Gone the Dreams and Dancing by Douglas C. Jones

Abstract

66 Western American Literature tales.” But even though the stories may be full of “time-dimmed, immobile images frozen in museum attitudes” (the Epilogue evokes one—Dogfish Woman—about whom there are presumably no stories), the images are given life by the energy of the story-teller’svision as well as the power of the narra­ tives themselves. The style is spare and broadly humorous, with only occa­ sional lapses into what one might call the anthropological voice. Each tale, plus the Epilogue, is accompanied by a Bill Reid pencil illustration. There is the same seamless collaboration between story and drawing as there isbetween the book’s two authors. When I was much, much younger, I was told that the Northwest Indian legends were quaint stories about how things came to be—particularly how landforms and rivers acquired their names. The Raven Steals the Light wants us to see how some things are—however dimly or partially perceived or remembered. MERRILL LEWIS Western Washington University Gone the Dreams and Dancing. By Douglas C. Jones. (New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984. 323 pages, $15.95.) The central consciousness in Douglas C. Jones’s latest novel is Liverpool Morgan, who also appears in Jones’s novel of 1982, The Barefoot Brigade. In this new work, he is older and wiser than the Confederate soldier of the earlier book. He devotes large portions of his narrative to philosophizing, sometimes becoming downright garrulous. Jones’searlier works tend to deal with warfare. Even The Court-Martial of George Armstrong Custer (1976) deals extensively with Custer’s battles. This novel, however, deals with peacetime. Beginning when the last group of Comanches surrender, it treats their troubles adjusting to life on the white man’s terms. Thus, it is not as exciting as most of Jones’s earlier works. Morgan, known asLiver to the Indians, focuseshisnarrativeon Kwahadi, leader of the band of Comanches. After surrender, Kwahadi leads his people along what he calls “the white man’s road.” He devises methods whereby his people survive and ultimately thrive while adjusting to a new way of life. Winning the respect of both whites and Indians, he moves his people toward self-sufficiency while keeping them together as a tribe. Morgan describes his own growing admiration for Kwahadi and his people. Morgan helps Kwahadi lead his tribe along the white man’s road. In turn, Kwahadi helps Morgan attain a kind ofwholeness and fulfillment he could not attain on hisown. Jones’s treatment of this important episode in history shows familiarity with the time he portrays and knowledge of the landscape on which it occurs. Simultaneously, he sets the novel in the larger sweep of history by having Morgan compare the Indians’ experiences to those of other groups, such as black Americans and European-American immigrants. Reviews 67 Gone the Dreams and Dancing isan interesting, sensitive treatment of an important episode in history. Still, if one wants to read Jones at his most exciting, one should turn to The Barefoot BrigadeorA Creek Called Wounded Knee (1978). One should read thismost recent novel slowlyand thoughtfully. In spite of Morgan’s occasional wordiness, this novel displays a mature talent worthy of careful consideration. RICHARD TUERK East Texas State University When the Wind isin the South and OtherStories. ByO. E. Rolvaag. Selected and translated by Solveig Zempel. (Sioux Falls: Center for Western Studies, 1984. 88 pages, $12.95.) A collection of short stories previously unpublished in English transla­ tion, When the Wind is in the South and Other Stories is a treat for Rolvaag scholars and, indeed, for any reader interested in the midwestern pioneering experience, in Norwegian-American literature, or in the oral folk tradition. Solveig Zempel, Rolvaag’s granddaughter who selected and translated the stories, includes a pithy introduction discussingRolvaag’slife and majorworks and emphasizing his commitment to his Norwegian heritage. Zempel’s dis­ cussion of the stories themselves is particularly perceptive, suggesting connec­ tions between the selected stories and the style, characters, and themes in Rolvaag’s novels. The first two stories in the collection are in the oral style of the folk tale. In the title story “When the Wind is in the South,” Rolvaag assumes the...