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    The Orenda
    The Orenda
    The Orenda
    Audiobook17 hours

    The Orenda

    Written by Joseph Boyden

    Narrated by Ali Ahn, Edoardo Ballerini and Graham Rowat

    4.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    History reveals itself when, in the seventeenth century, a Jesuit missionary ventures into the Canadian wilderness in search of converts-the defining moment of first contact between radically different worlds. What unfolds over the next several years is truly epic, constantly illuminating and surprising, sometimes comic, always entrancing and ultimately all too human in its tragic grandeur. Christophe has been in the New World only a year when his native guides abandon him to flee their Iroquois pursuers. A Huron warrior and elder named Bird soon takes him prisoner, along with a young Iroquois girl, Snow Falls, whose family he has just killed, and holds them captive in his massive village. Champlain's Iron People have only recently begun trading with the Huron, who mistrust them as well as this Crow who has now trespassed onto their land; and her people, of course, have become the Huron's greatest enemy. Putting both to death would resolve the issue, but Bird sees Christophe as a potential envoy to those in New France, and Snow Falls as a replacement for his two daughters who were murdered by the Iroquois. The relationships between these three are reshaped again and again as life comes at them relentlessly: a dangerous trading mission, friendly exchanges with allied tribes, shocking victories and defeats in battle, and sicknesses the likes of which no one has ever witnessed. The Orenda traces a story of blood and hope, suspicion and trust, hatred and love, that comes to a head when Jesuit and Huron join together against the stupendous wrath of the Iroquois, when everything that any of them has ever known or believed faces nothing less than annihilation. A saga nearly four hundred years old, it is also timeless and eternal.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherRecorded Books, Inc.
    Release dateMay 13, 2014
    ISBN9781490613628
    The Orenda
    Author

    Joseph Boyden

    Joseph Boyden is the Scotiabank Giller Prize–winning author of Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce.

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    Reviews for The Orenda

    4.5/5

    29 ratings23 reviews

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    • 1/5
      I tried, I really did try to like this book. I was touched by the heartfelt moments of the main charterers. I was saddened by the demise of the Wendat people but I just couldn’t get past seeing Native people viewed, described and exaggerated by Jesuits in order to justify their end means.The characters in the authors other books portrayed a reality not often seen by the outside world. To me, The Orenda fueled the stereotype of the savage, violent and noble red man. I feel this book will reinforce society’s view that God (conversion to Christianity) and colonization were justifiable.
    • 5/5
      I ended up shushing the whispering To Be Reads piled upon my shelves for a bit recently and gave my brain a small rest. Call it a Christmas/New Year's miracle. Coming back to the awaiting mountains of TBRs was awesome yet puzzling. I wasn't sure what to dive into next and spent a couple days grasping at... well, books. I finally picked up The Orenda and I'm so glad that I did.

      The epic of the Huron set in 17th century Canada as told by a Wendat warrior named Bird, a survivor and adoptee named Snow Falls, and a Jesuit priest named Christophe - the crow - is stirring. Boyden paints a culture on the brink in sparing strokes. His simplicity serves both prose and reader well. There is no flowery skipping off in the fields moments here. There is simply the raw bruise of the human condition as it is squeezed in the grips of anger, grief, torture, misunderstandings between cultures, manipulation, change, and the desperate want to retrieve what we never can, the past.

      While fiction, I can think of a few North American History books I would gladly trade in for a read of Boyden's Orenda and similar books. I believe it is books like this that really add the necessary dimension in that grants us a vital glimpse of our past.

      The characters we come into contact with are well developed and emotionally expansive. Boyden offers a wealth of connection with each and each spark introspection in their own way.

      It is a stirring, disturbing, and compelling work. Disturbing primarily from a squeamish aspect of yours truly. While I admire Boyden's ability to make these scenes so vivid I think I will eventually owe the appearance of a couple crow's feet around my eyes to him.

