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The Night Watchman

Louise Erdrich (Author, Narrator)

4.14 · Rating details · 16,762 ratings · 2,324 reviews

Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and dept Based on the extraordinary life of National Book Award-winning author Louise Erdrich’s grandfather who worked as a night watchman and carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., this powerful novel explores themes of love and death with lightness and gravity and unfolds with the elegant prose, sly humor, and depth of feeling of a master craftsman.

Thomas Wazhushk is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, the first factory located near the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota. He is also a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the consequences of a new “emancipation” bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. It is 1953 and he and the other council members know the bill isn’t about freedom; Congress is fed up with Indians. The bill is a “termination” that threatens the rights of Native Americans to their land and their very identity. How can the government abandon treaties made in good faith with Native Americans “for as long as the grasses shall grow, and the rivers run”?

Since graduating high school, Pixie Paranteau has insisted that everyone call her Patrice. Unlike most of the girls on the reservation, Patrice, the class valedictorian, has no desire to wear herself down with a husband and kids. She makes jewel bearings at the plant, a job that barely pays her enough to support her mother and brother. Patrice’s shameful alcoholic father returns home sporadically to terrorize his wife and children and bully her for money. But Patrice needs every penny to follow her beloved older sister, Vera, who moved to the big city of Minneapolis. Vera may have disappeared; she hasn’t been in touch in months, and is rumored to have had a baby. Determined to find Vera and her child, Patrice makes a fateful trip to Minnesota that introduces her to unexpected forms of exploitation and violence, and endangers her life.

Thomas and Patrice live in this impoverished reservation community along with young Chippewa boxer Wood Mountain and his mother Juggie Blue, her niece and Patrice’s best friend Valentine, and Stack Barnes, the white high school math teacher and boxing coach who is hopelessly in love with Patrice.

In the Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich creates a fictional world populated with memorable characters who are forced to grapple with the worst and best impulses of human nature. Illuminating the loves and lives, the desires and ambitions of these characters with compassion, wit, and intelligence, The Night Watchman is a majestic work of fiction from this revered cultural treasure. ...more

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Dec 16, 2019 Angela M rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: edelweiss-reviews

I loved everything about this book - the writing, the characters, the story, the importance of it and that Louise Erdrich pays a wonderful tribute to her grandfather who inspired this story. It’s a beautifully written and depicts a strong sense of community, of family, and of the hard life on the Chippewa Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. It’s filled with characters that are easy to love, to admire, to root for as they fight for their identity, their land, not to be “terminated”, as t I loved everything about this book - the writing, the characters, the story, the importance of it and that Louise Erdrich pays a wonderful tribute to her grandfather who inspired this story. It’s a beautifully written and depicts a strong sense of community, of family, and of the hard life on the Chippewa Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota. It’s filled with characters that are easy to love, to admire, to root for as they fight for their identity, their land, not to be “terminated”, as they struggle with managing their daily existence.

Thomas Wazhushk, is a guard, the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, but it is his role as representative and defender of the tribe against the Termination Act of 1953 that is front and center. Patrice, his niece, is a smart and strong young woman. With an alcoholic father and a missing sister, she works at the factory to provide for her mother and her brother and it’s heartening to see her come of age as the novel progresses. Wood Mountain, a young boxer was born to be a father. Roderick is a ghost who stole my heart. Bibon, Thomas’ father is a wise man who even in his old age provided guidance to his son. With these and other characters, there are a number of story threads that Erdrich skillfully connects. There is even a pair of Mormon missionaries who provide Thomas with the Book of Mormon which helps him better understand Arthur Watkins, the Utah senator leading the charge in Washington and who according to Wikipedia was “influential as a proponent of terminating federal recognition is American Indian tribes”. One of the young missionaries gives us a very funny scene which provides a moment of humor much needed among the seriousness of what the tribe faces.

Through Thomas, we get a sense of what an amazing man her grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, must have been and she shares some of who he was in an afterword. This is piece of history, set in the not too distant past in the 1950’s. One that we would hope was over, yet I was not surprised that the current administration has brought the idea of termination of a Native American tribe forward again. Appalling. This is the third novel I have read by Erdrich, and she’s a prolific author so I’m very glad to have more to read.

I read this with my book buds Diane and Esil and it’s one that we all loved.

I received an advanced copy of this from HarperCollins through Edelweiss. ...more

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Jan 04, 2020 Meredith ( on Semi-Hiatus until February) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: netgalley

"But every so often the government remembered about Indians. And when they did, they always tried to solve Indians."

The Night Watchman is a novel about a senator who tried to “emancipate” Native American tribes in the 1950s and one of the men who led the fight against this so-called emancipation: “Emancipated. But they were not enslaved. Freed from being Indians was the idea.” It’s also about the people who live on Turtle Mountain Reservation, tracing their paths in life as emancipation loo "But every so often the government remembered about Indians. And when they did, they always tried to solve Indians."

The Night Watchman is a novel about a senator who tried to “emancipate” Native American tribes in the 1950s and one of the men who led the fight against this so-called emancipation: “Emancipated. But they were not enslaved. Freed from being Indians was the idea.” It’s also about the people who live on Turtle Mountain Reservation, tracing their paths in life as emancipation looms. While this is about the history of the fight against emancipating the Indians, it's also about sexuality, gender, class, identity, love, “otherness,” and life on the margins.

Chapters alternate between Thomas, a night watchman at a jewel bearing plant and tribal leader; and Patrice “Pixie” Paranteau, a 19-year-old girl who also works at the plant. Other characters’ POV’s are woven in, but Thomas and Patrice serve as the primary voices. Erdrich’s characterization is exceptional. It was easy to visualize the characters and hear their voices as I was reading. Thomas is a compelling character, and while I loved his chapters, it was Patrice’s voice and character who got under my skin.

