In awe of an expertly bound book, I ran my hand across the smooth surface of the Milkweed edition of Indian Horse, the feel of it a tactile pleasure. From front to back, I fanned the pages, intrigued by the page numbers elegantly printed in cursive on the bottom left, and the smell of print. I leafed through them—I couldn't seem to stop—the promise of a story captured between the covers of this book.
Indian Horse is the beautifully written story of the Ojibway youth, Saul Indian Horse, who is trapped at an early age in Canada's residential school system. The story is an affirmation of Saul's perseverance and resilience as he struggles to survive the horror of the school and the demeaning actions of those who felt compelled to subjugate and drive the savage out of the Indian. In testament to the endurance and spiritual wisdom of his people and the grandmother he remembers, Saul battles to reclaim the dignity he was endowed with. I loved him and cried with him.
I just realized there was a movie made and it's on Netflix. I recommend it. But read the book first, if you can.
Gifted to me at Christmas, owning and reading this novel has made me realize how personal books are to me. Books have been my best friends since I learned to tie my shoes. Stages of life bookended by the books I read.
Now we have eBooks, the epitome of inanimate. They aren't books—I would argue—but devices. They are screens that need battery power to light up. They need electricity to turn the pages. They smell like nothing. But they are cheaper than print (and friendlier to the environment), thus the way of the future.
I gave up my eight tracks for cassettes and my cassettes for CDs. I confess to the convenience of Alexa sitting on a shelf, devoid of rizz even when she's plugged in, but she has her place, like an electronic reader on an airplane or in the dark of bedtime. But my bookshelves sag with that which I will never give up. Books that remain readable when the power goes off.
It's early in the year, but it will be difficult for any novel to unseat Indian Horse's number one position on my shelf.
Poets and Storytellers, invited us to "de-retro" our vintage vocabulary with a post, including the Oxford word of the year for 2023 - Rizz, an informal noun defined as style, charm, or attractiveness; the ability to attract a romantic or sexual partner.
I stuck it in above. Did you notice.