bkeniston's review against another edition
4.0
A big, fat, historical potboiler, full of period detail, with a hint of creepiness. In this novel, Colorado author Dan Simmons relates the story of Paha Sapa, a Lakota Sioux with psychic abilities that allow him to absorb the past and future memories of those he touches. At the battle of the Little Big Horn, 11-year-old Paha Sapa is present at the moment of General Custer’s death and finds himself the unwilling vessel for Custer’s consciousness. With this “ghost” of his enemy knocking around inside his head, Paha Sapa bears witness to the decline of his people and some of the major events of the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Well-researched and thoroughly readable, Simmons’ novel details the daily life and rituals of the Sioux and other tribes, and sweeps through such varied canvases as the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the carving of Mount Rushmore. In one particularly harrowing passage, Paha Sapa experiences an incredible Dust Bowl-era dust storm in eastern Colorado. This is one of those books that will inspire curiosity about the many subjects covered. Highly recommended.
Well-researched and thoroughly readable, Simmons’ novel details the daily life and rituals of the Sioux and other tribes, and sweeps through such varied canvases as the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the carving of Mount Rushmore. In one particularly harrowing passage, Paha Sapa experiences an incredible Dust Bowl-era dust storm in eastern Colorado. This is one of those books that will inspire curiosity about the many subjects covered. Highly recommended.
alwroteabook's review against another edition
5.0
In a fit of whimsy, I hereby announce I will give everyone five stars, but the reviews may not reflect it.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Paha Sapa, a Sioux, plans to exact revenge for the Battle of the Little Bighorn by blowing up Mount Rushmore when FDR comes to visit it. Paha literally has voices in his head, including his former chief and General Custer. While the story is compelling, it also portrays the treatment of Saha and his people before and after the famous battle. I didn't like the Custer sections so much, but the rest of the story was great.
Revenge is a dish best served cold. Paha Sapa, a Sioux, plans to exact revenge for the Battle of the Little Bighorn by blowing up Mount Rushmore when FDR comes to visit it. Paha literally has voices in his head, including his former chief and General Custer. While the story is compelling, it also portrays the treatment of Saha and his people before and after the famous battle. I didn't like the Custer sections so much, but the rest of the story was great.
imakandiway's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
donnakaye64's review against another edition
4.0
Once I got into the book and used to the flashbacks and flash forwards I enjoyed this book. An interesting look at Little Big Horn and Mount Rushmore. I did feel the ending was a bit too pat but, it was a good read.
gmvader's review against another edition
4.0
Paha Sapa, a name that literally means Black Hills in his native Lakota sneaks off to count coup as a small boy during the battle of Little Bighorn. He inadvertently touches the dying Custer and absorbs part of his ghost. Over the next decades he witnesses the destruction of his people, and participates in Wild Bill’s Wild West Show, helps build the Brooklyn Bridge and works as a powder man on Mount Rushmore under the ever watchful eye of Gutzon Borglum.
The story and the prose are excellent as all Dan Simmons’ writing is — by the end Paha Sapa has become a friend. A melancholy and quiet one, he has a lot to be melancholy about. (With the exception of the story parts from Custer’s point of view — those serve no purpose in the story, whatever).
The way the United States treated the native people that were here in America is inexcusable — there is a lot of inexcusable mistreatment throughout history. However, when faced with tribes like the Lakota as led by Crazy Horse I sometimes wonder what other choice they had. The Lakota had systematically wiped out any of the weaker tribes in their area and refused to honor treaties. They didn’t just conquer they slaughtered, maimed and tortured their enemies, for no other reason than that they were male Lakota and that was what male Lakota did. It was expected.
Faced with that kind of power on their borders it’s no wonder that the United States decided to become aggressive. In their eagerness to strike preemptively they struck out at many other tribes that did not possess the same kind of war mongering attitude as the Lakota.
We’ll never know if the Lakota had not had a charismatic and probably sociopathic leader in Crazy Horse might they have been more open to discussion and treaty? If some of the American leaders at the time hadn’t been so xenophobic and overzealous in their pursuit of ‘Indian hunting’ might our nation be one in which the native population never had to be confined to reservations and driven into poverty for decades.
We will never know. Those things did happen and so we have the world we have today but Dan Simmons asks us to examine this questions and to think about it.
Black Hills is about history and how much power history plays in the lives of those who live it. It’s also about finding freedom from pain and loss.
With one major caveat: Custer doesn’t show up more than a few times but those few times are enough to make this book almost impossible to recommend — if Custer’s scenes can be skipped then the rest of the book is astonishing.
