By late last week I still had no "useable vision" in my right eye. But I simply couldn't wait to read for pleasure again. I desperately wanted my return to the "literate life" to be a positive one. Choosing a Large Print edition of a work co-authored by one of my favorite writers should have done the trick. It didn't!
The time is shortly after the Civil War. The locale is the Cherokee Nation in the northeastern corner of present day Oklahoma. [An interesting graphic representation is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~okgenweb/maps/itmap.htm.] Most of the protagonists are people of firm opinions and equally strong passions. [I am knowledgeable enough in neither Native American history nor Cherokee culture to attest to the authenticity of these characterizations.] Much of the story revolves around the trials and tribulations of two couples.
Ned Christie is a Cherokee warrior. A member of the Cherokee Senate - and the best shot with short arm or long - others respect and fear him. Even whites generally give Ned a wide berth. Jewel Sixkiller Proctor is a 16 year-old beauty who has no intention of giving Ned room. Jewel's love of Ned - and her inordinate fear of solitude - drives her to want him ever close at hand.
Ezekiel (Zeke) Parker is also a Cherokee warrior. While still young, Zeke survived the brutal trek from Georgia that went down in recorded history as the Trail of Tears. Zeke is understandably proud of his Cherokee heritage. His wife, Becca, loves him and desperately tries to understand his sometimes erratic behavior. But even this strong woman cannot keep Zeke's "wandering eye" focused at home.
The Cherokee Nation and nearby Fort Smith are inhabited by a wide range of supporting figures. Tuxie and his wife Dale are long-time friends of Ned, Zeke, and their families. While white trash T. Spade and his kin are constant burrs under the Cherokee saddle blankets. The same is true of the assorted Marshals that enforce the white law represented by Fort Smith's hanging judge, Isaac Parker. All in all, ZEKE and NED depicts an opened powder keg awaiting a spark.
The inevitable explosion is not long in coming. Zeke's "behind the bush" trysts with T. Spade's wife, Polly, quickly leads to broken bones, broken hearts, lost loves, and lost lives. Their relationship also rips asunder the tenuous truce between the white powerbase and the Cherokee Nation. Can there be any hope when even the soft-spoken and gentle bailiff, Charlie Snufflebean, resorts to the law of the .44?
ZEKE and NED [L.P. edition] is printed in an easy to read 16 pt. Plantin font. Midway through the 646 pages, many of the characters are in serious jeopardy. The novel's tension seems to build continually and the action is really heating up. Then it dawned on me . . .
McMurtry and Ossana set their story in an exciting period and penned an intriguing plot involving an eclectic mix of actors. Yet, to my biased view, the authors committed one of the unpardonable sins of literature. Despite having great promise, NED and ZEKE did not contain even one character who captured me. The fate of most of the main personalities was in great peril . . . and I simply did not care!
After a one-eyed investment of 367 pages, I closed the unfinished NED and ZEKE. "A First", I think.
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