Gloryland

Shelton Johnson has created an excellent work of historical fiction. The book is presented as the memoirs of Elijah Yancey, an American with African, Seminole and Cherokee roots, who is born in South Carolina and grows up to be a Buffalo soldier who spends one year patrolling Yosemite National Park. There are 40 chapters in the book that can stand alone as thought-provoking essays about various events and topics in his life, but there is a synergy that binds them all together, and this book – this collection of essays – is greater than the sum of its parts.The synergy is derived from Elijah’s search for justice and fulfillment. Unfortunately for Elijah, justice is elusive. There is only one example of a white man - the officer who recruits him into the Ninth Cavalry Regiment - treating Elijah with any degree of respect, but the descriptions of injustice go beyond racism directed at African-Americans and encompass freedoms that are denied to Native Americans, Filipinos and others; and the reader feels Elijah’s pain and frustration when he describes these injustices. But, ultimately, the reader rejoices at the fulfillment that Elijah does find in Yosemite and beyond Yosemite.There are many outstanding elements of this book. Three that stand out for me are:• Poetry – Normally I struggle to appreciate poetry and music that does not rhyme, but Elijah’s “Two Prayers from Luzon" and “Prayers from a High Country” are so eloquent and spiritually meaningful that I find them very moving.• Dreams – Again, normally I struggle to appreciate accounts of dreams in books (other than the Bible). And, again, Mr. Johnson is able to make his descriptions of Elijah’s dreams work because they powerfully advance the themes of the book and set the stage for a compelling final chapter.• Similes – On the other hand, I always appreciate good similes, and this book might be the best collection of similes and other figures of speech that I have ever read. The language of Elijah’s memoirs is sprinkled with “ain’t” and double negatives, so the reader does not forget who Elijah is. But poignant similes such as “Surviving didn’t mean backing down or lowering your head like a dog, it meant holding on like an oak in a flood” enable the reader to perceive vividly the emotions, sights, sounds, smells and tastes that Elijah is experiencing.The result of reading this masterpiece of historical fiction is that the reader has a very good sense of what it meant to be a Buffalo soldier and what it meant to be a person of color living in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries – probably better than could be acquired by reading any nonfiction account of that history.

I read this book just because I’m going to be traveling to Yosemite, but it gave me a great history lesson about Unfair treatment of blacks and the Buffalo soldiers and early years of Yosemite national Park

Shelton Johnson's book, "Gloryland" is a fascinating account of one man's life from abject poverty in Spartanburg, South Carolina, to a member of the American troops caring for Yosemite National Park, California. The story is yet again a tale of man's inhumanity toward man and the struggle to climb out of the cesspool of the underclass in the last half of the 19th century.This story takes us to the time of vile treatment of African Americans(in this case doubly deviled by African-American Indian heritage), including a KKK lynching and rigid class differences of rank in the federal military service. In a way that is not conventional for a novel, the narrative is broken down into a string of memoir-like episodes, each preceded by a snippet quoted from military or national park documents. Author Johnson has captured sincerity in the "voice" of narrator/protagonist, Elijah Yancy that lends an intimacy to the character and allows the reader to suffer along with him as he makes his life journey. As we follow this young man's life, we also learn a great deal about such things as African American troops in the military, cavalry and foot soldier, as well as President Roosevelt's beginning forays toward developing the national park service. Author Johnson also takes us inside the characters to reveal the strength behind the black man's ability to survive in a hostile world."Gloryland" is a thoughtful book, full of down home philosophy and lifetime advice about finding one's way and self-discovery. I was particularly interested in the portraits of the way African American military men were treated even while serving their country. A special pleasure for me was to learn more about the early days of Yosemite and the role of African American Park rangers in that effort. I highly recommend "Gloryland" to all readers of American Historcal novels.

Because it cannot be other, the Elijah Yancey’s story is never not the reality of racism in America— a terrible wound that wounds peoples all over the face of the earth —but it is always the story of someone who learns to see the wonders of the world too. The most remarkable sorrow and the most remarkable joy together. Twined as they are for all of us, they are this story too. Even in the highest places on earth, Elijah Yancey has to deal with being dismissed because of the color of his skin; even while at the same time he is hearing and seeing indescribable majesty in the mountains wherever his work takes him. Together they were his life, together they are our lives. The more I read, the more sure I was that Shelton Johnson’s novel was a gift, drawing me into the complexity of my life and world in ways I had not imagined— which is why I have said again and again, “This is a beautiful book… beautifully imagined, beautifully written.”And yes, it is about an extraordinarily beautiful place, a gloryland on earth.

Gloryland is historical-fiction about a “Buffalo Soldier” named Elijah Yancy. Written from Elijah’s (first-person) perspective, author Shelton Johnson takes you right there, from page 1. I loved Johnson’s writing style and narrative so much. I had heard about the Buffalo Soldiers, and learned so much more from reading Gloryland, which was truly pleasurable as well as interesting to read. Beautiful descriptions of Yosemite, too, sometimes almost poetic, as others have mentioned. I highly recommend this book.

This book tells the story of Elijah , a young man born at the end of slavery, hisgrowing up and finally leaving to find his way. He goes west and joins the army

The journey of a buffalo soldier from a difficult beginning to finding peace with oneself and the world around him. I discovered this book totally by a random set of occurrences. The world works in mysterious ways and once we truely embrace life and stop resisting, we see the beauty there is underneath.