SON OF THE MORNING STAR PDF, EPUB, EBOOK

Evan S. Connell | 441 pages | 30 Oct 1997 | North Point Press | 9780865475106 | English | Berkeley, California, United States Why are both Jesus and Satan referred to as the morning star? |

Custer could be a counterpart to Emma Bovary, both of them raised on sentimental fiction, both carrying Romantic literary myth into collision with an unaccommodating reality. Emma dies laughing. Connell quarries his prose from Anglo-American modernism. It made me think of Eliot, Pound, Williams. Connell arranges extracts from primary sources into collages that feel so vivid. The soldiers take down the bundle, unwrap it and examine the items coiled in with the desiccated corpse. She had been abducted from a wagon train and had taken every opportunity to seed their path with little messages identifying herself and telling how she might be found and ransomed. From there Connell takes up her story for a couple of pages. And later he braids her story back into the main narrative, using her notes and the captivity narrative she wrote after being freed to illustrate the plight of another captive settler woman who Custer failed to rescue. No other book on American history has made me feel so transported. In one of the big questions was whether the government should get behind public opinion and finally wipe out the Indians still refusing the give up their land and way of life. This book can be so scary because Connell— what with his collages of newspaper editorials that openly advocate genocide and tales of festive exhibitions of Indian scalps at public theaters—is good at recreating that American moment, when Indians, settlers and soldiers were busy scalping, shooting, stabbing, skinning, bludgeoning, raping and mutilating each other up and down the Great Plains. She might have had his child in January She might have given him and his brother Tom venereal disease. To this Kate Bighead testifies. She was among the Cheyenne women picking over the dead soldiers after the battle. Oh, and another thing. Custer planned to run for president. Connell mentions the rumor that Custer plunged so rapidly ahead of the other columns on the Little Big Horn campaign because word of his quick sole victory could be telegraphed to St. Louis, where the Democrats were to hold their convention and where they would soon start nominating candidates for the presidential election. Libbie Custer would certainly have made a great political wife. According to Capt. Benteen, she was as cold-blooded as Custer and as wholeheartedly convinced as he of his personal greatness and huge destiny. Shortly after their marriage, Libbie was introduced to Abraham Lincoln, who told her that he hoped Custer would make fewer suicidal charges, now that he had a wife. Google it. President Custer, striding into the White House with his bodyguard of half-domesticated wolves, trailing black and Indian concubines—- the mind reels. View all 16 comments. Jun 15, Chrissie rated it really liked it Shelves: usa , audible , bio , read , history , native-am. I really, really enjoyed this book, despite that the beginning gave me trouble. At the start I was confused. Stiles because Connells book was said to be well researched and told both with historical accuracy and with passion. All turned out to be true. Also, having read the author before, I knew I liked Connells manner of writing. Authors have a unique writing style which you come to recognize and appreciate, I really, really enjoyed this book, despite that the beginning gave me trouble. Authors have a unique writing style which you come to recognize and appreciate, if good. The battle goes by all three names. He and the American troops were defeated. Much said of this battle is incorrect. Connell goes far in uncovering what is and is not true. Secondly, the book provides an in-depth portrait of General Custer. We learn of his wife and liaisons with Native American women. Thirdly, the book provides fascinating information about Native American nomenclature, beliefs traditions and ways. The research is extensive. Truly impressive. An interview with the author concludes the audiobook. The author visited the battle fields numerous times. He searched all to be found archived in libraries and at museum sites. Three and one half years of intensive study was devoted to the task. He does not merely present the facts but analyzes the validity of the statements made. The book has a unique style. Some might say it is unorganized. It has no introduction nor a conclusion. It does not even have chapters. At the beginning I was terribly confused. I mistakenly drew the conclusion that what I was reading was an introductory, explanatory who-is-who chart of battle participants. This was not so. The book grew from essays on battle participants. These were then later collected, fused, amalgamated into one book. Peripheral character portraits are first drawn, only later does the focus zoom in on central figures. The flow from subject to subject is meandering, and yet at the same time, each subject leads naturally to the next. It feels as though the author is sitting by you, talking to you, chatting with you, telling you about a subject which enthuses him. That perceived as confusing at the beginning takes shape and form. What you ae being told becomes comprehensible and interesting. You want to know more and more and more. By the end, the flow has come to feel natural, interesting and delightful. I will give you an example to illustrate what I have said. Two thirds through, the book focuses upon hair, the significance both Native Americans and Whites gave to it then, in the latter s. The value, admiration and respect given to ti today is less. Custer had long, golden, flowing locks. The theme then shifts to how Custer came to have such hair, which is to say his patrimony. From whom did he inherit such locks? Humor is threaded throughout. Discussion of his birth leads naturally to how he died and who saw him die. His death leads to what was written about Custer at his death. How he was eulogized and praised, glorified as a hero. We move form biographies written about him to poetry and paintings of him. Much of what is said about Custer is however not true. This is brought to the fore by the author through sarcasm and wit. At the battle, witnesses have testified to he skillful usage of sabers and yet this, as so much else is totally false. I cannot think of another book written like this! All the way through I stayed curious, interested and amused. Adrian Cronauer reads the audiobook. He reads clearly and at a good pace, only occasionally reading too quickly. The narration is not hard to follow. Being good, I have given the performance rating three stars. This book is chockfull of interesting information. I love how the author debunks and critically analyzes the many errors that have been woven into the myth around Custer and the Battle of Little Big Horn. I highly recommend this book for its wit and accurate content. I like its style. Connell Mrs. Bridge 5 star Mr. View all 23 comments. Oct 13, robin friedman rated it it was amazing. Connell's "Son of the Morning Star" prompted me to read the book. Connell's book is difficult to classify because it is a broad meditation on Custer, the Battle of Little Bighorn, and the American West. The book is too digressive, introspective, and meditative to be considered a historical narrative. The description of the event at the focus of the book -- the massacre of Custer's Seventh Cavalry at Little Bighorn -- on June 25, , is hazy indeed. Connell largely talks around the famous battle. The book lacks an index to allow the reader to track the specifics of the discussion and to return easily to particular topics and I think this is deliberate rather than an oversight. Apart from this book, Connell is most famous as the author of the novel "Mrs. Bridge" which I read many years ago. In understated, eloquent writing, Connell's novel tells the story of an upper middle-class American family with its characters limited in their outlook on life, overly cautious, lonely, unfulfilled, bored, and sexually frustrated. The subject of Connell's history could not be more different than that of his novel. Whatever else it may be, in Connell's West we have vigorous, passionate, free-wheeling, and romantic individuals, both Indian and non-Indian. At one point, a character in the history remarks in impeccable French to the effect that "here we are all savages. Describing its excesses, brutality, cruelty, and stupidity, Connell seems to me a romantic, preferring the vigor and eccentricities of these days and people to the quiet conformity of the Bridges. The title of the book, "Son of the Morning Star" bears comparison with the prosaic title "Mrs. The Indians bestowed this poetic nickname on Custer. He was a man of notoriety during his short life and of many nicknames, including "Long Hair" or "Yellow Hair" and the cruder sobriquet, "Iron Butt". Literary works are made by style. Connell's organization of his material and his apparent prolixity can create a sense of frustration and disjointedness in reading; but it makes his tale. Without an introduction or other preliminaries, Connell begins in the middle of his story with the fate of Custer's subordinates, Reno and Benteen, at Little Big Horn. Custer's own fate is indirectly described, through their eyes. The author presupposes, as he may for this event, that the reader already knows the outlines of the famous story. The book then flits forward in time to discuss Reno's subsequent Court of Inquiry over his role in Little Bighorn and the lives of both these characters in the story. Then, Connell leaves Little Bighorn to move back in time to the early days of settlement. We get an introductory overview of Custer's early life, his West Point days, his Civil War service, his courtship, and then the book moves on to other things. In the process, Connell offers portraits of many participants in Little Bighorn. There are innumerable digressions. Connell picks up a character or event and cannot let it go. The reader learns a great deal and also sees the conflicting evidence and the many different ways of understanding a historical situation. The book does not work as a narrative that tells a coherent story from beginning to end with a perspective that the author outlines for his reader in advance to ease the way. Instead Connell offers a circular account, that shifts focus and time frames and that remains as obscure as does Little Bighorn itself, for all the iconic and legendary character it has assumed. As the book progresses, we get a history of Custer's life in pieces, as well as the of the conflict that led to Little Bighorn and its aftermath. I described Connell as a romantic above for the passion he brings to his story and for the life of adventure, risk-taking and feeling that he obviously treasures. But he does not romanticize characters and events. Gruesomeness, wantonness, death, and human pettiness pervade his account. Besides its digressive character, Connell's writing is also understated and subdued. His writing is unobtrusive and allows the events and characters he portrays to be shown in their complexity. The book is difficult because it is history, a book about the history of a history, and a personal reflection. More than on Little Bighorn or on the West, Connell shows the reader how perspectives on Custer and on the Battle have changed with time, especially as reflected in art and literature. Many passages of the book explore his own attitude towards Custer and his other protagonists. As battles go, Little Bighorn was small. Custer himself could fairly be regarded as a minor figure rather than as the stuff of legend. Connell shows why Custer, Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, and the many other characters in his book matter. But it is a work of art and a meditation on the American experience. Robin Friedman Aug 30, James rated it it was amazing Shelves: favorites , military-history , biography , american-history. Once in a while you find a book that is so well written that beyond the days of reading, long after you have finished it, the book continues to haunt you. Son of the Morning Star is one of those books. The beauty of Evan Connell's prose and the excellence of his history make this book a minor masterpiece. Perhaps the larger-than-life presence of the central character, who the Indians named "son of the morning star", General George Armstrong Custer, is partly the reason for the magnificence of Once in a while you find a book that is so well written that beyond the days of reading, long after you have finished it, the book continues to haunt you. Perhaps the larger-than-life presence of the central character, who the Indians named "son of the morning star", General George Armstrong Custer, is partly the reason for the magnificence of the book. More significant men of his time can be discussed without passion because they are inextricably woven into a tapestry of the past, but this hotspur refuses to die. He stands forever on that dusty Montana slope. All of this was not due to merit, all though he did have that, but in spite of his mediocrity evidenced earlier by his poor record at West Point, having graduated last in his class. Overall, as Custer made his career in the Indian territories, it always seemed that he was overrated by others and, most of all, by himself. Who knows the mind of Custer and the reasons that led to his demise at Little Big Horn. Maybe Evan S. Few non-academic histories have been so well-written as this and have such compelling central themes that you can't put them down. Near-masterpiece is the best thing I can say when recommending this to anyone who enjoys reading a great book. It was simply a delight to read. View 2 comments. This book is probably the most complete compendium of all things Custer and Little Bighorn that exists on the market. However, saying all this I must also say that I really didn't enjoy reading it. While the book is well written and beyond well researched the subject is not one that I am particularly interested in. In my reading of our 19th century Western history this man and his ending are mentioned