Dances with Wolves

Rating:
Summary: A story, plain and simple
Review: The plot of Dances With Wolves can be summed up within a few sentences - a wounded Union soldier, Lt. John Dunbar, attempts to commit suicide in battle but unwittingly becomes a hero when he turns the tide against the Confederate troops. His reward is a post of his choice, and he immediately chooses the frontier ... but the man assigning him to it is mad and sends him to a post abandoned only days before, in the middle of nowhere, and with no record of his whereabouts.
This scarcely affects Dunbar, who settles in to wait for the Union army, but matters are complicated by a tribe of Comanche Native Americans moving into the area, a mysterious white woman amongst them. Dunbar gradually makes friends with the Comanche, learning their ways and language, and ultimately looses his heart to the white born, Comanche bred Stands With A Fist and in consequence is eventually adopted by the Comanches, earning the name "Dances With Wolves" - until the day the army arrives and Dunbar is forced to choose between his old life and his new.
This is a simple tale, simply told, as unassuming as its central character, but at the same time completely enganging, drawing the reader into the life of the frontier. We are allowed total access to Dunbar's thoughts and feelings, and share his triumphs and low points accordingly. A gentle, slightly roguish sense of humour is apparent, tempered by its serious message - Dunbar shouldn't have had to take sides in the end. In short this is an honest, plain-speaking, unpretentious work that is irresistable to anyone with a liking for the Old West, American history, good old fashioned adventure, or for anyone who ever felt totally alone in midst of nowhere.

Rating:
Summary: real people behind the story
Review: This book is so clumsily written it's hardly more than a plot outline for a movie, but the movie was terrific. Maybe I should just go review the video. All the cliches in this book oddly enough seem to work in the movie. There is a great book on real (non-cinematic) Comanches by T.R. Fehrenbach called 'Comanche', brilliantly written. Their real story is more horrifying. They weren't all that cuddly. Also for a newcomer\white person journeying into the Indian world, 'North Spirit', also a gripping read, non-fiction, where the author tells about being sent into the remote Canadian north, to an Ojibway village for several years, and meeting and working with Graham Greene, an Oneida who played Kicking Bird. Guess I'll go look up the video.

Rating:
Summary: Good Summary on "Dances with Wolves"
Review: This book tells the story about an American soldier, Lieutenant John Dunbar, who was posted in an abandoned fort on the frontier of Indian and white territory during the Civil War where he gets in contact wiht an Indian tribe

Rating:
Summary: A beautiful story
Review: This is a fairly short simply written book that is absolutely wonderful. It's not *literature*, but so what? A man's journey to find himself, after experiencing the horrors of the Civil War, including nearing committing suicide, leads him towards a rendevouz with the Lakota Indian tribe. After extensive soul searching and communing with the Indians, he does find himself. It's not just about cowboys and indians, although the decimation of the populations of the Great Plains Indians is a subtle undertone through out the book.

Rating:
Summary: Dances With Wolves
Review: This of course is the book that inspired the hugely popular movie of the same title. I'd always been under the impression that it was a poorly written book and had no desire to read it until recently. As it turns out, it is in fact not the best written book, but it is an enjoyable and entertaining simple story of an American soldier who gets posted to a fort on the American frontier, only to learn that it is no longer occupied. The military soon forgets that he is there and after manning the post alone for some time, he befriends and then becomes a member of a band of Comanche. As a Comanche, he comes find himself and true meaning in life--not to mention the love of his life.

Rating:
Summary: Different perspective of life Native Americans
Review: Would you like to read a story about a Native Americans which is unlike anything you have read before?
The book "Dances with Wolves" written by Michael Blake is a controversial story. It is controversial because it portrays a different image of Native Americans and Americans soldiers. The life of Native Americans is shown from a different perspective through the eyes of Lieutenant Dunbar.
By living among the Comanche, Lieutenant Dunbar finds many good qualities in them. They are generous. They share their food, traditions, knowledge, and even one of their "daughters". Likewise we can see another side of the Unite States Army with many negative qualities. We meet drunkards; bullies and crazy generals.
I would recommend reading this store to people are an interested in history and life in the West. This books a gives a different perspective of life at that time. The good "guys" can be bad, and the bad "guys" can be good.

Rating:
Summary: Different perspective of life Native Americans
Review: Would you like to read a story about a Native Americans which is unlike anything you have read before?
The book "Dances with Wolves" written by Michael Blake is a controversial story. It is controversial because it portrays a different image of Native Americans and Americans soldiers. The life of Native Americans is shown from a different perspective through the eyes of Lieutenant Dunbar.
By living among the Comanche, Lieutenant Dunbar finds many good qualities in them. They are generous. They share their food, traditions, knowledge, and even one of their "daughters". Likewise we can see another side of the Unite States Army with many negative qualities. We meet drunkards; bullies and crazy generals.
I would recommend reading this store to people are an interested in history and life in the West. This books a gives a different perspective of life at that time. The good "guys" can be bad, and the bad "guys" can be good.