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Dances With Wolves (1997)

Dances with Wolves (1997)

Book Info

Author
Rating
4.16 of 5 Votes: 2
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ISBN
0449000753 (ISBN13: 9780449000755)
Language
English
Publisher
ballantine books

About book Dances With Wolves (1997)

#2 Dances with Wolves is a 1988 novel written by Michael Blake. It was written as a possible source for a screenplay, and was later adapted by the author, and was produced as a film of the same name in 1990 by Kevin Costner, although there were many differences between the novel and film. The novel is set during the American Civil War. The protagonist of the novel, Lt. John Dunbar, is a white man who ends up in the wilderness and comes to live with a tribe of American Natives, eventually taking on the name Dances with Wolves.   Roger Ebert, a recently decease movie critic whom I always trusted, writes: The movie is a simple story, magnificently told. It has the epic sweep and clarity of a Western by John Ford, and it abandons the contrivances of ordinary plotting to look, in detail, at the way strangers get to know one another. The film is seen from the point of view of Dunbar (Costner), a lieutenant in the Union Army, who runs away from a field hospital as his foot is about to be amputated, and invites death by riding his horse in a suicidal charge at the Confederate lines. When he miraculously survives, he is decorated and given his choice of any posting, and he chooses the frontier, because "I want to see it before it's gone."  [The year is 1866 and the hunt for buffalo and wolves is in full swing.] He draws an isolated outpost in the Dakotas, where he is the only white man for miles around. He is alone, but at first not lonely; he keeps a journal and writes of his daily routine, and after the first contact with the Sioux [and with a lone wolf] he documents the way they slowly get to know one another. Dunbar possesses the one quality he needs to cut through the entrenched racism of his time: He is able to look another man in the eye, and see the man, rather than his attitudes about the man. As Dunbar discovers the culture of the Sioux [and of the wolf], so do we. The Indians know the white man is coming, and they want to learn more about his plans. They have seen other invaders in these parts: the Spanish, the Mexicans, but they always left. Now the Indians fear the white man is here to stay. They want Dunbar to share his knowledge, but at first he holds back. He does not wish to discourage them. And when he finally tells how many whites will be coming ("As many as the stars in the sky"), the words fall like a death knell. . . The movie makes amends, of a sort, for hundreds of racist and small-minded Westerns that went before it. By allowing the Sioux to speak in their own tongue, by entering their villages and observing their ways, it sees them as people, not as whooping savages in the sights of an Army rifle. . . . (source) This novel and film presents a whole new way of creating a “Western.” In the classical Westerns, there are clean lines drawn between the good and the bad, and, no matter how much the good are trampled upon and beaten down by the bad men, they rise in the end to wreck vengeance upon their adversaries. In these classic Westerns, however, every Indian [Native American] is a bad man raiding wagon trains or army forts in order to steal what they are unable to work for or to make for themselves. In Blake’s novel, however, for the first time an army officer has something very important to learn from the Sioux warriors that he periodically meets at his isolated post. The lines between good and bad are smudged. Now the white man is learning from the red man—a reversal of things. The film that matches this theme in my mind is “Avatar” (2009). In this high-tech film the industrial miners from planet Earth are ruthless in their drive to steal the raw resources that a local tribe of Na'vi – a humanoid species indigenous to Pandora—has inadvertently concentrated just under their ancient sacred tree. The film's title refers to a genetically engineered Na'vi body that can be animated by the mind of a remotely located human. The use of “avatars” was originally intended to facilitate contact with the Na’vi and to win their cooperation. But the military types are just as anxious to have this experiment at dialogue fail so that they can unleash their firepower and to get to do what comes naturally—search and destroy.  Roger Ebert says: The Na'vi survive on this planet by knowing it well, living in harmony with nature, and being wise about the creatures they share with. In this and countless other ways they resemble Native Americans. Like them, they tame another species to carry them around--not horses, but graceful flying dragon-like creatures. Then one single person, Jake Sully, a paraplegic former marine, makes a breakthrough. He is befriended by a female Na’vi warrior who decides that Jake has shown promise for coming to understand and appreciate the life and culture of the Na’vi. At a critical point, the spiritual Mother of the Na’vi bluntly asks Jake, “What makes you think that you can succeed where so many others have failed [to understand us]?” His response: “I am empty [of selfish aims and of prejudices]. Hence, I might be able to succeed where others have failed.”  This is the magic frame-of-mind that is needed. And this is exactly where this film meets Dancing with Wolves. Jake Sully and Dunbar are both wounded soldiers whose whole view of life has been pushed to the limits and is breaking up. Hence, they are open to a new start and a new understanding. Both soldiers no longer trust the solutions that come at the end of a rifle. They are empty . . . and ready to move into the unknown. . . . The encounter will surely change the future for both sides of the equation. [See my review of The Loop for more details.]

