Kiss of the Fur Queen (American Indian Literature and Critical Studies Series) (Volume 34)

This is an important book, but an enigmatic one and depressing--despite its dark tone, though, it reflected compassion for its main characters by giving them depth despite their general dysfunction. I say it's important by which I mean the comfortable and privileged need to recognize the factors that challenge people whose cultures are misunderstood by mainstream Anglo Americans, but they probably are the people who will read this book. Seems like one of those that will have to be assigned in a lit class, which if fine, cause then readers will be forced to at least grapple with a few unpleasant realities that make us human.

A dark book that I had to read for my Native American Literature class. In the beginning I enjoyed it until the boys were sent to boarding school and then it just got darker. It was an interesting and eye opening read although the writing style is very different and difficult to understand at times.

When does a novel of fiction become 'too' autobiographical? Is there a line in the sand that cannot be crossed, a line that seperates the purely imagined from stark reality? If there is such a line, celebrated Canadian author Tomson Highway dances on its edge many times over, in his alternately humourous and harrowing novel KISS OF THE FUR QUEEN.FUR QUEEN tells the truly sad tale of Champion and Ooneemeetoo Okimasis, Cree brothers growing up in Northern Manitoba. At an all-too-early age, Champion and Ooneemeetoo are torn from their magical life, thrust headlong into Canada's then-enforced policy of subjecting native children to Catholic residential schools. They are renamed Jeremiah and Gabriel, force-fed a life of Christian beliefs, subjected to monstrous acts by the priests, and removed from any conception of their people's history, language, and traditions. Slowly maturing into young men, Champion (Jeremiah) begins a career as a concert pianist, while Gabriel pursues a life in dance. As they struggle to cope in a world that increasingly alienates them from their past, their heritage re-enters their lives in unexpected and sometimes tragic ways.Highway is a gifted writer, as evident from the multitude of awards he recieved for his plays THE REZ SISTERS and DRY LIPS OUGHT TO MOVE TO KASPUSKASING (both incredible plays, by the way). His presentation of the realities of Native-Canadian life has been lauded for its sense of humanity in the face of horror, as well as for showing a world that many people would rather ignore, or refuse to believe exists. So it is with FUR QUEEN. Highway's slow evolution of the narrative is masterful, travelling from the nostalgic remembrances of a child's idyllic life to the brutalities that face Native-Canadians in the 'evolved' city of Winnipeg. His inter-twining of Cree mythology with modern prose serves to more fully involve the reader in the Okimasis's daily struggle. At times, the writing becomes a bit confusing, slightly hallucinatory, but this disparity aids the reader in understanding the warring factions that exist within the minds of Jeremiah and Gabriel. We are all products of our upbringing, and nowhere is this more evident than in the confusion and self-loathing that threatens to consume the brothers at every turn.But when does it become too autobiographical to qualify as fiction? Granted, almost all authors could be accused of importing elements of their lives into their work, but Highway pushes the envelope. He, too, grew up in Northern Manitoba, and was forced, along with his brother Rene, to attend Catholic school. There, they were both abused at the hands of their religious teachers, in a ongoing chapter of Canadian history that must surely rank as one of its most shameful. Rene grew up to be a dancer, while Tomson slowly evolved as a writer, much as Jeremiah does. And all the while, both were subjected to the casual and blatant racism that Native-Canadians face daily.Yet perhaps this is besides the point. Whether one's story is thinly disguised as 'fiction' or not does not alter the powerful nature of the story itself. By attributing a fictional aspect to the narrative, Highway may be better able to import the more fantastical elements that lurk behind the realism, adding the omnipresent Fur Queen as a fairy godmother of sorts, a personal angel that guides the Okimasis family through their tribulations. And whether autobiographical or not, FUR QUEEN constantly guides the reader into unexpected places.Are there better novels out there? Yes. Highway sometimes loses control of the story, and his experienced hand at dialogue is sometimes thwarted by the more descriptive nature of a novel. Despite this, KISS OF THE FUR QUEEN is an important novel, one that should be told many times over. The story is far too familiar for those in similar circumstances, and far too imcomprehensible for those lucky enough to have had a choice in where their lives would take them. By confronting the issues, as Highway does fearlessly, we can see where we've been, and maybe we can affect change as to where we're headed.

I recommend this book highly. It successfully descibes the idyllic childhood of two brothers, and how this childhood, and a Canadian aboriginal culture's attempt to adapt on its own terms to Euiropean-based culture are heartlessly ended by forced assimilation, land expropriation, and horrifying abuse. The story follows the two brothers from conception in the 1950s into their 30s in the 1980s. Once they leave home to go to a religious residential school, the tone of the story is of an ever-returning, inescapable sadness, which nothing--not flamboyance, not artistic creation, not sex, not consciousness-altering substances, not numbness, not attempting to reintegrate into aboriginal culture, not helping children of the next generation--can allay. The book had a powerful effect on me. I'm not sure whether or not it is a masterpiece, and thus deserving of 5 stars. Much of what it was telling me was so surprising, so shocking, or so emotional, that on first reading, I am unable to look at the book with enough detachment to make that call. Read it and see what you think.

This book is lyrical, magical and touching in a very deep sense. Highway makes you see and feel the way the northern Crees must have felt when children were sent to residential schools for 10 months of the year and would come back in the summer ashamed to speak their language. Highway also conveys the Indian spirit in his book by laughing at sad issues making them all the more poignant. Overall a masterpiece of structure, language and psychological portraiture.

THis book is excellent!!I enjoyed it at my most .I understood what the author was going through because i myself went through a stage of blonde har affairs

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0806139331/ref=cm_cr_ryp_prd_ttl_sol_0The book arrived on the anticipated date, a pre-read copy at a reduced price. A really important piece of Canadian Literature. All Canadians should read it and be aware of the atrocities that our forefathers are responsible for. Especially, in the name of Religion!!

Great

Strange haunting book.

I had to read Kiss of the Fur Queen for a Canadian literature course at university - and I'll admit that I dreaded it. I thought it would be one of three things: 1) preachy, 2) boring as all hell or 3) traumatising.To me, it was none of those things. There is abuse described, yes. And for people who have lived through situations like those, or for people more sensitive than me (and I do like to think of myself as sensitive), it might be too much. But it wasn't for me. It wasn't gratuitous, just enough to make very clear what was happening.The narration in this novel is absolutely beautiful. It's very though-provoking without pushing you into things. I cannot recommend it enough.

Beautiful story about Canada First nations and tragic experience of the school system imposed on them.