I think Momaday is just not an author for me. I felt similarly ‘meh’ about his Pulitzer prize winning novel, House Made of Dawn, when I read it in graduate school. His stuff just does not resonate with me.
This is a book of prose poems centered on Momaday’s contemplation of the natural world, and in specific the American West, where he has lived his entire life. It’s a small book, focused on Momaday’s own feelings toward the earth, and eventually, humanity’s. No surprise, the central message is one of union with the earth, and the poems often express regret that humans have lost their connection to the earth, and are directly causing it so much harm.
I just didn’t really care much at all for the poems themselves. I almost two starred this, but I feel it’s a me issue here, not one of quality. There were only a couple of instances in here where what he wrote made me feel much of anything at all.
[2.5 stars]
Read Harder Challenge 2021: Read a book of nature poems.