      Boyden also gives a really good amount of reference to books on the Huron nation that I look forward to diving into.
    • 4/5
      Fascinating historical fiction taking place near one of the great lakes in Canada at the time of first contact between the aboriginals and Jesuits. Compelling writing from the point of view of the three main characters that will stay with you. Be prepared for some graphically written torture.
    • 5/5
      Joseph Boyden is an extraordinarily talented writer. The Orenda is very different from his previous two novels--the scope is broader, the brutality of conflict more graphic, yet the compassion and concern for and by his characters, including their blemishes, undiminished. Three characters tell the story--Bird, a Wendat (Huron) warrior-leader, Snow Falls, his captive Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) "daughter," and Christophe, a Jesuit missionary making first contact. Bird is complex--valiant, decisive, caring, and curious; Snow Falls is no less complex, but often shows the defiance and naivete of the rush into adulthood; Christophe is arrogant, haughty, and ill-prepared for his mission, yet rises here and there to the challenges. Their voices are not as distinct as I would have liked, but their views are sufficiently distinguished to show the growth and change each experiences. Some minor characters, in particular Fox and Gosling, add to the atmosphere of the story, but fail at linking the fiction to reality. Some portions of the novel are difficult to read--the graphic torture and battles (the historical conflicts are considered some of the bloodiest in North America) that become more gruesome with the simultaneous compassion; but for me theses scenes parallel the less graphic but no less gruesome attitudes of the Jesuits toward native peoples. While the historical details of the novel are wanting, particularly the social relationships, the historical background is very real: the French-Iroquois war was bloody and brutal, played out in the context of global politics (French, Dutch, and English colonial expansion, commercial control, and religious evangelism). The character Christophe seems loosely based on the Jesuit Jean Brebeuf, and the minor character Gabriel seems a caricature of Brebeuf's Jesuit colleague Gabriel Lalement. Yet, Boyden isn't writing history; instead he's a storyteller and this is an exciting and interesting story.
    • 5/5
      To say that The Orenda is a compelling read would be an understatement. Reading Boyden’s latest novel was for me an intense experience which I think will haunt me for a long while. It is not an easy, comfortable read; it is, in fact, provocative, demanding that we examine our history with an unflinching eye: “What’s happened in the past can’t stay in the past for the same reason the future is always just a breath away” (487).This historical epic is set in the mid-1600s in Huronia at a time when the Hurons and the Iroquois are involved in skirmishes just as the Jesuits arrive and begin their conversion campaign. A member of each of these three groups serves as a narrator: Bird is the warrior leader of the Wendat (Huron) nation; Snow Falls is a young Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) girl whom Bird captures and adopts in retaliation for the Iroquois killing his wife and daughters; and Christophe is a priest, whom the Hurons call Crow, who has come to convert the “sauvages” to Catholicism. One of the aspects of the novel that is impressive is the characterization. All of the main characters emerge as complex characters with both negative and positive traits. Bird is fierce and vengeful, but also capable of great love; Snow Falls is self-centred and vindictive but possesses an admirable feistiness. Christophe is narrow-minded, but his dedication is unquestionable. Furthermore, each character grows and develops. Bird acknowledges how his actions led to an escalation of violence: “I acted without thinking about what I was doing for the long term (111).” Snow Falls initially thwarts all attempts to integrate her into her adoptive family and accept Bird as a father, but she comes to realize that Bird and her father are similar: “My adopted father, Bird. Is he like you once were, my real one? I remember you were considered great by our people. I remember you were loved very much. You were like Bird, were you not” (198)? The priest feels racially superior, but comes to see the Hurons as “more generous and even gentle than any I’ve ever had the pleasure to know” (459). These three fully developed and dynamic characters demonstrate Boyden’s skill, but what is also exceptional is that even the minor characters (e.g. Fox, Gosling, Gabriel) are nuanced individuals.What is also impressive is Boyden’s unwillingness to blame. Each of the three parts of the novel has a prologue spoken by a chorus of First Nations voices. The first begins with an admonition: “It’s tempting to place blame, though loss should never be weighed in this manner” (3). The role of the priests in the decimation of native culture is not diminished, but the second prologue cautions, “It’s unfair, though, to blame only the crows, yes? It’s our obligation to accept our responsibility