I read this my senior year in high school --- 35 cents for the book. It's still readable but pages are starting to come loose from binding.

While I really enjoyed reading about the Navajo customs and lifestyle, and the author's beautiful descriptions of the terrain, I found the dialogue to be so stilted and unrealistic that it took me out of the story. ( )

As the sub title says this is a love story set on the Navajo Reservation in Northern Arizona/Southern Utah. It is interesting to read about the cultural aspect of how relationships are handled within the Navajo community. The story is slow but worth the time to allow it to develop. ( )

Really good novel about a Navajo couple. Quite poetic and tries to give the flavor of their religion. I don't know how accurate it is, since the author lived among them but was not Navajo, but still worth reading for the story and appreciation of the culture. ( )

'Laughing Boy' is a work of art. And like a work of art, it plays with your mind. It is not abstract, but peculiar. Laughing Boy, the novel's protagonist, is a Navajo indigenous American attempting to straddle the world of tradition and the world of the white man. The initial starting of the novel is not a hook. It won't draw you in. But if you persist, you will discover the beauty and simplicity of La Farge's times and Laughing Boy's richness of heart. ( )

In spite of my reluctance to give 5 star ratings, I find myself unable to consider anything else for this wonderful book. In spite of being a first novel, it won a Pulitzer Prize and certainly deserved it.
I probably should not be surprised that I am giving 5 star ratings lately since I depend so heavily on the ratings and comments of others whenever I choose a book, but since those ratings have been so helpful, I feel a bit duty-bound to pay it forward.
Laughing Boy is an intense love story, not the usual go-to novel for guys, but one that is worth getting out of the male rut. The strengths of this novel are that it develops both the characters and their feelings for one another with such precision, such insightful detail and such empathy for the characters, their relationship and the struggle they face. Its other strength is its ability to so beautifully depict the Navajo culture in which the story occurs.
A few years ago, Tony Hillerman created a series of crime/suspense novels set on the Navajo Reservation and detailedly describing the Navajo culture while also telling compelling murder mystery stories. I read every one of his books as did everyone in my office. Reading Laughing Boy takes me back to that experience and give me the same feeling of authenticity that Hillerman's books did.
For anyone who has been in love, totally, unconditionally besotted with another, this book will ring true, reminding them of the early days of their passion and perhaps renewing it through its honest and detailed portrayal.
This book was written over 55 years ago yet continues to receive the type of praise that earns respect, that can make a book stay around for many years until it is finally recognized as a classic.
It is a book that readers will not only read but will also feel and remember. ( )

First published in 1929, but still eminently readable, this novel tells the story of Laughing Boy and Slim Girl, two young Navajo who earn the disapproval of his peers by marrying without family approval.

Slim Girl is one of the countless young Native Americans who was taken away from her home in early childhood and sent to one of the Indian Boarding Schools designed to "civilize" young Native Americans by denying them their cultural heritage. Now a young woman wanting to return to tribal ways, she finds herself with a foot in each culture.

Introspective and low-key, the novel nevertheless is profoundly moving as these two young people try hard to build a life, but the falseness of their relationship's foundation foreshadows heartbreak.

Slim Girl's character is particularly well-written; LaFarge manages to make her understandable, if not particularly pleasant. Taught by harsh reality to survive in any way she can, she manipulates Laughing Boy, yet underneath that manipulation is a genuine love for him. Her struggles to succeed both as a traditional Navajo wife and to accumulate the material wealth of the "American" world by which she has been brutalized make her a flawed but fascinating character. ( )

Set in the year 1915, in the Navajo nation. Laughing Boy is a young man attending a large gathering where there are dances, horse races, trading and gambling. He’s excited to compete with his favorite pony and make some good trades, but something momentous happens when Slim Girl catches his eye. He’s fascinated by her bold behavior, when she speaks to him directly (something a proper girl would never do) and on impulse, they decide soon after to run off and get married. Laughing Boy hears rumors from others and faces criticism from his family about Slim Girl- she’s bad they say. She’s not a proper Navajo. He doesn’t understand what they’re talking about. Slim Girl had been taken away by the Americans when she was a little girl, sent to a boarding school where her language and culture were forbidden (to put it mildly). She is full of bitterness against the Americans and desperately wants to rejoin The People. She sees her union with Laughing Boy as a way back in, and for a time, this seems to work. They set up a little household together on the outskirts of a small dusty American town, where Slim Girl has a job she doesn’t want to leave, quite yet. She wants security, to earn and save up money so she and Laughing Boy could return with wealth to live among the Navajo among respect and admiration. Unfortunately, her means to that goal were also her undoing.