Patrice is extremely intelligent, strong, eager to grow, but at the same time, stuck, somewhat comfortably, in her life on the reservation. Happy with her current job, she longs for more in life. She carries the financial burdens of her family and acts as a protector to her mother, sister, and brother. She presents a tough exterior, but she is quite fragile. She knows the ins and outs of the reservation, but so little about the world. I finished this book some time ago and I am still thinking about her character.

I love Erdrich’s writing and her command over the language. She plays with the meaning of words, subverts norms, and makes her points subtly and quietly. She weaves in bits of humor to lighten the tone. I learned so much from reading this. Erdrich's author’s note at the end taught me even more. The fact that the current administration is trying to emancipate tribes doesn’t surprise me. It makes me nauseous and angry to think about. However, Erdrich's final sentences leave me feeling hopeful.

The Night Watchman is a powerful read filled with heart and soul. It serves as a loving tribute to Erdrich’s grandfather who fought for Native American Rights. The characters, their journeys, and the message of this book moved me and will stay with me for time to come. I highly recommend!

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
...more

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Feb 10, 2020 Will Byrnes rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: literary-fiction, historical-fiction, religion-and-sprituality, fiction

On August 1, 1953, the United States Congress announced House Concurrent Resolution 108, a bill to abrogate nation-to-nation treaties, which had been made with American Indian Nations for “as long as the grass grows and the rivers flow.” The announcement called for the eventual termination of five tribes, including the Turtle Mountain Band of Chipewa.
My grandfather Patrick Gourneau fought against termination as tribal chairman while working as a night watchman. He hardly slept. - from the Auth

...more

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May 11, 2020 Roxane added it · review of another edition

Hmmm. Uneven. Loved Patrice, her mother, Wood Mountain. It was two novels in one and I am not sure they came together well. A strange device of formatting it kind of like a play in certain chapters that was jarring. Erdrich is brilliant, though. I would read anything she wrote and enjoy the privilege.

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Nov 11, 2019 Dorie - Cats&Books :) rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2019-netgalley-challenge, all-time-favorite, edelweiss

***NOW AVAILABLE***

It felt so wonderful to be back in the hands of a master storyteller and that is Louise Erdrich. The characters are extremely well developed and I felt as though I knew them all, I didn’t want to leave this story. The setting for a novel about American Indians in the 1950’s is a unique one, often books are about the start of our “elimination” of the Indians.I wanted to know everything about the reservation, the new bill that Congress was going to pass and how these incredible ***NOW AVAILABLE***

It felt so wonderful to be back in the hands of a master storyteller and that is Louise Erdrich. The characters are extremely well developed and I felt as though I knew them all, I didn’t want to leave this story. The setting for a novel about American Indians in the 1950’s is a unique one, often books are about the start of our “elimination” of the Indians.I wanted to know everything about the reservation, the new bill that Congress was going to pass and how these incredible characters with all of their beliefs, visions and talents were going to survive if this bill should pass.

One of the main characters, Thomas, who is the night watchman at a jewel bearing factory is based on the author’s grandfather. He is a loving, tireless man who cares deeply about the Chippewa Turtle Mountain people and his own family.

There are several stories going on in this novel but they are all part of the whole. We will watch as Thomas writes hundreds of letters to those in the government who might listen to his plea that the tribe be allowed to keep the little bit of land that they have. This once powerful tribe of hunters and gatherers was forced onto a small plot of land and had to learn how to farm in order to exist. They were given very little help from the government but even this was in danger of being taken away. They must form a committee and address Congress directly.

At the same time we learn about Thomas’s family, he deeply loves his wife Rose who works tirelessly to keep their family together, fed and clothed. His oldest daughter Vera left for the city, and hasn’t been heard from in a while. Patrice, his other daughter works at the jewel bearing plant where Thomas is a watchman. Her job is working on a type of production line, cutting precise holes into small jewel panels.
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When Vera has been missing for a while Patrice saves up her money and goes to the city to find her. What happens to her there is eye opening as well as discouraging. We come back to that story later in the novel.

Thomas’s father, Bibon, lives with them, he is quite old but is filled with wisdom and inner strength. He will help Thomas in his quest to speak in front of Congress on behalf of his tribe.
“Make the Washington D.C.’s understand. We just started getting on our feet. Getting so we have some coins to jingle. Making farms. Becoming famous in school like you. All that will suffer. It will be wiped out.. . ..They sent us their tuberculosis. It is taking us down. We don’t have money to go to their hospitals. It was their promise to exchange these things for our land. “Long as the grass grows and the rivers flow.”

Scattered throughout the book there are references to Indian folklore and some magical passages which are beautiful and thought provoking.

The older generation has struggled with efforts to completely change their way of life. The younger generation still looks up to the elders but also wants what they see on TV and magazines, cute clothes, nice homes, cell phones, and to live in the city. They are often pulled in two different directions.

I don’t want to give away any more of this amazing story. Hopefully I have given you enough enticement to read this book. It is definitely one of my top books this year and is not to be missed. Ms. Erdrich will reward you with a great story, wonderful characters and a history of some of the terrible things that we have done to the American Indians. We virtually broke every treaty that we made with the Indians.

I received an ARC of this novel from the publisher through Edelweiss. The book is set to publish on March 3, 2020. ...more

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Oct 29, 2020 MarilynW rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hoopla-overdrive, audio

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Author, Narrator)

Louise Erdrich does an excellent job of narrating her book, The Night Watchman. The story is based on the life of Louise's grandfather, (he is given the name of Thomas, in the book) who worked as a night watchman while also working during his time off, instead of sleeping or getting to spend enough time with his family, to fight against Native dispossession. It is 1953, on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota, and once agai The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich (Author, Narrator)

Louise Erdrich does an excellent job of narrating her book, The Night Watchman. The story is based on the life of Louise's grandfather, (he is given the name of Thomas, in the book) who worked as a night watchman while also working during his time off, instead of sleeping or getting to spend enough time with his family, to fight against Native dispossession. It is 1953, on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in rural North Dakota, and once again the United States Congress is trying to terminate the rights of Native Americans under the guise of emancipation. People are so ready to take away what little that the Native Americans have left, planning to set them adrift in the cities, with nothing but the rags on their backs, breaking up families and people who have supported each other, while struggling to subsist on the little that they were allowed to keep.

