The Temptations of Big Bear
Like all of Rudy Wiebe's major works, The Temptations of Big Bear is a bold, sprawling, historical stew of a novel. Spanning the 12 years leading up to the death of the Cree chief Big Bear in 1884, it is one of the most sophisticated and sympathetic treatments of Native history in Canada ever written--a particularly remarkable feat considering that Wiebe writes as an outsider, the child of Russian Mennonites. Wiebe's historical novels are broad in scope and have gained a half-deserved reputation for difficulty. He uses historical documentation and the voices of dozens of minor characters in order to fill out his narratives and maintain a sophisticated understanding of historical events. The Temptations of Big Bear includes testimonials from government treaty negotiators and administrators; parleys with chiefs such as Sitting Bull, Sweetgrass, and Crowfoot; and travels with Big Bear's camp followers, including his son, Kingbird. Wiebe is a versatile stylist, and his skirmishes and buffalo hunts are as adeptly handled as his management of psychological or political dilemmas. Although The Temptations of Big Bear won Wiebe his first Governor General's Award, it is most notable as a rehearsal of the techniques that made The Scorched-Wood People, his novel about the career and death of Louis Riel, his masterpiece. Both books are still fairly controversial, as they do promote a radical, almost millenarian, Christian agenda alongside their more generally accessible historical reassessments. This should not, however, turn anyone away from an engagement with Wiebe's intelligent and challenging fiction. --Jack Illingworth Author(s): Rudy Wiebe. Binding Mass Market Paperback. Publisher(s): New Canadian Library. Label: New Canadian Library.
| Manufacturer: | New Canadian Library |
| Part Number: | |
| Lowest Price (CAD): | $10.79 |
Product Features |
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| Author : | Rudy Wiebe |
| Brand : | New Canadian Library |
| Drama Categories : | Canadian |
| Format : | Mass Market Paperback |
| Title : | Title S-T |