This book.THIS BOOK.It is so rare for me to come across a book that becomes an instant favorite, a book that I can't find one thing to pick apart (or maybe just wouldn't want to even if I could). I am among the those who saw the movie prior to reading the book. I recall liking the movie and thinking it was beautiful, but it didn't truly stick with me the way the book will. This may not seem like anything special, as the book is usually better than the movie. This movie, however, had some of the most gorgeous, sweeping scenery that I've come across. I didn't imagine the book could compete with that. But the BOOK. WHOAZAI will stop the aimless gushing now (believe that this is very difficult for me to do) and actually explain what contributed to me loving this book so much.1. Meet Kevin Costner Lieutenant Dunbar.I am apologizing in advance for how long the following description is, but it really cemented my impression of Lieutenant Dunbar and is one of the most striking descriptions of a character I've ever encountered.Lieutenant Dunbar was not a pup. He was gentle and dutiful, and at times he was sweet. But he was not a pup. He had seen combat nearly all his life. And he had been successful in combat because he possessed a rare trait. Dunbar had an inborn sense, a kind of sixth sense, that told him when to be tough. And when this critical moment was upon him, something tangible kicked into his psyche and Lieutenant Dunbar became a mindless, lethal machine that couldn't be turned off. Not until it had accomplished its objective. When push came to shove, the lieutenant pushed first. And those that shoved back regretted doing so. The words "Are you crazy, boy?" had tripped the mechanism of the machine, and Timmon's smile began a slow fade as he watched Lieutenant Dunbar's eyes turn black. A moment later Timmons saw the lieutenant's right hand lift, slowly and deliberately. He saw the heel of Dunbar's hand light softly on the handle of the big Navy revolver he wore on his hip. He saw the Lieutenant's index finger slip smoothly through the trigger guard. "Get your ass off that wagon and help me unload." The tone of these words had a profound effect on Timmons. The tone told him that death had suddenly appeared on the scene. His own death.Seriously. Goosebumps.If you are interested in how Dunbar comes to be assigned to the post or meet the Comanches, don't look here. Read the book. 2. Meet Kevin Costner in a different costume Dances With Wolves.Until Dunbar receives his Comanche name, I would say dances (from the title) as a noun and not a verb. This may not seem like a huge difference, but for me it made the book take on a whole new meaning. I truly cried over this part: Lieutenant Dunbar went to one knee and wrote the name at the bottom of his bark grammar book. His eyes lingered on the way it looked in English. It seemed bigger than just a name. The more he looked at it, the more he liked it. He said it to himself. Dances With Wolves. The lieutenant came to his feet, bowed shortly in Kicking Bird's direction, and, as a butler might announce the arrival of a dinner guest, humbly and without fanfare, he said the name once more. This time he said it in Comanche. "Dances With Wolves."I won't go through everything that brought him to this point. If you want to know, don't look here. Read the book. 3. Meet Dirty Faced Woman With Messy Hair Stands With a FistThere is little to dislike about Stands With a Fist. She is a white woman who was taken when she was a young girl. She has been with the Comanches so long that she has almost completely forgotten the English language. I could not remember who played her in the movie (to this comment I received a huge TSK from a co-worker), but I thought it was better this way. I waited until I finished the book to look it up because she was one character that I really wanted to be made up of the words and my mind only. Her eyes were the eyes of a soulful person, filled with a beauty few men could know. They were eternal. Dances With Wolves fell in love when he saw this. WHAT IS ALL THIS GORGEOUSNESS THAT IS HAPPENING?!I will tell you that this is a woman I could stand behind. This is a woman who is so respectful of those around her that I was practically forced to respect her. And I didn't even mind being forced! I won't tell you the ways in which she was respectful. If you are looking to learn of her past or her present or make predictions of her future, don't look here. Read the book. 4. EVERYTHING ELSEOh yeah. I went there. EVERYTHING-The other Comanche characters -Cisco (this amazing horse should honestly get his own number and paragraph)-The wolf-The WRITING. I just...can't....even. I needed this book so badly. I will find myself discouraged by a long string of mediocre books. I will find myself giving a three star book four stars out of sympathy. This is not a sympathy vote. Dances With Wolves RESTORED MY FAITH IN BOOKS. This is a book where there are not a lot of huge events happening. There is not a cliffhanger at the end of each chapter. I was not "on the edge of my seat." And yet I could not put this book down. There were several times that I complained out loud that this was not on the read or to-read list of everyone that I know. I give this 5 solid stars. I'd give it more if it would let me. Read this. I want you to read this. There are times when a person wants something so badly that price or condition cease to be obstacles.