There were many parts of this story I really enjoyed. Reading of this young couple’s determination to flaunt the norms- Laughing Boy ignoring all the whispers about his wife and refusing to believe any ill of her, certain they were wrong and that he could make a happy home. Slim Girl’s stubborn desire to learn skills that were taken for granted by other Navajo women and she struggled with- mainly weaving, but other things as well. Their joy in each other, and the complications that arose when doubts crept into their relationship, becoming a gap they struggled to repair. The one thing I felt dubious about was the casual mention of Slim Girl’s years in the boarding school. While it was obvious she was somewhat traumatized and turned callous by that experience, I felt like it could have been dealt with in much greater depth. Perhaps it was written this way though, because most of the story is told from Laughing Boy’s perspective, and he never really understood what an impact that experience had on her.

This book won a Pulitzer in 1930. Sadly, it’s one of those that I feel dismayed about, when looking up more info after I’m done reading. The author is not Native American, he wrote from outside the culture, though he spent several years working in Navajo territory, and admired them greatly. But it sounds like he got a lot of it wrong: American Indians in Children’s Literature. Regardless, I still think it’s a good story, I’m just disappointed it’s got false portrayals.

more at the Dogear Diary ( )

fiction. (pulitzer #15). written by anthropologist who studied Navajo culture (and the influence of American culture on Navajo ways of life). ( )

I have a habit of regularly picking up a prize winner as one of my ways of making sure I read a variety of authors. Sometimes I am disappointed or even bored with the result, but more often I am thrilled to make a new discovery. Laughing Boy was one of those discoveries. The story begins in a very simple manner, what even feels initially to be overly simple. Boy meets girl: a love story.

But as you read, the story becomes more complex. Laughing Boy was raised in a traditional Navajo family. He is very astute and capable in that lifestyle; he can make a living. However, when it comes to love, he seems quite naïve. Slim Girl was removed from her family at an early age and given an American education. She feels something has been stolen from her, and she is on the outside looking in. The relationship between Laughing Boy and Slim Girl reflects the conflict developing between the traditional Navajo way of life and the American culture that is encroaching all around them.

Their relationship is complicated in other ways as well. Slim Girl is conniving and manipulative. Is she just using Laughing Boy? It is clear she loves him though. What drives her dishonesty? She is very focused on building as much security as possible before giving up the benefits of living among the Americans. Why is she not willing to take risks for the life she wants?

This novel won the Pulitzer Prize in 1930, and in my opinion, was very much deserving. ( )

This novel, written 90-some years ago about Navajo culture's encounter with Anglo-European culture, fascinated me. I wonder how much Tony Hillerman's mysteries were inspired by La Farge's writing about the Navajo people. The story of Laughing Boy and Slim Girl is very well told, and their tragedy can be read as the result of the clash of cultures, especially the residential school system which has caused so much loss and pain among American Indians. ( )

In spite of my reluctance to give 5 star ratings, I find myself unable to consider anything else for this wonderful book. In spite of being a first novel, it won a Pulitzer Prize and certainly deserved it.
I probably should not be surprised that I am giving 5 star ratings lately since I depend so heavily on the ratings and comments of others whenever I choose a book, but since those ratings have been so helpful, I feel a bit duty-bound to pay it forward.
Laughing Boy is an intense love story, not the usual go-to novel for guys, but one that is worth getting out of the male rut. The strengths of this novel are that it develops both the characters and their feelings for one another with such precision, such insightful detail and such empathy for the characters, their relationship and the struggle they face. Its other strength is its ability to so beautifully depict the Navajo culture in which the story occurs.
A few years ago, Tony Hillerman created a series of crime/suspense novels set on the Navajo Reservation and detailedly describing the Navajo culture while also telling compelling murder mystery stories. I read every one of his books as did everyone in my office. Reading Laughing Boy takes me back to that experience and give me the same feeling of authenticity that Hillerman's books did.
For anyone who has been in love, totally, unconditionally besotted with another, this book will ring true, reminding them of the early days of their passion and perhaps renewing it through its honest and detailed portrayal.
This book was written over 55 years ago yet continues to receive the type of praise that earns respect, that can make a book stay around for many years until it is finally recognized as a classic.
It is a book that readers will not only read but will also feel and remember. ( )

