Questions About Animal Dreams

by Barbara Kingsolver

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Answered Questions (2)

Is it any good, worth reading? So far nothing has happened. I'm getting bored with it.

Caroline Zdanowski Yes! The story brilliantly comes full circle. Keep it up!

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I picked up this book while in a rush because it looked like it might be by a Native American author. I'm always wary to read anything about minorities written by someone not belonging to that group, as I generally stick to 'nothing about us without us'. Any thoughts on whether I should read Animal Dreams?

Demetri Papadimitropoulos I think your caution is very reasonable, and in this case I would probably frame “Animal Dreams” as adjacent to Native themes rather than as a Native …moreI think your caution is very reasonable, and in this case I would probably frame “Animal Dreams” as adjacent to Native themes rather than as a Native American novel. Barbara Kingsolver is not a Native American author, and the book’s central consciousness is not Native; it is primarily Codi Noline’s story, a homecoming novel about family secrecy, grief, ecological damage, sisterhood, and whether a person can learn to belong to a place she once thought she had escaped.

That said, Indigenous presence and land ethics do matter in the book, especially through Loyd Peregrina, his family, and the fictional Santa Rosalia Pueblo. Kingsolver approaches that material with real reverence and seriousness, and the novel is often attentive to the difference between merely occupying land and being responsible to it. Some of the strongest passages involve Codi being humbled by forms of knowledge she does not possess: ritual, kinship, history, animals, agriculture, architecture, and a relationship to place that is not reducible to scenery.

But I would also say that the book is very much of its time. It was published in 1990, and its Native material is filtered through a non-Native writer and through Codi’s education. For some readers, that will feel respectful and morally serious; for others, it may feel too explanatory, too idealized, or too dependent on a Native male character helping a non-Native woman find ground. I do not think the book is exploitative in spirit, but I also would not hold it up as a substitute for Native-authored fiction.

So my honest answer would be: if your reading rule is strict “nothing about us without us,” this may not be the right book to prioritize. If you are open to a non-Native literary novel that includes Native characters and land-based wisdom while keeping its main focus elsewhere, “Animal Dreams” is thoughtful, beautifully written, and worth reading critically. I would especially recommend pairing it with Native-authored work – Leslie Marmon Silko, Linda Hogan, Louise Erdrich, Joy Harjo, or others – so Kingsolver’s version is not the only lens on these questions.(less)

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