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The Color of Lightning A Novel PS Paulette Jiles 9780061690457 Books

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The Color of Lightning A Novel PS Paulette Jiles 9780061690457 Books

I loved the book. Paulette Jiles is a wonderfully descriptive writer putting you right there in the middle of the story as if you were an actual observer. Right from the beginning her very graphic style paints a clear picture of a piece of real history that makes this book an enlightening, passionate and memorable read. Her attention to detail and historical knowledge make it all the better. Some may find it to graphic and violent but that was the reality of the time. Post civil war when the west was the new frontier and settlers and their newly freed slaves were trying to escape the violent past of the war and find a new beginning in a new land. This novel covers actual events of lives looking west for that new beginning having no idea what they would be facing. The clash between native american nations and white mans encroaching and the corruption and lies dealt by our government that would spur more violence even after the very hard times of Civil War.

We think we live in violent times now. This book is a very vivid look at a piece of history rarely spoken of. It gives the reader a new appreciation for the toughness of that time and how the people, especially the women had to be tougher then nails just to survive. This book leaves you feeling lucky to be where you are in history and gives you much to think about weeks after reading it. You come away with awe and admiration for the pure strength, endurance, unprecedented courage and will to survive that these brave souls had to endure. An exceptional view through a portal into history!


Tags : The Color of Lightning: A Novel (P.S.) [Paulette Jiles] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. In 1863, as the War Between the States creeps inevitably toward its bloody conclusion, former Kentucky slave Britt Johnson ventures west into unknown territory with his wife,Paulette Jiles,The Color of Lightning: A Novel (P.S.),Harper Perennial,0061690457,Historical,Freedmen,Frontier and pioneer life;Texas;Fiction.,Historical fiction,Indians of North America - Government relations,Indians of North America;Texas;Fiction.,Texas - History - Civil War, 1861-1865,Texas;History;1846-1950;Fiction.,Western stories,19th century,American Historical Fiction,FICTION General,FICTION Historical General,FICTION Literary,Fiction,Fiction - Historical,Fiction Historical,Frontier and pioneer life,Historical - General,History,Indians of North America,Modern & contemporary fiction (post c 1945),Texas

The Color of Lightning A Novel PS Paulette Jiles 9780061690457 Books Reviews

A superb history-based Western featuring a captivating ex-slave Black hero. Paulette Jiles is insightful and poetic in her creation of people and renderings of landscape. The many details of life in the Great Plains just after the Civil War stud almost every page. Sure, she reminds one of Cormac McCarthy in some modes, but whereas his penchant is for concocting bizarre characters, Jiles is defter at plumbing the depths of more regular sorts of folks. This story involves Afro- and Euro-American settlers in the Southwest, the government-linked religious (in this case Quaker) groups that interfaced with the American Indians who were being displaced, abused, oppressed and culturally obliterated and the experiences of non-Indians captured by the Indians and, when young, acculturated in a way that made them (and the reader) look at "freedom" in a different way from the Ango-American norm.
The only reason I trimmed this to four stars is that I need to keep a star in case I come upon a larger, denser work by Jiles. In any event, she deserves much wider renown.
This is the second Paulette Jiles novel I've read. The first, "News of the World" introduced me to this wonderful writer.
I'm currently reading a third novel of hers, "Enemy Women". The "Color of Lightning" is historical fiction and like the other two novels mentioned takes place in Texas after the Civil War. Although fiction, the novel features real individuals and events from Texas history. This novel is centered on the conflicts between white settlers and the Kiowa/Apache. Without divulging the plot details it involves an Indian attack on white settlers. a kidnapping of women and children and attempted rescue. If you enjoy historical fiction you will like this well written book.
The plot is simple and in the Western tradition of a search. Britt Johnson is a strong and quietly determined ex-slave whose wife, children, and some neighbors are kidnapped by Indians. He is brave, relentless, and resourceful in tracking them down and seeking their release. The supporting characters along the way, of all races and occupations, are interesting and sufficiently rich in their particularities. Jiles clearly knows the territory and its ambience from the inside out, and nonetheless has not only rendered the narrative in poetic detail, but has meticulously researched the period so that details emerge that offer a depth of immersion into that beautifully stark and perilous time and region. The climax of the book is as beautifully crafted, poetically rich and piercingly tragic as any I have seen of its kind and stands worthily next to what Cormac McCarthy writes. Many, many examples could be cited of Jiles’s brilliant injection of moments where something turns or drops or flees, whether from a look or the body or something in the landscape.

Which leads me to my one problem with the novel. Except for some references here and there, the main character Britt Johnson not only talks with scarcely a dialect or accent or idioms of his race and culture, but he is rarely confronted with the abusive treatment that would otherwise be visited on a black man in that period. I say this as the similarly white author of Far Stones A Novel set in the same region and time period and with African-American protagonists. I can only guess it was an authorial decision to not make an homage to a brave man complicated or distracted by the problematic issues of race. But, according to S.C. Gwynne’s EMPIRE OF THE SUMMER MOON, he was known in his region as N*****r Britt Johnson, and while highly respected and regarded, N****r was how he was known—a derogation of his personhood built in to how he was addressed—presumably regularly by those whites who truly regarded him with respect and affection. Thus, it makes him even more respectworthy that he persevered in the face of inevitable abasement—AND it means, in my view, he found some way to present himself as both not a threat to whites thereabouts and as a man of action who was of enormous help to the fragile community of settlers.

A book well, well worth the read. I simply counsel how likely even more brave and praiseworthy Britt Johnson than therein depicted.
I had read "News of the World" and loved it, so maybe I had too high of expectations. I am compelled to warn other women especially during these #MeToo times that it becomes very graphic about the Indian's treatment of the women captives. For me, I could not continue reading, nor could I try to skim ahead to where it was no longer a part of the story. I had to put it down. For those who that sort of thing it would not bother them, what I had read before was good. For those who do not care for graphic descriptions of rape, I do not recommend "The Color of Lightning"
I loved the book. Paulette Jiles is a wonderfully descriptive writer putting you right there in the middle of the story as if you were an actual observer. Right from the beginning her very graphic style paints a clear picture of a piece of real history that makes this book an enlightening, passionate and memorable read. Her attention to detail and historical knowledge make it all the better. Some may find it to graphic and violent but that was the reality of the time. Post civil war when the west was the new frontier and settlers and their newly freed slaves were trying to escape the violent past of the war and find a new beginning in a new land. This novel covers actual events of lives looking west for that new beginning having no idea what they would be facing. The clash between native american nations and white mans encroaching and the corruption and lies dealt by our government that would spur more violence even after the very hard times of Civil War.

We think we live in violent times now. This book is a very vivid look at a piece of history rarely spoken of. It gives the reader a new appreciation for the toughness of that time and how the people, especially the women had to be tougher then nails just to survive. This book leaves you feeling lucky to be where you are in history and gives you much to think about weeks after reading it. You come away with awe and admiration for the pure strength, endurance, unprecedented courage and will to survive that these brave souls had to endure. An exceptional view through a portal into history!