frequently and this book is also frequently cited and mentioned so I thought I should read it. All of these references have formed a picture of this man as an arrogant and foolish man that got himself and all of the men with him killed. While it is true that this was a different time and a different sort of U. Army that valued men like this but he still had a responsibility to these men and he failed them. Further, the event itself while tragic in the extreme is historically significant only as a bad example. Little Bighorn neither furthered nor defeated any goal by either side of this conflict and whose historic significance is a mystery to me as well as to the the author of this book. Consequently, I began the reading of this book with something of a bias that this book did nothing to correct or mitigate. As for the book itself initially let me warn the reader that it is not for the faint of heart. The author does not spare you the gruesome details of Indian warfare. In fact should you wish to pursue further reading of this period of our history do not do so unless you can stomach some pretty horrific behavior. Our history of interactions with Indians is not pleasant, there are no heroes on either side and there are no happy endings. This book is just another part of this unhappy and shameful history but it is very well done. In this book the author seems to have collected every bit of information ever recorded, published, spoken, whispered, exaggerated, fictionalized, or just plain lied about concerning Custer and the Last Stand. Then the author engages in the mind numbing task of filtering all this conflicting, illogical, nonsensical, and impossible information in an attempt to arrive at some semblance of truth. These attempts are some times hard to follow and the shifts in time between the event being described and the time the information is being reported makes for some difficult reading. The true Last Stand fan will probably not be bothered by this but the less than enthusiastic reader me may find their head bobbing a bit. Nevertheless, the book is well worth reading if not for the Last Stand history then for the revelations about Indian lore and history as well as the insight into life in the Army during this period of time. View all 3 comments. Son of the Morning Star is one of the best books that I've ever read. It propelled me into reading more about American Indians, more about the West, more military biographies especially of American generals, and even the Civil War. Connell is a great writer, as seen in, for example, both novels--Mr. Bridge and Mrs. He made the character of the Indians real, as it should be, and Custer, whom I had not judged as harshly as I did after this book. I personally knew people in my limited Son of the Morning Star is one of the best books that I've ever read. I personally knew people in my limited military experience like him--impressive, impulsive, self-consumed, jealous, hard-headed, self-righteous, competitive which Americans tend to consider as a virtue to be manifest at all times and for the most part, brave. He did have admirable qualities that could have made him a successful general, and Connell brings this out very convincingly. I could hardly put the book down and was saddened when I finished it. View all 4 comments. Fascinating take on the Battle of the Little Big Horn. It pretty much strips Custer of his hero status This book has been questioned as to its historic veracity but I found it to be gripping and well researched. The "Last Stand", romanticized in the same manner as the Charge of the Light Brigade, will always be open to conjecture but this is a ripping Fascinating take on the Battle of the Little Big Horn. The "Last Stand", romanticized in the same manner as the Charge of the Light Brigade, will always be open to conjecture but this is a ripping good read no matter how the reader feels about the subject. Highly recommended. Dec 14, Carol Storm rated it it was amazing. Some are certainly false, others may be true. But one thing is beyond dispute. Sitting Bull liked women. He liked women enormously. He was certainly married two or three times. He may have been married as many as eight or nine times. Here he is pictured with. This is "Many things are told of Sitting Bull. This is not just an incredible history of Custer's fight at Little Big Horn. It tells the story of the Sioux, the cavalry, the west, the propaganda machine back East, and how Americans deal with national honor, pride, defeat, and memory. Along the way there's also an unforgettable portrait of Custer as many things -- a hot-headed fool, a shrewd self-promoter, a ruthless military tyrant, and a surprisingly faithful and devoted husband, with a charming, intelligent and beautiful wife who willingly followed him into danger and also became his greatest champion after his death. While the other reviewers are correct that the writing jumps back and forth, if you take the time to skim through you will find all kinds of incredible stories and fascinating information on every subject related to Custer's life and times. I can still remember the author explaining how Sioux chiefs got ready to sit down for a conference with the white man. First they kicked open an ant hill, so thousands of black ants came swarming out. Then they laid their best robes down over the ant hill, so the ants would swarm onto it and eat all the lice that had been gathering in their clothing for months. Then the chiefs just picked up the robes, shook off all the ants, and put the robes back on with no more lice! This is the kind of book that makes history come alive. View all 5 comments. An excellent history of Custer's Last Stand, that is well researched and extremely interesting. It feels like Connell gives information from almost every person who was involved in this event. Much of the information is contradictory and Connell lets you draw your own conclusions. It is almost like listening to gossip. Recommended to all and extremely recommended to Custer fans. My own feelings: Custer was an idiot trying to glorify himself. Feb 22, Stefania Dzhanamova rated it really liked it. This book is an elaborate retrospection of the sanguinary battle of Little Big Horn. Marie, attempting--with moderate success--an "old lady" characterization. Find Similar Products by Tag western. Find Similar Products by Category Western. Enter your name: optional. Valley of Mystery DVD. Song of the Islands DVD. Southwest Passage DVD. King of the Damned DVD. The Outsider DVD. Les amants de Verone DVD. Custer seemed doomed to failure due to his own arrogance and miscalculations. The Indians reluctantly marshal themselves for war when the white man's lust for gold results in broken treaties, ravaged lands and greed. The story culminates in a spectacular and reasonably accurate recreation of the Battle of the Little Big Horn that pits General Custer against another headstrong tactician, the immortal Chief Crazy Horse played by Rodney Grant. Son of the Morning Star is narrated terrifically by Buffy St. Why does the Bible use 'morning star' to refer to both Jesus and Satan?

