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Schedule for January 2013 - June 2013
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By Sherry , Doyenne · 1 post · 234 views
last updated Dec 04, 2012 04:40AM

By Lynn · 110 posts · 63 views
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What Members Thought

I was in a rush to finish this tonight before the National Book Award winner was announced, and I got to the last page right as the ceremony was starting. It ended up winning this year's award, so I'm glad I chose this novel to read over the other two I didn't get to.
In an Ojibwe community, a mother is brutally raped. The novel is told from her son's perspective as their family tries to heal and they attempt to catch who did this horrible thing. Most of it is told in the time of the story, but o ...more
In an Ojibwe community, a mother is brutally raped. The novel is told from her son's perspective as their family tries to heal and they attempt to catch who did this horrible thing. Most of it is told in the time of the story, but o ...more

I don't know!!!! I don't know how I feel. There are moments of lyric beauty and moments of pure mundanity. Moments of comic farce and moments of sharp tragic pain. It drags and the pages turn themselves. This book is a study in contradiction. But it is Louise Erdrich. The subject matter is important. The characters are beloved. Four stars it is. Maybe it ain't fair.
Two main problems Erdrich never quite recovers from:
1) She is not a 13 year old boy. In The Plague of Doves, she mostly inhabits Eve ...more
Two main problems Erdrich never quite recovers from:
1) She is not a 13 year old boy. In The Plague of Doves, she mostly inhabits Eve ...more

This is the first Louise Erdrich novel I have read and it definitely won't be the last. In addition to spinning a compelling tale about a young Native American boy who attempts to avenge his mother's violent rape, Erdrich paints a starkly realistic picture of modern-day reservation life. The contrasts between federal and tribal governance and culture are emphasized in this story and promote public awareness of the struggles Native American encounter on a daily basis. Erdrich's prose is rich and ...more

The Round House by Louise Erdrich 5 stars
Small trees had attacked my parents' house at the foundation.
Goodreads Firstreads win, thank you to the publisher and Goodreads for the opportunity to read and review.
Narrated by 13-year-old Joe, an Ojibwe boy living on a North Dakota reservation, The Round House is part coming of age story, part fast-paced crime novel and a detailed look at modern Native American life and culture in the 1980's.
Joe's life changes the day his mother is attacked near the r ...more
Small trees had attacked my parents' house at the foundation.
Goodreads Firstreads win, thank you to the publisher and Goodreads for the opportunity to read and review.
Narrated by 13-year-old Joe, an Ojibwe boy living on a North Dakota reservation, The Round House is part coming of age story, part fast-paced crime novel and a detailed look at modern Native American life and culture in the 1980's.
Joe's life changes the day his mother is attacked near the r ...more

Erdrich writes as beautifully as ever, though this had a very different feel from her early works.
In the spring of 1988, an Indian woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is raped and beaten. She retreats to her room and provides few details. The investigation is also hampered because the woman is unaware if the attack occurred on tribal land, federal land or state land. The woman's son, 13 year old, Joe becomes frustrated by his powerlessness and sets out to find her attacker. ...more
In the spring of 1988, an Indian woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is raped and beaten. She retreats to her room and provides few details. The investigation is also hampered because the woman is unaware if the attack occurred on tribal land, federal land or state land. The woman's son, 13 year old, Joe becomes frustrated by his powerlessness and sets out to find her attacker. ...more

I really liked this book. I honk of all Erdrich's books that I have read thus far, this provided the most complete portrait of a Native American family in general and the life of a Native American youth on the edge of manhood that I have seen in her books or elsewhere. Even the peripheral characters were fully ealized as people and individuals with their own stories. I found myself wanting to know more about Sonya and Whitey as well as the details of other relationships developed in the story. T
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I hadn't read Erdrich in several years; thought I knew her work and I overlooked new releases. She's at the top with this novel and now I see why it won the National Book Award. Effortless to get into; strong narrator; twisty plot; complicated tribal issues; women's rights (1 of 3 Native women will be raped in her lifetime; 86% by non-Native men; very few prosecuted). It's also a family story, told from a 13-year-old son's pov after his mother is raped. If you've drifted away from Louise Erdrich
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Lots to think about and discuss in this novel about a painful subject. See my full review here: http://cliffordgarstang.com/?p=3586
...more

Mar 08, 2013
Sherry
rated it
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Mar 27, 2013
Kel
marked it as to-read

Aug 29, 2013
Anne
is currently reading it

Sep 25, 2013
Sarah Minnella
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Nov 03, 2013
Julia Fierro
marked it as to-read

Jan 23, 2014
Heather
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Aug 25, 2014
Kellie Demarsh
marked it as to-read