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A review by ncrabb
Sacred Clowns by Tony Hillerman
5.0
In his biography "Seldom Disappointed," Tony Hillerman says this book,
"Sacred Clowns," was his breakthrough book. It unites Joe Leaphorn and Jim
Chee, two Navajo policemen with very different ways of solving crimes.
You are attending a Pueblo religious ceremony as the book opens, and your
viewpoint is the roof of a structure above the ceremony. You're there with
Chee and a young Navajo woman who has moved home after years away as a DC
lawyer.
One of the features of the ceremony is the appearance of a "sacred clown," a
comically dressed figure with a wagon filled with things that remind the
people of ways in which they have strayed from the ancient religion and
participated in greed and other spiritually disrupting things.
As the ceremony progresses, the clown figure is killed, and of course it's
up to Chee and Leaphorn to figure out how and by whom.
Hillerman's understanding of Navajo and intertribal cultures and
relationships is as vast as the southwest deserts where his stories occur.
The plot moves nicely. I would caution you against thinking you can casually beach read this.
First, you don't ever want to casually beach read Hillerman. He has far too
much to offer as a writer for you to cheat yourself like that. There are
subplots here that will become rapidly confusing if you go casual on this.
In one subplot, Chee falls hard for the sophisticated lawyer with the Navajo
dad and the white mom. He wants to be a medicine man for his people, and he
realizes that if she's from the wrong clan, his desire to kiss and cuddle
the lawyer would be considered incestuous by the more orthodox and more
strictly spiritual of his people-the very people he needs to impress if he
is to become the medicine man he wants to be.
The more I read of Hillerman's books, the more I appreciate his keen
observation skills. He must have been one of the most entertaining
thoughtful conversationalists out there. You see what you imagine to be
Hillerman in Joe Leaphorn. There's real pathos here as Joe adjusts to the
death of his wife Emma and the possibility of experiencing love for the
first time since her death. If you read Hillerman's biography, you will see
his intense lifelong love for his wife reflected in Joe Leaphorn.
While this is a series, you can dip in and out of it randomly without
harming your ability to enjoy the books.
"Sacred Clowns," was his breakthrough book. It unites Joe Leaphorn and Jim
Chee, two Navajo policemen with very different ways of solving crimes.
You are attending a Pueblo religious ceremony as the book opens, and your
viewpoint is the roof of a structure above the ceremony. You're there with
Chee and a young Navajo woman who has moved home after years away as a DC
lawyer.
One of the features of the ceremony is the appearance of a "sacred clown," a
comically dressed figure with a wagon filled with things that remind the
people of ways in which they have strayed from the ancient religion and
participated in greed and other spiritually disrupting things.
As the ceremony progresses, the clown figure is killed, and of course it's
up to Chee and Leaphorn to figure out how and by whom.
Hillerman's understanding of Navajo and intertribal cultures and
relationships is as vast as the southwest deserts where his stories occur.
The plot moves nicely. I would caution you against thinking you can casually beach read this.
First, you don't ever want to casually beach read Hillerman. He has far too
much to offer as a writer for you to cheat yourself like that. There are
subplots here that will become rapidly confusing if you go casual on this.
In one subplot, Chee falls hard for the sophisticated lawyer with the Navajo
dad and the white mom. He wants to be a medicine man for his people, and he
realizes that if she's from the wrong clan, his desire to kiss and cuddle
the lawyer would be considered incestuous by the more orthodox and more
strictly spiritual of his people-the very people he needs to impress if he
is to become the medicine man he wants to be.
The more I read of Hillerman's books, the more I appreciate his keen
observation skills. He must have been one of the most entertaining
thoughtful conversationalists out there. You see what you imagine to be
Hillerman in Joe Leaphorn. There's real pathos here as Joe adjusts to the
death of his wife Emma and the possibility of experiencing love for the
first time since her death. If you read Hillerman's biography, you will see
his intense lifelong love for his wife reflected in Joe Leaphorn.
While this is a series, you can dip in and out of it randomly without
harming your ability to enjoy the books.