I decided to read this because it is a National Book Award winner and because it has so many good ratings on goodreads. It is simultaneously a mystery, a coming of age story, and a portrait of a Native American reservation in the 1980s. There are some very complex, interesting characters here and the writing is measured and well-crafted.Warning: there is crudeness, both from the teenage boys and the octogenarian grandparents. Although the main crisis of this novel is pretty horrendous and works to tear apart his family, our protagonist is a likeable 13 year old Native American boy living on a reservation who manages to not only survive the summer, but even gain a bit of wisdom in the process. I really enjoyed reading this book because of the quality of the writing, it was well edited, the use of symbolism was quite strong, and I even got so caught up in the action that I was eager to find out what would happen next. So much of the storyline gets bogged down in grey areas, grey areas of the law, religion, morality, etc, so when something strong and definite happens it's quite a contrast. And as always, it seems I'm always looking for twins or pairs in books and this one did not disappoint. There's an odd set of twins who are as different as night and day, the pairing of tribal religion and fables against Catholic teachings, the 2 sites of the violent attacks are both layered with meanings, laws, rights, and racism. This was a book that really had me considering the many layers of depth woven throughout the story. I'll have to pick up another Erdrich book in a year or so when I'm again ready for a contemporary tale about reservation life.
Do You like book The Round House (2012)?
An intensely beautiful, gripping, and moving novel about childhood, racism, and trauma.
—firestarterronin
