melissaa123's review against another edition
5.0
This is by far one of my favorite books I’ve read this year, and probably ever! I did not think I would be a fan of the “diary entry” style writing, but Jim Fergus’s writing is witty, descriptive, and charismatic! I could hardly put this book down. I found so many parallels between the “white man” and the “savages” and I’m sure this was no accident. I will be begging my friends and family to read this book so I can discuss it!
bluenicorn's review against another edition
1.0
Did not care for it. Really liked the guy's suggestion that said this would have been more interesting if we couldn't be sure that she wasn't crazy. The voice just felt off to me, and I found the passages where she was determined to show the "savages" that men and women were equal to be eye-roll inducing.
donyala's review against another edition
4.0
What would have happened if the President had agreed to the Cheyenne Indian's suggestion of trading 1000 white women to be wives to the Cheyenne men for 1000 horses to aid the assimilation of the cultures. I thought this was shocking and beautiful and well-written - and it is evidently well-research - but so hopeless. So many people trying to do good things and so little value to their sacrifices.
booksbecreads's review against another edition
3.0
It took me ten months to read this book, and it's not a reflection on the book itself. I had intended it to be my "at home" book, but with all the travel I've been doing I was never at home to read it. Therefore it was also hard to rate it, picking up the story here and there.
It's an interesting "what if" tale, for which about 2/3 of the way through started to drag a bit. It does have an interesting ending, and you never really know where the book will head next.
It's an interesting "what if" tale, for which about 2/3 of the way through started to drag a bit. It does have an interesting ending, and you never really know where the book will head next.
settingshadow's review against another edition
2.0
I tend not to rest my estimation of the quality of a book on unsavory elements included, understanding that violence is sometimes necessary for realism, plot, theme or character development. However, in this case, Fergus abandoned realism and character integrity early on, stretching his historic setting with unrealistic and misplaced values (which I hesitate to call feminism, for reasons that I'll get to.) Therefore, there is little excuse for the repeated sexual assault scenes, especially given that Fergus seemed to expect the reader to casually forgive the assailants as easily as his protagonists did. (So easily that the narrator, who was expected to be a reliable, sympathetic narrator, refers to the rape of another character as "nonconsensual" in scare quotes.)
Similarly, there is little excuse for Fergus' rampant use of the N-word. It's supposed to be a historic piece? Thanks, I got that without the casual slurs. I don't agree with censoring (or self-censoring) literature, but if you're going to be throwing around loaded words/scenarios, do it for a reason.
Fantastic idea. Execution lacking.
Similarly, there is little excuse for Fergus' rampant use of the N-word. It's supposed to be a historic piece? Thanks, I got that without the casual slurs. I don't agree with censoring (or self-censoring) literature, but if you're going to be throwing around loaded words/scenarios, do it for a reason.
Fantastic idea. Execution lacking.
slclardy's review against another edition
3.0
I write this review with the understanding that as this book has sold a million copies, my opinion is of little matter, but here it is. I truly enjoy historical fiction, and am very interested in this time frame..the settling of the west, the life of the Native Americans, so I was hoping very much to love this book. Sadly, I couldn’t love it..like it, yes..but not love it. The author’s goal is to convince you that this story could’ve happened, and although there are moments in the book where that is achieved, overall the writing felt inauthentic and inconsistent with a woman in the 19th century, even a woman as educated and forward thinking as May. The story throughout felt very contrived. I gave it three stars instead of two however, because despite the problems, the story was entertaining and kept me interested enough to finish it. If you’re looking for an entertaining read, and don’t mind the anomalies, then this is your book.
hheimbaugh's review against another edition
3.0
Remember how in 1875 the U.S. government traded 1000 white women to the Cheyenne Indian Tribe in exchange for 1000 horses to help the Cheyenne learn how to acclimate to the White man’s world? No? That’s because it didn’t happen. But what if it did?
This may seem like a strange premise, but when Ulysses Grant was president, a Chief from the Cheyenne Indian Tribe actually suggested this trade of 1000 white women for 1000 horses. Of course, the poor guy was laughed out of the room and his proposition was never even considered. However, I was never too interested in American history, and coupled with my gullibility, I was almost convinced that this story actually happened. AT FIRST. But the writing in the journals was so modern that soon the seeds of doubt were planted in my mind as to the story’s validity.
