Review: Indian Horse

Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I guess Richard Wagamese likes stereotypes. In Indian Horse he has the drunken Native American, the cleric sexual predators for which the Catholic Church is (apparently) best known, the sadistic nuns who enable the priests' sexual abuse and, last but not least, the White Man who, like a territorial dog that knows no limits, thinks that everything he sees, thinks or does belongs to him and not to Others - especially when it comes to protecting the sacred game of hockey.

Forget looking for deep insights into the human condition in Iron Horse. Forget anything beyond blaming your parents (or some authoritative element of society that stands in for your parents) for screwing up your life and being the cause of your problems. If you're unsuccessful, it's someone else's fault - literally, the Universe's in this case - since you have to accept a pagan ideology to understand this story.

The story itself is well-written and it is a joy to read a solid tale about hockey. Wagamese captures the game of hockey as I remember playing it in Pee Wee and Bantam. The language is not flowery, nor is it stripped down minimalism. The imagery is well-grounded in the senses and Wagamese brings the game to life. But his reliance on stereotypes shows how insecure he is in his story-telling skills. Instead of giving the reader a truly unique and memorable character, we're left thinking of this as the drunken Indian hockey player novel.

Of course, the scenes and disclosures of sexual abuse are difficult to read. As a practicing Catholic I cannot condone any abuse - clergy or otherwise. Sexual predators need to be prosecuted to the full extent of the law - regardless whether they wear a religious collar or not.

Before buying into Wagamese's depiction of (mostly northern) residential schools where decades of the sexual abuse took place (a fact I do not dispute), I would have liked some historical information. I would have appreciated at least a mention of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2008-2015) and their findings and recommendations; the fact that among a list of many organizations, the Catholic Church apologized for the abuses caused by their clergy or the people in their employment. How the residential schools came to be, etc., but we have none of that deeper analysis. That would presumably take away from the stereotypical Good Guy vs Bad Guy story line.

Sadly, we're left with the uneasy feeling that Wagamese used the whole troubling, traumatic setting of the residential schools in Iron Horse only for dramatic effect. Does it work? You bet! Does it make for good literature? Nope.

It's a story that is chock-full of stereotypes (hence it has a readily-accessible, universal appeal) and it would be a good made-for-tv movie with all of the dramatic elements that include Ojibwa mysticism, drinking, fighting, scandalous sexual abuse, the Catholic Church and, yes, even Canada's true religion: hockey.

Regardless of what Canada Reads says, should you read this novel? It can't hurt you, but it certainly won't inspire you beyond the covers.

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