Robert Schenkkan Capt. Weir 3 Episodes. Edward Blatchford Lt. Cooke 3 Episodes. Tim Ransom Tom Custer 3 Episodes. Bryce Chamberlain Parsons 3 Episodes. Mike Robe 3 Episodes. TV Guide ranks the series that threw us a lifeline during these wild times. Sign up and add shows to get the latest updates about your favorite shows - Start Now. Keep track of your favorite shows and movies, across all your devices. Sign up to get started Login About My Watchlist. Recommendations Discover Listings News. Watchlist Added Where to Watch. Jump to: Cast Director. Cast David Strathairn Capt. My News Sign up and add shows to get the latest updates about your favorite shows - Start Now. Popular Shows 1. Game of Thrones 2. Underground 3. Empire 4. I've met people in faraway lands who knew more about my home state than I do, and much more American history. Basically, America expanded from east to west and there was a notion among many people that it was our "manifest destiny" to occupy all of the land stretching from the East Coast to the West. That is, it was God's will that we possess these lands, though God had checked us in the War of when we set our sights on acquiring Canada. However, there were impediments to be surmounted. Second, there was internecine strife re: expansion because of slavery. Those opposing slavery were concerned that new lands not be made into "slave states. We had already subdued these savages in the Eastern United States with smallpox, firearms and the creation of a special territory where the savages could live in peace and harmony, creatively called, "Indian Territory. It was James K. Polk, our 11th President, though, who did the most to fulfill God's will and acquire the land that was rightfully ours. Here's a little song about him that explains how he fulfilled our "manifest destiny. If this link doesn't work, just do a Youtube search for the song, "James K. Polk" by the group "They Might be Giants. Polk has risen and fallen in the rankings of US Presidents by political historians, but it is uncontested that he set four goals and accomplished them all. Those goals germane to this review include acquiring the lands of the Southwest from Mexico and purchasing the Oregon territory from Great Britain, both of which he accomplished. Polk set in motion the need to right the wrongs of the Mexicans, who had committed the egregious offense of EXISTING and occupying at least some of the vast land mass comprising the American Southwest and the state of California. He offended Mexico in by annexing the territory that now comprises the state of Texas, a small area of , square miles , sq. Mexico had only achieved independence from Spain in and was a much poorer country than the United States. Likewise, its northern regions were routinely plundered by the aforementioned Indian savages. The Mexicans seemed unduly chaffed at the annexation of this tiny portion of land and President Polk followed up by stationing troops along the Mexican border such as it was. Additionally, in a spirit of fairness, the United States had offered a whopping 25 million US dollars ,, in today's dollars but the Mexicans, strangely feeling hostility at US encroachment, refused our generous offer. I am not sure if President James K. Polk was a religious man, but he WAS a strong believer in manifest destiny, a concept similar to the notion of "American exceptionalism," a doctrine strongly advocated by Fox News intellectual Sean Hannity. Manifest destiny was a contested concept even in its time, but, like "American exceptionalism," it had powerful and wealthy advocates. Mexico's inscrutable adherence to the concept of honor, defying God's Will for America, led them to foolishly defend their nation rather than to capitulate and accept our generous terms for their arid, useless land. The war lasted several years and was something of a rout for the Americans, unsurprising since they were fighting under the aegis of the Supreme Creator of the universe, much as the ancient Israelites obeyed God's command to invade and subdue the ancient Canaanites both as an admonishment and an appropriation of a portion of their lands. Slavery still remained and was undoubtedly the most divisive and contentious issue in the US. The issue of slavery was complex and seemed unsolvable, though politicians finally arrived at a concept called "Popular Sovereignty," which asserted that it was the right of the voters in each new state in our expanding nation to decide whether the nascent state would be slave or free. The nation was so divided over the issue, though, that it led to America's Civil War, a war that is claimed, even by some historians, to have been a war about "state's rights," but was, in reality, a war about the issue of slavery. Custer quickly rose in the ranks due to a combination of bravery and self-promotion. He was a cavalry officer whose outstanding ability led to his promotion to Brevet Brigadier General at the tender age of As Goodreads member Lisa notes below, Custer was an arrogant man, cocksure, and given to outlandish adornments to his military costumes and in his civilian dress. He was a dandy who would have been labeled as a "popinjay," a word that has sadly passed from modern English usage but which denoted "a vain or conceited person, especially one who dresses or behaves extravagantly. The takeaway from Custer's Civil War service is that his exploits in the conflict propelled him into the national spotlight, a fame he did not shy away from, and was the beginning of the Custer mythos as American hero. Thus remained the problem of the pestiferous savages inhabiting the lands "acquired" from Mexico, along with other parts of the American West which God, in His inscrutable handiwork, had apportioned to the American people excepting the pestiferous savages. The savages continued their vicious attacks on restless US settlers headed West. Many Americans had immigrated to our shores from European countries where the opportunity to own land was nonexistent. It was apparent to the powers that be that the United States would never achieve its manifest destiny until the warring savages were exterminated and the more peaceful ones contained in lands designated for them by the US government. Enter again Lt. Colonel George Armstrong