I think I read this book about 25 years ago after seeing part of the movie which was on CBS. I read it again in February of 2012. It is a very interesting and profound read about an Episcopalian "vicar" who unknowingly has 2-3 years to live and who is assigned by his bishop to serve Native Americans in the Pacific Northwest. Vicar Mark Brian's church is in Kingcome and in all humility he endears himself to the people a step at a time. He does not dismiss the old culture of totems and pot latch but he sees that the change in the life of this people is far more than spiritual.
The children of the community are sent to boarding school to get an education but their parents find that in doing so the younger generation becomes disenchanted with their way of life. Mark is befriended by Jim and learns many things from him. He becomes part of the village.
One of the legends is that when a person hears an owl calling his name the inevitability of death is close. In that moment Brian recalls he medical tests he took and the bishop's grim assignment for him to serve Kingcome.
The writing is engaging and memorable. I notice that the book is used as reading material in many schools. An example of the unique insight of the author concerns the atheist teacher who teaches the very young but who refuses to become a part of the community. When he sees the preparations for the vicar's funeral the narration is memorable: "In his tiny house the teacher heard the running footfalls on the path to the river bank, and he went quickly to the door and could not open it. To join the others was to care and to care was to live and to suffer." (page 164) The vicar cared and thus he suffered with a richness that made life meaningful.
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