The story also follows nineteen year old Patrice. Smart, determined not to settle for the life of a poor wife and mother and already supporting herself, and her mother and brother, with her poor paying job, Patrice wants so much more and is willing to work for it. Patrice is also trying to find out what has happened to her sister, who has left for the city and has now disappeared, with rumors of a baby and no marriage. There are other characters, all struggling but making the most of the existence they have on this poor reservation. Amidst all of this, love, bravery, compassion, and determination permeates this story.

There is also a strong sense of the supernatural that I first thought was just hallucinations by both Thomas and Patrice. But as the book continues, the author makes it clear that these are not hallucinations but spirits of dead friends, family, animals, and nature, warning and guiding the living and sometimes punishing the cruel and wicked for their evil deeds. Mostly there is a strong sense of hope by the people who will not give up or give in. I feel like this book is made even better by Louise's narration, we know exactly the feelings that she wants each person to convey because we can hear those feelings in the voices she narrates.

Published March 3rd 2020 ...more

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Dec 16, 2019 Diane S ☔ rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: lor-2019

Authentic and amazing, are the two words I would choose to describe, not only this novel, but the majority of her books in general. I've heard much writing advice, telling one to write what you know, and Erdrich certainly did that and more. Here, she writes about her grandfather, a night watchman at the jewel board plant in North Dakota. So, along with a few other real life characters, we are introduced to others that make this reservation home. Set during the time when the government attempted ...more

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Sep 11, 2020 Debra rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: traveling-friends-read

Based on the life of her grandfather, The Night Watchman tells the story of Thomas Wazhashk who was not only a Night Watchman but a Chippewa Council member who is trying to understand the new "emancipation" bill on its way to the floor of the United States Congress. The bill threatens the rights of Native Americans by abandoning treaties made in good faith.

Patrice "Pixie Paranteau" was class Valedictorian and wants more out of life than a husband and kids. She is barely making enough money to ge ...more

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Oct 05, 2020 Marilyn rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: marilyn-s-challenge

4.5 strong stars. I started listening to The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich right before the pandemic shut down my school. Since I as so many others were confined to my house I had to give up listening to this incredible book at that time. As soon as my library reopened I once again borrowed this audio CD and was delighted in how much I liked it. The audio CD was narrated and read by the author, Louise Erdrich herself. It was a real treat to hear her tell this story. She is most certainly a ma 4.5 strong stars. I started listening to The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich right before the pandemic shut down my school. Since I as so many others were confined to my house I had to give up listening to this incredible book at that time. As soon as my library reopened I once again borrowed this audio CD and was delighted in how much I liked it. The audio CD was narrated and read by the author, Louise Erdrich herself. It was a real treat to hear her tell this story. She is most certainly a master storyteller. The story was based on the life of her grandfather, Patrick Gourneau, who among other things, was the night watchman of the plant that produced jewel artifacts in North Dakota in the early 1950’s. Louise Erdrich renamed her grandfather, Thomas Wazhashk, for the purposes of this book. Thomas was also the chairman of the Chippewa Turtle Mountain people. When he learned that Congress was trying reclaim the land owned by, lived on and given to the Chippewa American Indians in a non expiring treaty, he made it his mission to fight to retain their lawful land. The American government was trying to relocate these Native Americans to the cities where they would for all intents and purposes be eliminated. Thomas fought back by writing letters to congress and soliciting help from whoever he could. This fight led Thomas and his small committee all the way to Washington, D.C.

All the characters in The Night Watchman were so well developed. I particularly liked Pixie or Patrice as she liked to be called. She was a smart young woman who cherished the members of her family. Pixie worked at the jewel bearing plant and the money she earned supported herself, her mother and brother. Her family was quite poor but their love and devotion for each other made up for what they did not have in processions. Her older sister, Vera, had been missing for months. Pixie was determined to find Vera in Minneapolis where she had last been seen. When Pixie found herself immersed around questionable people with compromised morals and practices she knew she had to save herself and her sister’s baby by leaving Minneapolis. She had to leave her sister behind for the time being anyway and return home.

I really enjoyed listening to The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich. That time in the history of the Native Americans living in North Dakota was unknown to me. I find it so enriching and interesting when an aspect of a family’s heritage can be shared so that the events and outcomes are not lost. I was totally absorbed in this story and was sad when it ended. All the characters were rich and well developed, even the secondary ones. I highly recommend this book. ...more

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Mar 20, 2020 Elyse Walters rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, fiction, united-states, literary-fiction

Library overdrive ebook

I loved everything about this novel....
... The storytelling (highlighting a family’s strength and resilience), is exceptional!!!!
... The inspiration for this book is moving. (the authors grandfather)
... The characters (primary and supporting), are wonderfully developed
... The history is fascinating and important
... The writing is beautiful

If you absolutely love Louise Erdrich, like I do, you’ll enjoy this book too!

Thumbs UP 👍🏻 👍🏻 5 stars!!