In spite of my reluctance to give 5 star ratings, I find myself unable to consider anything else for this wonderful book. In spite of being a first novel, it won a Pulitzer Prize and certainly deserved it.
I probably should not be surprised that I am giving 5 star ratings lately since I depend so heavily on the ratings and comments of others whenever I choose a book, but since those ratings have been so helpful, I feel a bit duty-bound to pay it forward.
Laughing Boy is an intense love story, not the usual go-to novel for guys, but one that is worth getting out of the male rut. The strengths of this novel are that it develops both the characters and their feelings for one another with such precision, such insightful detail and such empathy for the characters, their relationship and the struggle they face. Its other strength is its ability to so beautifully depict the Navajo culture in which the story occurs.
A few years ago, Tony Hillerman created a series of crime/suspense novels set on the Navajo Reservation and detailedly describing the Navajo culture while also telling compelling murder mystery stories. I read every one of his books as did everyone in my office. Reading Laughing Boy takes me back to that experience and give me the same feeling of authenticity that Hillerman's books did.
For anyone who has been in love, totally, unconditionally besotted with another, this book will ring true, reminding them of the early days of their passion and perhaps renewing it through its honest and detailed portrayal.
This book was written over 55 years ago yet continues to receive the type of praise that earns respect, that can make a book stay around for many years until it is finally recognized as a classic.
It is a book that readers will not only read but will also feel and remember. ( )

I bought a Kindle version of “Laughing Boy” with very little research (I thought it was a recent release), after reading a very brief plot synopsis. I lucked out – this is a five star treasure. But just in case it doesn’t sync with your tastes, let me tell you a little about the book. As for the plot “Laughing Boy” is a young Navajo guy who attends what the cowboy movies of the 40’s called a “pow-wow”, a gathering of families from near and far with music, huge feasts, horse races, wrestling and other sports, some trading and gambling. There he meets Slim Girl for the first time and quickly decides she’s the one. Being an honorable fellow, he follows all the old traditions and visits his extended family seeking their permission and blessing. He doesn’t get it; instead he gets an earful from uncles and others about what a naughty girl his intended has been, even suggesting that she has been with American men for financial gain. Laughing Boy is not a hot head. Rather, he announces to one and all that he intends to wed Slim Girl despite their objections and they depart the camp to build their own life together.

Some of the book’s history is almost as interesting and surprising. For starters it was written, not in 2019, but some 90 years earlier in 1929; the author, Oliver LaFarge, won a Pulitzer for it. It was made into a movie in 1934 and YouTube has a trailer of it. It is a slim book, just under 200 pages, and it is a fascinating read, set in approximately 1914. It is a very moving tale and no, there are no gun battles with the US Cavalry. The story is told strictly from the Navajo perspective, so there are few scenes involving settlers. But there are many fascinating Navajo perceptions shared, particularly about the value of “American” education. It is a passionate, emotional story; interestingly, there was a court case over it in 1982 when a public library in New York State banned it in 1982.

Highly recommended. ( )

-★

#113

From the back cover; which had I read before I opened the book, would have made me discard the book immediately:
"An Enduring American Classic (ah ha ha ha ha ha), Oliver La Farge's Pulitzer Prize - winning first novel captures the essence of the Southwest in 1915. At a ceremonial dance, the young, earnest silversmith Laughing Boy falls in love with Slim Girl, a beautiful but elusive 'American'-educated Navajo (this rings so very false). As they experience all the joys and uncertainties of first love, the couple must face a changing way of life and its tragic consequences."

"American'-educated Navajo", rings so totally false

I had a major problem with the book beginning on page 4. On page 4 alone there were FOUR (4) assholic, culturally insensitive, insulting stupid comments, which proved beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this man, La Farge, learned absolutely nothing of the realities of Dineh (Navajo) life, but instead made up some type of fantasy about the Dineh people that soothed his ego.