Custer, cavalry commander still called "General" by his men. He led a division of the US 7th Cavalry. Custer was a complex man and Evan Connell does a superb job letting the reader know that. Custer was extremely fond of animals, for example, and routinely traveled with much-loved dogs and even had a pet porcupine that shared his bed along with his wife Elizabeth. Yet he could also display brutal callousness toward animals and once shot a majestic crane just to measure its wingspan. Custer had a happy marriage and clearly loved his wife, yet was reputed to have carried on many affairs with Native American ladies and prostitutes who often accompanied military divisions as "sisters of mercy," to borrow the title of a Leonard Cohen song. Custer seems to have been a personality either loved or hated by his fellow soldiers, respected by many for his bravery and self-confidence. Others felt he was reckless and haughty. The constants in Custer's complex life seemed to be his devotion to his wife and family, his need for fame and acclaim, a propensity for flaunting authority, whether it be army regulations or direct orders from his superiors. It seems fairly clear that Custer had set his sites on becoming President of the United States, a sure sign of mental imbalance, and hoped his fame from the books he authored, coupled with his national prominence from the Civil War and the Indian Wars, would catapult him to the nation's highest office. We all know the outcome of Custer's dream, and I think it's fitting, albeit sententious, to bid Custer adieu with the words of Matsuo Basho from his "Oku No Hosomichi," a poem written during his final journey as he happened upon a great battlefield of the past: The summer grasses— For many brave warriors The aftermath of dreams. Donald Keene View all 27 comments. George] Custer's eardrums with a sewing awl. They did this to improve his hearing because he had not been able to hear what he was told in Oklahoma seven years before. When he smoked a pipe with Medicine Arrow and Little Robe they told him that if he broke his promise and made war on the Cheyennes he would be killed. And I have often wondered if, when I was riding among the dead where he was lying, my pony may have kicked dirt upon his body. Connell, Son of the Morning Star I first tried to read this book at a very young age, when my grandpa lent it to me. I was already a Custer-phile, taken with the idea of a man dying on a hill, surrounded by his enemies. That didn't prepare me for novelist Evan S. Connell's take on George A. Custer's famous final battle. When I first cracked these covers, I had not yet been introduced to the non-linear narrative. And this is certainly non-linear. It starts with Lieutenant James Bradley coming upon three Crow scouts. They are scared. Across a river - they would not cross - they told Bradley about a disaster of great magnitude. This is one helluva way to start a book. It is, in fact, an excellent hook. At the time, however, my untrained mind could not handle anything but a straight-forward chronology. I gave up after a couple pages, unable to handle concepts such as prologues or flashbacks. Thankfully, I picked this up in later years, after my mind grew - like the Grinch's on Mount Crumpit - at least two sizes. Indeed, I've picked it up a few times since then. This is one of the few books I've ever read cover-to-cover more than once. It is that good. A lot of good historians have tackled Custer. Reliable, thorough historians who have no axe to grind. Well, sometimes they have axes to grind. Nonetheless, Custer has been covered by many a dogged chronicler, from Stephen Ambrose who should be avoided to James Donovan and Nathaniel Philbrick both excellent popular historians , willing to chase down every scrap of an interview and every cartridge left on the field. The problem with their output, however, is that it doesn't necessarily comprise great literature. Even Donovan and Philbrick are more workmanlike than master wordsmiths. Thus, Connell brings something entirely different to the Custer genre: style. Son of the Morning Star is an aesthetic marvel. At times it can feel like a dendritic disaster, one digression leading to another, and then to another, and then another, until the book is chasing its own tail. Really, though, its structure is amazing, thoughtful, and composed for maximum effect. In other words, it's really, really readable, and enjoyably so. It is an artful collage of history, biography, and narrative that manages to tie together the strands of Custer's life, the lives of the American Indians, the Indian Wars, and the famous last stand in Montana on June 26, There is simply an abundance of story here, told masterfully. Because of its resembleance to a mosaic, an overall picture of Custer's last stand is hard to come by solely by reading Son of the Morning Star. Connell never reaches a point in the book where he says: this happened, then this, then this, and then they were dead. Instead, discussions about certain aspects of the battle are surrounded by apparently unconnected bits of trivia. For instance, there is this paragraph, on the mysterious demise of the Gray Horse Company E Troop , whose men were allegedly found in a deep ravine: The hillside above this gully is irregular, spotted with small cactus and sage, and nothing suggests that the slope was forested a century ago. Which is to say, if the cavalrymen did lose their horses at this point they must have felt helplessly exposed and rushed toward the one place that might protect them. Yet the moment they skidded into the gully they were trapped. All they could do was hug the sides or crouch among the bushes, look fearfully upward, and wait. A few tried to scramble up the south wall because the earth showed boot marks and furrows probably gouged by their fingers, but none of these tracks reached the surface. The sentence following this paragraph says that a Hunkpapa named Iron Hawk shot an arrow into one of these soldiers. The sentence after that launches into a bit about how Plains Indians "could put an arrow entirely through a buffalo. This is how the book is structured, and if you don't like this description, you won't like this book. In a way, it feels on first reading almost improvisational, as