Blessings ( again and again) ...more

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Mar 11, 2020 Anna Luce rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 6-so-so-reads, 2020-reviews, disappointing-reads

★★★✰✰ 3 stars

After reading many reviews praising The Night Watchman, I had quite high expectations for this novel. Having now read it, I can't say that I found this to be either very good or bad.
Louise Erdrich’s own grandfather was the inspiration for the character of Thomas Wazhashk and for the events that transpire in The Night Watchman. Set in 1953 Thomas, like Erdrich’s grandfather, works as a night watchman. As a member of the Chippewa Council he loves and wants to protect his community. Wh ★★★✰✰ 3 stars

After reading many reviews praising The Night Watchman, I had quite high expectations for this novel. Having now read it, I can't say that I found this to be either very good or bad.
Louise Erdrich’s own grandfather was the inspiration for the character of Thomas Wazhashk and for the events that transpire in The Night Watchman. Set in 1953 Thomas, like Erdrich’s grandfather, works as a night watchman. As a member of the Chippewa Council he loves and wants to protect his community. When he hears of Congress' new “emancipation” bill, he knows that is the United States newest threat against his people.
The serious and inspirational subject matter captivated my attention. Sadly, I think I would preferred to read a non-fictionalised account of this important story. In The Night Watchman Thomas' fight against Native dispossession is lost in a plodding narrative that follows an array of inconsequential characters. While I understand that shifting the focus on many different characters can give an impression of a certain family or community...here we also get entirely unnecessary segments on characters such as Barnes and two mormons.
Pixie Paranteau, a young woman who is beautiful, 'spunky', good at her job, different from other women, was a surprisingly grating character. The story tries so hard to make her into some sort of heroine that I just found her annoying. Her story didn't have the same tone as Thomas and felt very meandering. The first quarter of her arc seems to promise one of those 'my sister is missing' narratives...but then it reverts to her back at the reservation where she seems to occupied feeling 'righteously' angry/jealous of her friends and deciding which guy she fancies (everyone seems in love with her).
Thomas and Pixie struck me as very one-dimensional. Thomas has only the outlines of a personality...but he is mostly presented as simply being 'good'. Characters in general (regardless if 'good' or 'bad') lacked psychological complexity.
The prose often made characters sound silly. There is an overuse of exclamation marks. Some dialogues came across as stilted (as if two characters were being forced to interact for plot reasons) and there were one too may platitudes (such as “Women’s bodies make such miracles”).
There were few description of the characters' environment, and because of this I never had a clear picture of their surroundings.
The magical realism that threads this story was perhaps one of the elements I most liked in the overall novel.
All in all, I'm afraid that this novel didn't really inspire any strong feelings in me. I had a similar experience with Isabel Allende's A Long Petal of the Sea (which also draws upon real events). Both of these books tell important stories through rather one-dimensional characters.

Read more reviews on my blog / / / View all my reviews on Goodreads ...more

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Aug 11, 2020 Jen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Erdrich weaves a story within stories. The Nightwatchman, Thomas, is a Chippewa Indian who leads his people in fighting against the U.S government from taking away their land and relocating them to the city. Pixie, who searches for her sister who was part of a ‘relocation’ program is missing. What happens when the officials say a better life can be had but really isn’t the case.

The Indian culture is rich with imagery and the symbiotic relationship with animals and nature. The visions and dreams ...more

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Dec 14, 2019 Meike rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: usa, 2019-read

Erdrich has written a captivating pageturner about the golden 1950's in the US - an era that was only golden if you were white, of course. While the black population suffered under Jim Crow, there were also widespread government efforts to terminate treaties with Native American tribes, which would have resulted in them losing their rights and status. The goal: Assimilation instead of self-determination. Erdrich's grandfather Patrick Gourneau, Chairperson of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Erdrich has written a captivating pageturner about the golden 1950's in the US - an era that was only golden if you were white, of course. While the black population suffered under Jim Crow, there were also widespread government efforts to terminate treaties with Native American tribes, which would have resulted in them losing their rights and status. The goal: Assimilation instead of self-determination. Erdrich's grandfather Patrick Gourneau, Chairperson of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians during that time, was the inspiration for the title-giving "Night Watchman": Together with his community, he was the first one to successfully fight Congress over the planned termination, and the tribe has secured its status and land in North Dakota until today (you can learn more about Indian termination policies between 1940 and 1960 here, and more about the specific case of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa here).

The novel's protagonist, Thomas Wazhushk, works as a night watchman in a juwel bearing plant near the reservation, and that's not the only valuable unit he protects: As Chairperson, he fights for the interests of the Chippewa at Turtle Mountain. When the news of the intended termination reaches the community, they start to develop a game plan and prepare to travel to Washington to personally make their case. In the second, closely related narrative strand, Thomas' young niece Patrice "Pixie" Parenteau, who works at the plant, travels to Minneapolis in order to find her sister Vera who disappeared in the city. Aided by her friend Wood Mountain, an aspiring boxer, she discovers what might have happened.

This novel shines through its fantastic, complex characters and the way the relationships between them are shown (not told): Pixie has an alcoholic father and a mother who is deeply knowledgeable about Chippewa culture, as well as a gang of female friends; there's Thomas' friend Louis and his a half-white daughter Millie who attends the University of Minnesota and uses her scientific knowledge to help the tribe; there's Juggie Blue, Wood Mountain's widowed mother, and his white boxing coach and high school teacher Barnes who falls for Pixie; there's Thomas' childhood friend Roderick, now a ghost; and many other members of the community. In Minneapolis, we meet outrageous criminals and discover whole new job opportunities feat. bodysuits with hoofs (cringe!), and throughout the text, we repeatedly run into two rather comical Mormon itinerant preachers (the serious background being that a Mormon congressman who wanted to terminate the Chippewa argued based on his religious beliefs).

Erdrich also does a wonderful job reflecting Chippewa beliefs and cultural practices just by showing them as part of her characters' approach to the world and as everyday actions. She portrays the hard life on an impoverished reservation, the difficult, multi-layered connections to the settler state, but also the resilience, intelligence and humor of the people living at Turtle Mountain - this author gives her characters dignity and humanity. Erdrich also did quite a bit of research, and it shows: Not only did her grandfather really write a lot of letters during that time, they were also preserved so she could read them; Vera's story was fueled by The Prostitution and Trafficking of American Indian/Alaska Native Women in Minnesota; meetings Erdrich describes rely on actual transcripts; and the study presented before the congressional committee was actually conducted - even the shooting incident she depicts really happened.

