Green Grass, Running Water
By Thomas King
4/5
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About this ebook
Strong, sassy women and hard-luck, hard-headed men, all searching for the middle ground between Native American tradition and the modern world, perform an elaborate dance of approach and avoidance in this magical, rollicking tale by award-winning author Thomas King. Alberta, Eli, Lionel and others are coming to the Blackfoot reservation for the Sun Dance. There they will encounter four Indian elders and their companion, the trickster Coyote—and nothing in the small town of Blossom will be the same again. . . .
Thomas King
THOMAS KING is an award-winning writer and photographer. His critically acclaimed, bestselling books include Medicine River; Green Grass, Running Water; One Good Story, That One; Truth and Bright Water; A Short History of Indians in Canada; The Back of the Turtle (winner of the Governor General’s Literary Award for Fiction); The Inconvenient Indian (winner of the RBC Taylor Prize); Indians on Vacation; Sufferance; and the poetry collection 77 Fragments of a Familiar Ruin. A Companion of the Order of Canada and the recipient of a National Aboriginal Achievement Award, Thomas King lives in Guelph, Ontario. Black Ice is the eighth book in the DreadfulWater series.
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Reviews for Green Grass, Running Water
260 ratings18 reviews
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Mr. King writes well about the life of modern native Americans, and he's funny. More people should read this book! It's not difficult.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four very old (ancient) Indian women want to fix the world - and realizing the limitations of old age, they go about it a little at a time. They are confined to a mental hospital until they need to go to work. Then, they inexplicably "escape" and go about their business. The focus is on the value of Native American culture, wacky interpretations of the story of creation, and what is most important in life. There is humor, angst, and irony. It's a book of hope, frustration, and introspection. Fun and funny.Can't say I understood all the symbolism. However, I doubt a second reading would remedy that. Even taken superficially with an appreciation of the beliefs and culture of others, this was a very enjoyable read. Recommended for something different!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Oh dear. While reading this, I felt frustrated. I didn't find it funny." I didn't think it unlike other Native fiction. I didn't understand it, or like it. *However* - days & other books later, I'm still thinking about it, and some glimmers of understanding are coming to me as I see something in life, or in another story, that seems to echo or reinforce, or be reinforced by, a theme or motif in King's book.
For example, I still think about the white owner and Indian salesman of the electronics store, and their relationship to one another. And about the man who stopped the implementation of an already built dam for at least a decade. And Alberta who wants a child but not a husband. And the way Coyote was overshadowed by the other characters in the Tales.
So, um, highly recommended to careful readers with some experience in or knowledge of Indian (especially Canadian Blackfoot and Cree) history - but probably not so appealing for ordinary readers like me." - Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5I found this book a bit difficult to follow, but it was interesting all the same. Four Native American men escape from the local mental hospital, all bearing well-known fictional names (i.e. Robinson Crusoe), but whether they are actually really humans, or spirits or some other fantasy creation is never really clear. They interact in the ordinary lives of other Native Americans going about their day to day lives -- dating problems, working, serving dog meat to tourists as "real indian" food, etc. The author seems to have a good understanding of the culture, and blends his reality and pseudoreality well -- you're just never quite sure where the line is drawn.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Without doubt Thomas King is the secret and wickedly clever twin of Salman Rushdie. Green Grass, Running Water is my introduction to this master of magic realism, and what an introduction it has been. In the first third of the novel I realized bedtime reading this novel should not be (echoes of Yoda there), because the narrative, weighted heavily toward sharp, incisive dialogue, required a reader fully awake, engaged and firing on all cylinders. (Warp 9, Number One!)By the second third I realized I needed to rein in the rapid-fire narrative and set about reading as though I were a beginner, pausing on each word, each phrase, because without that sort of careful consideration I would be sure to lose the avalanche of nuance Thomas King wields with careless, effortless abandon.Dear god I wish I could write like that!The novel abounds with metaphor, both subtle and sledge-hammer: the four elders who are escapees from a home for the mentally challenged, who assume the identities of Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe, The Lone Ranger and Hawkeye. There are the derelict cars Nissan and Pinto, one red, one blue; the puddle become lake that follows both vehicles; the lone cabin at the bottom of a dam which is known to be flawed and has yet to work; a woman seeking motherhood but not a husband; an appliance salesman seeking freedom; Coyote and Old Coyote attempting to narrate the genesis story.... I could go on. But the mind stutters and pauses and seeks breath. And even with all these seemingly disparate stories, King weaves the threads together into a lustrous cloth.This is a rich, lavish, humorous and irreverent novel that will change the way you think about story-telling and the world in general.Highly recommended. But read when you're completely awake!