The setup of the book is essentially this: May Dodd was a woman condemned to the loony bin by her family due to her “promiscuity,” a term used to describe her love for a man who wasn’t her husband. It seemed she was destined to waste away her prime years institutionalized, with no hope of freedom, until she heard about a strange opportunity. Patients, provided they were fertile with promising birthing hips (ok…I added that last bit), were given the opportunity to travel west under a super secret “Brides for Indians” program sanctioned by the U.S. Government. Of course, May Dodd’s immediate reaction was. “Where do I sign up?” I’m fairly certain she would have sold all of her non-essential organs (and maybe even some essential ones too) on the black market if it could guarantee a hasty departure from the psychiatric facilities where she was being held. The book itself is meant to be Dodd’s journals, composed of letters to friends and family, she wrote while on her bizarre adventure in the Wild West both before and after meeting her Indian groom.
While I loved the style of this book (Miss Dodd has a great, highly satirical voice), it just didn’t seem to transcend anything other than a fun read not to be overanalyzed due to its various limitations. First, although May Dodd certainly knows how to tell a good story, unfortunately her language was just too modern to fit in to the late 19th century when it was supposed to have been written. Perhaps that’s why it appealed to me – because May Dodd just seemed like one of my friends ranting and raving. But realistic? Not at all? I can’t really hold this against the author though, because I honestly don’t believe the author takes himself too seriously (nor was this book meant to be taken seriously). If it was, well THEN we’d have a serious problem.
However, what I did object to was the one-dimensionality of all the characters. It’s as if Fergus wrote each character to fit a certain stereotype, and just expounded on them to the point of ridiculousness. None of the characters ever really acted unexpectedly throughout the entire book, and I think a bit of unpredictability would have added some more depth. Furthermore, Fergus essentially wrote all of the women characters to be slightly neurotic if not insane. The only woman that was semi-normal dressed like a man most of the time. This wouldn’t have even stood out to me had the author himself not been male. Again, he was just playing into the stereotype that women are overemotional (i.e., not rational) creatures.
Oh, and for such a quirky book with so much humor, it sure had a heck of a depressing ending. A seriously gruesome, killing and slicing open horses just so one can jump in and wear the intestines like a sticky winter coat kind of ending. I suppose when I really think about it, the book dealt with some pretty heavy subject matter all the way through, such as rape and murder and domestic abuse. Yet, I didn’t notice the heaviness as much throughout because May Dodd made it somehow seem a little less depressing with her sense of humor. And when that was gone, there was nothing to buffer the reader from the horror.
All in all, I did enjoy this book. As long as you aren’t looking for a literary masterpiece or even realism, then you might enjoy it too. Just know going in that this is a purely a piece of fiction, and hopefully that will alleviate some of the incredulity I experienced from page to page.
Final Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
This may seem like a strange premise, but when Ulysses Grant was president, a Chief from the Cheyenne Indian Tribe actually suggested this trade of 1000 white women for 1000 horses. Of course, the poor guy was laughed out of the room and his proposition was never even considered. However, I was never too interested in American history, and coupled with my gullibility, I was almost convinced that this story actually happened. AT FIRST. But the writing in the journals was so modern that soon the seeds of doubt were planted in my mind as to the story’s validity.
The setup of the book is essentially this: May Dodd was a woman condemned to the loony bin by her family due to her “promiscuity,” a term used to describe her love for a man who wasn’t her husband. It seemed she was destined to waste away her prime years institutionalized, with no hope of freedom, until she heard about a strange opportunity. Patients, provided they were fertile with promising birthing hips (ok…I added that last bit), were given the opportunity to travel west under a super secret “Brides for Indians” program sanctioned by the U.S. Government. Of course, May Dodd’s immediate reaction was. “Where do I sign up?” I’m fairly certain she would have sold all of her non-essential organs (and maybe even some essential ones too) on the black market if it could guarantee a hasty departure from the psychiatric facilities where she was being held. The book itself is meant to be Dodd’s journals, composed of letters to friends and family, she wrote while on her bizarre adventure in the Wild West both before and after meeting her Indian groom.
