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The Round House

Louise Erdrich

Start date: March 15, 2013

Finish date: April 15, 2013

Discussion: Reading List

Discussion leader: Carol

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Reading List

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What Members Thought

Nov 04, 2012 Laura rated it liked it

Shelves: kindle, american-fiction, e-books, mtbr-challenge-2014, national-book-critics-circle-awards, read-2014, contemporary-fiction

By telling the story of a Native woman who was raped and tortured, the author raises the question about the national US pandemic of violence against Native women.

The plot describes how Geraldine Coutts could cope (r not) with this violence and how her husband - a tribal judge, and his son could help her to surpass this tragedy in their lives.

According to the report issued by Amnesty International, Maze of Injustice, "Sexual violence against Indigenous women in the USA is widespread. According t ...more

8 likes · Like · see review

Mar 23, 2013 Paige rated it it was amazing

I don't have a whole lot to say, just that I loved this book. :) It can get pretty intense, though. ...more

2 likes · Like · see review

Dec 23, 2022 Rosana rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio-books, 2022

Louise Erdrich has been on my radar for a long time. I finally read and loved The Sentence last year. So I decided to follow it with The Round House. Maybe I loved the first book too much and this one could not quite live to my expectations.

It is still a book I would push on people. A coming of age book, with strong characters, in which Erdrich's nuanced views (and I assume personal experiences) of contemporary living in an indigenous reserve, and the historical background of the community are ...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 02, 2013 Val rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, mysteries-thrillers, hard-to-put-down, gifted-writing

Unforgettable, brilliantly written, horrific, hilarious, deeply moving, educational, sad, heart warming and hopeful, The Round House is my favorite book of this year. Erdrich creates characters that become so real to me that I know them like long lost friends. And there are a lot of characters -- each different and each wholly developed. Sometimes the story meanders but the characters are still there to delight. It is a very difficult story to take about a 13 year old Ojibwe boy whose mother is ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 20, 2012 Pang rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: tob, fiction, tob2013

Reading this book is a little bit like watching the movie Stand By Me. Instead of going to seek out the dead body of a classmate, the boys have been forced to deal with more complex emotions here. I typically don't enjoy "coming of age" novels, but I like this book. Though her style of writing makes it hard to follow and enjoy the book more at times. It's not the type of book that grabs your attention right from the beginning, but rather a constant flow of story telling. The highs all happened n Reading this book is a little bit like watching the movie Stand By Me. Instead of going to seek out the dead body of a classmate, the boys have been forced to deal with more complex emotions here. I typically don't enjoy "coming of age" novels, but I like this book. Though her style of writing makes it hard to follow and enjoy the book more at times. It's not the type of book that grabs your attention right from the beginning, but rather a constant flow of story telling. The highs all happened nonchalantly; same as the lows.

One particular part I've enjoyed the most is Joe's relationship with Linda Wishknob. It started out rocky and may be with even slight hatred, but she surprised him in a good way. Also the weaving in of spirituality enhances the book and gets you at the heart. I also have to mention Cappy. He's a kind of character I like - funny with a slight hint of a bad boy :) His relationship with Joe is the kind that everyone wishes they have with someone. When he said to Joe, "I was always there. Every morning. I always had your back," I got a little choke-up.

**SPOILER ALERT**
I can't say that I agree with Joe killing Linden Lark, but he believed that getting rid of him would restore the balance in his family. He was definitely a good and likable boy, and it's almost hard to blame him for feeling (or doing) that way. But the spirituality tone of the book makes it easier(?) to see why he had to lose Cappy in the end. I don't want to say that it's quite "an eye for an eye," because I feel it's more complex than that. No matter what, the experience would stay with him for life. He even questioned it when he was having a conversation with Linda afterward:

After a while, dread stole into me. I asked, Am I like him?
No, she said. This'll get to you. Or whoever, I mean. This could wreck you. Don't let it wreck you, Joe. What could you do? Or whoever do?

But in the end, "[W]e passed over in a sweep of sorrow that would persist into our small forever. We just kept going." ...more

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Nov 18, 2013 Jessica rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: indigenous-and-native

As with most of Erdrich's work this one takes a turn for the mystical in places, but it does provoke you to think about the difference between justice and what can be achieved under the law. ...more

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Jan 11, 2013 Patty rated it it was amazing

I loved this book! I really enjoyed the writer's style, and tho a difficult subject matter this was a joy to read. Not being familar with reservation life and history, I feel I did learn a little reading this book, and that makes me curious to learn more. ...more

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