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5This was a reread for my f2f book club. Originally read: 10ish years ago. I'm not sure there was much of a “plot” to this one. Alberta is dating two men, Lionel and Charlie. She wants a baby but doesn't want to get married. There are four escaped Indians from a hospital and people are looking for them. Eli has come home to the reserve from Ontario; his mother died and if he's not there, her house will be torn down to build a dam, so he feels he must fight that. In the meantime, we have commentary by Coyote and other “characters”. It was ok. I liked the “real people” storylines, but the Coyote stuff and some of the other “peripheral” stuff, I really wasn't interested in. I guess that was the magical realism in the story that I'm generally not a fan of, anyway (and wasn't, once again). Overall, then: simply ok.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a wonderful book of stories woven into stories. Don't expect a linear progression just drift with the water, then reread it for the symbolism.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Four very old (ancient) Indian women want to fix the world - and realizing the limitations of old age, they go about it a little at a time. They are confined to a mental hospital until they need to go to work. Then, they inexplicably "escape" and go about their business. The focus is on the value of Native American culture, wacky interpretations of the story of creation, and what is most important in life. There is humor, angst, and irony. It's a book of hope, frustration, and introspection. Fun and funny.Can't say I understood all the symbolism. However, I doubt a second reading would remedy that. Even taken superficially with an appreciation of the beliefs and culture of others, this was a very enjoyable read. Recommended for something different!
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Green Grass, Running Water is a post-modernist novel that deconstructs the typical master narrative structure, because it includes stories of minority experience. The events that occur within the novel seem random and unconnected, but they are all retellings of the same story—a shared experience described from various points of view. Throughout the novel, Coyote and the narrator work to reconstruct the creation stories that try to supplant minority narratives. The creation stories are meant to force minorities to follow “Christian rules” and become characters already written into the master narrative. Coyote even asks the narrator if one of the creation stories about Changing Woman is a “contrary dream from the garden story” (162), to which the narrator replies, “it’s all the same story” (163). No real communication occurs within the conversations between the characters in the novel, because everyone is concerned with ensuring that their own stories are told, and so they allow their own narratives to supplant those of others. No one wants to have their experiences erased or ignored, and so the conversations in the novel reveal the competing stories that try to dominate one another. Female experience is either ignored or ridiculed by an authority that wants women to become characters in its own narrative—Alberta struggles to assert her desire for motherhood and disgust for relationships, but her narrative is not taken very seriously; Latisha is forced to listen to George belittle her culture in an effort to make himself feel superior; and Babo is treated as though she does not exist, as though her voice has no real, substantial place within the narrative. Coyote and the narrator tell different creation stories that offer women—First Woman, Changing Woman, Thought Woman—alternatives, different worlds for them to enter and establish their own narratives. In the garden story, First Woman decides she does not wish to be subject to a “stingy God,” so she leaves the garden to find a new world, a new story, to live in. While these variations of the creation story are all competing to be told, while Alberta and Latisha and Babo seem to be caught between two worlds and find it difficult to construct a narrative that will unite them, there is still only one story about one world, but it is meant to include the experience and creation of everything.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Green Grass Running Water was a great read. I’m not sure if this is for everyone, but I certainly appreciated it. The book has a great balance between humour and real life struggles for Natives today. King introduces his readers to many main and supporting characters, all of whom are struggling with life as a Blackfoot in modern Canada. The characters are trying to blend into modern day culture but also feel compelled to maintain their heritage. As much as they try to ignore their culture, it is always with them. There are many quirky characters. We have Alberta who is a university professor, with two boyfriends, refuses to get married and desperately wants to be a mother. Oh, yes the boyfriends are cousins and know about each other. Charlie is a prominent lawyer, and Lionel a television salesman. We are also introduced to Latisha who is a restaurant owner, and pretends to serve up dog meat to her customers. It seems to attract tourists. Lone Ranger, Ishmael, Robinson Crusoe and Hawkeye have run away from an institution and have vowed to fix part of the world. These four storytellers frequently interrupt each other, and blend Native American tales with Christianity in an attempt to get it right. Ahdamn meets first woman. The telling if this new creation story is