though a particularly unfunny comic gets up in a nightclub and starts riffing about Custer and Crazy Horse and the rest. In reality, a great deal of care is placed into the arrangement of these snippets. And it works. I hesitate to call it this, but Son of the Morning Star is a Custer mood piece. Clearly, Connell did a ton of research on this book, and he uses both white and Indian sources. However, frustratingly, there are no endnotes. The analysis is also lacking, or rather, it is a bit on the facile side. For example, Connell will quote an Indian for the purpose of showing the battle lasted a very short time. However, this conclusion will be based on that one Indian source, shorn of important context such as where this Indian was, what part of the battle he was talking about, etc. Connell is also fairly credulous when it comes to some of his sources, and he presents a number of unreliable witnesses as airtight. You see this with his treatment of Kate Bighead quoted at the top , who passed on many of the myths surrounding the Little Big Horn. While a great raconteur, she is not always to be believed. An example of this is her indelible portrait of the desecration of Custer's body, where Kate describes Cheyenne women puncturing Custer's eardrums with a sewing awl because he hadn't listened to their warnings not to fight them. Kate likely came up with this story because Custer was found with blood coming from his ears. This blood, though, was likely not the result of a sewing awl, but rather the bullet through Custer's head the ballistic echo of a bullet in the skull oftentimes ruptures the victim's eardrums. Of course, Kate's story is incredible drama. And Connell is too good a dramatist to pass it up. This is not a book for ten year-olds, which is when I first tried and failed to read it. That got me to thinking whether I would recommend it to people who weren't already interested in the Custer saga. This is kind of a deep cut, and with its fractured framework, I initially thought this might be a hard sell to Custer newcomers. But I don't think that's right. This is such dazzling writing, that it should appeal to anyone who appreciates history done with passions. This is a breathless tale, artfully told. It's a book that rewards you after you put it down, when you realize that all the jigsaw pieces have formed an unforgettable picture. View all 11 comments. The dominant impression I get of Custer from this, the first book Ive read about the national totem who stands forever on that dusty Montana slope, is that of a real natural born killer. One of those gracefully ferocious, lupine men. The accounts of his preternatural energy and aggression and extracts of his own letters cohere into a picture of predatory grace, of sleek, elemental blood-thirst and glory-hunger. Custer was eerily in touch with his nature-the nature of a gleeful hunter. Custer was eerily in touch with his nature—-the nature of a gleeful hunter. Connell quotes the letter to his sister in which Custer describes killing his first man—a patrician Confederate officer whose Spanish broadsword and fine saddle he took as trophies—and reading it one feels the thrilling discovery of his inevitable vocation. From him I feel a superb animality, a sportive savagery. No flexibility, no hint of contemplative nature. This is the face of the archetypal swordsman, with deep-laired challenging eyes above a rapaciously curved nose. Custer made his name in the Civil War, at 23 becoming the youngest American to make general. But even among the dinosaurs that ran the Army of the Potomac in its first years, Custer was a total throwback. His only tactic was to charge the enemy and slash or club or shoot him. And he was always fatalistically in front, glancing back excited during charges, he writes in another letter, to admire the gleaming massed sabers of the cavalrymen following his lead. Impetuous, fatalistic, unignorably flamboyant. Not for him the same-coated standardization of a modern army, he ornamented himself with finery, chance and tailored, and with the trophies of killed Confederates: He began to wear a tightly fitted hussar jacket, gold lace on his pants, and rebel boots. One staff member likened him to a circus rider. Fought recalled him wearing a dark blue sailor shirt that he got from a gunboat on the James, a bright red tie, a velveteen jacket with gold loops on the sleeve, and a Confederate hat. Like a circus rider. He wanted to be seen. Think of a pro wrestler. His conception of warfare was boisterous and self-glorifying. Behind the pranks and the outrageous costume ride a killer. He learned taxidermy so as to mount and preserve the exotic trophies he began to hunt once he went west to fight Indians. They tell of him stuffing an antelope or a giant elk or a grizzly during the night, as the rest of his regiment slept off an exhausting day on the march. His brother Tom, part of a small circle of relations and sycophants who insulated Custer from the hatred and distrust he in inspired in most of the men under his command, liked to catch snakes on the march and ride with them coiled around his arm, much to the displeasure of his nervous mount. They were boys on an adventure. While Custer was stationed in Kentucky, locals raised complaints because packs of these hounds tore apart their dogs, cats, and even their livestock. His wife reports that they so thickly surrounded her husband that she was fortunate if she secured a place in the marital bed. However, Custer was denied leave to take this job, and was sent west. The frontier seems to have been a bouquet of exciting new scents for this inquisitive hound. A new enemy to kill, new game to hunt, new landscapes to romp about in. America may be a young nation, but the frequency of its cultural upheavals means that great chasms separate the generations. Their intellectual furnishings were derived entirely from Europe, specifically Romantic poetry and its swashbuckling and sentimental prose offspring. James Fenimore Cooper is about as indigenous as they get. These people inhabited books in a way that Americans of simply cannot. Henry James, after Turgenev introduced him to a circle of cultivated Russians resident in Paris, observed that people from culturally peripheral lands are