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Book Reviews of The Crown of Columbus

The Crown of Columbus
The Crown of Columbus
Author: Michael Dorris, Louise Erdrich
ISBN-13: 9780060931650
ISBN-10: 0060931655
Publication Date: 4/1/1999
Pages: 400
Rating:
  • Currently 3/5 Stars.
 2

3 stars, based on 2 ratings
Publisher: Perennial
Book Type: Paperback
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

9 Book Reviews submitted by our Members...sorted by voted most helpful

Bonnie avatar reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 425 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
These are two of my favorite authors, writing together one of my least favorite books. I struggled through this one.
therubycanary avatar reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 44 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2
I love both of these authors. This book is highly unusual for both of them, a kind of mystery as opposed to the native American narratives they are known for (although that thread is not altogether missing.) It was a great story and well-written, although not altogether plausable.
reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 2 more book reviews
An unbelivable find of Columbus' diary has a the reader interested.
reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 39 more book reviews
A thoughtful mystery
reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 27 more book reviews
Even though I found the basic premise of this book, the discovery of a lost journal of Columbus, to be very interesting, I found the plot hard to follow and the characters and their actions somewhat unbelievable.
pogosmith avatar reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 20 more book reviews
This is a helluva book. A complex plot with good love story; historically sound; bit of intrigue and danger; and all-around excellence in composition, style, wit and fun.

Set at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and Eleuthera, The Bahamas (site of Columbus's first landing), features Vivian, an associate professor at Dartmouth given an assignment to write an essay on Columbus in anticipation of the quincentenial year of Columbus landing in 1492. To complicate the situation we find that Vivian is not only Native American, but in her ninth month of pregnancy. The father is a full professor who is a noted poet and authority on Columbus.

We follow Vivian, for the most part, through her struggle on many fronts. It is narrated in a self-deprecating and humorous way, though dealing with quite serious subjects: womanhood, the Native American view of the so-called discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. A nice touch is first person chapters through the eyes of Vivian as well as chapters through the eyes of her sometime lover, Roger. I suspect the dual authorship helped create the authenticity of two quite unlike personalities.

Key to the story is Chris's journal which touches off the intrigue. Here are a couple lines from the journal: "Considering what great need we have of cattle and of beasts of burthen, both for food and to assist the settlers in this and all these islands, both for peopling the land and cultivating the soil, their Hghnesses might authorize a suitable number of caravels . . . their cattle, etc., might be sold at moderate prices . . . paid with slaves, taken from anomg the Caribees..."

I like this book a lot. It is a joy to read. I don't know Michael Dorris, but Louise Eldrich is an extremely talented and entertaining author with superb reads such as "Love Medicine". Here is an example of the text: "Still there was something. Goldilocks had been here, as surely as if she had left a bowl of half-eaten porridge. There was no unusual odor in the room, but ions had been disturbed."
Bonnie avatar reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 425 more book reviews
This book was written by two of my favorite authors whose books I love and have read again and again. Because of that, I broke my rule and forced myself to read a book to the end when I really didn't like it. And I didn't like it...at all. It's been a very long time now, so I don't remember details...but I clearly remember how bored I was by it.
JanetDammit avatar reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 24 more book reviews
If you like archaeology, this is a good read.
pogosmith avatar reviewed The Crown of Columbus on + 20 more book reviews
This is a helluva book. A complex plot with good love story; historically sound; bit of intrigue and danger; and all-around excellence in composition, style, wit and fun.

Set at Dartmouth College in New Hampshire and Eleuthera, The Bahamas (site of Columbus's first landing), features Vivian, an associate professor at Dartmouth given an assignment to write an essay on Columbus in anticipation of the quincentenial year of Columbus landing in 1492. To complicate the situation we find that Vivian is not only Native American, but in her ninth month of pregnancy. The father is a full professor who is a noted poet and authority on Columbus.

We follow Vivian, for the most part, through her struggle on many fronts. It is narrated in a self-deprecating and humorous way, though dealing with quite serious subjects: womanhood, the Native American view of the so-called discovery of America by Christopher Columbus. A nice touch is first person chapters through the eyes of Vivian as well as chapters through the eyes of her sometime lover, Roger. I suspect the dual authorship helped create the authenticity of two quite unlike personalities.

Key to the story is Chris's journal which touches off the intrigue. Here are a couple lines from the journal: "Considering what great need we have of cattle and of beasts of burthen, both for food and to assist the settlers in this and all these islands, both for peopling the land and cultivating the soil, their Hghnesses might authorize a suitable number of caravels . . . their cattle, etc., might be sold at moderate prices . . . paid with slaves, taken from anomg the Caribees..."

I like this book a lot. It is a joy to read. I don't know Michael Dorris, but Louise Eldrich is an extremely talented and entertaining author with superb reads such as "Love Medicine". Here is an example of the text: "Still there was something. Goldilocks had been here, as surely as if she had left a bowl of half-eaten porridge. There was no unusual odor in the room, but ions had been disturbed."