hilarious. “Ahdam is busy. He is naming everything.You are a microwave oven, Ahdamn tells the Elk.Nope, says that Elk. Try Again.You are a garage sale, Ahdamn tells the Bear.We got to get you some glasses, says the Bear.You are a telephone book, Ahdamn tells the Cedar Tree.You’re getting closer, says the Cedar Tree.” The stories keep juggling around, and each time I keep waiting to get back to the character I just read about. However, the next character is just as entrancing. I do admit, the creation story gets confusing and I did want to skip ahead. All in all, I really enjoyed it. I think everyone should try it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5I loved this book. It will definitely show up on my list of top reads for the year. It was fun, it was intelligent, it was sophisticated, it was literary, it was interesting . . . what more could you want? I have to add that I tend to be adverse to folklore and myth, and this book has a lot of it . . . but it's done in great fun, and is important to the stories about the "real" people. I tended to read those sections pretty quickly, and I wish there was a bit fewer of them. Also, there are bits of magic realism throughout the book, which I loved, but I know some readers just don't do magic realism.One of the themes I really enjoyed was "selling-out" . . . what is selling-out, what is not? Where is the line? The best thing I learned from this novel is that Aboriginal fiction does not have to be grim or depressing. This is an intelligent, well-written book that isn't a downer. How refreshing.I don't use the "favourite" status at LT very often, but Thomas King will join my favourites list today.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I had a hard time getting through this book. At certain parts I was really intrigued by the characters and their lives. At other parts I had a hard time following what was going on. The dynamic seemed to be either life on the reserve or the rest of the world. I don't have a lot of knowledge on native culture but the novel presents a tension between staying on the reserve and living off the reserve but still retaining their culture. I was frustrated with all the magic realism but at the same time I found it interesting that most of the stories were based in native creation stories but fused with "modern" and Christian culture. Overall I give this book a 3 out of 5
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5The plot revolves around the escape from a mental hospital of four very old Indians called Ishmael, Hawkeye, Robinson Crusoe and the Lone Ranger. These, however, are no ordinary natives. They may be the last survivors of the Indians interned at Fort Marion in Florida in the 19th century. Or perhaps they are the first human beings, as described in tribal creation myths. Their repeated breakouts--37 to date--have coincided with disasters: the 1929 stock market crash, the eruption of Mt. St. Helens, etc. On the fateful day when disaffected Lionel Red Dog and his aunt stop to pick up four ancient Indian hitchhikers things begin to change for Lionel and a number of his Blackfoot neighbors. The action moves from Canada to Wounded Knee to Hollywood. As all paths converge on the reservation in time for Sun Dance, Lionel is brought back to his tribal roots by family and the powers-that-be, becoming a protector of the sacred ceremony, while Uncle Eli finally wins his one-man stand against the corporation that built a massive dam just upriver from his mother's log cabin- -with a little help from trickster Coyote, whose dancing summons an earthquake.This is a unique combination of storytelling, myth and magic, but I didn't like it that well, personally.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5This is a great romp. King has an almost Wodehouseian sense of comic coincidence, but with a subtler and rarer touch. Although it is a hilarious book, the discovery of yet another connection between the novel's converging story lines is just as likely t
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Blackfoot Lionel Red Dog, approaching middle age, is stuck in a dead-end job in the town of Blossom, Alberta. On top of all his problems, four ancient Indians who periodically escape from a mental institution make an appearance, changing the lives of Lionel, his family and friends.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5I read this book as part of a bookclub read. I had just finished The Inconvenient Indian so probably was on King overload. I found this book hard to get into because it was so hard to follow. The real life characters were the best part of the story for me, but all the symbolism and story telling bogged everything down. The moderator of our conference gave us a lot of background for each section as far as names and symbolism which definitely helped me to understand the story better. There are some humorous parts but overall, not a book I would read for enjoyment.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Various Canadian Indians don't know what to do with their lives; meanwhile, Coyote helps tell some stories.3/4 (Good).When I read this 20 years ago, I loved it for the Looney Tunes sense of humor and meta storytelling games. Rereading it now, that stuff is still a lot of fun, but I'm also frustrated by how little resolution there is for most of the characters.(Apr. 2022)
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Though I hated the Dead Dog Restaurant (it added nothing but stupid sadness to the plot),I LOVED this 5 STAR strange book until the ending.It made no sense that The Four would go to Eli and then...