1: Laughing Boy's grandson's name: Jesting Squaw's Son
Nobody in their right mind would use such a filthy nasty demeaning word as "squaw", let alone name their child that... least of all the Dineh, as it never was & never will be a Dineh term, it is a White man's word

2: "busy housewives": Just NO! Dineh women were not referred to as housewives, again a white man's word

3: "rubbery, filling bread": does he mean frybread? One would think after spending so much time on Dinehtah, he'd know the correct term for their main staple

4: Describing a Hopi man: "....to air his English and his bourgeois superiority". I can only shake my head at the author putting his own arrogant attitude upon a Native man.

At first I couldn't understand how anyone could be such a racist moron, but then I read the back of the book and this is what is written: "Oliver La Farge (1901-1930) first traveled to Navajo territory on a Harvard archaeological expedition. Laughing Boy, his first novel, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in 1930 as the book that best presented 'the whole atmosphere of American life'; it was the first novel about native American life to receive their praise"

That says it all, a misinformed white man, showing off his arrogant "bourgeois superiority" by writing about a culture he falsely thinks he knows and fails miserably while showing himself to be an uneducated fool.

I'm not even going to return this book to the booksale, I'm going to tear it up and throw it away. ( )

A fascinating immersion in Navajo culture along with the conflict caused by contact with Americans. ( )

Gorgeous. Captures the essence of the spirit & language of the people of the time, both Navajo and American", as best as I can tell. My library had it shelved as 'Western' but that's like saying [b:The Old Man and the Sea|2165|The Old Man and the Sea|Ernest Hemingway|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1329189714s/2165.jpg|69741] is 'Aquatic.' It reveals universal truths about human nature through a lens that may help today's readers see them more clearly.

And to think it was an impulse grab, based on title, and on the fact that it's a slim book despite being in the large-print section. Um, well, slim it may be, but it was still a long slow meditative read.

A sample:

That evening was blissful, so harmonious that in the middle of it Jesting Squaw's Son excused himself, went down to the corral, and cried into the shoulder of the first available horse. A horse, warm and silky, is very nice to cry into when it stands still. The tears came readily. He had not cried before." ( )

"Laughing Boy," published in 1929, won the Pulitzer Prize in 1930. Oliver La Farge 1901-1920 is the writer.

The story is a good depiction of Navajo life and the coming of age of "Laughing Boy," a young Navajo Indian who meets Slim Girl at a ceremonial Indian dance. They fall in love and marry against his family's wishes.

Laughing Boy is an innocent and loves horses, tribal dances and competition of all kinds. After he wins events at the ceremonial dance when he met Slim Girl, he is coerced into gambling the money and his horse away. When chided by Slim Girl, Laughing Boy tells her that it doesn't matter because winning and loosing were the source of his pleasure.

Slim Girl went to an American school and was given the school name, Lily. The central conflicts in the story deal with Laughing Boy and Slim Girl's dealing with American culture. At one point, Laughing Boy and his friends arrive at an Indian trading post. He brags to his friends that he could get the owner to give them free coffee. Then he pretends that he is going to make major purchases from the trader, who offers the coffee as he totals the bill. After getting the coffee, he smiles and tells the owner that he changed his mind, then wonders why the owner became angry.

What Laughing Boy doesn't realize is that Slim Girl is leading a double life. She spends time as the married wife of Laughing Boy and also with an American.

I found the story to be entertaining as depicting a segment of American life but never became too involved in the story. With the different ways that Indians behaved and lived their lives, it was difficult to empathise with their dilemma. Also, with all of the Indian names, there were times that I couldn't tell if the characters were members of Laughing Boy's clan and if the names were real names or nicknames. ( )

542. Laughing Boy by Oliver LaFarge (read 27 May 1958) (Pulitzer fiction prize for 1930) This won the Pulitzer prize for fiction for 1930. I was reading all such winners so of course i read this, with appreciation. ( )

Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction in 1930.