While not exactly daring in composition, this book offers a highly immersive reading exprience, and the narrative and the characters are intruguing - I couldn't put this novel down. Important to know: Trump has recently brought back the termination era, targeting the Wampanoag, the tribe that invented thanksgiving. So books like Erdrich's are not only a real treat for everybody who loves a well-told, captivating story, but they help to preserve history and to raise awareness about what's going on in the world right now. ...more

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Mar 02, 2020 Ron Charles rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: political-fiction

Two years ago, Louise Erdrich thought she would never write again. The National Book Award-winning author of “The Round House” and more than a dozen other treasured novels had abandoned several manuscripts and given up. She was certain her “impetus had disintegrated.”

Fortunately for us, she was wrong.

One day, she woke from her depressed slumber impelled to read a cache of letters written in the middle of the 20th century by her grandfather Patrick Gourneau. He had been chairman of the Turtle Mou Two years ago, Louise Erdrich thought she would never write again. The National Book Award-winning author of “The Round House” and more than a dozen other treasured novels had abandoned several manuscripts and given up. She was certain her “impetus had disintegrated.”

Fortunately for us, she was wrong.

One day, she woke from her depressed slumber impelled to read a cache of letters written in the middle of the 20th century by her grandfather Patrick Gourneau. He had been chairman of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Advisory Committee during the tribe’s modern-day fight for survival. The threat at that time was legal but as potentially disastrous as earlier assaults: In 1953, the U.S. House passed a resolution declaring that a number of tribes should be rapidly “freed from Federal supervision.”

Ah, blessed freedom!

Beneath that glorious promise of emancipation lurked the government’s true plan: the unilateral abrogation of treaties, the wholesale termination of tribes’ rights and the abandonment of Native Americans already impoverished by centuries of genocidal policies.

Reminded of that dark era and her grandfather's heroic role in saving the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota, Erdrich knew she had found the inspiration for her next book.

Erdrich’s career has been an act of resistance against racism — the hateful and the sentimental varieties — and the implacable force of white America’s ignorance. In one powerful book after another, she has carved Indians’ lives, histories and stories back into our national literature, a canon once determined to wipe them away.

“The Night Watchman” is more overtly political — it even includes a trip to Washington, D.C. — but it’s a political novel reconceived as only Erdrich could. Although the legislative history and the congressional battles of Indian termination rumble over the horizon, the story stays focused on folks living on the Turtle Mountain reservation. For most of them, the immediate concerns of. . . .

To read the rest of this review, go to The Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/entert... ...more

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Dec 27, 2019 Esil rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ew

An enthusiastic 4 stars!

The Night Watchman is my first Louise Erdrich novel, but it won’t be my last. For me, this was historical fiction at its best. The novel is partially based on Erdrich’s grandfather, who worked as a night watchman in a jewel factory and who led the fight against “dispossession” of residents of the Turtle Mountain Reservation. In parallel, the story focuses on fictional sisters Patrice and Vera, who were born on the reservation. After moving to the city, Vera disappears, an ...more

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Feb 03, 2020 Linda rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, net-galley, favorites, 5-star-winners, native-americans, nature-themes, historical-fiction

Be still my heart......

You are only as strong as the strength of your word....be it from the vastness of the government and its treaties to the inner workings and core of the single human individual.

Louise Erdrich gifts us with an amazing novel birthed from the letters and personal actions of her own grandfather. Erdrich, at one point, felt an arid dryness that visits upon talented authors when the story just does not come. But it was then that she considered visiting the source. The source, fo Be still my heart......

You are only as strong as the strength of your word....be it from the vastness of the government and its treaties to the inner workings and core of the single human individual.

Louise Erdrich gifts us with an amazing novel birthed from the letters and personal actions of her own grandfather. Erdrich, at one point, felt an arid dryness that visits upon talented authors when the story just does not come. But it was then that she considered visiting the source. The source, for most of us, are the links channeling back to where we find our beginnings: Family.

Erdrich takes us to the Turtle Mountain Reservation with the Chippewa in September of 1953. Thomas Wazhushk works as a night watchman at a jewel bearings facility. The bits of jewels are used in Bulova watches and in drilling for the Defense Department. Staying awake in the wee hours has been a challenge for Thomas. But Thomas vents a strong internal energy of trying to right the wrongs by the U.S. Government toward Native Americans.

A new law is being presented in 1953 that will cause the termination of Native American tribes living on reservations in North Dakota. The government visualizes that these tribes are self-sustaining and no longer need government assistance. They are ridiculed for not farming when the land where they reside is near barren. Poverty has taken root far deeper than any stalks of corn.

Thomas begins organizing his thoughts and his options and writes to congressmen, heads of committees, and government officials to make his case. Erdrich showcases Thomas' drive to empower those on the reservation to present their opposition to the pending law in Washington, D.C.. They will ban together and make the arduous trip with the strength of their convictions.

As the story unfolds, we will meet the members of Thomas' family and also the extended families of the reservation. Front and center will be the character of Patrice "Pixie" Paranteau who works in the facility. We will come to see the impact of her presence that extends from within herself, the tribe, and an unexpected trip to Minneapolis. Erdrich lines this story with remarkable characters who fill in both large and small deposits on the human spectrum. They are colorful, comical, lively, pensive, irreverent, determined, and complicated. The Night Watchman is a granddaughter's honorable blessing to those who came before her. And no one does it like Louise Erdrich.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to HarperCollins Publishers and to the talented Louise Erdrich for the opportunity.

...more

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Feb 16, 2021 Michael Finocchiaro rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: american-21st-c, novels, fiction, _pulitzer-hopefuls-2021, historical-fiction, amerindians

This is a wonderful book based loosely on the author's grandfather's fight for maintaining reservation status for his tribe in the 50s. It is beautifully invoked in terms of ceremonies and the poetry of the culture of these Chipewas. The clash with Western values and Western exploitation is also vividly and horrifyingly described and this serves to make the narrative more exciting and edgy. There are a rich set of characters here who are well-drawn and very compelling. Definitely way up there in ...more

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Jun 20, 2020 Lisa rated it really liked it · review of another edition

[3.5] In The Night Watchman Erdrich fuses her lyrical prose, full-bodied characters and a strong story line about a community fighting for survival. I should have loved it.