in the whole affair” (153). One cannot help but admire the writer’s balanced depiction. Christophe represents the ignorant Europeans who bring diseases that have a devastating impact on the aboriginal peoples, but he proves to be a man of compassion and courage. The Jesuits attack native beliefs, but are pawns as well; Christophe, for example, wrestles “with the grave worry that our work is being exploited by those who wish not for the souls of the sauvages but for the riches of the land, and that they are using us as the tip of the spear for their earthly gains” (141). The Iroquois are feared for their brutality, but after ritually torturing two Iroquois captives, Bird states, “’These two are the bravest men I have ever had the pleasure of meeting’” (276). The Iroquois torture captives mercilessly, but the Hurons are equally cruel in their “caressing.” And then their savagery is contrasted with their unstinting generosity; Bird describes a feast he hosts: “As is the custom, I refuse the food but instead make sure everyone has everything they desire” even though, by giving away all of his food, he knows, “Tomorrow, I will have nothing” (380 – 381).It is obvious that Boyden did considerable research for the writing of this book. His depiction of daily life among the Hurons is detailed. The Feast of the Dead (79 – 84) and the significance of wampum belts (107 – 108) are meticulously described. The importance of community needs over those of the individual are emphasized (73, 291, 406). The native belief in the orenda is explained: “all have within us a life force . . . [called] the orenda. . . . not just humans have an orenda but also animals, trees, bodies of water, even rocks strewn on the ground” (31). Christianity’s belief that “’everything in the world was put here for man’s benefit . . . and that all the animals are born to serve him” is contrasted with the native belief that “’humans are the only ones in this world that need everything within it. . . . But there is nothing in this world that needs us for its survival. We aren’t the masters of the earth. We’re the servants’” (163).Despite the cultural differences shown to exist, the novel’s focus is on commonalities. Over and over again, characters emphasize similarities among people. Bird admits that his behaviour is no different than that of the Iroquois (105); Snow Falls admits that Bird and her father are so much alike (134); an Iroquois leader tells Bird, “’We’re not so different . . . And our nations aren’t so different’” (252); Christophe admits that the native torture rituals are not much different than the Spanish Inquisition, the church’s burning of witches, and the Crusades (256); and Bird tells a priest, “’Sometimes our differences aren’t so many’” (407). And is there much difference between a man singing a death chant as he prepares for death and another man singing a hymn as he does so?The novel is a masterpiece. There are scenes of horrific torture that are difficult to read, but they are Boyden’s way of not ignoring any aspect of the past. He seems determined to want us to face the full truth of our complex history. No one emerges innocent, yet everyone is given dignity. This is a book that all Canadians should read.
    • 4/5
      This story covers the volatile relationship between the Iroquois and Hurons, and their early encounters with the French in Canada. It revolves around Bird, who is a Huron elder, the young girl he has kidnapped from an enemy tribe and adopted as his daughter, and a Jesuit priest by the name of Cristophe.Bird is a well-respected elder in his tribe, and he lost his wife and daughters in a slaughter by the Iroquois. He relies on his good friend Fox, who always supports him in everything, and he has the medicine woman Gosling (a traveler from a northern tribe) to warm his bed and share her visions of the future and lend Bird advice. After a raid on a group, Bird kidnaps a young Iroquois girl by the name of Snow Falls and decides to adopt her as a replacement for his lost wife and daughters. This is the way that these tribes have settled things for years. Tit for tat, including taking members of the enemy tribe as replacements for lost family members, or as slaves, or simply to torture to death and sometimes cannibalize to make things even. It's their own brand of justice.Snow Falls is viewed as being "special". Somewhat spiritual, even mystical, it seems she may come from a well-respected and high-ranking family.Initially her hatred for Bird is palpable, but over time she does come to view him as a father. She is torn and conflicted over the years, realizing she is basically a woman without a tribe. No longer Iroquois, but also not Huron, she doesn't really fit anywhere.Cristophe is a Jesuit missionary trying to bring the word of God to the "heathens" in the wilds of Canada, and he is captured by Bird along with Snow Falls. Cristophe was found to be so annoying that he had found himself abandoned in the wilderness by the Algonquin with whom he was traveling. He is an honest man, and a man of strong faith. His faith carries him through his years with the Huron, and helps him endure many trying times.I had no idea just how brutal the Huron and Iroquois could be to one