While I loved the style of this book (Miss Dodd has a great, highly satirical voice), it just didn’t seem to transcend anything other than a fun read not to be overanalyzed due to its various limitations. First, although May Dodd certainly knows how to tell a good story, unfortunately her language was just too modern to fit in to the late 19th century when it was supposed to have been written. Perhaps that’s why it appealed to me – because May Dodd just seemed like one of my friends ranting and raving. But realistic? Not at all? I can’t really hold this against the author though, because I honestly don’t believe the author takes himself too seriously (nor was this book meant to be taken seriously). If it was, well THEN we’d have a serious problem.
However, what I did object to was the one-dimensionality of all the characters. It’s as if Fergus wrote each character to fit a certain stereotype, and just expounded on them to the point of ridiculousness. None of the characters ever really acted unexpectedly throughout the entire book, and I think a bit of unpredictability would have added some more depth. Furthermore, Fergus essentially wrote all of the women characters to be slightly neurotic if not insane. The only woman that was semi-normal dressed like a man most of the time. This wouldn’t have even stood out to me had the author himself not been male. Again, he was just playing into the stereotype that women are overemotional (i.e., not rational) creatures.
Oh, and for such a quirky book with so much humor, it sure had a heck of a depressing ending. A seriously gruesome, killing and slicing open horses just so one can jump in and wear the intestines like a sticky winter coat kind of ending. I suppose when I really think about it, the book dealt with some pretty heavy subject matter all the way through, such as rape and murder and domestic abuse. Yet, I didn’t notice the heaviness as much throughout because May Dodd made it somehow seem a little less depressing with her sense of humor. And when that was gone, there was nothing to buffer the reader from the horror.
All in all, I did enjoy this book. As long as you aren’t looking for a literary masterpiece or even realism, then you might enjoy it too. Just know going in that this is a purely a piece of fiction, and hopefully that will alleviate some of the incredulity I experienced from page to page.
Final Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
thistlechaser's review against another edition
2.0
Before I get into anything else about this book: How in the world does it have so many Amazon reviews? 2,867! Stephen King's most popular books rarely break 3,000, and a lot of his famous ones have a lot fewer (Salem's Lot has 1,587). Even if this is a case of paid reviews, that seems excessive!
Anyway, on to the book. I saw a review for it in Dogear Diary, and it sounded interesting so I grabbed a copy.
It's the fictional diary of a woman who took part in the American government's (fictional) program to marry off a thousand "white" (non-native) women to the Native Americans in hopes of "taming" the tribe. While the story was interesting, I had a number of issues with this book. I'm not even sure where to start listing them...
1) Rape. There was more rape happening than in Game of Thrones, and yet it had no impact on the characters. "Ho hum, I was raped every day for the last couple years or so. Hm, I wonder what's for breakfast?"
2) All too many of the characters were complete caricatures, including typed out accents.
About a third of the way into the book, already losing interest, I made the mistake of reading the Goodread reviews of it. The issues brought up there drove home the last straw for me, and I stopped reading at the 34% part. It wasn't awful, but I was only mildly curious about what was going to happen next, and the writing/characters were so unenjoyable that I decided to move on to some other book.
Anyway, on to the book. I saw a review for it in Dogear Diary, and it sounded interesting so I grabbed a copy.
It's the fictional diary of a woman who took part in the American government's (fictional) program to marry off a thousand "white" (non-native) women to the Native Americans in hopes of "taming" the tribe. While the story was interesting, I had a number of issues with this book. I'm not even sure where to start listing them...
1) Rape. There was more rape happening than in Game of Thrones, and yet it had no impact on the characters. "Ho hum, I was raped every day for the last couple years or so. Hm, I wonder what's for breakfast?"
2) All too many of the characters were complete caricatures, including typed out accents.
About a third of the way into the book, already losing interest, I made the mistake of reading the Goodread reviews of it. The issues brought up there drove home the last straw for me, and I stopped reading at the 34% part. It wasn't awful, but I was only mildly curious about what was going to happen next, and the writing/characters were so unenjoyable that I decided to move on to some other book.
booksandchicks's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting aspect taken from history, that was proposed but didn't happen, though it was clearly fictionalized. I found I didn't love the voice of Mary (the journal and letter writer throughout the book). She didn't seem to really fit in with the time period. A little too current.
labarrec's review against another edition
2.0
You ever read a book with a female POV and been like…yeah, a man definitely wrote this?