The Dark Way by Robert J. Conley (review)

160 WesternAmerican Literature interesting aspect of the book. The characters are mostly interchangeable, the dialogue flat, the plot weak and, with few exceptions, all too predictable. The only conflict of the book is the difference in personality between the three main characters: Corn Flower, Sparrow and Acorn. The rub is, primarily, that Corn Flower and Sparrow are heterosexual while Acorn is a latent homo­ sexual. This is implied through the usual stereotypical conventions such as effeminacy, anti-social behavior and a general sense ofinferiority in every aspect of life, contrasted against the near perfection and strong self confidence of Sparrow and Corn Flower It seems that the “Real People”series is to be nothing more than a resurrec­ tion ofthe old serial genre, as each book ends with no resolution ofany conflict, and raises more questions. However, if the series is intended for a younger audience, say eight-to-twelve-year olds, then many of these complaints can be ignored. The myths are interesting and give an insight into the Cherokee people’s past and culture in spite of Conley’s fumbling attempts to illuminate them. GRANT SISK University ofNorth Texas The Dark Way. By Robert J. Conley. (New York: Doubleday, 1993. 176 pages, $15.00.) The Dark Way, the second book of RobertJ. Conley’s “Real People” series, has all the elements ofa gripping and absorbing novel, but never quite makes it. As with the first, The Way of the Priests, The Dark Way is filled with lifeless characters, predictable action, and a narrative liberally seasoned with Cherokee myths that are explained ad infinitum. The tone of the dialogue never changes, whether the characters are discussing the weather or a human sacrifice. The principals from The Way ofthePriests, Acorn, Corn Flower and Sparrow, are present, though the two men have been renamed. Acorn is now Two Heads and Sparrow is called Edohi. The conflict that began in The Way of the Priests between Two Heads and Corn Flower, who is now Edohi’s wife, escalates and starts a chain of events that lead to the revolt against the priests. The theme of the Cherokee people’s loss of faith in their priests runs through both books. Conley goes to some trouble to show that most of the people are not sure of the priests’ power anymore and are following their lead largely out of a sense of duty, or force of habit. The priests don’t seem to particularly believe in themselves either, but want to maintain their status and power. This is good, but leads directly to another problem. After a narrative (including all of the first book and most of the second) that has no mystical intervention whatsoever, no gods walking seen or unseen among their people, it immediately begins to rain after the overthrow of the priests. The implication Reviews 161 being, a la the Arthurian legends, that the evil has been purged and now God will renew the land. It is little things like this, and the inclusion of a sub-plot involving the travails of a “good” priest, that, in conjunction with the weak dialogue, keeps TheDark Wayfrom being as good as it so easily could have been. GRANT SISK University ofNorth Texas TheHappy Man: A NovelofCaliforniaRanch Life. By Robert O. Easton. Foreword by Gerald Haslam. Introduction byJack Schaefer. (Santa Barbara: Capra Press, 1993. 222 pages, $12.95.) Since its publication in 1943, the reputation of Robert O. Easton’s The Happy Man: A NovelofCaliforniaRanch Lifehas grown quietly but steadily. Capra Press now marks its 50th anniversary with a third edition. In the 1977 second edition, Jack Schaefer hailed the book as having “a timeless quality.” More recently, it has won high praise from writers as diverse as Ross Macdonald (“An epic work, a masterpiece ofwestern literature”), Ursula Le Guin (“Haunting as the tule-fogs of the Delta”), and Jon Tuska (“One of the best novels of the American West”). Its claim to greatness lies essentially in its down-to-earth characters and artfully crafted tales. TheHappy Man is, asJack Schaefer observed, “a book with subtle overtones emerging out ofthe straightforward simplicity ofnarration,... with never an obtrusive flourish of explanation or sentiment or stylistic...