One reviewer wrote "Erdrich is a writer of splendid complications and digressions." I would remove the word splendid. I wanted to stay with Patrice and felt frustrated by being pulled back and forth amongst the people and ghosts of Turtle Mountain Reservation. ...more

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Dec 03, 2020 Lauren rated it liked it · review of another edition

louise erdrich could punch me in the face (imagine that lol) and i’d say thank you — which is to say, even though this wasn’t as much of a slam dunk for me as the round house i still enjoyed it. she weaves autofiction, magical realism, and a compelling cast of characters together here to tell the story of a community who’s existence is threatened by the US government’s attempts to close down indian reservations. loved the central characters esp. pixie and wood mountain, was less sure of the paci ...more

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Mar 30, 2020 Kathleen rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Erdrich brings alive the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota with a rich panoply of memorable characters over two momentous years (1953-1954), when a Congressman sought to ‘emancipate’ the Chippewa from their lands and tribal affiliations. Thomas Washashk, the night watchman at a jewel bearing plant, organizes, writes letters, and eventually makes his way to the House of Representatives to advocate for his people. [This character is inspired by Erdrich’s own grandfather.]

Erdrich is a won ...more

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Apr 05, 2020 Elle added it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020

I just didn’t get into this one. I read halfway through and decided to set it aside for now. Honestly my TBR has been slowly outpacing my reading speed during the quarantine and making myself finish books I don’t want to isn’t helping with focus. I know a lot of people love The Night Watchman and Louise Erdrich, so maybe check out some of their reviews for better insight!

BUT while I have you here....part of the reason I was chomping at the bit to read this book was because of the subject. It’s h I just didn’t get into this one. I read halfway through and decided to set it aside for now. Honestly my TBR has been slowly outpacing my reading speed during the quarantine and making myself finish books I don’t want to isn’t helping with focus. I know a lot of people love The Night Watchman and Louise Erdrich, so maybe check out some of their reviews for better insight!

BUT while I have you here....part of the reason I was chomping at the bit to read this book was because of the subject. It’s historical fiction set in the 1950s that follows indigenous characters reckoning with another attempt by the US government to erase their tribal presence. So while I didn’t connect with the novel, I’m incredibly interested in the historical elements of the story. Interestingly, while I was reading The Night Watchman, I saw a relatively small story break that had some parallels to the struggles faced by Thomas and Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa.

In Cape Cod, Massachusetts the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe has been a recognized tribe of the Wampanoag people since 2007. On March 27, 2020, the tribe was notified that their reservation was being ‘disestablished’ and their land taken out of trust by federal Bureau of Indian Affairs and the Department of the Interior. 321 acres of tribal land are being snatched by the government in a way that hasn’t been done since the very same Termination Policy that’s at the forefront of this book.

But what launched this sudden backslide in American native policy—in the midst of a pandemic, no less? Their very status as a tribe was challenged because a billionaire, Neil Bluhm, was denied a bid to build a casino on tribal land. As retribution he funded an attack on their legitimacy as a tribe. This case was heard by no court and its status revoked solely by the current administration. The president even tweeted about it while invoking a native slur. This particular move is unprecedented, but it comes out of the same playbook our country has been using against indigenous populations for centuries. It’s cruel, unnecessary, unfair and likely to happen again.

I encourage anyone who was outraged by the way the characters in this book were treated to extend those feelings towards the very real native communities that are still being targeted today. And for those in Massachusetts, Senators Elizabeth Warren and Ed Markey have pledged to fight this decision, but no matter where you live it probably wouldn’t hurt to reach out to your representatives. ...more

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Aug 10, 2020 Barbara rated it liked it · review of another edition

3+ stars

If Erdrich's purpose in writing this book was to evoke sympathy for Native Americans and outrage at their treatment by this country, she definitely was successful. Thomas, based on the author's grandfather, was a brave and determined man. His fight to prevent the enactment of the emancipation bill ( A.K.A. Native American Dispossession Act) was beyond admirable. One would have to be heartless not to abhor senator Arthur Watkins and his self-righteous zeal.

Patrick Gourneau's story would h ...more

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Oct 04, 2020 Melania 🍒 rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 2020-in-12-books

3.75|5

Plot: 3.5 ⭐️ A big chunk of the book is not about the fight against the “emancipation bill” itself, which was a bit disappointing for me, but we get to follow a handful of characters while the threat of the bill is looming in the background. Their stories are not bad, but not very unique either, unfortunately. The most interesting, for me, was everything related to the council’s understanding and then fight of the bill.

Setting: 4 ⭐️ Turtle Mountain reservation (North Dakota), mainly, 1953. ...more

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Jan 25, 2021 Trudie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: ibr

3.5

Louise Erdrich and I have a checkered history. I struggled to finish LaRose and while The Night Watchman was a much more enjoyable experience, in the end I must conclude I don't really gel with this author's style.
Certainly, I admire this in parts but it grew increasingly fragmentary as the novel went on and despite outlining some important history, its focused seemed scattered. Maybe the early introduction of Pixie / Patrice Paranteau and the plight of her sister Vera, sent the wrong ...more

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Jul 20, 2020 Bam cooks the books ;-) rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle-ebooks, library-book, historical-fiction, 2020-reads, magical-realism

In The Night Watchman, Louise Erdrich has set her book in 1953 on the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota where the titular character, Thomas Wazhashk, works as the night watchman at the jewel-bearing plant. But he is also an important leader of his people and when he learns of government plans to dispossess them of their land, he organizes them to fight for their rights and takes the fight all the way to Washington DC. The character of Thomas is based on Erdrich's grandfather and his ex ...more

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Jun 22, 2020 Donna Davis rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Recommends it for: you.

