Unfortunately, I have yet another entry into my dnf diaries. And I will have another one coming in a few weeks. Maybe I’m being too picky, but after the reading slump I went through last year I dnf anything if the vibe is off. I’m not saying this is a bad book. It’s just not for me. Now let’s talk about why I dnfed The Buffalo Hunter Hunter.
Synopsis
A diary, written in 1912 by a Lutheran pastor is discovered within a wall. What it unveils is a slow massacre, a chain of events that go back to 217 Blackfeet dead in the snow. Told in transcribed interviews by a Blackfeet named Good Stab, who shares the narrative of his peculiar life over a series of confessional visits. This is an American Indian revenge story written by one of the new masters of horror, Stephen Graham Jones.
My Thoughts on The Buffalo Hunter Hunter
I dnfed The Buffalo Hunter Hunter at 24 pages. I couldn’t keep going. Honestly, I love the premise of almost all of Stephen Graham Jones books, but I don’t enjoy his writing. I wanted to love this book. I tried my very best to love this book. But y’all the following passage took me out.
“Through the whole of my sermon, I longed to lob a pebble to his isolated pew at the back, to see if he would snatch that pebble from the air at the last moment and then hold it in his lap for the rest of the service, worrying it between his fingers. And I would follow that pebble’s journey further as well, to see if he let it fall alongside his right leg as he exited. Or maybe I would even follow him to wherever he’s found or made lodging, to see if he examines that pebble by firelight, and perhaps slips it into the medicine pouch all of his breed carry on their person, close to their skin.”
I actually grimaced when I read this. My husband called me out on it. It doesn’t make sense out of context, but it didn’t make much sense in context either. And the entire chunk of the book I read was like that. Suddenly, I wondered if I’d lost all of my reading comprehension skills. I briefly considered that I might be having a stroke. But either way, I decided I was not going to force myself through his blown out, over the top writing. It’s not for me. I’m not sure that it will ever be for me. So, it’s probably best to cut my losses and move on to something else.
What about you? Have you read The Buffalo Hunter Hunter? I’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments.
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You made it farther than I did. A friend of mine loved it and I wanted to like it but I was so confused in the first chapter I could not continue.
I totally understand that!
Oh dear, that looks totally bewildering!