When the Legends Die

My introduction to literature via Mrs. Garland's ninth grade English class in 1978. Up until then, I'd mostly read books about sports or comics. With this book, I found that there was a big, awesome world out there called literature, and I've been exploring and loving it ever since. Of course, being an assigned reading, I didn't want to read this book, but, Mrs. Garland's daily quizzes and class discussions were great motivators. With each night's reading, I found something happening to me, a kind of magic. I stepped into another life, another world, and forgot about my adolescent craziness for a while.
Over the years, I've often fondly thought of this book as the one that opened up the world of literature to me, though I could remember show more very little of it, only that I really liked it. I decided to read it again a few years ago to see if I could find a little of that first magic I felt so long ago. Of course, it wasn't the same after so many years and so many books, but I found it to be good writing and a good story, and I will read it again. show less

This book is told simply, but has an angry, tragic tone. However, the story gets off to an exciting start when Thomas Black Bull's father murders a fellow Ute Indian who stole from him. I never felt like I wanted to put the book down, especially as Tom moved from Horse Mountain, where he lived like his Native American ancestors, to Pagosa, Colorado as a student in the reservation school, and later when he became a rodeo rider. When the Legends Die is about Tom's restless search for his own identity. Many Native Americans probably felt the same way as Tom did as whites tried to rob them of their Indian identities and "civilize" them on the reservations. An excellent book.

Tom Black Bull was a Indian reservation child, now a man, with a past that leaves him full of hurt and anger. He battles against his past, the stigma of his ancestry as a Native American Indian, and carries his rage within him, only taking it out on the horses he rides as a bronco rider.

This book starts with the quote "When the legends die, the dreams end, When the dreams end, there is no more greatness" and by the end of the book it becomes apparent how true this is.

Tom is forced away from the life his parents wanted for him, and expected to conform into a way of life that he didn't suit, and that didn't want him. The pain and the anger he feels isn't told to us through descriptions of his emotions, but shown through his actions and show more his responses to the people around him. And despite his obvious failings as a man, you cannot help but want him to find what he needs.

It's a stark, down to earth book that pulls no punches, showing the harsh realities of life as they are. The evocative, searing tastes and smells of the rodeo circuit, the landscape of New Mexico and the bitter chances Tom has are all vivid and draw the reader in. Not only this, but the descriptions of nature and the ways of the seasons are real and stunning.

Despite the fact this book is partially about the fight of man and horse against each other, instead of working together as I strive to do, I have loved this for years and will continue to do so. Instead of a dreamy look encompassing feelings and thoughts, this is a blood, sweat and tears book that makes you feel every blow life deals. show less

I found this book to be sombre and powerful. The story is about a Native American from the Ute tribe, who called himself Bear's Brother but comes to be known as Tom Black. When all of his tribe and family either died or were assimilated into turn-of-the-century American culture, Tom as a young boy remained alone in the wilderness, struggling to survive by himself in the traditional ways of his people. Eventually he is discovered and betrayed by one of his Americanized tribe members, and coerced to live at an English school. There he is ridiculed and shamed of his heritage. He strongly resists adapting to the American culture and Christian beliefs that are forced upon him, and grows up to become a man full of bitterness.

Tom becomes a show more bronco rider and for years travels the rodeo circuit venting his anger on the horses. He becomes famous for his brutality to the animals. Anyone who tries to get near him is pushed away by his abrasive personality and outright rejection of friendship. He does everything he can to forcibly renounce the memories of his past.

A very good read, this book is a poignant story full of sights and sounds of the Southwest. It presents a clear portrayal of what many Native Americans faced when their culture was stamped out.

Original review on Dog Ear Diary show less

Tom Black Bull is raised in the old ways of the Ute, by his mother and father, but when tragedy strikes, he is forced to live in the white man's world, living, but never belonging.

This was an intense read, the story that could be that of any of us, with pain in our past, confusion of who we are, and fear of what we are to become. Recommended.

Thomas Black Bull and his parents return to the wilderness to live in the old way after Thomas' father kills a man. When his father dies in an accident and his mother follows as a result of illness and grief soon after, Thomas is left alone. He has no desire to return to the white man's world and lives peacefully on his own for several years, befriending an orphaned bear cub along the way and renaming himself Bear's Brother.

Eventually, he is discovered and forced to attend school in town, where he is miserable. The teachers and officials at the school, some well-meaning and some not, try to "help" and "civilize" him. In the process, they make him ever more angry and miserable as they take away his connection with the old ways.

I loved show more the first and last parts of this book, but the middle, where Thomas becomes a brutal bronco rider known as Killer Tom, lost me. Readers who enjoy action may well like this part, but I was appalled at Thomas' brutality and had a hard time feeling sympathetic towards him.

In the end, Thomas is redeemed and manages to recapture his connection to his past. While the "happy" ending may be perceived as a bit too neat, I like to believe that this is how life is--that we all have the ability, however deeply it hides inside of us, to be true to ourselves.

Overall, I highly recommend this book. show less

After killing a man who repeatedly stole from him, George Black Bull, an Ute Indian, takes his wife and son away from the reservation and back to the mountains to live the "old way." When both of his parents die, Thomas lives by himself for several years before the elders in the Ute community find him and force him to go to the reservation school to learn the white man's ways. The ghosts of his past haunt him throughout his life as he struggles to find his place between two worlds. Using the name Tom Black, he becomes an infamous bronc rider known for taking his aggressions out on the broncs he rides. After his body has been battered so badly that he can't ride anymore, Tom returns to his roots and ultimately finds a way to make peace show more with himself.

For me, the first half of the book was entirely too plot driven. There are other books that do a better job of addressing how badly white people screwed Native Americans and how the Native Americans have dealt with it. However, the second half of the book picked up as it became more of a character study. Not a bad book, but not a great one. show less