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The Heartsong of Charging Elk: A Novel
by James Welch
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Doubleday (2000-08-15)
ISBN: 0385496745
EAN: 9780385496742
Dewy Decimal #: 813.54
Hardcover: 448 pages
Edition: 1st ed
Release Date: 2000-08-15
SKU: BX028-061109005
Condition: Collectible: Very Go
Comments: Stated First Edition, 1 on # line. Very minor wear, near new, not pricecut. Pgs crisp, clean, tight, unmarked. No remainder mark.
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Editorial Reviews
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Amazon.com
In the bitter morning of defeat, when the last battle has been lost to the white man, the protagonist of The Heartsong of Charging Elk faces a series of decisions. Should he adapt to reservation life or go wandering, a fugitive in a terrible new world? Should he become docile or violent? These are the questions at the heart of James Welch's novel, which is based on the true story of an Oglala Sioux who was plucked from the reservation to perform in Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. The multiple paradoxes of his situation--a Native American acting out pseudo-Native American pageants for European audiences--are alternately comical and cruel, pathetic and poignant. "Of course," muses Charging Elk, "he knew that it was all fake and that some of the elders back home disapproved of the young men going off to participate in the white man's sham, but he no longer felt guilty about singing scalping songs or participating in scalp dances or sneak-up dances." Halfway through the tour, however, he finds himself laid up in Marseilles with broken ribs and a bout of influenza. In his delirium, he worries that the Wild West troupe may have left him behind to die--and since they are the only family he has left, Charging Elk flees the white man's "healing house" in a panic, hoping to catch up with his companions. It's here that the novel actually begins. Welch has latched onto a fantastically rich premise: a Native American loose in a French city, delirious, hungry, and surrounded by ghosts. Charging Elk's odyssey through Marseilles is intercut with flashbacks, and his memories of the Black Hills--of life before his America was lost--generate the novel's most powerful prose. There are weak spots, too, particularly when the hero engages in some Wild Western violence. Passionate and unsteady, The Heartsong of Charging Elk tends to move in and out of focus. But during its intervals of clarity, it's hard to resist. --Emily White
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Product Description
Inspired by actual historical fact, James Welch's tells the story of an Oglala Sioux who travels the extraordinary geographical and cultural distance from tribal life in the Black Hills of South Dakota to existence on the streets of Marseille. As a young boy, Charging Elk witnessed his people's massacre of Custer's Seventh Cavalry at Little Big Horn, followed by years of futile fighting and wandering until the Sioux were finally lured to the Pine Ridge reservation. But he prefers life in the Stronghold, living by his wits and skills in the old way.
Ironically, it is Charging Elk's horsemanship and independent air that cause Buffalo Bill to recruit him for his Wild West Show, which travels across "the big water" to create a sensation in the capitals of Europe. Charging Elk and his Sioux companions are living a life touched by fame and marked by previously unthinkable experiences--until he falls ill in Marseille and, through a bureaucratic mix-up, is left behind in a hospital while the show travels on. Scared, disoriented, Charging Elk escapes--only to fall into a series of events, including a love affair with a prostitute and a shocking murder, that will change his life utterly beyond his imagination.
James Welch, one of our truly great Native American writers, has taken a fascinating premise and realized it with utter mastery. Reminiscent of Fools Crow, his classic novel of Indian life, The Heartsong of Charging Elk is a haunting epic of culture shock and colliding ways of life and thought, sure to be hailed by reviewers and readers alike.
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Customer Reviews
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Very mesmerizing!
Rating  (5)
Date: 2007-07-12
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Surprisingly mesmerizing! Get this: This is my husband, Bob's, book. He gave it to me to list on Amazon Marketplace. While waiting for my very slow dial-up modem to take me to the right page, I flipped to the middle and glanced at it. And here I am, over an hour later, still reading! So, hopefully no one will buy it for a day or 2 so that I can read the whole thing! LOL I'm really enjoying it.
The story of Charging Elk is sad...so much that happens to him seems to be out of his control. But he continues to do his best, and persevere. I like that he is making the best of his bad situations. I can't tell you how it begins or ends -read someone else's review for that. All I can tell you is if you pick up this book and impulsively read a page, you'll be sucked in and committed to reading the whole book! You won't regret it.
I am an avid reader and have enjoyed stories of Native People in the past. I'm glad that I've gotten the opportunity to enjoy this one! Another book of Native People that I've liked is Tatham Mound, by Piers Anthony. No, it's not fantasy. It's a pretty serious book, as this one is. But not quite as...heavy, I guess you'd say. Heartsong of Charging Elk is not lighthearted. I suspect it will stick with me for years...the ultimate sign of a great book! ----Review from Kathy Smith, Bob's wife
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THE HEARTSONG OF CHARGING ELK
Rating (5)
Date: 2007-04-05
2 out of 2 customers found this reveiw helpful
Having read all of Welch's novels, I found this to be the most impressive. It really describes well an incident in the history of Anglo/Native relationships not having to rely on violence, romance,
or hidden agendas... highly recommended.
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A Fantastic Cultural Adventure
Rating (5)
Date: 2004-09-29
5 out of 5 customers found this reveiw helpful
Through the eyes of a Lakota man marooned in Marseille we experience both the declining culture of late 19th century native America and the excitement of a vibrant of port city in France. These seem unlikely settings but Welch's descriptions and characterizations make both come to life. We can feel the fear and uncertainty that Charging Elk feels as he finds his way to accepting the strange new world and his longing for the place and the people he has left behind. And we can feel the foreboding or distain but more often the curiosity and the compassion of the French people he encounters. It's a bumpy ride for Charging Elk and sometimes a bit plodding for the reader but the story works and was hard to put down once I got into it.
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The Heartsong of Charging Elk
Rating  (4)
Date: 2003-11-06
3 out of 3 customers found this reveiw helpful
James Welch, The Heartsong of Charging Elk, Doubleday publishers. New York, New York, 2000.
The Heart song of Charging Elk is a novel about an Oglala Sioux Indian named Charging Elk and his journey across "the big water" to France with Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show. While in France he gets sick with the enfluenza epidemic, put in the hospital and is left behind. Scared and confused he escapes from the hospital and is later captured by the police and thrown in jail. He is finally released and then remains in France for 16 years, dealing with a love a affair with a prostitute and a murder that willl change his life.
This book is slow but is excellent reading, I would esspecilly recommentd it to Native Americans and exchange sutdents.
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Heartsong and Heartbreak
Rating (4)
Date: 2003-05-05
4 out of 4 customers found this reveiw helpful
I was entranced by James Welch's tale of a young Lakota warrior marooned in Marseilles when he's left behind by the Buffalo Bill show. Charging Elk's longing for his beloved Paha Sapa (Black Hills) fills every page. When he tries to fit in as a Frenchman, you know that this tall, handsome long-haired Indian will face obstacles wherever he goes. His love scenes with a young prostitute sizzle and make you wish he could fulfill his dream of marrying her. His subsequent heartbreak and downfall are almost too painful to bear, but if you persevere to the closing chapters, it's worth the read.
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