especially capable of burrowing into, living within all European culture; later, James would say much the same thing about Americans. Russians in the wake of Peter the Great learned to become Europeans by absorbing the sentimental standards and conduct to be found in contemporary European literature. Custer and his American contemporaries were no different. Henry James is relevant also because he was nearly an exact contemporary of Custer and , and like Custer the ideals of manly accomplishment he imbibed as an American boy in the s are similarly Romantic and Napoleonic, however different the figures they cut in American history. Napoleon, Fred Kaplan writes, was always a lodestar for James. He particularly values the diary of a rustic Private Coleman, whose unpunctuated Faulknerian run-ons abound with misspellings and horrifyingly eloquent images. Custer himself is an unnervingly good writer. In our strange version of humanism, we tend to think the natural born killer incapable of cultured articulation, of the cunning literary deployment of the ego. Custer could be a counterpart to Emma Bovary, both of them raised on sentimental fiction, both carrying Romantic literary myth into collision with an unaccommodating reality. Emma dies laughing. Connell quarries his prose from Anglo-American modernism. It made me think of Eliot, Pound, Williams. Connell arranges extracts from primary sources into collages that feel so vivid. The soldiers take down the bundle, unwrap it and examine the items coiled in with the desiccated corpse. She had been abducted from a wagon train and had taken every opportunity to seed their path with little messages identifying herself and telling how she might be found and ransomed. From there Connell takes up her story for a couple of pages. And later he braids her story back into the main narrative, using her notes and the captivity narrative she wrote after being freed to illustrate the plight of another captive settler woman who Custer failed to rescue. No other book on American history has made me feel so transported. In one of the big questions was whether the government should get behind public opinion and finally wipe out the Indians still refusing the give up their land and way of life. This book can be so scary because Connell— what with his collages of newspaper editorials that openly advocate genocide and tales of festive exhibitions of Indian scalps at public theaters—is good at recreating that American moment, when Indians, settlers and soldiers were busy scalping, shooting, stabbing, skinning, bludgeoning, raping and mutilating each other up and down the Great Plains. She might have had his child in January She might have given him and his brother Tom venereal disease. To this Kate Bighead testifies. She was among the Cheyenne women picking over the dead soldiers after the battle. Oh, and another thing. Custer planned to run for president. Connell mentions the rumor that Custer plunged so rapidly ahead of the other columns on the Little Big Horn campaign because word of his quick sole victory could be telegraphed to St. Louis, where the Democrats were to hold their convention and where they would soon start nominating candidates for the presidential election. Libbie Custer would certainly have made a great political wife. According to Capt. Benteen, she was as cold-blooded as Custer and as wholeheartedly convinced as he of his personal greatness and huge destiny. Shortly after their marriage, Libbie was introduced to Abraham Lincoln, who told her that he hoped Custer would make fewer suicidal charges, now that he had a wife. Google it. President Custer, striding into the White House with his bodyguard of half-domesticated wolves, trailing black and Indian concubines—- the mind reels. View all 16 comments. Jun 15, Chrissie rated it really liked it Shelves: usa , audible , bio , read , history , native-am. I really, really enjoyed this book, despite that the beginning gave me trouble. At the start I was confused. Stiles because Connells book was said to be well researched and told both with historical accuracy and with passion. All turned out to be true. Also, having read the author before, I knew I liked Connells manner of writing. Authors have a unique writing style which you come to recognize and appreciate, I really, really enjoyed this book, despite that the beginning gave me trouble. Authors have a unique writing style which you come to recognize and appreciate, if good. The battle goes by all three names. He and the American troops were defeated. Much said of this battle is incorrect. Connell goes far in uncovering what is and is not true. Secondly, the book provides an in-depth portrait of General Custer. We learn of his wife and liaisons with Native American women. Thirdly, the book provides fascinating information about Native American nomenclature, beliefs traditions and ways. The research is extensive. Truly impressive. An interview with the author concludes the audiobook. The author visited the battle fields numerous times. He searched all to be found archived in libraries and at museum sites. Three and one half years of intensive study was devoted to the task. He does not merely present the facts but analyzes the validity of the statements made. The book has a unique style. Some might say it is unorganized. It has no introduction nor a conclusion. Boston Custer 2 episodes, Eric Lawson Fred Gerard 2 episodes, Jay Bernard Congressman 2 episodes, Kimberly Guerrero Kate Bighead 2 episodes, Russ Walks Taglines: Two great warriors. One final confrontation. The last great battle for the American Frontier. Edit Did You Know? Trivia The project was developed at NBC in the mids. Kevin Costner was considered to play George Armstrong Custer, but the network thought he was not well-known enough to carry the show. Ultimately, the network thought it would be too expensive to make, leading to ABC picking up the project. Costner would eventually become a movie star, and had enough clout to get the thematically-similar Dances with Wolves made; that film was released a few months before "Son of the Morning Star" debuted. Goofs During the Indian attack on Major Reno's positions, the frontal camera views of Reno firing his revolver clearly show its cylinder to be empty. Also, none of the soldiers' revolvers recoil "jump" when they are fired. Was this review helpful to you? Yes No Report this. Add the first question. Language: English. Runtime: min. Sound Mix: Stereo. Color: Color. Edit page. Add episode. Everything That's New on Netflix in December. Clear your history. George Armstrong Custer 2 episodes, Libby Custer 2 episodes, Grant 2 episodes, Cooke 2 episodes, Sherman 2 episodes, Crazy Horse 2 episodes, Charlie Reynolds 2 episodes, Alfred Terry 2 episodes, Red Cloud 2 episodes, Tom Custer 2 episodes, Weir 2 episodes, Benteen 2 episodes, Kate Bighead 2 episodes, Philip Sheridan 2 episodes, Parsons 2 episodes, Coates 2 episodes, Hancock 2 episodes, Young Kate Bighead 2 episodes, Stone Forehead 2 episodes, Son of the Morning Star: General Custer and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Evan S. Connell