another or to outsiders. The book incited my curiosity, and I looked up the fact that they tortured and cannibalized their victims. Good grief! The account that I read of a Jesuit priest that survived after watching his Jesuit brothers tortured and burned alive went on and on, page after page. I thought it would never end! It was absolutely hideous!And all the while, these tribes are being decimated by small pox brought by the French.I grew to like the characters later on in the story, but early on I had a hard time liking any of them. The first half was more the “savage” side of the natives, and the latter half was the human side. And Cristophe was pretty weak and annoying early on, but he gained strength along with his faith, and became the epitome of humanity and self-sacrifice.My final word: Overall I thought this was a pretty great read. I found it was often hard to tell the narrator, as it alternated the chapters between Bird, Cristophe, and Snow Falls. And I found the pace of the story a bit like a car ride with my mother: I desired a gas pedal, so as to speed our progress a little faster, feeling we were always going 4 mph too slow. And at times I struggled with the likability (or lack thereof) of the characters, but mostly I found the writing engaging and the storyline interesting, and I enjoyed getting a glimpse into the lives of the tribes that thrived in the Canadian wilderness.
    • 5/5
      Like all great historical fiction, Joseph Boyden’s "The Orenda" fully transports you into its world. In its case, that is the early 17th century of the Huron tribes of Southern Ontario in the present day area of Midland by Georgian Bay. It is a world beset with the incursions of the Christian conversion missions of the Jesuits, their supporters in New France who seek to extract the resources of a new colony and an ongoing trade and revenge war with rival Iroquois tribes.The story spans a time shortly before Samuel de Champlain’s death in 1635 to climactic events in 1649. Although some real-life historical figures such as Champlain do make cameo appearances, the story is told from the alternating viewpoints of three fictional characters. These are Bird, a Huron warrior (called a war-bearer in the book); Christophe, a Jesuit missionary (called a crow or a charcoal in the book for their black robes); and Snow Falls, an young Iroquois girl captured by Bird and adopted by him to replace the loss of his own family to the Iroquois. Mainly, we follow Bird as he tries to rebuild a family with the understandably rebellious Snow Falls and his attempts to ensure an increased profitable trade and better “iron-people” weapons for his people's defense by allowing the Jesuit Christophe (representing Champlain and New France) to establish a mission in the heart of his village. The book spans a period of about 15-years as each of these characters grow and learn and adapt to each other. The action is often relentless and certainly the scenes of ritual torture inflicted on captives might be a bit hard to take for the squeamish but these are offset by many immersive passages of the characters living in a world of a simpler time but subject to the same human needs and desires of our present day. And yes, there is humour as well, usually of the fish-out-of-water kind as all of the players interact in each other's very different environments.The use of Huron (called Wendat), Iroquois (called Haudenosaunee) and French languages are kept to an almost unnoticeable minimum in the book with foreign terms being quickly explained and used sparingly. In fact, the only French word that occurs with any regularity is “sauvage”, used by the Jesuit missionary Christophe to describe the native peoples. This seems to be a decision by Boyden to use the more exotic-sounding French word which can also mean “wild” and “heathen”, rather than the narrower English word “savage” which might simply convey a primitive nature to an English reader. The title word “Orenda” itself is the spiritual force believed to be present in all physical things by the Huron and Iroquois in their animistic belief.One tip. Don’t start reading the final 100 pages of this book late at night as I did. You will not be able to stop until you’ve finished it.
    • 5/5
      Fascinating historical fiction taking place near one of the great lakes in Canada at the time of first contact between the aboriginals and Jesuits. Compelling writing from the point of view of the three main characters that will stay with you. Be prepared for some graphically written torture.
    • 5/5
