Tracks
by Louise Erdrich
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 1274)
Read in June, 2006
Tracks is one of those books which can easily be read in a day. It's short, and it's good. I originally read it for an undergraduate English course, but it was easy breezy enough for free reading. It does deal with some pretty heavy themes, and if you have any metaphysical guilt regarding our treatment of Native Americans, it might get a little uncomfortable at times. Yet, I think it's important to read a book like this because it examines the plight from a perspective you're not going to get...more
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Read in May, 2008
After reading and teaching Love Medicine this spring, I felt a desire to return to Erdrich's work, which I had not read for some time.
Tracks is the third book in Erdrich's series of interrelated novels following a particular Indian reservation in North Dakota. Following after Love Medicine and The Beet Queen, this book moves backward in time to tell the stories of characters who, in the previous two books, were either in advanced age or dead.
The story is told...more
Tracks is the third book in Erdrich's series of interrelated novels following a particular Indian reservation in North Dakota. Following after Love Medicine and The Beet Queen, this book moves backward in time to tell the stories of characters who, in the previous two books, were either in advanced age or dead.
The story is told...more
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Read in October, 2007
The story is told in two alternating narrating voices: Nanapush, a Chippewa elder, and Pauline, a Catholic converted mixed blood. The story spans twelve years, from 1912 to 1924. Nanapush is telling his story to Lulu, his social granddaughter, while Pauline seems to be talking to no one in particular. Both narrators cover the events in Fleur Pillager’s life: Nanapush saving her from sickness, her rape by Argus men, Eli Kashpaw’s romance with her, her two children, and the legends that sur...more
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Read in June, 2008
For a few years now I've heard my friend Judy say of this book, "that's my favorite Erdrich book" and now I think I understand why. It was wonderfully written, poetic and haunting. She's a little Toni Morrison-eque, only of the Native American world. I've heard her read and met her briefly back on the Turtle Mountain Indian reservation where she has familial ties. Even that binds me to this amazing author a bit more. I loved, loved, loved "The Master Butcher's Singing Club" a...more
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Read in May, 2008
This is the best Erdrich I've read in a long time. I mean, really: it had Sister Leopolda as a viewpoint character. How can you go wrong there?
It was a lot more plotty and consistent than her books usually are (as much as I love them)--it stayed very tightly to the same core group of people, and its duration was, I'm pretty sure, less than 10 years.
It also tied a lot of threads that had previously been loose for me together--how Russell Kashpaw is related to Eli Kashpaw (and generally ho...more
It was a lot more plotty and consistent than her books usually are (as much as I love them)--it stayed very tightly to the same core group of people, and its duration was, I'm pretty sure, less than 10 years.
It also tied a lot of threads that had previously been loose for me together--how Russell Kashpaw is related to Eli Kashpaw (and generally ho...more
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Read in June, 2007
recommends it for:
very few people
I did not enjoy this book. It takes place in North Dakota as the last of the Native Americans are being driven from their land, and is told in different accounts through several characters. The writing was fine, but in terms of storyline, everything was focused on sex (almost always of the unpleasant variety), starvation, or superstition. There were also several inconsistencies as people changed their stories while telling them, which drove me batty. The various superstitions of the charact...more
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recommends it for:
people who enjoyed Annie Proulx' _Postcards_
I've loved every Erdrich book I've read (Love Medicine, Bingo Palace, The Beet Queen, Tales of Burning Love) but I especially love Tracks. People complain that it's dark; I don't see it as being any more depressing or disturbing than her other work though perhaps the setting feels more sinister: more twilight magic and dark woods. Anyway, it gripped me in a more intimate way than her other books (which is saying a lot). Some reviews claim it's confusing, but that wasn't a stumbling block for me....more
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Rightio.
This book falls into the "life is hopeless" camp of Indian literature. I prefer this sub-genre to Sherman's "I'm really pissed off" grouping of the same.
The narrative is difficult to follow at times, largely because the author seems to expect a certain level of intelligence from her readership. I appreciate that, but I don't think I'd throw this one at anything less than high school seniors. Sophomores would certainly drown, unless they were spectacular s...more
This book falls into the "life is hopeless" camp of Indian literature. I prefer this sub-genre to Sherman's "I'm really pissed off" grouping of the same.
The narrative is difficult to follow at times, largely because the author seems to expect a certain level of intelligence from her readership. I appreciate that, but I don't think I'd throw this one at anything less than high school seniors. Sophomores would certainly drown, unless they were spectacular s...more
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Read in January, 2005
This book explores how individuals relate to each other and their environment as their way of life is cheapened and disgarded by outside forces.
Through the eyes of two narrators, we learn how complex it is for people/famlies to cope with time, technology, and greed/colonization. All of these things are so impersonal, yet they seep into and alter the everyday existences of human beings.
Beyond these ideas, Erdrich is just a wonderful storyteller. The setting and characters are alive and th...more
Through the eyes of two narrators, we learn how complex it is for people/famlies to cope with time, technology, and greed/colonization. All of these things are so impersonal, yet they seep into and alter the everyday existences of human beings.
