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The Round House

Louise Erdrich

Start date: August 1, 2018

Finish date: August 30, 2018

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Sep 14, 2018 Mariah Roze rated it liked it

I read this book for the Goodreads' Book Club Diversity in All Forms! If you would like to participate in the discussion here is the link: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

"The Round House, transporting readers to the Ojibwe reservation in North Dakota. It is an exquisitely told story of a boy on the cusp of manhood who seeks justice and understanding in the wake of a terrible crime that upends and forever transforms his family." ...more

16 likes · Like · see review

Feb 02, 2018 Puck rated it liked it

Shelves: people-of-colour, mystery-thriller, young-adult

One Sunday in 1988, thirteen-year-old Joe Coutts learns that his mother has been the victim of a brutal rape on their North Dakota reservation.

Afterwards his mother is traumatized and refuses to talk to anyone about the attack or her attacker. Joe’s father Bazil, trial judge, tries to bring the man to justice despite the clashing reservation and legal laws. Joe himself is left confused, frustrated, but above all wanting revenge. With his best friends Cappy, Zack and Angus, Joe starts looking for One Sunday in 1988, thirteen-year-old Joe Coutts learns that his mother has been the victim of a brutal rape on their North Dakota reservation.

Afterwards his mother is traumatized and refuses to talk to anyone about the attack or her attacker. Joe’s father Bazil, trial judge, tries to bring the man to justice despite the clashing reservation and legal laws. Joe himself is left confused, frustrated, but above all wanting revenge. With his best friends Cappy, Zack and Angus, Joe starts looking for answers to find and punish his mother’s rapist - and give his family peace.

In this hard-hitting and tragic novel, Native American author Louise Erdrich tells a coming-of-age story that is so much more: a dark mystery about sexual violence, a critical account of the system’s treatment of Native people, and an exploration of the Chippewa culture and its legends. The latter part adds a touch of magical-realism to the story, with the tale of the Round House itself, the appearance of ghosts, and the attacker possibly being a wiindigoo*.

Still, this book never becomes too fantastical: its subject is too dire and cruel for that. Even crueler is (Joe and his father’s) realization that, due to the crime taking place on Native land, the non-native attacker can’t be prosecuted. There are no laws, in 1988 and nowadays, protecting Native women from being attacked again.

“1 in 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime (and that figure is certainly higher as Native women often do not report rape).” So writes Erdrich in the last part of the book. “86 percent of rapes and sexual assaults upon Native women are perpetrated by non-Native men; few are prosecuted.”

But despite feeling the painful effect of the rape on Joe’s family, I had a hard time feeling anything for Joe himself. He of course has a hard time dealing with his mother’s crime, but apart from that he doesn’t show much character or emotion to make him likable. As a rebellious teenager, Joe rather spends time drinking with his friends or checking out his aunt’s breasts. Fitting for a teenage boy, but not the best choice for a narrator if you want to tell a compelling, moving story.

The slow pacing and the constant stream of information about Native history also worked against the story. Often we have to listen to Joe’s grandpa Mooshum telling Chippewa legends, or Bazil explaining the rotten Native legal system. Which is fascinating, but this is a work of fiction: you want to read about emotional moments too. Those finally show up after 2/3 part of the story is done: they hit hard, but they hit too late.

All of this makes me give The Round House 3 stars. I was impressed by the exploration of themes like female objectification and (wiindiggoo) justice, and I enjoyed getting to know side-characters like Mooshum, Linda Lark and Cappy. Yet the main character and the story itself weren’t as fascinating, which made this book less impactful and emotional as I hoped it would be.

*= in Ojibwe mythology a wiindigoo is a violent cannibal spirit, which is said to inhabit the body of a living person and possess him or her to commit murder. To restore safety, the community chooses someone who has to kill the wiindigoo and prevent the spirit from possessing another body. If not done properly, the killing will continue... ...more

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Jan 18, 2021 Melania 🍒 marked it as dnf

DNF @ ~ 65%

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Jan 01, 2016 Keri rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016-reading-challenge

I'll give it like 3.75 stars. I liked the concept and the Native American folklore stories, though their deliverance was weird. I didn't like the number of characters (I was confused by who was who the whole time) and the abrupt, copout ending. Also, everyone treated Joe like an actual adult rather than a 13 year old and that was really weird to me. ...more

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