Reviews with content warning for Forced institutionalization - Der gefrorene Himmel

Indian Horse is a hard hitting, unflinching look at racism faced by indigenous people living in Canada and the impact it has had on their lives. It follows Saul Indian Hose from a childhood spent in the loving embrace of a family, through the unspeakable horror of his time in a residential school, the highs and then the lows of playing hockey, a a period of alcoholism and self-sabotage, to him eventually facing his demons and tentatively finding a new path in life.

No matter how many times I read about it, the realities of the residential school system and the abuses perpetuated there never fail to sicken me. This book was no exception. The escape that hockey offered Saul and his exhilaration on the ice really shone through and captivated my attention, even though I have less than no interest in the game itself. The way racism impinged on that, robbed him of his love for the game, and stole his joy was heartbreaking and infuriating.

This book is a work of fiction. Yet it is filled with undeniable truths. It is beautifully and impactfully written, a painful yet important read, and one I highly recommend.

“When your innocence is stripped from you, when your people are denigrated, when the family that you came from is denounced and your tribal ways and rituals are pronounced backward, primitive, savage, you come to see yourself as less than human. That is hell on earth, that sense of unworthiness. That’s what they inflicted on us.”

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breezie_reads's review against another edition

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emotional sad 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

5.0

This book was really difficult for me to read. I went into this not expecting to relate to anything, based solely off of the synopsis. However, I quickly found out that I was wrong.

I might not have been able to relate to living off the land and having your people stolen in the middle of the night and shipped off to God-knows-where, and I might not be able to relate to being targeted specifically because of your skin color and origins, but I understand what it's like to feel like, to be treated like, an outcast, like you don't belong. I understand what it feels like to have one thing that brings you relief from it all and to have it wrenched away from you. I understand what it feels like to watch others go through what the kids in the school went through, and I understand what it feels like to remember those same things happening to you.

I relate especially to finding comfort and escapism in books. Books to me are what hockey was to Saul and reading about his struggles with coming to terms with his past and remembering it hit home for me because I've felt the same way. It's a constant, uphill battle and this novel did an amazing job of capturing the emotions of that struggle, not only with addiction and recovering from your addiction, but with the struggle of isolation, whether self-imposed or otherwise, and with the struggle of remembering who you are and fighting to get that person back.

This was a work of art, and I'm definitely going to need some recovery time after reading this.

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maryjames's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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annemaries_shelves's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Wagamese destroyed me with this story in the most necessary way possible.
It's an easy-to-read but heavy novel that grapples with trauma caused by Canadian residential schools (in this specific case, a Catholic residential school in Northern Ontario in the 1960s).

The story of Saul, the truths laid bare within his absolutely beautiful writing, the emotional candour, the pacing and narrative structure, and the absolute love for his people and land make Indian Horse one of the most impactful, well-crafted, and beautiful novels I've read.

Wagamese's passion for hockey truly shines through as well, and I found myself at the edge of my metaphorical seat reading about training, playing games - the beauty of the game alongside the racist experiences Saul and the Moose team experienced by white settlers who believe the game of hockey is theirs alone.
I also particularly appreciated how Wagamese incorporate Objibwe culture and worldviews throughout the novel and how integral Saul's culture and language (despite being forcibly stripped from him) is to his identity and journey.

I feel like I could write an entire essay on this novel and all its themes, narrative choices, character development, etc. but I think I'll leave it here for now. Everyone in North America should read Indian Horse.

I'll be thinking about this novel for a long time.

Content/trigger warnings: significant child physical and sexual abuse, colonial trauma, alcoholism, residential schools, suicide/death, racial slurs

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