Laughing Boy: A Navajo Love Story (2004) - Plot & Excerpts
Laughing Boy by Oliver La FargeFabulous, one of the best novels I have read, 11 out of 10!!This book has had a big emotional impact on me.It is not just one of the best books I have read, but also one that has made me joyful and then sad in turns.And it made again very clear why it is so exhilarating to read great literature:-tWhen you read a wonderful masterpiece, you engage with it and reach a state of Flow, as described in the psychology classic of the same name-tThe reader has the fantastic chance to live a few lives, together with the heroes that populate these awesome storiesIn this particular case, one is getting so close to Laughing Boy that it is amazing, considering that he belongs to a totally different culture.Indeed, as a Native American Navajo, Laughing Boy is quite often not just in opposition with the American way, but is fighting it.There is a dangerous conflict, which originates in a strange, outlandish threesome with Slim Girl and an American enemy and –weirdly- lover.Laughing Boy is a young, brave and gifted man who becomes famous for his skill in the work with silver.He is also very good with horses, winning an important race and becoming a well known horse breeder and trader.At a Navajo traditional event, he meets Slim Girl, an attractive Native American who has gone astray from The People.The People is the name given to the Native Americans and the blame for the girl’s departure is not her own.As a child, she was separated from her own and has grown as an American, but in an excellent manner, the author reveals the whole story only towards the end.Having been raised by Americans, the Navajo feel distant to her, and even more so when the stories about her point out to bad habits.In spite or because of advice from various men, Laughing Boy decides to marry the attractive and very different girl.They settle down in a house which Slim Girl has, disregarding to some extent the traditions that require a different procedure.After they start their life together, there is a series of incidents that keep the reader enchanted and wondering what will come out of all this.Some experiences are funny and also point to a variety of bad things that the white people do to themselves and brought upon the Natives.One is alcohol, which is a new thing for Laughing Boy, who is introduced to the drink by his wife, who knows the American ways.That does not prevent him from a couple of excesses when he is sick after drinking too much.What still puzzles me is the attitude of the girl, which is explained in great part in the final chapter, but still appears strange.Slim Girl is clearly in love with her husband and wants to keep him and makes every effort to get more money for a good life for both of them.But in the process, she maintains an extra marital relationship- I would not call it an affair- with another man.-tWhy do that?-tEven if there is a lot that I learned about this I am still somewhat flabbergasted We learn about her terrible suffering in childhood, a need for closure and revenge, but I still say that she shouldn’t have done it. The book is wonderful from another point of view too- the author depicts with superb gift the traditions of the Native Americans.Some of them are outlandish for a Westerner and I cannot express unlimited admiration, but we can still be in awe at some aspects.They have a profound understanding and a deep, magical connection with the Earth, The Wind and life itself.Having said that, I was upset when Laughing Boy killed a pony, albeit it was in the name of tradition and rituals.Mesmerizing book!!
A wordier version of this review can be found on my blog.I picked up Oliver La Farge’s Laughing Boy with one preconceived feeling – dread. I came to it knowing both the book’s subject matter (Navajos in 1915) and the time period's terrible track record when it came to people of color. At best, it would be a bunch of barf-inducing noble savage stereotypes. At worst, well…So imagine my shock when Laughing Boy turned out to be full of well-rounded characters, nuanced culture insight, and a sympathetic portrayal of the culture conflicts of the time period. And I had almost lost my faith in you, 1920s.Laughing Boy purports to be about the titular character, a young man who has lived his whole life on the reservation, but the real star of the story is Slim Girl, the woman he falls in love with. Slim Girl is… well, I don’t want to spoil it for you, but let’s just say she has a dark past. This past has left her a bitter, angry, vengeful, and conniving woman, who you will be rooting for the whole way. No, really. Her past has left her emotionally damaged, but she struggles against her own darkness, trying to find peace and acceptance in two cultures that reject her. She is easily one of the strongest and most nuanced female character from the timer period, if not from my whole lifetime of reading.She also gives one of the best descriptions of a codependent relationship as I have ever read: “unless she was the whole for him, she could not be sure of holding him.”Culturally, this book most reminds me of Things Fall Apart. Both capture a tribal culture in a positive, but not romanticized way. Both meander from the plot to recreate tribal rituals, use folklore to reinforce themes, and attempt to stay faithful to native dialect. And both explore the consequences and misunderstandings that arise when this tribal culture clashes with a “civilized” one.If there’s one thing that maybe (maybe!) surprised me more than the appearance of a woman who subverts the madonna/whore trope, it was the unflinching and ruthless way La Farge depicts American/Native American relations during this time period, everything from the casually ignorant racism of a local goods trader to the brutal atrocities that were the Indian Schools. Of course, if I’d done my research, I would have realized this was because La Farge was a cross between Indiana Jones and Martin Luther King Jr.The only bummer about this book is that it wasn’t actually written by someone from inside the culture itself. Although, unlike Chinua Achebe, La Farge got to experience tribal life during the depicted time period firsthand, so that’s coolAlso, while I do enjoy literary midcentury Chicago and New York (and Chicago and New York and Chicago and New York ad infinitum), it was nice to get a really beautiful piece of literature from my side of the world for once. La Farge does a fantastic job capturing the wonder and solitude of the desert, and I enjoyed all the little cameos of places I know: the Grand “Cañon,” the petrified forest, Winslow, for some reason.So yes, this book absolutely deserves its classic status, and I don’t think you’ll regret reading it. Just keep the tissues handy.