Shelves: blogged, net-galley, literary-fiction, fiction-adult, feminist-fiction, favorites-overflow, historical-fiction, reviewed, magical-realism

I cannot believe it has taken me this long to read the legendary novelist, Louise Erdrich. I had my reasons—wrong ones, as it turns out—and I am grateful to Net Galley and HarperCollins for the review copy, and thus helping me pull my head out of…the place where it was. This excellent novel is for sale now.

Let me explain, first off. Many years ago, I enrolled in an alternative graduate program that emphasized respect for all cultures and races, and which required, as a graduation requirement, a I cannot believe it has taken me this long to read the legendary novelist, Louise Erdrich. I had my reasons—wrong ones, as it turns out—and I am grateful to Net Galley and HarperCollins for the review copy, and thus helping me pull my head out of…the place where it was. This excellent novel is for sale now.

Let me explain, first off. Many years ago, I enrolled in an alternative graduate program that emphasized respect for all cultures and races, and which required, as a graduation requirement, attendance at a full day seminar listening to a locally famous Native storyteller. The story was delivered in a monotone, with a good deal of repetition and no effort at summarization. So, after dutifully suffering through 6 hours of it on one of the hottest days of summer, I pledged to myself that I’d never go through that again.

Twice, good friends have urged me to read Erdrich’s novels, but I was also told she was an American Indian storyteller whose heritage formed a central theme in her writing. My eyes glazed over, and I vowed to give it a miss. When The Night Watchman drew early raves, I realized that my assumptions about Erdrich might be in error, and I hustled back to Net Galley to see if I might still score a galley. It’s a lesson well learned.

The year is 1953, and the place is the Turtle Mountain reservation in North Dakota. Patrice Paranteau has finished school, but she doesn’t want to get married. She has seen her friends do so and turn into old women overnight, shivering as they hang the wash to freeze dry in winter, and collecting snow to melt so that their children can take a bath. No thanks. Instead,

“She was the first person in the family to have a job. Not a trapping, hunting, or berry-gathering job, but a white people job. In the next town. Her mother said nothing but implied that she was grateful. Pokey had this year’s school shoes. Vera had a plaid dress, a Toni home permanent, white anklets, for her trip to Minneapolis. And Patrice was putting a bit of every paycheck away in order to follow Vera, who had maybe disappeared.”

The point of view shifts between Patrice; a local boy turned boxer, Wood Mountain; Haystack Barnes, the white math teacher and boxing coach; and Thomas, Patrice’s uncle, who is the night watchman at the jewel bearing plant. Thomas is modeled after Erdrich’s grandfather, and the author’s notes at the end mention that his struggle to save the Chippewa land made writing this book an emotional experience.

As the story opens, Patrice is preparing to track down her sister, who is rumored to have had a baby in Minneapolis, and Thomas is organizing a group of Chippewa to attend the hearings in Washington, D.C. The Feds have sent a letter to the tribe suggesting that since they were clearly successful, they would surely no longer require government aid or protection. Their land would be absorbed by the U.S. government and then sold to private buyers; its current residents would be relocated to cities where they could get work. And it’s a measure of exactly how clueless the average American was about the Chippewas’ plight that Barnes, who lived and worked among them, said, “I don’t understand why it’s so bad. It sounds like you get to be regular Americans.”

There are other points of view as well; the most memorable are the Mormon missionaries that have drawn the short straw and been sent to minister to the “Lamanites.” This religion holds that the inferiority of American Indians is revealed holy truth; only by converting can they be salvaged, and when that happens, the new converts will slowly become whiter. Our two missionaries dislike each other profoundly, which is unfortunate since they may only separate from one another to use the toilet. When the main story becomes intense and at times, very sad, in will pop the missionaries and before I know it, I am laughing out loud. In addition, I admire the way the strong female characters are developed.

There are three primary threads to follow: what Patrice decides to do with her future; whether Vera will be found; and whether the Chippewa of Turtle Mountain will lose their land. All are handled with the mastery one might expect from an iconic author.

Don’t be the idiot that I was. Get this book and read it now. ...more

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Jun 15, 2020 Paula rated it liked it · review of another edition

I have been a Louise Erdrich fan for decades now, ever since reading her first books over 30 years ago. I’ve read, or at least tried to read, every one of them. But I’ve found in the last 10 or so years that I am unable to really immerse myself in her stories the way I once did, and I believe one of the main reasons is that there are just way too many characters in every one of her novels for me to keep track of. Her stories are long, interwoven and often go off on tangents that are confusing (f ...more

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Jan 12, 2021 Claire rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: indie-buddy-reads, ibr-read-harder-2021

The Night Watchman, like Erdrich's other novels, really hit the mark for me. Erdrich's draws on her family history for this story, about the first tribe to fight Congress on the planned termination and dispossession of their land in North Dakota. As always, Erdrich draws the personal and political together with expertise in this novel (thanks Will for that lovely turn of phrase). This isn't an urgently propulsive story. Rather, the quiet, complex characters and their experiences draw together sl ...more

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Mar 19, 2020 Truman32 rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

