The Way of the Priests by Robert J. Conley (review)

Reviews 159 has learned less from Anglo institutions than from her loved ones. Her wise Navajo mentor, Isadora, taught her pottery, tribal mythology, and occasionally sex education. Her mother Marisol, an accomplished weaver, nurtured her aesthetic taste, while Frank Cruz, her impassioned father, gave her respect for the land and its creatures. The back cover describes the novel as “a coming-of-age story” that will “appeal to readers of all ages.”This might be stretching it. Morgana confronts multiple tragedies in Isadora’s and her mother’s deaths and the near-death, following mutilation by a bear, of her father. But the principal conflict involves her falling-in-love and marriage, problems albeit resolved by the handsome Eagle Eyes (a.k.a. “Rusty”), an orphaned Navajo tribal lawyer and herbalisthealer . Hard-eyed, hard-bodied, and perplexingly brusque, Eagle Eyes or “he who knows all”appeals less to this reader than he fortunately does to Morgana. Ultimately, Morgana and Eagle Eyes’ marriage seems less unforeseen than tediously preordained—the result of their bloodlines and well-meaning elders. If the novel lacks irony, it nonetheless contains a wealth of Navajo ceremo­ nial lorejuxtaposed to the macho empire of the rancher. If it wants the graphic impact ofAnaya, Momaday, Erdrich, or Silko, it may be in its uncommon world picture. Notwithstanding its pervasive eroticism, the novel contains no drunks, no prostitutes, no profanity. Seldom is heard a discouraging word, although the Navajo, Mexican, and Anglo communities rarely intermix. Its best moments elucidate the centrality of individual heritage but, similar to Silko’s Ceremony, argue for cultural accommodation. Eagle Eyes discerns that marriage to a half-breed will not eradicate his tribal identity; Morgana tran­ scends her outcast mentality. The Navajo wedding ceremony, with its flute playing “a tune as delicate as the hum ofa hummingbird”is genuinely lyric. The book should speak eloquently to young readers in multicultural regions or those seeking to experience a romantic contemporary Southwest. HEATHER KIRKTHOMAS Loyola Collegein Maryland The Way of the Priests. By Robert J. Conley. (New York: Doubleday, 1992. 172 pages, $15.00.) The Way ofthePriests, is, according to Doubleday’s P. R. sheet, “a mesmeriz­ ing tale of power, sacrifice and revolt.”True, but not accurate. The only thing that is even slightly “mesmerizing” is Conley’s ability to stretch a simple story­ line, dealing with little more than bad weather, into 172 pages. He does this by allowing a character to remember a Cherokee myth, and then taking anywhere from three to ten pages to catalogue it in mind-numbing detail, leaving the reader more confused than enlightened. Unfortunately, the myths are the most 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...