From the Bookshelf of The Roundtable…

Fools Crow

James Welch

Start date: March 1, 2020

Finish date: March 31, 2020

Discussion: 2020 Historical Fict. Tournament

Discussion leader: Christopher

Why we're reading this: 2020 Historical Fiction Tournament
[close] 2020 Historical Fiction Tournament

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of 20 topics — 768 comments total

2020 Historical Fict. Tournament

* 2020 Historical Fiction Tournament Schedule
By Christopher · 2 posts · 47 views

last updated Feb 19, 2020 10:18AM

June Smoke-Filled Room: Wolf Hall vs. Fools Crow vs. Lonesome Dove
By Christopher · 18 posts · 31 views

last updated Jun 24, 2020 05:35PM

showing 10 of 11 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Mar 27, 2020 Petra rated it really liked it

A wonderful, compelling story of change and misunderstandings.
The arrival of the White Man to the Plains of America brought changes to the Pikuni Natives in ways that they could not understand or were given the time to adapt to. The results, as we know, were disastrous (to all Native Americans).
The story of Fools Crow shows the desire to live in peace, with all people, and their confusion at the worsening of their situation through no fault of their own.
This is a well told and thoughtful story ...more

19 likes · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2020 Irene rated it really liked it

This is a great bit of historical fiction. It brings us into the life of a community of Native Americans in the 1860s & 1870s in the northern plains, a time of transition as the arrival of white settlers threatens them on so many levels. The author did a wonderful job of bringing characters and a culture to life.

4 likes · Like · see review

Feb 03, 2020 Christopher rated it liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, 20th-century, american, fiction

This is the troublesome three-star review that is so hard to write. I enjoyed the book, but it didn't inspire any tremendous feelings in me. I feel bad about that, because it deals with some really weighty topics that are very important to my country's history, and I wish this book affected me more.

Unfortunately, I think if the same book had been written by a different author, it could have been great. The pacing was strange and dragged from time to time, drifting into dream territory. And the c ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Apr 01, 2020 Jenny rated it it was amazing

This story absolutely immerses you in the lives of the Pikuni people: their dreams, their medicine and their honor system. It captures the heartbreaking reality as their belief systems begin to crumble in their powerlessness against smallpox and the invasion of white people.

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 29, 2020 Lori rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical, 19th-century, modern-history, z-reviewed, literature, pre-2000, fiction, america, z-read-2020, zy-text

Very moving, true to life, coming of age story, set at the time the Pikunis (Blackfeet) are losing their ancestral lands to the Americans. It's about a terrible time and ends with a plague (smallpox) and massacre but the actual ending is slightly upbeat. I recommend to those who are interested in the losing side of the American-Indian Wars. ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Mar 17, 2020 Pamela rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Fascinating historical fiction set in 1870s Montana, telling the story of the Lone Eaters, a small band of Blackfeet, who live by hunting and raiding. The central character is Fools Crow, a young warrior, who becomes aware of the threat to his people and their way of life from the Napikwan, the white settlers.

I was captivated by the way James Welch (himself of Blackfoot heritage) creates a picture of life in the Lone Eaters' camp, from the daily chores to the special mystical ceremonies. He has ...more

Like · see review