Book 2: Ramona by Helen Hunt Jackson

Like Uncle Tom's Cabin, this was another novel that I learned about in my middle school history class and decided to read. This was also very difficult for me, less because of written dialect and more because it's very slow and dense. Nevertheless, I enjoyed it then because I was fascinated by the Southwest and I'd been so misinformated about Native Americas.

I reread the book, purchasing the copy that I own now, about 15 years ago and enjoyed it. At that time I had a 1.5 hour commute every day, so the slow pace of the novel worked well for me. Now though, I found it barely readable. I kept waiting for something to happen, and it's more of a tragic romance then literature. The characters are one-dimensional, and although Harriet Beecher Stowe and Helen Hunt Jackson have been compared to each other extensively for 150 years, the latter doesn't use her characters to illustrate complex ideas about theology and politics. I suspect that Ramona was so popular because of Uncle Tom's Cabin's success. 

Although I'm glad that I read this book in middle school, I think I'm adding my copy to the "Sell At Half Price Books" pile.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/693238.Ramona 

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