Do You like book Dances With Wolves (1997)?

This was a book very close to my heart. The first time I read it, I sat down on the big comfy rocking chair of my grandfather and read it till the end. Then, remained in my seat for a little longer, I was really moved by the story. The lives of the Comanche, the days out on the prairie, the buffalo, Cisco the brilliant horse, the wolf...it all combined together and created a wonderful read. To be honest, I didn't have the heart to read the sequel. I certainly didn't want to see the story take on a much darker and depressing tone. I was quite content to leave it at that and maintain hope for the future. I watched the movie much later, which I also like a lot, but the book is something else.
—Çimen

I did enjoy reading "Dances With Wolves" by Michael Blake which has nothing to do with wolves apart from the main character's friendship in his loneliness with a wolf. The author deals with the conflict between Native American Indians and the American white soldiers plus the white settlers pouring into the Indian's lands. He does try to show more clearly the plight of the Native American Indians and the beginning of the white dominance and chooses a specific tribe to do so and the growing friendship of a lonely white soldier with this tribe. The Indians are beginning to be forced from their own lands at this time. It is an interesting book but I found it differed a fair bit from the film. It is part fiction mixed with historical fact. I have to admit the story came to life for me and moved me deeply when I watched Kevin Costner's movie of the same title. (one of my favourite films) in which he attempts to portray Native Red Indian Culture as real people, not simply savages; and one soldier's open heart amongst the general prejudice of the "whites" Anyone interested in Native American history may like this book.
—Leila

In 1874 woont de vroeger uit het Amerikaanse leger gedeserteerde soldaat John Dunbar als indiaan met zijn blanke, door indianen opgevoede vrouw en drie kinderen onder de naam Danst Met Wolven bij de Comanche-indianen. De indianen worden bedreigd door blanke kolonisten die op hun land azen en hen in reservaten willen concentreren. Als Danst en de twee oudste kinderen de Kiowa-stam gaan helpen, wordt hun dorp aangevallen door blanken die zijn vrouw en jongste kind als gijzelaars meenemen. Danst begeeft zich dan als blanke onder de blanken en slaagt er in vrouw en kind terug te krijgen. Toch verliezen de indianen de strijd, in een laatste grote slag wordt Danst gedood en kiest zijn gezin voor het reservaat. Het boek begint waar de film eindigt.
—Belinda

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