If I could give this negative stars I would. This is the most racist, sexist piece of garbage I’ve ever read.

Strange and compelling! Enjoyable, very descriptive and vivid writing.

The main reason I picked up this book is because I very much enjoy stories about Native American/white relations in the colonial days, particular captive ones. Come to think of it, though, I've really only read one novel I thought did a decent job of portraying these circumstances. This one did not.

The main premise of this book is that a young man who was captured and adopted into a Native American tribe (the Lenape, I believe) has to be returned to his white family. This was a pretty common occurrence. Native Americans would take whites as replacements for the family members they lost, but often were forced to return them after many years had gone by and the captives had become family members and happy in their new environments. If it was painful for the families, it must have been excruciating for the captives. To live one life, then get used to another and accept that it was all there was going to be only to be returned to the first life against their will. . .that seems very difficult and fraught with painful emotions.

While the author does a halfway decent job of showing the emotional turmoil of the main character, True Son, the problem isn't with True Son. It's with everyone else. The Native American characters are admirable but are very rigid in their beliefs and decisions. No less rigid are the whites. Everyone seems to have one opinion about everything and will not ever stray from it. You can see where they would get these ideas but it makes it hard to sympathize with anyone. With the Native Americans, they take the stance that it's okay to steal and kill the whites because the whites did it to them first. Fair enough that the whites probably did it first, but does that make retaliation okay? Maybe in their minds but not in mine, and I find it a personal turn-off. The white continually refer to the Native Americans and everything they do in condescending, racist ways. Also not okay. Even when their son returns, they don't try and understand him. They just try to squash the Native American out of him. I found basically everything out of every character's mouth to be grating on my nerves and vaguely offensive in one way or another. Even with True Son, he was hard to understand at times, on an emotional level.

My only other comment on the novel is that it sort of seemed like the author had done some petty research into Native American culture, such as names for things and some vague religious ideas, and stuck EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THEM into the novel in such a way that it felt very forced and stilted. It wasn't a learning process, where the reader got to pick up some new phrases and ideas, but a recitation in an aren't-I-so-clever way. I found it obtrusive.

All in all, there are much better books on this subject out there. My favorite is Standing in the Light and I seriously recommend you check that one out before this one.

Personally, I would have NEVER EVER chosen this book just because I tend to judge by book covers and because it is a really old book. I had to read this book in English and I found that I was confused most of the time. Yes, the vocabulary was confusing for the younger generation. I didn't exactly know most of the details because of the vocabulary but i understood the main plot. However, the movie helped me understand more of the book even though they had many differences. Overall, I thought that this plot line was interesting but I didn't fully enjoy the book.

It wasn't abosolutly dreadful. If you have nothing to read, I say read it. You may regret and you may not. Really depends on who you are.

The Light in the Forest reminds me of James Fenimore Cooper's books in the way it glorifies Native American life during the early days of the United States.

In all fairness, Richter's novel does try to examine the differences (good and bad) of the two cultures and the ways in which both misunderstand each other. It does this through True Son's forced re-assimilation into Pennsylvania society. He had been born John Cameron Butler but had been kidnapped and raised by a nearby tribe.

The reasons behind the initial kidnapping are never made clear. The book concentrates mostly on the aftermath of his return and how he loathes being "home" and forced to live with people he now considers savages.

Although True Son is the focus of the book, he is so full of teenage angst and wankery that he's an uninteresting character. I found myself more intrigued by Del Hardy, the man who brings True Son back to his parents because he can speak both English and Delaware and is the only character who seems to see both sides of situation with any clarity or empathy.

I remember reading this as a kid and just found it again from this cover! I loved it. I’ll have to reread it to see if that’s still the case.

A short read, but glad I read it.

**SPOILERS**

My favourite thing about this book was the character development in True Son. I found his struggle between right and wrong and reverse discrimination fascinating. It's not super profound (and now it's dated), but I'm glad I read it.