I Heard the Owl Call My Name by Margaret Craven

Real, October 24, 2007

Ms. Craven was in her sixties when she wrote this book! Owl is a book about 1 life and how many others 1 can touch. Understanding, compassion and dignity say it all. No matter how many times I read this novel, I never get the same thing from it.

18 of 24 people found the following review helpful: A book to read with a box of tissues at your side., April 10, 1998 By  Kali "bengaligirl" (United Kingdom) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) Normally I don't like books about people who invade other people's lives and cultures and proceed to preach christianity to them. However when I read this book I found myself sympathising with the dying priest and admiring his relationship with the Alaskan Indians. I was surprised at how easily Margaret Craven made it all so believeable. Kingcome became real and the slowly disintegrating tribe of the Kwakiutl Indians touched my heart as I thought of the many indiginous tribes of people all over the world forced to integrate in a world that is not their own. Margaret Craven showed how humanity's progress and ignorance can be the footsteps of doom to others. Even the "Christian" theme did not offend, in fact it softened my usually hard heart toward people who interfere in others lives. This is a wonderful book and it is one I will always treasure. I might also point out that the video with Tom Courtney playing the part of the doomed Priest is not that bad either, though like most films it does not alway follow the plot of the book but then you can't have everything in life, can you?

14 of 18 people found the following review helpful: A journey of self discovery, October 26, 2003 By  Kim Thompson "kat226" (Goleta, CA USA) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) This book follows a young priest to a small village of Kwakiutl Indians in the Pacific Northwest. The priest, Mark, must learn how to connect with the people, which means opening his heart to them. What Mark does not know is that he has only a few years to live. The book is written in a simple style - easy to read and understand. However, there is a lot of power in this unassuming book and the more you read it the more you get out of it. Keep tissues handy - you'll need them!

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful: A wonderful book - it creates a world for the reader..., June 30, 2005 By  DWD "intrepid reviewer" (Indianapolis, IN) - This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) ...and at the end, you are sad to leave it. For me, when I read an absolutely excellent novel, I have a hard time getting into another one - you end up rejecting the new one because it's not as good as the last one. This is one of those novels for me. So, I guess I'll be cleansing the reading palate with a few magazines. I first read this novel when I was 14 or 15 years old. I haven't thought about it for years until I came across it at a book sale and picked it up on a whim. I approached re-reading it with some trepidation - I was afraid that it would not be as good as I remembered and I would be disappointed. Well, it wasn't as good as I remembered - it's much better! Age and experience make you appreciate some things better, I suppose. I shot through this novel in less than 24 hours - a new record for this slow and steady reader. Granted, it's a short novel (my copy was 159 pages), but it pulls you in an you want to learn more about this native American village and the young vicar sent to minister to them. I teach high school and I have a small library of books in my classroom. From time to time, I am asked by students to recommend a book and this one will shoot up to the top of my list with 'Of Mice and Men.'

8 of 21 people found the following review helpful: Could have been better., May 12, 2000 By  Karen L. Vandusen "cloudpeak" (Woodinville, Washington United States) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) This book has some lovely descriptive passages. In fact, that's part of the problem. It almost reads like notes from someone's vacation. Craven spends so much time describing the beautiful Pacific Northwest that she forgets to make her characters live the story. As a result, the characters remain one dimensional. While this book purports to be about Native Americans, don't be deceived. It is more about the priest who is assigned to live with them. Everything we learn about the Native Americans is shown to us through the the priest's eyes. The book's ending stretches the reader's patience. Throughout the book, the priest lives a vigorous, physical life. He does this in spite of a diagnosis made at the beginning of the book that he has a terminal disease and will die within three years. Of course, this diagnosis is kept secret from the priest. He'll be the last to know. Only at the end of the story does the priest's mysterious disease take its toll. His health suddenly declines, and the people of the village ask him to stay and live his final days with them. The reader is left to wonder how this priest could not have known that his health was in jeapordy. Probably, it was because he felt fine throughout most of his stay in Kingcome (the village's name).

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful: QUIET, MOVING AND WONDERFUL, September 25, 1998 By  Reading teacher "jojomitty" (South Dakota) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) This novel is an outstanding portrait of a young vicar's journey through life, love, and friendship. His journey to a new parish becomes a spiritual journey into his own heart and soul. Although often thought of as a young adult novel, this book is more suited to an adult aduience. It is complex, compelling, and makes the reader think about his or her own way of living. Life, death, tradition, Christianity, the preservation of culture, prejudice, friendship, nature--all issues that are quietly addressed in this important book. This is a must-read for anyone interested in or exposed to Native American culture, as well as anyone who enjoys a fine story that rings true.

