A review of Ernest Hebert's new novel The Old American

Posted 10/30/00

The Old American
By Ernest Hebert, Professor of English, Dartmouth College
University Press of New England, published October 20, 2000

In his latest novel, The Old American, Ernest Hebert uses the era of the French and Indian War to recreate and imagine the world of an aging Algonkian tribesman. (The word "Algonkian" is Hebert's own creation, blended from related words.) Based on the true story of the abduction of frame house builder Nathan Blake from his hometown of Keene, N.H., by a group of Algonkians in 1746, Hebert crafts an imaginative cast of characters to envision what could have occurred during these years of captivity and slavery. Central to the narrative are Blake's interactions with his captor, Caucus-Meteor, a humorous, shrewd and tenacious Alongkian elder. Caucus-Meteor's mastery of the Algonkian, Iroquois, French and English languages enables him to serve as a translator during the French and Indian War and to adequately communicate with his new captive as he brings him to his tribesmen in Canada. Hebert's ability to weave facts with fiction surrounding the relationship between this captor and his slave during a tumultuous era in North America provides readers with a historical foundation of 18th century New England as well as with a humorous and thought-provoking narrative. The excerpt below, in which Hebert first introduces readers to Caucus-Meteor, illustrates the author's attention to detail to provide the first indication of his conflicted persona:

He uses no war paint, but his ear lobes are split and stretched an inch long and from each hangs French coin earrings. Except for the turban and highly decorated fringed moccasins reaching almost to the knee, he's dressed like a French soldier with brown pants and a blue waistcoat, which hides burn scars on his arms. He carries no musket, sword or hatchet. A short knife with a bone handle dangles from a neck cord, but it's more a tool than a weapon, for the old American has no use for the excitement of blood-letting; he's too feeble to fight well and the French hired him as an interpreter, not as a warrior, so he's not expected to engage in combat; even so, for the purposes of continuing instruction in those matters that concern a king, he always immerses himself in battle.

Listen to Alan Cheuse's review on National Public Radio.