      "The world must change, though. This is no secret. Things cannot stay the same for long. With each baby girl born into her longhouse and her clan, with each old man's death feast and burial in the ossuary, new worlds are build as old ones fall apart. And sometimes, this change we speak of happens right under our noses, in tiny increments, without our noticing. By then, though, oh, by then it's simply too late" (153).The Orenda is a novel about the change that occurs when worlds collide.The initial collision is between the Huron and the Iroquois people. At war for years, the latest child-kidnapping has sparked a conflict that threatens to destroy one of them. The second and more subtle collision is between the Jesuit missionaries and the First Nations people. The diseases they bring to the new world along with their determined proselytizing change life forever.I was grateful for the honestly with which Boyden portrayed the players in his drama. I half expected a story about how the "noble savage" fell to the corrupting influences of Imperialist forces in the form of greedy missionaries. No such simplistic tropes exist here. Boyden's researched portrayal of Huron-Iroquois warfare is stomach-curdling in its violence. The Jesuits, while certainly confused by the culture, are portrayed with a steadfast (if misguided) devotion.This clash of cultures is best explained by one of my favourite scenes in the book. Crow (the Huron name for a Jesuit missionary) has decided that if he can only bring his prospective convert to kiss the crucifix he will make major strides towards the conversion of the village. Snow Falls (the potential convert) awakens to see in Crow's crucifix the fallen body of her murdered father. She assumes that Crow is trying to steal her soul next.This story is what happens when worldviews crash. It's honest, violent, and heroic.
    • 5/5
      This book is hard to read but it is worth the effort. It's difficult because of the violence that the natives exact upon other tribes when they combat each other. The story is told by three narrators: Crow, a Jesuit priest, Snow Falls, an Iroquois captured by the Huron and Bird, a Huron chief.Crow is sent from France to convert the natives to Catholicism and he receives weak support from the "iron people" in Quebec. From the beginning, he faces an uphill battle against the mores and mysticism which the natives do not want to give up for another form of magic. Bird is a fabulous character who mourns the loss of his family at the hands of the Iroquois but raises Snow Falls as his own daughter. She at first rebels against her new home but eventually fits in. The story is a clash of civilizations, the French believing that their way is superior to the "sauvage" way of life. The native way of life is what sustains the French through many long winters when the priest would have perished without their help.The characters are outstanding, the story is told over a number of years and the outcome is very sad. It seems to me that Crow is Jean the Brebeuf, the Canadian martyr. Read it please as this is a great book.I have read all of Boyden's books and this is on the same level as Three Day Road.
    • 4/5
      A good but disturbing look at this time. Neither the Indians nor the white man emerge squeaky clean. A real page turner from Boyden about a chief a girl and a priest whose lives intertwine.
    • 5/5
      This is a absolutely gripping story about life in what is now Canada. Told in the first person voices of an Iroquois girl kidnapped and adopted into a Huron family; her adoptive father and a Christian missionary, The Orenda paints a picture of family, war, faith and early Canadian history.Joseph Boyden is one of my favourite authors. His writing is supberb, and his characters are so real. Everyone has strengths and faults, courage and doubt. I agree with previous reviewers that this is a book all Canadian should read. It will teach us about our history, our Aboriginal citizens, and tell us an amazing story of courage at the same time.
    • 5/5
      I was already a huge fan of Joseph Boyden, but I think this is his best yet.The Iroquois maiden: “We are the people birthed from this land. For the first time I can see something I’ve not fully understood before, not until now as these pale creatures from somewhere far away stare down at us in wonder, trying to make sense of what they see. We are this place. This place is us.”The Jesuit: “In matters of the spirit, these sauvages believe that we all have within us a life force that is similar, if you will, to our own Catholic belief in the soul. They call this life force the orenda. That is the fascinating part.”The Huron warrior: “The Crow knows how to offend without trying.”I wish I could give words to how good this book is. The interplay of relationship, the maturing of conscience, the brutality of Indian life in the 1630s, the complexity of the relations between various tribes and newcomers – all of it so well written. By the natives, the Jesuits were called “crows” for their flapping robes and cawing speech, and the Indians, by the missionaries, “sauvages”. Boyden gives due to each group of peoples, being frank with both their good points and bad. Superb.
    • 5/5
