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A review by jdintr
Black Robe by Brian Moore
3.0
I read this in advance of a road trip to Georgian Bay, Ontario. It is really the story of two men, a young French migrant named Daniel and Father Laforgue, a Jesuit priest on a mission to bend First Nations to the worship of God. Both learn to love the natives, the first in a carnal/romantic way, the latter in a more wholistic fashion.
Many scenes in the book are graphic: of sex, of torture, of a terrible malaria epidemic that lays a whole village to waste. Moore also chooses to personify the natives with modern epithets like "prick" and "f---." This never failed to derail the story for me. It's not like I expected them to speak the Queen's English, but I have seen better use of native dialogue than here.
Moore's embodiment of the native religions--their sorcery and the lurking Manitous of the forest--is spot on, however. He's done his research. It's a worthwhile read if you're ever headed to the northern Great Lakes.
Many scenes in the book are graphic: of sex, of torture, of a terrible malaria epidemic that lays a whole village to waste. Moore also chooses to personify the natives with modern epithets like "prick" and "f---." This never failed to derail the story for me. It's not like I expected them to speak the Queen's English, but I have seen better use of native dialogue than here.
Moore's embodiment of the native religions--their sorcery and the lurking Manitous of the forest--is spot on, however. He's done his research. It's a worthwhile read if you're ever headed to the northern Great Lakes.