The next book to be discussed in CALA’s Reading and Discussion Group “Place and Story” is Winter in the Blood, James Welch’s first novel (1974). We will meet on Monday, October 21st at 6pm at 7 E. 12th Street, rm. 321. This event is free and open to the public, RSVP required (https://tinyurl.com/CALAStory2019). Participants are encouraged to read all or part of the book before the discussion, but it is not required. Join us in our Facebook group @CALAReadingDiscussionGroup to continue the discussion and read related news and articles.
Our Reading and Discussion group. made possible by Humanities New York. examines the natural world from New York to the West. Facilitated by author and instructor Jan Clausen, our discussions engage with perspectives that capture the complicated relationship Americans have with the land and living things around them.
The story in Winter in the Blood is set on the Fort Belknap Indian Reservation, the fourth largest reservation in Montana. The protagonist and narrator of the novel is a thirty-two-year-old Blackfeet native who lives on a cattle ranch with his mother and stepfather. The narrator is an alienated individual who feels little affection for his family and seems to have no purpose or direction in life. When he visits the small towns that border the reservation in search of his girlfriend, he gets drunk in bars and indulges in meaningless encounters. However, the narrator also meets an old Indian named Yellow Calf, through which he learns more of his family heritage.
With its sharp poetic imagery and its realistic portrayal of life on a Montana reservation, Winter in the Blood is considered one of the most important works of the movement known as the Native American Renaissance. This refers to works published from the late-1960s onwards, when Native American writers began to become more prominent in the American literary landscape. Winter in the Blood continues to be cited as an influential novel by notable native authors such as Tommy Orange (There, There).
After (or before) the discussion, you may be interested in watching the critically acclaimed film adaption of the novel from 2013, available on Netflix and elsewhere.
Join us again on November 8th to discuss Angle of Repose by Wallace Stegner.