      What a great but difficult read this was. This truly is a book that every Canadian should read and, since it has been chosen as one of the finalists for Canada Reads 2014, maybe it will be.This story is told in the first person by three different narrators: Christophe Crow, a Jesuit from France who has come to Canada to bring the word of Christ to the Hurons (or Wendat as they call themselves), Snow Falls, an Iroquois (or Haudenosaunee as the Hurons call them) girl taken prisoner by the Hurons and Bird, a Huron warrior who lost his wife and daughters to an Iroquois war party. Bird found Christophe while on a hunting trip after his aboriginal guides abandoned him. Later his hunting party came across a small family of Iroquois who they slaughtered except for Snow Falls. Bird has decided to adopt Snow Falls as a replacement for the family he lost to the Iroquois.In the years that follow that hunting trip all three people have opportunities to impact the future of the Huron Nation. Bird becomes a very powerful warrior and leader and Christophe is tireless in trying to convert the natives. As an Iroquois captive Snow Falls is a constant reminder of her people and commits acts of rebellion whenever she can. Eventually, however, she accepts that she cannot return to her tribe and builds a life with the Huron. The enmity between the Huron and the Iroquois continues to build and outright warfare decimates the Huron Nation. The survivors spread in all directions. It wasn't until almost the end that I realized that Bird of this book was the progenitor of the Birds of Three Day Road and Through Black Spruce.Just a word about why this was such a difficult read. The torturing of prisoners by both the Iroquois and the Hurons is graphically detailed. I don't think this book could be written without these descriptions though and they were not at all gratuitous. However, you may want to read those parts at some time other than just before bed because they will haunt your dreams.I think Boyden has written a masterpiece and I hope that it will be part of the Canadian literary firmament for years to come.
    • 4/5
      Boyden's spellbinding third novel tells the story of the French conquest of Canada from the point of view of both the conquerors and the conquered. The author divides his story between three narrators, two of them aboriginal, the third a French Jesuit missionary based loosely on Jean de Brebeuf, recognized as a saint following his martyrdom at the hands of the Iroquois. Set in the early 1600s, as the French were exploring today's Canadian province of Ontario, Boyden's narrative depicts in compelling detail how the French exploited ancient enmities between the Iroquois and Huron tribes to speed their conquest of New France. The novel abounds in riveting battle scenes and stomach-turning physical torture, but it shines most brightly in quieter passages that root the reader firmly in daily life in a tribal village where the spectre of famine and enemy attack compete with rich family life and a powerful spiritual attachment to the land. "Orenda": extraordinary invisible power believed by the Iroquois to pervade in varying degrees all animate and inanimate natural objects as a transmissible spiritual energy capable of being exerted according to the will of its possessor.Initially confusing due to 3 POVs, THE ORENDA is a richly-detailed saga of first contact between the Europeans and the North American aboriginal people. I say "saga" because the people are epic in scale: Champlain, Jean de Brebeuf, the Haudenosaunee ("Iroquois" to the French) and the Wendat (Huron nation). Their war to win control of the vast marketplace that would ensure autonomy to the victors is primarily brutal hand-to-hand combat. No matter that the reader knows how the tale ends, THE ORENDA is hard to put down. When the final result is common knowledge, the story is in understanding "who" and "how". I feel Mr. Boyden was able to convey the humanity of all involved and so resurrects the truth and power (orenda) of a time too well known and too little understood.8 out 10 Highly recommended to readers of aboriginal, Canadian, Jesuit and French history and to readers who enjoy literary fiction.
    • 4/5
      The characters in this story were well developed and Joseph Boyden is a good writer. I found it difficult to read at times because of the violence. There could have been less detail about the violence the different tribes would inflick upon each other.
    • 5/5
      This is a chronologically told historical novel set in the mid-seventeenth century. It tells the story of a tribe of Huron as they deal with the French and face increasing hostility from the Iroquois. If you've read Brian Moore's novel Black Robe, you'll be familiar with the broad outlines of this book. A Jesuit priest joins a village of Huron and remains with that village for years, despite hostility from some and the many hardships and dangers that were part of life for the Huron at that time. So far, this is the making of a solid historical novel. What pulls it into the extraordinary is that Boyden tells the story from three distinct points of view; Bird, a warrior and leader of that Huron tribe; Snow Falls, an Iroquois girl kept alive after an ambush by the Huron to become the adopted daughter of Bird; and Père Christophe, a missionary sent to convert the Huron, who is allowed to stay in the village because the Huron rely on trade with the French. Boyden allows each of his narrators to be fully rounded and sympathetic, even as their aims and viewpoints are in direct opposition to the other narrators. This even-handedness is especially stark given the real repercussions their encounters with the French have for the Huron. In addition to unsettling the usual balance between the Iroquois and the Huron, each encounter brings fresh diseases to the village. Having the story carried