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5.0 out of 5 stars
Forrest Carter is an excellent storyteller, Jan 25 2004
This book just grabs you from the moment you open it and you cannot put it down. I don't know when I've read a book that left such a lasting impression. You get a completely different perspective of "how the West was won". You feel as if you are there walking beside our Native Americans of the past and seeing through their eyes. Geronimo comes alive as the story unfolds. Awesome!
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5.0 out of 5 stars
One of My Favorites, Nov 25 2002
I was assigned to read The Education of Little Tree while in college. I was so impressed with the book I recommended it to my mother, who had the same opinion. She was so impressed she bought all of Forrest Carter's book and she insisted that I read, Watch For Me On The Mountain. That was close to ten years ago, and it still stays with me. Carter's writing is direct, to the point, and extremely vivid, almost raw. I was haunted by much of this book and perhaps it is that feeling that forces me to re-read it so many times. I have always had a great respect for Native Americans, but knew very little, if anything, about the Apaches. Carter helped to alleviate some of that, even though the book is listed as fiction. It gave me the extreme basics of what the Apaches went through, and how amazing Geronimo really was. The book does paint an extremely dishonest portrait of the U.S. Government, as well as the Mexicans. But, let's be honest, our government didn't really give us much to be proud about. Unfortunately, much of what Carter writes about is true. In short, Forrest Carter was an oustanding writer, and Watch For Me On The Mountain is an outstanding book. Hands down.
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3.0 out of 5 stars
An interesting failure, Feb 26 2001
I see both strengths and weaknesses in this book. Carter's descriptions of life among the Apaches during Geronimo's lifetime are powerful and convincing. He is compelling when he recreates Apache war raids and evokes the tactical brilliance with which Geronimo waged his twin wars on the Mexicans and the Americans of the Southwest. Carter makes it abundantly clear that Geronimo was not so much a chief as a War Shaman, that he was motivated as much by extraordinary spiritual insight as by courage and valor. But the book fails when it attempts to portray Geronimo's enemies. With a few, not very important, exceptions, the Mexicans and Americans in the book are all dishonest, mercenary, coarse, corrupt, loathsome, vain--and, because they are so predictably despicable, they are cardboard characters, not real men. Carter seems not to understand (or, if he understands, to care) that, in an epic conflict such as the one the Apaches found themselves faced with in the last years of the nineteenth century, both sides can be principled; both can be motivated by what they believe to be right; but, because they are creatures of different value systems, their respective concepts of right can differ momentously--and with epically tragic consequences. Carter was obviously a gifted writer. If his Apaches were not always the "good guys"--if some of the really important Mexicans and Americans in his story had some redeeming qualities, this could have been a very good--perhaps even great--novel. As it is, it is an interesting (albeit often satisfying) failure.
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