Pedestrian View

I whipped through this 1997 Tony Hillerman in two days.  I don’t think I’ve read a Hillerman for ten years, so it’s fitting that I picked up this decade old work.

I lived on the rez in Shiprock from 1986-91, and Hillerman definitely makes me nostalgic for the high desert and Navajoland.  Fallen Man in particular was poignant because much of it was climbing around Tse’bit’ai, the Shiprock, which I saw every time I walked outside my front door.  I never climbed it, but I poked around its base many times.  It’s an awesome piece of rock, for sure.  He also makes frequent geographic references to other places I instantly recognize, like the Carrizzos, Lukachukai, Hogback, and Table Mesa.  I’m so lonesome I could cry.

The premise is that a long-dead climber’s body is found on Shiprock.  Leaphorn comes out of retirement to figure it out and get’s Chee to help.  Chee is still having problems with his love life, which Hillerman handles about as delicately as, well, Ted Koppel in cowboy boots.  He also throws in lots of useful but clunky cultural tidbits that I’d probably think were insightful if I hadn’t lived there.  To me they read like something inserted from a National Monument display.

Still, it was a great read.  I love Jim Chee’s trailor.