primarily by non-western narrators gives the telling a different angle than what I've read before. Instead of being entirely the story of a white man encountering "savages" or even "noble savages," this is the story of a long-standing and complex culture's reaction to an interloper who wants to change how they do things. And adding Père Christophe's viewpoint makes clear how differently the two cultures saw the world and how they were mystified and upset by the behaviors of the others. This isn't a comfortable book, or a particularly easy book to read. There's far too much detail about the realities of life in that place at that time, and Boyden is an adept writer who makes the reader experience things I would have preferred him to gloss politely over. But it is a brilliant book and one I think that we'll be reading for decades to come.
    • 5/5
      I’ve had The Orenda by Joseph Boyden sitting on my shelves for some time. I knew from it’s subject matter that it would be an intense and riveting read, but I wasn’t prepared for the passion, humanity and vision that the author laid down on these pages. An intense story full of real, unforgettable characters gives The Orenda it’s depth and allows the reader a fascinating look at the early history of Canada.There is a stark brutality about this novel, the author pulls no punches in his descriptions of warfare or the resulting torture of prisoners. This was the way of life for the indigenous people and one that had been going on for generations. The story is told from three points of view, Bird, a Huron clan chief, Snow Falls, his adopted daughter and Father Christophe, a Jesuit priest. Each storyline is strong and captures the readers imagination.Powerful, moving and bloody The Orenda gives us a clear and concise view of life in the mid-17th century through both his small stories brimming with hate, love, cruelty and compassion as well as the bigger picture he paints with strong, vivid strokes. For me, The Orenda was a truly magical read.
    • 5/5
      This morning my plan has worked and I watch my family's killers leave me soon after my father's brother's strongest dog sings out that he can smell me. But the other prisoner bends down to me, and he smells so bad that I want to throw up, his breath stinking like rotted meat. The wolf's hair on his face and his clothes the colour of charcoal scratch me and there's no way I can stay stiff and dead anymore and just when I open my mouth to scream, when I begin to swing at his face and claw at his eyes and bite like I watched my mother bite, I see my father, grown tiny and sparkling, hanging on a leather cord from this thing's neck.It's my father, lying in the snow with a circle around his head and his arms stretched out and his feet relaxed, one crossed over the other. As the hairy man bends over me, I watch my tiny father arc toward me, his face catching the first morning light and his body meets my lips and it feels warm and I see now that he's still alive because he's warm and I try to kiss him as he swings away and the stinky man picks me up and I hear my father's brother's dog in the distance sing out once more.As the story opens, Bird, a Wendat warrior, is returning to his village with his fellow warriors after a successful raid against the Haudenosaunee. He has two captives, a French Jesuit priest and a Haudenosaunee girl he intends to adopt to replace the daughter he lost, along with the rest of his family, in a Haudenosaunee attack on his own village. The events of the next several years are told alternately by Bird, his adopted daughter, Snow Falls, and the priest, Father Christophe. It's a tragic tale made all the more so because each narrator pulls the reader's sympathies in a different direction. Mixed in with the horror of mortal combat and torture are passages of humor, joy, beauty, and devotion. I found this book hard to put down, yet I didn't want the experience of reading it to end. Highly recommended.
    • 5/5
      Simply put, Joseph Boyden's The Orenda is a timeless and imperative read for every Canadian. Even if you're not Canadian, you should read this novel. It will edify, illuminate, shatter, and complete your understanding of society during 17th century First Nations and European first contact. That The Orenda did not make the short list for either the Giller or the GG is quite incomprehensible. If ever there were a novel, and an author, worthy of our attention, our praise, and our accolades, it is The Orenda and Joseph Boyden.Quite beyond The Orenda's importance in the canon of Canadian literature, it is a compelling read. (And for me one near and dear to my heart, given my own short story, And the Angels Sang, which formed the keystone story for my collection by the same name.) Boyden tells the story of the Iroquoian pogrom against the Wyandot (Huron) peoples, which culminated in the destruction of the Jesuit mission at Ste. Marie among the Hurons in present day Midland, and the legendary torture and execution of St. Jean de Brebeuf.While Boyden chooses fictional names for the people involved in this historic occurrence, the historical integrity and framework remains.The story itself is told in first person, present-tense narratives through