faulkner are misplaced, I think, though HOUSE MADE OF DAWN does have that elliptical style. The great Southern author always concludes his story: you come to very powerful ends. Momaday's story is inconclusive. As far as beauty goes, perhaps Momaday's world is more beautiful, but it is less populated by well-rounded characters.

Help other customers find the most helpful reviews

Was this review helpful to you?

Report this

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 26 customer reviews...

Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars The Great Native American Novel
A few words to sum up my thoughts here: An American Classic. I would not hesitate to put this book on the required reading list for high school lit classes across the country... Lisez davantage

Published on Sep 26 2003 by Philip Carl

4.0 out of 5 stars A Beautiful Yet Difficult Read
This is a beautifully written novel about a man Able who is struggling to find his identity and place in life. Lisez davantage

Published on July 13 2003

5.0 out of 5 stars Requires careful reading
I have been teaching this book for 10 years in my course Cultural Diversity in Contemporary American Fiction. I will be using it this fall in my course Cultural Anthropology. Lisez davantage

Published on May 28 2003 by stuart a. ryder

3.0 out of 5 stars A frustrating story, but a good one
There is a lot that can be said about 'House Made of Dawn.' It is a very powerful story about the problems of Native American Relocation, and about the horrors of alcoholism and... Lisez davantage

Published on Mar 10 2003 by bixodoido

5.0 out of 5 stars Evocative, haunting, fascinating
I read this book in one sitting. I found it extremely well written, and throughout I felt like I was with the characters. Lisez davantage

Published on Feb 24 2003 by M. A. Williams

3.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful prose that is difficult to follow
The strategy with which this book is written is unique. You will not know the background of the story until the very end. Lisez davantage

Published on Feb 5 2003 by Matthew M. Yau

5.0 out of 5 stars astounding
This book is a masterpiece in that it approaches language as art, and thus paints a picture that, while not everybody will be able to see the significance, those who do will be... Lisez davantage

Published on Jan 6 2003 by paradigmsd

4.0 out of 5 stars Different
Understanding the plot of this book was difficult at first. In particular, in Part One, I was confused whether the protagonist of certain episodes was Abel or his grandfather as a... Lisez davantage

Published on Dec 21 2002 by Munir

1.0 out of 5 stars Chaotic
House Made of Dawn
House Made OF Dawn, a romantic Native American piece composed of the mystical Indian culture and the personal tragedies that concurred with that culture's... Lisez davantage

Published on Oct 11 2002 by Brittany Cameron

4.0 out of 5 stars A Great Native American Story
The House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday is a well written novel that takes you on a journey through the eyes of a young Native American named Abel who is struggling with drug... Lisez davantage

Published on Sep 30 2002 by Robert

› See all 26 customer reviews...

Listmania!

Create a Listmania! list

Look for similar items by category

Books > Literature & Fiction > Authors, A-Z > ( M ) > Momaday, N. Scott
Books > Literature & Fiction > Classics
Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > Native American

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?

House Made of Dawn (School & Library Binding)

Customers Who Bought This Item Also Bought

Product Details

Product Description

-- New York Times Book Review

American Literature

Tag this product

What do customers ultimately buy after viewing this item?

Customer Reviews

Listmania!

Look for similar items by category

Look for similar items by subject

Feedback

Your Recent History

	84% buy the item featured on this page: House Made of Dawn 3.9 out of 5 stars (26)
	16% buy Kiss of the Fur Queen 4.5 out of 5 stars (4) CDN$ 16.06