Tony Hillerman’s books featuring the Navajo policemen Joe Leaphorn and Jim Chee certainly popularized Navajo culture, presenting it in a sympathetic light; Hillerman was formally made a Friend of the Navajo People by the tribe’s leaders. Almost unknown, as far as I can tell, is La Farge’s equally sympathetic book published at least 40 years before Hillerman came on the literary scene.

Laughing Boy, a young Navajo man in 1915, meets, during a religious healing dance, Slim Girl, who was taken from the reservation at a very young age to a school in California that did its best to erase her identity as a Navajo and make her into an American. However, she returns to the reservation, but is under a cloud as there are whispers about her conduct. Laughing Boy falls in love with her and the two move away from his area on the Northern Reservation to a small town in the southern section.

The story of Laughing Boy and Slim Girl and the life that they forge together is beautifully told in concise prose with a rhythm that may or may not reflect the Navajo language but certainly gives the appearance of authenticity. LaFarge weaves Navajo customs, activities, and religion into the story in a completely endemic way, all of it forming a complete whole, as is the ideal of Navajo life. LaFarge brings in US-Navojo relations in an objective way; his intent, as he says in the prologue, is not to criticize but to amuse. He more than succeeds, although “amuse” is not the word I would use for this tale, such as the Navajos themselves might tell for the edification of their children. It is short, it wastes no words, and stays in the memory, inviting reflection. White American he may have been, but LaFarge wrote with great sensitivity, especially for his time. Highly recommended. ( )

Laughing Boy was published in 1929, and is billed on the cover as "the first authentic novel of the Navajo Indians." Oliver LaFarge was something of an authority on Native Americans, working as an activist most of his life. So I expected an account of day-to-day Native American life, describing customs and rituals that are more widely understood today. LaFarge does this in a surprisingly eloquent, lyrical way, such as this passage describing the start of a horse race:

Arrows from the bow -- no other simile. At the tearing gallop, flat-stretched, backs are level, the animals race in a straight line; all life is motion; there is no body, only an ecstasy; one current between man and horse, and still embodied, a whip hand to pour in leather and a mouth to shout. Speed, speed, but the near goal is miles away, and other speed spirits on either side will not fall back. (p. 56)

But this book is much more than cultural education. It is also a beautiful love story. Laughing Boy, a Navajo brave, meets Slim Girl at a dance and is instantly taken with her. She was raised by whites, so their relationship is controversial within Laughing Boy's family & tribe. She also has a bit of a reputation that he is blissfully unaware of. He helps her reconnect to her roots and learn traditional crafts; she helps him discover the wider world beyond his tribe. Their relationship evolves as they come of age themselves. LaFarge is far less lyrical when writing about relationships, and yet he manages to convey each person's deepest feelings of love, and of fear of failing the other. This book gets a 3-star rating because while it was good, it lacked a certain depth. It almost earned another half or full star because of its very moving ending. Recommended. ( )

Wonderful book... so interesting, revealing the Navaho way of thinking, romantic, beautifully written ( )

At a ceremonial dance, the young, earnest silversmith Laughing Boy falls in love with Slim Girl, a beautiful Anglo-educated Navajo. Laughing Boy has a strong sense of self. He knows who he is and is happy. The woman he loves knows two worlds, that of the Navaho and that of the Anglos. She is attracted to both and despises both.This book describes the old time Navahos' way of life and how it is insidiously being destroyed by the superimposing Anglo culture. The couple begin their life amidst this change and encounter other obstacles on their road to total happiness. Laughing Boy is a traditional Navajo and has yet to realize the world outside the reservation and this "innocence" could be Slim Girl's salvation. Slim Girl is out of harmony with herself and with her people. The novel does an excellent job conveying that harmony is the ultimate goal for Laughing Boy and especially, Slim Girl.
I lived on the Navaho reservation about fifty-five years after LaFarge wrote this book. I found the struggle to be a continuing one. Many Navahos are struggling to observe the ‘old’ ways in a world that makes this increasingly difficult. In my personal opinion the sad thing is that many of 'The People' have chosen to acquire some of the least desirable traits of The Anglos. In a tribe where the land, the beauty path, and the traditions have ensured survival for centuries, many are embracing the ‘throw-away’ culture of 20th Century America, to the detriment of us all. ( )