three voices, that of Snow Falls, an Iroquoian girl orphaned and captured by a Huron warrior; that of Bird, the warrior responsible for Snow Falls' plight and who subsequently adopts her; and Father Christophe, the Jesuit, or Crow, who comes among the Huron to bring his version of redemption and salvation to the sauvages. Boyden sculpts these characters with a deft hand, so they are fully realized, living entities with voices so strong they haunt your thoughts. There is no confusion when progressing chapter to chapter who speaks, a feat not easily accomplished unless at the hand of a confident writer.The pacing is brisk, tense, never flagging, and even if a reader weren't aware of the history about which Boyden writes, there would be a sense of drums thundering beneath the text, of doom echoing through the forests. All of these components are fused together with Boyden's trademark style, employing spare language, each word chosen for precise impact. This is a lean story which is, in contrast, defiantly rich and satiating. Whether you choose to immerse yourself in The Orenda by way of eBook or print, I assure you these hours you spend reading will be profound and memorable.Bravo, Joseph. Miigwech.
    • 2/5
      For me, this went from a possible 4 star book to a 3 and finally to a 2, and if it hadn’t had so much that was good, it could have ended with only 1 star.I have to say as the account went on, I got very weary of humans, not for the first time. I do love the 3 narrative voices. For the most part I could tell who was narrating by what they said, but they didn’t have voices significantly distinctive from each other. That was okay though.I was shocked but satisfied with the violence/talk of the violence. Even though this is a novel I didn’t doubt the veracity of the type and level of violence among these people during this time. I do love that neither the whites nor Natives are idolized or vilified, at least not outright by the author.When I was about 12 I was given a book as a gift, A Woman of the People by Benjamin Capps, and it was billed as not showing the Native Americans as either too good or too bad, and it did a fabulous job, especially for the 1960s. Here I wish everyone had been shown just a bit better than they were. I love the idea of the Orenda, even though I don’t subscribe to any group’s spiritual beliefs. I love the one with nature idea though. But while it was mentioned early on, I was expecting to hear more of it, hoping it would be better used to tie in everything together. I did like the chapter titles but would have appreciated chapter numbers as well, even though most of the chapters were very short.I came to think of this as basically a war story, heavy on the actual violence, and that’s not typically my kind of book, even though I have liked many.Everything was very brutal. For quite a while, at the beginning, I enjoyed how that was broken up by lots of humor Particularly amusing were the misunderstandings among the Natives and especially between Natives and Europeans, but for me it stopped being funny and became simply tragic. I didn’t end up surprised by anything that happened, not really, and that was okay.From start to finish, I was inspired to research these tribes and how they lived, including seeing pictures of what their homes objects, clothing and decorations looked like. I do find the subject fascinating. The story ended up dragging for me, badly dragging though, and between that and the violence described in such intimate detail, I ended up not really enjoying my reading experience. I’ve read that this author’s first two books are significantly better than this one, and the writing here is excellent, so I’m not giving up on this author. I don’t feel like spending any more time with this book, including thinking about it, so I’m not spending a lot of time writing this review.ETA: Reputable publisher and already published author, and my library copy had its pages upside down from the way they should have been placed into the cover. Very weird!
    • 5/5
      First, I must say this isn't a book for the faint of heart. It's truly brutal, especially the violence of the Wendat (also known as the Huron) versus the Haudenosaunee, (known as the Iroquois). Bird, a Wendat warrior, is returning to his village with his fellow warriors after a successful raid against the Haudenosaunees. He has two prisoners, a French Jesuit priest and a Haudenosaunee girl he intends to adopt to replace the daughter he lost, along with the rest of his family, in a Haudenosaunee attack on his own village. The events of the next several years are told alternately by Bird, his adopted daughter, Snow Falls, and the Jesuit priest, Father Christophe. I was truly surprised at how much I loved this book. I picked it up just to check it because I had planned to return it to the library unread. Then, the thing I love best about reading a great book...I just kept reading until I was finished. This is a book that made me want to read more about these tribes. It also made me sad to once again see how these tribes lost everything once the white people arrived on their shores.
    • 5/5
      Boyden is amazing as usual but graphically violent. Not for the faint of heart.