When The Legends Die

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Summary: Betrayal, self denial, anger, violence
Review: When the Legends Die is an incredibly negative book with a lead character who demonstrates no integrity, no vision, no clarity of thought, no ability to communicate. The first section of the book involves betrayal of an Indian family by other Indians. In section two, the boy of the family is again betrayed by other Indians and is tricked into living at a boarding school. There he is eventually forced into submission and he survives by completely denying who he is and what he believes in. Then the boy becomes a bronco rider. He vents his tremendous anger on the horses that he rides, eventually killing a number of them. The bronco section goes on for almost 130 pages of violence and cheating. The brief final section in which the character returns to his home because he is so badly injured, is hardly redemption for the awfulness the reader has lived through. It is very hard for me, a parent and teacher myself, to understand why other teachers want their students to read this book. At best, there is some discussion of "the old ways", there are a couple of recurrent images, it presents the difficulties between white man and Indian cultures, and it allows adolescent readers to empathize with the character's anger. However, because the character is completely unable to deal with his emotions except through violence, and there is rarely anything positive demonstrated by either plot or other characters, it is a poor choice of books to require of anyone.

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Summary: I hate this book comming from a 15 year old
Review: i hate this book. im 15 and i attend h.s. my teacher assighned us to read it. i think this is one of the worst books i have ever read. if i had to read this book again i rather fail the class then read that book again. its begining makes you want to sleep, its middle makes you want to sleep, and its end makes you want to sleep.if your thinking about getting this book for a teenager, think again !!!!!

Rating:
Summary: A moving story to me at a young age
Review: I read this book when I was in 8th grade,and re-read it many years later... I found it easy to fit into the character of Tom Black Bull,and see the world in his eyes,a young Native American young man at odds with the white man's world, and,at the end of the book,making peace with himself and who he was. It made a heck of an impression on me at that age,and as a person of Cherokee and mixed ancestry,it really struck a chord with me. I would highly recommend this book.

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Summary: This is one of the worst books I have ever read!
Review: I did NOT like this book at all! It is soooo extremely boring and the only reason why I didn't drop kick it out of my window was that it was for a school assignment! The characters were dull and with no depth, and the storyline itself went painfully slow! In my opinion, "When the Legends Die" should be burned and no one should ever have to read it! It's 300 pages of torture! God save those who have to read it, as I know it's a requirement at my school! What an awful book...

Rating:
Summary: Boring As Hell
Review: I was forced to read this in my 8th grade novels class. I didn't even read the whole thing. It dragged along so much that by the time we were halfway through the book I just stopped reading the chapters assigned to us and got my friends to tell me what happened. (I just hope Miss Doll never reads this reveiw.) I recommend this book if you don't have any anesthetic and need to be put to sleep.

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Summary: Phil thinks it was great!!!
Review: Personally, it is very hard for me to find a book in which I will actually follow through in reading it. They usually bore me. However, this book was actually very interesting. I read it for school (High School) and I liked it very much. I thought that almost the whole book was really great because it really put you into the scene and you could see what was going on in your head. It was very easy to develop a mental picture and it was an easy to understand book. It wasn't like how usually those long books are too confusing and they have 400 characters. This book was easy to read and really fun. Recommend it to all. However, when you read it, make sure you don't stop within the first 30 pgs., keep on reading because from there on it is excellent.

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Summary: Legend and Tradition
Review: A common nation, the Indian nation, in 1912 was struggling to assimilate. After a repeated robbery one Indian man, Jim Black Bull, set out to kill this robber and fellow Indian. He knew he had to flee civilization due to the white mans laws so he took his wife and son into the mountains to live the old way. After only a year the father died and it was up to the young boy, Bears Brother, and his mother to survive. The mother survived for only another three years before she died of a common flu. It was then up to the boy to use what he had learned from his parents to survive. He lived for several years in the mountains until an old family friend set out to find Bears Brother, which he eventually did. This new learning and living environment was new and scary. He had to adjust to his new life; his new name which was Thomas and his new religion, Christianity. He had such a hard time assimilating he went to live with a sheepherder to help care for sheep. All though he did well at this he did not like it and when a man asked him if he wanted to be a bronco rider he quickly accepted. He had found his calling as Devil Tom the bronco rider who rode horses to the death. For many years he won just enough to live comfortably and he quickly became a legend. He eventually would go back to the mountains to rediscover whom he really was inside. When The Legends Die opens the reads' eyes to see what it was like to be an Indian at the turn of the century. It shows the hardships that they had to bear due to the white men. The descriptions in the book are so vivid that you feel like you are there experiencing it for yourself. This bold book is exciting, thought provoking and at times quiet humorous. This book makes you laugh, frown, gasp, and cheer out loud.

Rating:
Summary: Average book.
Review: "When Legends Die," was an good book, as far as being able to understand, but I didn't personally think that it was that interesting. It was about a young indian boy that had witnessed his father's death by "the white man." His entire tribe had been killed or had crossed over to the English man's lifesyle, so he found himself alone in the wilderness tryng to survive. His hatred for the colonist, would not let him forget about his pride and honor to his father, so he almost starved until he realized that he could no longer survive without some help. It is an internal conflict throughout the book that this boy is dealing with. To find out what happens to this boy, you must read "When Legend Die," by Hal Borland. I reccommend it this book for people who enjoying reading stories with real life obstacles, and how the characters deal with it.

Rating:
Summary: good coming of age story
Review: I have taught this novel to my ninth grade English students and they seem to enjoy the story. They enjoy the fact that Thomas is close to their own age and the things that he does on his own. Borland does a good job of grasping his audiences interest with the wonderful character of Thomas Black Bull. My students enjoy reading of Thomas' rodeo adventures, especially since one of the rodeos he rides in is in their hometown of Odessa, TX. They become angered by the way that the white world treats Thomas. They become extremely angry when I show the movie and two are totally different. It is a good book that I would definitely recommend for young adults and especially young men.

Rating:
Summary: A Great Novel
Review: This is a superb and sensitive book about a young man coming of age and self-awareness in an alien culture. The writing is vivid and descriptive and I found myself deeply touched by the trials, challenges and eventual triumph of the main character. To me, the central theme of "When The Legends Die" is the clash of cultural values against the values of the individual self: how each of us, as individuals, must (hopefully)come to grips with creating our own identity from the many, often conflicting, choices which are open to us in this lifetime. On a more direct level, the book clearly evokes the continuing plight of the Native American (and native cultures everywhere)atempting to nurture and uphold traditional values in the face of enormous societal pressure to conform. I strongly recommend that you open your heart as you read this wonderful book!