Solar Storms

Solar Storms by Linda Hogan


My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This book is difficult to write about. It was an incredible story, and Hogan's writing style is richly layered. It took me a while to get into it, though, I think because the writing was so stylized.

The first problem I had was with the first chapter--it started with about three sentences in normal type, and then went on for about twelve pages in italics.

When I see italics for a long block of text, I assume that it's a side-story, a breakaway from the main story, an alternate perspective or a different person speaking. It might be happening in a different time or place. It's not the main narrative.

And all this was perfectly true in this case. But the problem was, I didn't have the main story yet. There had only been three sentences to get the main story started. This wasn't enough. I tried reading the first chapter about five times. It took me over two years to get through that chapter and move on.

So, just a warning. I'd go ahead and read Chapter 2 first, then go back and read Chapter 1. I wonder why Hogan insisted on having that "aside" first. It made it really difficult for me to get into.

But anyway, once into it, I got going and then really enjoyed the book. It's a beautiful story of a young girl rediscovering her ancestral Native American roots.

It's a story of family, pain and loss, and also growth and healing. Some mystical powers, some myths. A fantastic journey of women to the North--there were several deaths, a new baby, and a whole village protesting a government dam project.

I can't really summarize the story, but it was lovely to watch the main character and her awakening. One of the most amazing elements were the dream-visions that guided the women. It was as if their people living on that land for ten thousand years gave them access to a relationship with the plants and animals and land and water that had been ongoing for that whole time.

Imagine ten thousand years of knowledge about a place. All the places where certain plants grow, routes to get from here to there, knowledge of the animals' habits. All the myths and stories associated with that long unbroken history.

Most of us Westerners can't even imagine one thousand years of continuous culture, let alone ten thousand. So much that could be possible is beyond our even imagining.

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