https://blog.georgefabish.com/tags/sc_gwynne/ Recent content in Sc_gwynne on George's Blog Hugo en-US Mon, 13 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0000 https://blog.georgefabish.com/reviews/empire-of-the-summer-moon-quanah-parker-and-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-comanches-the-most-powerful-indian-tribe-in-american-history/ Wed, 31 Dec 1969 19:33:30 -0500 https://blog.georgefabish.com/reviews/empire-of-the-summer-moon-quanah-parker-and-the-rise-and-fall-of-the-comanches-the-most-powerful-indian-tribe-in-american-history/ <p><strong>Summary</strong></p> <p>Follows the back-and-forth progress of &ldquo;civilization&rdquo; in the wild west, with an emphasis on the role Comanches played in that drama.</p> <p><strong>Thoughts</strong></p> <p>The strength of this book lies in the larger-than-life characters that this little bit of history provides. You have the tough as nails Mackenzie, who tenaciously chases the Comanches as they manage to outmaneuver every force the US government sends their way. You have Cythia Ann Parker, who was kidnapped by the Comanches and raised as one of their own and of course her son, Quanah, who is depicted as a fearless military genius. These characters will stay with me for a while. I am too illiterate to make comments about the historical voracity of the authors claims, but to a layman it seemed like he was even handed in his treatment of both sides. In our current cultural moment, he might have been too even handed. There are of course many things that struck me while going through this experience. One of the craziest things to me was the apparent mutation of Comanche culture when introduced to the horse. It was as if they had this latent superpower that was waiting around to be unlocked. From what Gwynne describes it sounds like their skills in horsemanship were only rivaled by the renowned riders of the Steppe. This book also made me realize that hidden in the &ldquo;ugly duckling&rdquo; troupe is a lie, and a somewhat insidious one at that. So you have a character that is somehow different from the group. Due to these differences that character gets mercilessly mocked and ostracized. A moment of transformation happens, not to the ugly duckling but to the ones viewing the ugly duckling. They realize that the ugly duckling is actually a swan, and as swan, in some senses their superior. The moral of the story of course is that differences are beautiful and should be embraced. Live your truth and others will eventually follow. Everyone has something that makes them special etc. etc. What I never realized is that there is a slight of hand in these stories that undercuts the moral. The real message of these stories is that group values are sacrosanct, immutable. The ugly duckling is now accepted, not because of some group realization, but from a re-categorization, that is to say that he was actually a beautiful swan the whole time. But what of the real ugly duckling? The ugly Betty that can&rsquo;t take off her glasses. Herein lies the truth, to the group there is no rebirth, no accommodation. This was tragically played out in the life of Cythia Ann Parker; she is the true ugly duckling. Adopted by the same Comanches who orphaned her, she transforms into a Comanche, but when forcibly &ldquo;rescued&rdquo; by whites she cannot or will not transition back. As such she continues to her dying day to be a true oddity. Her son on the other hand, makes the transition into the whites&rsquo; expected vision of him. He is accepted inasmuch as he can manage to become white. This book was a really interesting read and has my recommendation.</p>