Black Elk Speaks, a narrative written by John Neihardt from multiple interviews of a Ogala Sioux warrior and medicine man named Black Elk. This book was recommended to me by Goodreads and I chose to accept it because Native American culture seemed interesting.
This narrative had multiple strengths and very few weaknesses. To begin, the first very noticeable strength was its great depiction of Native American culture to the reader. From my perspective of knowing absolute nothing upon this wonderful culture, I was drawn in by the spirituality and beliefs that were incorporated. I also could feel as if I was a part of this culture as I read on because of the imagery used. Another major strength was the fact that Black Elk gave a perspective not seen in many history books; the feeling of the Native American during battles like Wounded Knee. Black Elk felt as if the white people taking their land was highly unjust and their occasional attacks upon battalions was only in retaliation for past massacres. The final prominent strength in this narrative is that one could feel the pain of Black Elk after seeing his former land barren and having to do degrading things, such as work in "Wild West" shows. The only point that I viewed as a weakness is that the book moved rather slowly and one must adjust to Black Elk's style of speaking.
Personally, I am highly satisfied with Black Elk Speaks in many ways. I believe the way one can feel Black Elk's pain and I would truly rate this book a 9/10, solely because it is at first slow. Anyone who enjoys reading about Native American Culture, or just cultures in general should read this narrative. Lastly, I would like to personally thank Goodreads for this recommendation.