Beyond these ideas, Erdrich is just a wonderful storyteller. The setting and characters are alive and th...more
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Read in August, 2007
Holy Jesus. I'd had this on my shelf for two years, ever since I bought it for my Postcolonial lit class, only to have it dropped from the syllabus. I finally got around to reading it and Loved It. Her prose is stunning, exactly my favorite style of writing, and I love her sense of character. I didn't realize until after I read it that this was third in a "series"; I guess it is more like a prequel to her other books, which all use the same broad set of characters. It didn't matter at ...more
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Read in January, 2004
I discovered Louise Erdrich my freshman year of college in an American Female Writers course. She has, since that first instant, become my favorite author. All of her novels have a common thread of people or place running through them, with split narrative and achingly beautiful prose, but Tracks and Miracles at Little No horse have become my favorites. If you love and embrace poetic narrative, raw sensuality, and unflinching darkness then Erdrich is your woman.
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Read in January, 2005
The third installation of Erdrich's trilogy, Tracks has some of the most memorable and endearing characters I have ever encountered--Nanapus, the trickster; Fleur, representing resistance to white imperialism; and even Pauline, the embodiment of self-hatred among colonized peoples. As with all of Erdrich's books, history is significant, but history is something that is embodied in the characters and does not exist separately from the people that lived it.
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Read in March, 2005
recommended to Marci by:
Dr. Huffstetler
I first read this book for Native American Literature in college. I re-read it for Senior Seminar in college, as well. This was the first book to get me hooked on Erdrich and Native American fiction in general. I think, of Erdrich's books that I've read so far, this is a fairly simple read. The characters and their relationships are easy to follow. It really is a beautiful story and I love how you can follow the tracks through the book.
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Read in January, 1997
This is my favorite of hers (of the ones I've read). The end, with Lulu running out, is so hopeful and fierce! but this is a prequel, so one knows the next part of the story.
Read an excerpt, first, for a survey course at CSUF; wrote a paper. Then read all of it for a class with the English department's most patient, enthusiastic professor, Dr. Lawrence--her initials were D.H.!--and wrote another paper I was quite proud of.
Read an excerpt, first, for a survey course at CSUF; wrote a paper. Then read all of it for a class with the English department's most patient, enthusiastic professor, Dr. Lawrence--her initials were D.H.!--and wrote another paper I was quite proud of.
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Read in July, 2008
I hadn't read any Erdrich previously, though I know she is widely admired. I found this one quite enjoyable, and liked the shifting of the narration between two different characters (who have vastly different opinions of each other). The book takes place during the time of the first world war, but is set completely on a Native American reservation in North Dakota, and deals with the crumbling of the traditional way of life.
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Read in January, 2007
recommends it for:
lovers of stories about family and finding ones self
This book has interesting structure (reminiscent of Faulkner -- telling story from different viewpoints/narrators) and is a fascinating story of how a group of people weave their lives together as a family and a community. As they do they leave tracks of themselves, imprints of themselves, upon each others' experiences. And the tracks help them mark their own journeys and find themselves in the process. Love this book.
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now this book is something unique.
truly one of the best native american novels out
but more important than that...to me at least...
is what it does with its use of magic and the cultural
supernaturality found in the traditions....then only to
be twisted up in a relevant way for the story.
wow.
i highly highly suggest.
one of the best pieces of literature i ever read. it affected me as a writer greatly.
truly one of the best native american novels out
but more important than that...to me at least...
is what it does with its use of magic and the cultural
supernaturality found in the traditions....then only to
be twisted up in a relevant way for the story.
wow.
i highly highly suggest.
one of the best pieces of literature i ever read. it affected me as a writer greatly.
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Read in November, 2006
This book is set in North Dakota in the early 1900's. The novel shows the crumbling Indian culture, community, and beliefs. It gives real insight into their lives, culture, and the things they went through. This novel is a bit on the strange side, however. It involves a lot of mysticism and legends. Yet, I really enjoyed it. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who wanted a unique page turner.
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Read in March, 2008
recommended to Olive by:
Kay Lindellrecommends it for: Imin Yeh
Mmmmmmmmmmm Fleur Pillager. this book is very sexy. and very amazing. I just getting so surprised how delicious the writing was, how informative (Dawes/Allotment Act, 1890-1925, Alaska, the biggest financial scandal in US government history) and how mad and passionate it made me. I was just so surprised I'd never heard of Louise Erdrich before, and I guess she's written like 20 books. such a good writer.
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Read in May, 2008
recommended to Mary by:
I'm an Erdrich fanrecommends it for: women who like strong female characters and anyone who appreciates Native American culture
Loved her writing, especially the metaphors that are such a perfect match with the Indian culture, but this book was a bit too mystical and just weird in some places for me. It's probably the earliest book I've read of hers, so was fun to see the introduction of characters like Nanapush, Fleur and Sr. Leopolda that I've seen in later books. Some time I should read them all in order.
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