The story and the prose are excellent as all Dan Simmons’ writing is — by the end Paha Sapa has become a friend. A melancholy and quiet one, he has a lot to be melancholy about. (With the exception of the story parts from Custer’s point of view — those serve no purpose in the story, whatever).
The way the United States treated the native people that were here in America is inexcusable — there is a lot of inexcusable mistreatment throughout history. However, when faced with tribes like the Lakota as led by Crazy Horse I sometimes wonder what other choice they had. The Lakota had systematically wiped out any of the weaker tribes in their area and refused to honor treaties. They didn’t just conquer they slaughtered, maimed and tortured their enemies, for no other reason than that they were male Lakota and that was what male Lakota did. It was expected.
Faced with that kind of power on their borders it’s no wonder that the United States decided to become aggressive. In their eagerness to strike preemptively they struck out at many other tribes that did not possess the same kind of war mongering attitude as the Lakota.
We’ll never know if the Lakota had not had a charismatic and probably sociopathic leader in Crazy Horse might they have been more open to discussion and treaty? If some of the American leaders at the time hadn’t been so xenophobic and overzealous in their pursuit of ‘Indian hunting’ might our nation be one in which the native population never had to be confined to reservations and driven into poverty for decades.
We will never know. Those things did happen and so we have the world we have today but Dan Simmons asks us to examine this questions and to think about it.
Black Hills is about history and how much power history plays in the lives of those who live it. It’s also about finding freedom from pain and loss.
With one major caveat: Custer doesn’t show up more than a few times but those few times are enough to make this book almost impossible to recommend — if Custer’s scenes can be skipped then the rest of the book is astonishing.
aaloysiusbenz's review against another edition
4.0
Like The Terror and The Abominable, this is an excellent novel with a minor flaw in the ending act's over-exposition. It's good to know how things turn out for the main character - but perhaps we don't need so much detail when the main action has already been settled.
That's picking minor nits. It's an excellent novel.
That's picking minor nits. It's an excellent novel.
mpetruce's review against another edition
2.0
The story was basic enough, but I'm not quite sure what the point of all the Custer porn was (yes, I said Custer porn). In fact, Simmons eventually acknowledges that the memories of the ghost inhabiting the main character, Paha Sapa, indeed has "pornographic memories" of the widow (can it really be porn if you're married consenting adults?), but still doesn't really explain why it's even there.
The narrators are good, with careful pronunciation of the many Lakota words, although the quiet whisperiness of the main narrator's voice can be a little sleep-inducing.
I studied 19th century U.S. history for most of my major, so that helped me keep with it because I love when authors weave their fictional stories into historical events, sometimes with real historical figures. Simmons did this much better in 'The Terror,' although that one got a little weird.
The narrators are good, with careful pronunciation of the many Lakota words, although the quiet whisperiness of the main narrator's voice can be a little sleep-inducing.
I studied 19th century U.S. history for most of my major, so that helped me keep with it because I love when authors weave their fictional stories into historical events, sometimes with real historical figures. Simmons did this much better in 'The Terror,' although that one got a little weird.
mettguns84's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
reflective
medium-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
4.5
wynwicket's review against another edition
4.0
I was initially a little intimidated by this book: the author uses a great number of terms in the Lakota language, and I know very little about the time period in which the story takes place (from Custer's Last Stand to World War 1). However, the writing was so vivid, and the protagonist, Paha Sapa (whose name means "Black Hills") wonderfully developed. I also learned a great deal about the Chicago World's Fair, the building of the Brooklyn Bridge, and the carving (with dynamite!) of Mt. Rushmore, as well as many of the customs of and the changes that the Lakota people experienced during this time. A complex but gripping book.
williemeikle's review against another edition
3.0
As usual his need to show off his research is in abundance, but here it stifles the story rather than revealing motivation, and chunks of exposition appear just when things were getting interesting. Still, he's a magical writer when he lets his imagination soar, and parts of this, in particular the sections dealing with the protagonist's spiritual quests really soar.
It's not in the same upper bracket as The Terror or Carrion Comfort, not as gripping as Drood, and hasn't got the thrills of The Abominable, but it held my attention, although I could have done without knowing quite so much about General Custer's sex life.
It's not in the same upper bracket as The Terror or Carrion Comfort, not as gripping as Drood, and hasn't got the thrills of The Abominable, but it held my attention, although I could have done without knowing quite so much about General Custer's sex life.