The Night Watchman by Minnesota bookstore tycoon, Louise Erdrich is a wonderful sprawling and rambling delight. Honestly, it is amazing and more than a little inspiring that bookstore mogul Erdrich can find the time to crank out such an amazing story in between updating store bestseller bays, refreshing the bookmark spinner, and interviewing candidates for that part-time barista position. And when I say The Night Watchman is sprawling and rambling I mean it in the best way possible. It is sprawl The Night Watchman by Minnesota bookstore tycoon, Louise Erdrich is a wonderful sprawling and rambling delight. Honestly, it is amazing and more than a little inspiring that bookstore mogul Erdrich can find the time to crank out such an amazing story in between updating store bestseller bays, refreshing the bookmark spinner, and interviewing candidates for that part-time barista position. And when I say The Night Watchman is sprawling and rambling I mean it in the best way possible. It is sprawling like the boroughs of New York City, each hidden corner leading to a surprise and astonishing scene. Look, there is the Museum of Modern Art. Amazing! There is the Unisphere. Breathtaking! There is an angry vendor selling brightly colored Italian ices from a dented cart while smoking from a hole in his neck. Unsettling! And there is a man arguing with his coffee while urinating on a rhinoceros statue in front of the Bronx Zoo. Magical! The Night Watchman is rambling like a meandering path you would take through the galleries of the Louvre. Each pathway exposing you to hidden treasures and small details that make your heart leap and otherwise would be missed. Hark, is that the Winged Victory of Samothrace? Amazing! Gadzooks, over there is the Raft of the Medusa. Breathtaking! Zoot alors, there is an angry mime serving delicious crepes from a dented cart while trapped in an invisible box. Unsettling! Mon Dieu, that man is arguing with his café au lait while urinating on the Venus de Milo. Magical!
Like the sprinkles on this week’s manager’s special at Dunkin Donuts, the characters inhabiting Erdrich’s story are plentiful, colorful, somewhat crusty, and providing nuance and depth. They are led by the night watchman himself, Thomas Wazhashk (based upon Erdrich’s grandpa Patrick Gourneau and his fight to stop the U.S government from breaking their historical treaties with many Native American tribes). The fictional Thomas also works to stop this land grab from happening. We also have Pixie Paranteau who searches for her missing sister. Vera has left the reservation for the big city only to cease all communication. Where is she? Her family is beside themselves. There are boxers (the kind-hearted) Wood Mountain Blue and (the lovesick) Haystack Barnes, Jehovah’s witnesses, and many other wonderful characters. Erdrich writes in her afterword that her gramps “never stopped being funny, optimistic, and kind.” That could be said as well for these characters that live in pretty extreme poverty and go through the usual (and the not so usual) pains of life on their reservation. The Night Watchman is a fantastic book! ...more

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Mar 17, 2020 Kasa Cotugno rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: culture-native-americans, author-visit, loc-usa-upper-mid-west, era-early-mid-20th-century, genre-auto-fiction

So happy that Louise Erdrich has returned to her native American roots and has produced a work that is most personal to her, inspired by her grandfather, the eponymous Night Watchman. In 1953-54, the Turtle Mountain Clan was in danger of losing the land that had been granted to them by charter "as long as the rivers run," by the imminent passage of a federal House Bill. Over the preceding decades, the tribe's members had learned how to make do in hardscrabble fashion, but it was their land and h ...more

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About Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich

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Karen Louise Erdrich is a American author of novels, poetry, and children's books. Her father is German American and mother is half Ojibwe and half French American. She is an enrolled member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Chippewa). She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant Native writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renais Karen Louise Erdrich is a American author of novels, poetry, and children's books. Her father is German American and mother is half Ojibwe and half French American. She is an enrolled member of the Anishinaabe nation (also known as Chippewa). She is widely acclaimed as one of the most significant Native writers of the second wave of what critic Kenneth Lincoln has called the Native American Renaissance.

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Author Biography:

Louise Erdrich is one of the most gifted, prolific, and challenging of contemporary Native American novelists. Born in 1954 in Little Falls, Minnesota, she grew up mostly in Wahpeton, North Dakota, where her parents taught at Bureau of Indian Affairs schools. Her fiction reflects aspects of her mixed heritage: German through her father, and French and Ojibwa through her mother. She worked at various jobs, such as hoeing sugar beets, farm work, waitressing, short order cooking, lifeguarding, and construction work, before becoming a writer. She attended the Johns Hopkins creative writing program and received fellowships at the McDowell Colony and the Yaddo Colony. After she was named writer-in-residence at Dartmouth, she married professor Michael Dorris and raised several children, some of them adopted. She and Michael became a picture-book husband-and-wife writing team, though they wrote only one truly collaborative novel, The Crown of Columbus (1991).

The Antelope Wife was published in 1998, not long after her separation from Michael and his subsequent suicide. Some reviewers believed they saw in The Antelope Wife the anguish Erdrich must have felt as her marriage crumbled, but she has stated that she is unconscious of having mirrored any real-life events.

She is the author of four previous bestselling andaward-winning novels, including Love Medicine; The Beet Queen; Tracks; and The Bingo Palace. She also has written two collections of poetry, Jacklight, and Baptism of Desire. Her fiction has been honored by the National Book Critics Circle (1984) and The Los Angeles Times (1985), and has been translated into fourteen languages.

Several of her short stories have been selected for O. Henry awards and for inclusion in the annual Best American Short Story anthologies. The Blue Jay's Dance, a memoir of motherhood, was her first nonfiction work, and her children's book, Grandmother's Pigeon, has been published by Hyperion Press. She lives in Minnesota with her children, who help her run a small independent bookstore called The Birchbark.

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Quotes from The Night Watchman

“Lastly, if you should ever doubt that a series of dry words in a government document can shatter spirits and demolish lives, let this book erase that doubt. Conversely, if you should be of the conviction that we are powerless to change those dry words, let this book give you heart.” — 7 likes

“It was something about being an Indian. And the government. The government acted like Indians owed them something, but wasn’t it the other way around? She hadn’t been educated in a boarding school or educated in any way about Indians. From her Catholic schooling, she would never have known about Indians at all except as a bunch of heathens who were vanquished or conveniently died off. She’d hardly known her family and was as assimilated as an Indian could be. And people hardly ever recognized her as an Indian. So why did she firmly see herself as an Indian? Why did she value this? Why did she not long for the anonymity of whiteness, the ease of it, the pleasures of fitting in? When people found out why she looked a little different, they would often say, “I never thought of you as an Indian.” And it would be said as a compliment. But it felt more like an insult.” — 5 likes

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