Book Review 通往雨山之路

Book Review

-----The way to Rainy Mountain

学院： 外语学院

姓名： 任路路 班级： B1201

学号： 0311120125

As one of the representatives of Indian literary and the leader of Indian Literary Renaissance Movement, N. Scott Momaday have successfully and skillfully described the life of the native Indian, but also further explored the history of his Kiowa ancestors and thus his own racial and cultural heritage. Through his two well-known works: The Way to Rainy Mountain and House Made of Dawn for Pulitzer Price, we can feel this feature. This passage will introduce something about The Kiowa based on analysis of The Way to Rainy Mountain.

Based on legendary of the Kiowa and Momaday personal experience, he carried out his seeking, inspired by the title--- The Way to Rainy Mountain, it is easily to find that our author uses pun to imply that actually it is journey seeking for himself and his cultural-root, that is to say, the seeking for backing to Indian culture.

At the very beginning, Momaday adapted vivid words and extended in a terse way to draw a very real picture for readers, so that we could get to know the location, hard weather and the surroundings of Rainy Mountain. It is a single and unknown knoll stands on the extensive plain, while, it is indeed the place that raised the Kiowa and just as the author said ”from there, that your imagination comes to alive, and this, you think, is where the Creation was begun.” In the meanwhile, author’s love and pride towards his hometown and his ancestors is obvious. There is no wonder that Momaday was recognized as the leader of Indian literary, from the whole passage, the most impressed feeling the author lefts for our reader is that his thought-provoking and amazing usage in word and writing skill, he is unquestionable a genius in handling skillful language.

Outwardly, the essence behind the pictorial description is our author’s nostalgia, belonging, and pride, mixed with a sense of loss and a light touch of sadness. From the review of his childhood, he narrated many interesting and traditional games he played, there are not just games, but contains traditional culture, which stands for a special meaning for him. While, as the development of our society, that kind of natural, easy and plain life gradually far away from us, that is what Momaday missed.

Inwardly, we can see that Momaday takes deeply pride in his own people. He walked every place the Kiowa has stayed and lived, to trace the origin, the unique culture of the Kiowa, to get better know about his ancestors. The introduction about

the legendary about how his people came into the world, about Tai-me, and the sacred Sun Dance doll, is able to express his nostalgia and admiration towards Kiowa’s traditional culture. In the ending, he sends his best wishes to the Kiowa and hopes it will get better as well.

In a sense, as a member of Chinese nation, we are supposed to cherish and develop and expand our culture as well. I guess that is Momaday intends to tell us.