The White

Rating:
Summary: No Depth
Review: "The White," seemed more like a broad overview, rather than a novel that one can get into. The characters are never really developed and emotions are not really discussed, so it is very difficult to get into these characters or feel anything really for them. It goes from one scene to another without making one get any sort of sense for it, before moving on to something else. I really didn't care for the book and took nothing from it.

Rating:
Summary: A little unsatisfying, but still enjoyable
Review: In 1798, sixteen year old Mary Jemison was taken from her home in Pennsylvania by a Shawnee raiding party. Her parents were murdered and scalped, but Mary was given to a Seneca family whose son, roughly Mary's age, had been killed by whites several months before.

Though at first Mary resists her new life, she gradually begins to accept her fate, even taking a Delaware warrior as her husband. This novel is a fictionalized retelling of her true story, and primarily focuses on the inner workings of Mary's mind as she struggles with the two sides of her identity -- her desire to stay white and her growing respect for her new Native American world.

I enjoyed this book, but do have one complaint. The novel, which is relatively short, is written in a very Spartan style, and while I realize that sixteen year olds aren't terribly observant, I would have liked to see more detail about the Seneca culture and the environment Mary finds herself in. The book's focus is on what's going on in Mary's mind, but those "inner workings" don't really amount to all that much, and what's there isn't terribly unique, either. This book could've been so much more! I really felt that Larsen had wasted a terrific opportunity here.

Nevertheless, though I found the book a little unsatisfying overall, I still was entertained and would recommend it to others.

Rating:
Summary: Novel as Poetry
Review: This brief beautifully written novel, based on the real life of Mary Jemison, reads more like a short epic poem. Written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, the narrative follows the history of Ms. Jemison from the time she is captured by the Shawnee until her death many years later. Until the day she died, she chose to remain with the Indians, even when provided with the choice of returning to the White world. In the interim, she marries twice (and is widowed both times) and bears 6 children. Her capture is sudden and shocking and she lives while she watches her entire family die. Her silence becomes her refuge; within it she heals, and is able to adjust to her new life. She becomes a part of the Seneca tribe in trade for a brother who died fighting the whites. Thus the brutal conflict, as well as the peaceful blending, of two cultures becomes the backdrop of Mary's existence. The wonders of the natural world, as well as the cruelty of mankind, are revealed in the descriptions of the world and the people who inhabit it. The love of family and the pain and loss of war are both described in prose that works as poetry. Mary, taken in by two sisters who care for her, slowly adapts to the Seneca ways of life and ultimately finds a world she does not want to leave. The story slowly unfolds and the narration is split between third person and first person. Mary's thoughts are scattered at times, but they parallel the action and can be quite effective and moving. However, I wanted to read more, in more depth, than this brief novel provided to me. I found Mary's story fascinating and this book just gave me a taste of it. Lovely novel, far too brief.