Connell makes good use of his meticulous research and novelist's eye for the story and detail to re-vreate the heroism, foolishness, and savagery of this crucial chapter in the history of the West. Skip to content Author : Evan S. Son of the Morning Star. Get Books. Custer's Last Stand is among the most enduring events in American history--more than one hundred years after the fact, books continue to be written and people continue to argue about even the most basic details surrounding the Little Bighorn. Connell, whom Joyce Carol Oates has described as "one. The Morning Star. Jump to: Cast Director. Cast David Strathairn Capt. My News Sign up and add shows to get the latest updates about your favorite shows - Start Now. Popular Shows 1. Game of Thrones 2. Underground 3. Empire 4. NCIS 5. Jane the Virgin 6. Grey's Anatomy 7. The Blacklist. Popular Movies 1. Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 2. A Quiet Place 3. Rampage 4. Super Troopers 2 5. Ready Player One 6. Trainwreck 7. World War Z. Popular Celebrities 1. Berean Study Bible How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations. New American Standard Bible "How you have fallen from heaven, O star of the morning, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the earth, You who have weakened the nations! How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations! Christian Standard Bible Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! You destroyer of nations, you have been cut down to the ground. Contemporary English Version You, the bright morning star, have fallen from the sky! You brought down other nations; now you are brought down. Good News Translation King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. Holman Christian Standard Bible Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! How you have been thrown down to earth, you who laid low the nation! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! New Heart English Bible How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn. How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low. A Faithful Version How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! How you have been cut down to the ground, you conqueror of nations! How art thou cut down to the ground, That didst cast lots over the nations!

Son of the Morning Star (film) - Wikipedia

Son of the Morning Star is narrated by Buffy St. Marie, attempting--with moderate success--an "old lady" characterization. Find Similar Products by Tag western. Find Similar Products by Category Western. Enter your name: optional. Valley of Mystery DVD. Song of the Islands DVD. Southwest Passage DVD. King of the Damned DVD. The Outsider DVD. You brought down other nations; now you are brought down. Good News Translation King of Babylon, bright morning star, you have fallen from heaven! In the past you conquered nations, but now you have been thrown to the ground. Holman Christian Standard Bible Shining morning star, how you have fallen from the heavens! How you have been thrown down to earth, you who laid low the nation! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations! New Heart English Bible How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn. How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low. A Faithful Version How you are fallen from the heavens, O shining star, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations! How you have been cut down to the ground, you conqueror of nations! How art thou cut down to the ground, That didst cast lots over the nations! American Standard Version How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! Brenton Septuagint Translation How has Lucifer, that rose in the morning, fallen from heaven! He that sent orders to all the nations is crushed to the earth. Darby Bible Translation How art thou fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning! Thou art cut down to the ground, that didst prostrate the nations! English Revised Version How art thou fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the morning! World English Bible How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, who laid the nations low! The Chronological Study Bible presents the text of the New International Version in chronological order - the order in which the events actually happened - with notes, articles, and full- color graphics that connect the reader to the history and culture of Bible times and gives the reader a dramatic, "you. The Morning Star, and City Watchman. People of the Morning Star. The city of Cahokia, at its height, covered more than six square miles around. The Evening and the Morning Star. The Arabs in Antiquity. The history of the Arabs in antiquity from their earliest appearance around BC until the first century of Islam, is described in this book. https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4645165/normal_60202405b8d79.pdf https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4641521/normal_601feec48c0fd.pdf https://uploads.strikinglycdn.com/files/f562bd28-2475-4205-80fc-da7b6445b131/werbung-im-wandel-der-zeit-am-beispiel-von-justus-von- liebigs-fleischextrakt-bis-1952-633.pdf https://static.s123-cdn-static.com/uploads/4643700/normal_6020ad4475057.pdf https://files8.webydo.com/9591947/UploadedFiles/2AA26F55-FC78-60FF-8F57-3F052D82BEF2.pdf https://files8.webydo.com/9586238/UploadedFiles/70B88288-8A15-D6A4-5265-5D68776318DA.pdf