Book Review – Suburb’n ndn by Hidden Bear

Available at Amazon.

I read this book as a paperback. This is an unsolicited review.

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The Review:

Hidden Bear’s second collection of poetry did not leave me disappointed. He opens with a heartfelt and honest introduction to both the book and himself, as an indigenous man living in the modern world, something I am quite familiar with here in my own birthplace of Alaska, where a huge percentage of the people are Alaskan natives. He goes from there to separating out the poetry into “land” (his tribe’s land and modern heritage) then “people” (his heritage as a man, more than blood) and then “me” (hidden bear, the man).

I really appreciate his honesty and I’ve had so many of these same conversations myself, questions such as “how native are you? or you don’t look native…” which he addresses in the poem “The Conversation”, where he breaks down the assumptions from the ignorant and answers with hard-hitting truths and realities. ‘Didn’t you get like free education? No I didn’t. Boarding schools cost us everything – Kidnapping, colonizing, culture killing rings – All in the name of kill the Indian save the man – Suppressing who we are so they could take our land – Pretending to be heroes offering helping hands’.

Some of my favorite pieces are: “Box” which describes a sacred place; “Seek” with ‘I hear the old language – I listen for elder whispers – I pray to the Creator – I visualize the village and me’; “Winter Flowers” which reminded me of crocuses with ‘Delicate the petal holds up the Ice – More ice seeks out the beauty – Soon the bloom is covered in Ice – Though consumed its beauty shines through’; my personal favorite “Nyctophilia” a gorgeous nighttime scene described; “Eaton Jamani” describes his tribe’s home valley over the eons; and “Home” a mixture of suburbs and nature.

Hidden Bear has always been a favorite poet of mine. He know how to describe nature and you’re standing right there too; he knows how to explain inner thoughts and draw out the emotions. He writes simplicity without being simple. He inspires me to embrace who I am, as he has embraced himself, and strive to be the best me I can be. There aren’t a lot of poets who do that. I appreciate that.

My Overall Score:

This book gets 4.75/5 stars from me. Gorgeous cover, which is even better in person than it is on the screen; nice length (though I would have happily accepted another 50 pages); really great content and subject poetry; relevant and timely. The only loss of a 1/4-star comes in the odd formatting and a few grammatical/misspelling mistakes (though not many). I did NOT enjoy reading this font and it took away from the reading experience for me, also the wide spacing was too much. It felt clunky and didn’t flow well. That’s a shame with such a great writer, but it’s a small ding on an overall excellent book.

Highly recommended to those who appreciate indigenous topics, especially combined with modernism, nature poetry, and poems from the heart.

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be a good writer: read.
~tara caribou

A FINAL NOTE ON REVIEWS: it may seem that I am harsh on many writers for their editing, formatting, grammar, punctuation, etc. I do so unapologetically. First, because this is a review not a popularity contest. Second, because honest criticism should help us grow as artists.

The fact of the matter is, these things MATTER. A mathematician must use his tools and use them correctly to be an effective mathematician. A surgeon cannot simply say, “I know I can’t sew the wound closed but at least I could remove the appendix or whatever that thing is called.” Same with writers. We can’t claim to be writers yet refuse to use proper spelling, grammar, and punctuation. We can’t claim to be a photographer just because we know how to push the button on the camera (or phone). There’s an art to it.

So while I may appreciate the artist as a person and their words, I believe that it does us all a disservice to claim that lower quality editing is okay, whether in word, deed, or omission of criticism. Instead: believe in yourself! Believe in the power of your words! Put the effort into being the very best you can be. Ask for help. Grow and learn.