28 of 33 people found the following review helpful: I Heard The Owl Call My Name, March 29, 2002 By  Liya Fateh (Singapore) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) When I first received this book, I thought that it would be one of those tedious books that you have to write reviews on while in school. While reading the first chapter, I confirmed that thought for myself, and left the book for a week or so. The first chapter, to me, was this quite confusing chapter which had no real beginning or end, and no real meaning. When I finally had to read the book to start writing my review, I struggled through the first chapter again. And then I came to the second. What a breath of fresh air it was, and from then onwards, the book flowed as the rivers and streams that it describes. The story is one that is very true to the world today - it talks about a culture that is slowly being lost to technology. It is a very touching story, about love, loss, friendship, trust....in fact it is about every conceivable human emotion. It is told in a beautiful way, that iss incredibly realistic, and transports you to its setting. The myths and stories that are described are very insightful of the tribal culture. The stories were believed whole-heartedly, even though they may seem childish and unbelievable. But it is that childish innocence that allowed these tribes to thrive and live in a peaceful way. The dimension that the vicar from the outside world brings is interesting in the sense that although he symbolises the technology that is overshadowing the tribal culture, he is the one who is trying his best to maintain it. It shows how a simple life can silence the want for a more luxurious one. All in all, this book is extremely good, and I recommend it as a very interesting read. The author has managed to show a culture that is dying out, without distorting it or adding overly-fictitious elements. Simply beautiful.

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful: A Life Changer, September 5, 2005 By  Pastor Eric (Portis, Kansas United States) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) This book and the movie made from it are simply unforgetable. Your life, if you want to examine it deeply, will be changed for the better. This is a MUST. TO NOT READ THIS BOOK, WOULD BE A SHAME.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: A Great Rainy Day Book, December 26, 2004 By  J. Sprouffske (Rainier, WA USA) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) This quick read is a rather enjoyable book that can be easily read in 1 or 2 sittings. I really enjoy reading it. I would have like to have seen more character development in regard to some of the members of the tribes but overall it was a great book. This book of self-discovery is great for students and adults. If you don't enjoy this book now put it on the shelf and read it again in a few years. Eventually it will be the perfect book for your situation.

23 of 27 people found the following review helpful: amazingly fantastic and gorgeous work of Canadian literature, September 22, 1998 By A Customer This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Library Binding) Hi, everybody. Out of the twenty four books from the school's summer reading list that I have read during the holiday, I chose I Heard the Owl Call My Name, written by Margaret Craven, for my oral report. The book, which can be found under the Canadian Nature section, was Craven's first work and was first published in 1967. With stunning narrative, the plot revolves around a young dying vicar, Mark Brian, who went to an Indian village called Kingcome in the Pacific Northwest completing his last mission (though he did not know he only had three years to live). He had to overcome many great difficulties in order to help and convert these proud, Kwakiutl native people, for the old ones were unreligious while the young ones had little respects toward the old people and the old way of life. His first problem was trying to be accepted into this struggling primitive community, which was starting to be swallowed into white man's world. Then he had to help preserve the old culture of totems and salmons from being replaced by a new culture of alcoholism and residential schools. In the end he did succeed in earning respect and trust, maybe even love, of the people, but, most of all, he learnt a most valuable lesson - the acceptence of death, life and submission, as quoted by the author: Often in the avalanche of letters I received after I Heard the Owl Call My Name was published, people asked me what disease killed Mark Brian. I don't know. What matters is that he learned more of love and life in his three years with the Indians than most men learn in a long lifetime, and that it was he who thanked them. - from Again Calls the Owl, Craven's autobiography Margaret Craven, the author, actually went to an Indian village to do her research and learn the culture, the tales as well as the language. Some of the characters and events in the story are based on people she met at the village, and that makes her work much more realistic and believable. Some of the themes discussed in this book are cycles or changes of life, vanishing way of life of the natives, and, most of all, acceptence of death. The only main character is the vicar himself and the conflict of the novel of his being accepted. The book is fairly simple and straight forward, but the author describes the setting with vivid imagery, which makes me really understand and learn a lot about the Kwakiutl culture and customs, for example, in one of the chapters, she talks about the cannibal dance. The mood remains quite consistent throughout the whole book. It is not really the sadness that urges me to read on - it is the calmness and the selflessness of the native people that are so enchanting, and the closeness with nature as well. I have to agree that the beginning of the book was quite dull to begin with, and the climax did not come until the second last chapter. However, if I really read the book carefully, I can also see that every few chapters is a short, descriptive story by itself, for example, there is one about a few Indian kids going to residential school in Vancouver, and how the elders disapprove the idea. There is also another one which tells about druken Indians being cheated by a white man. The vocabulary is fairly simple, and the novel can easily be understood by grade nines, but the meaning, or the lessons of this memorable novel really takes someone much older and much more mature to understand and appreciate. Therefore, I would only recommand this book to those of you who enjoy books about nature. All in all, this is a marvelously compelling work of Canadian literature. To conclude my presentation, I am going to read you a short quote that will give you some idea about the author's style: Under a green spruce Marta stood by herself, her eyes on the young vicar. How thin and white he was! How long had it been there - that look on his face she had seen many times in her long life and knew well? It was not the hard winter that had placed it there. It was death gently reaching out his hand, touching the face gently, even before the owl had called the name. Thank you!

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful: Mesmerizing..., April 3, 2006 By  B. Dunnagan (Myrtle Beach, SC USA) This review is from: I Heard the Owl Call My Name (Mass Market Paperback) I finished this book last night and must say it's one of the best books I've ever read. I feel as though I went along with Mark on this journey and am thankful for the depth and the insight it provided. It is not a long book, but slow down as you read it so you won't miss anything.