What do You think about Laughing Boy: A Navajo Love Story (2004)?
American Indian Culture at the CrossroadsI came across “Laughing Boy” the long way. I first discovered Oliver Lafarge’s son Peter Lafarge who had been a Greenwich Village folk singer and that there’s a DVD out on his life “The Ballad of Peter Lafarge/Rare Breed” and discovered Oliver Lafarge and Laughing Boy via that.I’m really kind of conflicted about “Laughing Boy” on the one hand it can be seen as a model for the modern novel utilizing American Indian characters as real people and tries to document and take seriously the ceremonies and practices of indigenous people. On the other hand its use of literary devices is very awkward and somewhat on a fundamental level.“Laughing Boy” is a fairly simple, straight forward love story of Laughing Boy meeting Slim Girl, they marry against their families wishes, and unbeknownst to Laughing Boy Slim Girl is leading a double life that comes back to haunt them both.In the telling of the story Lafarge, to his credit, incorporates the attitudes and ceremonies of his Indian characters. There are no wooden cigar store Indians here, and the “Americans” (anglos) are portrayed evenly and fairly. The main crisis in Laughing Boy’s and Slim Girl’s lives is the encouraging culture of American life. While they can see some of the advantages of American culture.Lafarge was an anthropologist interested in Indian lore and culture and he came in contact with Navajos on an excursion to the southwest. His prose reads and is structured more like a case study than a novel, although, the writing reads like a poetic case study, even after 80 years it isn’t dry or academic. A few subplots are introduced but none is successfully maintained throughout the novel. It seems the plotting of the novel is meant to showcase the rituals, which are shown in great and authentic detail, but should have been subordinate to the plot or subplot.Another thing the modern reader will notice is that emotions are told to us instead of letting the characters exhibit or notice them. For example, a few times through the story we’re told Laughing Boy is happy with Slim Girl, and then a page or two later we’re told he’s unhappy with her with no real reason given. The main subplot is Slim Girl’s double life as she tries to maintain an American life in the town and lead a more traditional life with Laughing Boy. But we’re not shown this conflict, or not much of it. It’s alluded to in the beginning and causes the climatic ending of the story but nothing is ever built throughout the telling of the story. We don’t see her lives coming into greater and greater conflict with each other until they bubble over into the narrative.Today’s American Indian writers such as Sherman Alexie write stories of how Indians are trying to integrate traditional rituals, or create new ones in their lives which are now much more urban, and in need of new rituals. Lafarge’s “Laughing Boy” captures American Indian culture at a crossroads. Is it easier to assimilate into “American” life or is a traditional lifestyle still possible? I found this an interesting read and despite the shortcomings “Laughing Boy” is still able to bring to life a changing American Indian culture of a hundred years ago.
—Jim Cherry
Laughing Boy, winner of the 1930 Pulitzer, presents a dilemma for the "enlightened" or "politically correct" twenty-first century reader. On one hand, it's a rousing, dreamlike view of Navajo life in the 1910s, the plight of an entire generation embodied in our two lovers, Laughing Boy and Slim Girl. On the other hand, like Pearl S. Buck's Good Earth, which won a Pulitzer a couple years later, it's a book by a white, privileged author for a white, privileged readership, and its love plot and idealized, honorable characters ultimately perpetuate the kinds of stereotypes writers of color still struggle to escape. Unlike the Buck book (or my memory of it), Laughing Boy at least acknowledges the social power the author is able to exercise in relation to his characters. Anyway, three stars for a likeable story about Native Americans that isn't too uncomfortable to read 85 years later.
—Dusty
First off, it's a good book. The only reason it isn't getting a five star is that I won't read it a second time, which is the absolute prerequisite to getting full marks from me. Five stars are books I've read or intend to read AT LEAST twice. It won't happen with this one. The reason is that though brilliant, it was at times an arduous read and definitely a depressing one. I'm not a huge fan of tragedies and this is essentially a tragedy on pretty much all levels other than La Farge's obvious and often hailed understanding and love for his subject matter - the Navajos. And make no mistake, this is not a love story or even a proper novel, it is a declaration of love to the Navajos in the shape of a novel. I don't know what La Farge's later works are like but this, his Pulitzer Prize winning debut, feels very much like a loving article on something rather than a story set against a certain background at times. His narration chops and changes in style from anthropological observations as could be published in National Geographic, to the pearls of wisdom bestowed by a grandfather type figure (despite his rather young age of 29 at the time of publication), to actual literary storytelling and character building. Interestingly he achieves the latter best and most convincingly when writing Laughing Boy's wife, Slim Girl, the Navajo ripped from her tribe and brought up an American with the yearn to return to her people. I would hazard a guess that he - the American who lived with the Navajo and treasured their life style so much - felt closest to her.
—Anna
