House Made of Dawn

A Novel

By: N. Scott Momaday

Narrated by: N. Scott Momaday, Darrell Dennis

Length: 6 hrs and 29 mins

Publisher's summary

"Both a masterpiece about the universal human condition and a masterpiece of Native American literature.... A book everyone should read for the joy and emotion of the language it contains.” (The Paris Review)

A special 50th anniversary edition of the magnificent Pulitzer Prize-winning novel from renowned Kiowa writer and poet N. Scott Momaday, with a new preface read by the author

A young Native American, Abel has come home from war to find himself caught between two worlds. The first is the world of his father’s, wedding him to the rhythm of the seasons, the harsh beauty of the land, and the ancient rites and traditions of his people. But the other world - modern, industrial America - pulls at Abel, demanding his loyalty, trying to claim his soul, and goading him into a destructive, compulsive cycle of depravity and disgust.

An American classic, House Made of Dawn is at once a tragic tale about the disabling effects of war and cultural separation, and a hopeful story of a stranger in his native land, finding his way back to all that is familiar and sacred.

©2018 N. Scott Momaday (P)2020 HarperCollins Publishers

Unrivaled presence 🌅

I feel like this book took me places and I admire it for that. I am glad I finally got to read it.

Description and narration.

It took concentration and the chapters taking place in the city seemed tedious. In the desert, my attention was good.

A Non-Linear Plot Buried Beneath A Thick Layer of Poetry

This is a beautifully written, poetic story. The plot is non-linear. I enjoyed it—but the narrative never got its claws in me. I never got fully engrossed.

I feel like this is a book that would take a reader like me several readings to fully appreciate and understand.

There are several Audible reviews that criticize the narrator. I would like to add that those criticisms are bunk. The narrator is fantastic.

Truly worthy of a Pulitzer Prize

Truly worthy of a Pulitzer Prize. I will read or listen to all of Momaday’s writings.

Beautifully written

Everything was perfect. Plot, characters and prose. Descriptions of the New Mexico landscape were breathtaking.

Good read marred by narrator

No doubt a worthwhile read but the narrator treated it like one long run on sentence in a hurry to be read. Please Mr. Momaday, read and record this for us.

had to return

Exquisite book, dreadful voice reading it. I think I will have to return the order.

Novel great, reader not so much.

House Made of Dawn is gorgeous, lush, and a bit of a challenge if you are listening to it without the text in hand. I finally stopped listening altogether (returned the audio book) and finished reading it in hard copy. The narrator is a good reader, but altogether unsuited to this work. He reads fast through every part, whether he’s reading the words of a guilty priest’s journal or a sermon by the Priest of the Sun which is, in my view, the centerpiece of the novel and a passionate paen to language and the power of the word. These passages demand that the speed and rhythm of the written words be respected in the spoken. The descriptions of landscape which are so integral to the novel need to be delivered at a speed that permits the listener to create them in her mind. Also, the text follows several characters, often all in the same chapter, and the switch from one character to a different person is indicated by extra spaces. A narrator needs to pause and it indicate with his voice that there is a change. A skilled narrator anticipates the reader’s “blindness” and creates cues. The Caedmon version of the novel opens with an introduction by the author. His voice is deep and sure and measured. He reads his prose as poetry. When I bought the audiobook, the author was listed as narrator together with Mr.Dennis. Prospective buyers should be aware that only the introduction is read by the author — the novel is Mr.Dennis. I would love to hear an audio version of this book in Mr. Momaday’s voice. This version just does not meet the performance level that the book demands.

Odd choice for narrator

Strange choice for the narrator. He didn’t really seem to understand what he was reading most of the time.

A Masterpiece

The Foreward alone is an absolute gem. The story and the telling of it are on a literary pinnacle. I’ve listened three times and I’m not done. Enjoy!