The Round House - Through Chapter Eight "Hide and Q"

[Tamara]

This is the discussion thread for the second third of The Round House, ending at the end of Chapter Eight "Hide and Q". Please do not discuss anything past Chapter Eight in this thread.

Please place spoilers under a spoiler tag like so... (< spoiler> < / spoiler> with the spaces removed.

[Janine]

Continuing to be intrigued by the unfolding story. The disturbing details of (view spoiler)[the actual crime were unpacked by Geraldine - I had wondered whether the description of the violence might be cleverly avoided. Linden Lark is being framed as the offender. But still possible he's not the one. (hide spoiler)]

Curious response by (view spoiler)[Sonja to the discovery of the money. No surprises that it's linked to the crime (hide spoiler)] - and how will Joe handle this new information?

I'm enjoying the crime & justice theme, the interweaving stories of the Indian traditions and the coming of age angle. I wasn't sure how the 13yo perspective would work, but I'm continuing to appreciate Joe's perspective and Erdrich's treatment of the effects of the crime against his mother on Joe. More lines have stayed with me, such as:
"All day my mother's words had seeped up through the surface of all I did, like dark oil... I had to know... But it was a poison in me. I was just beginning to feel that."

[Ashley]

I'm really enjoying this read. I like learning a little bit about how justice is carried out on the reservation vs non-reservation land. I'm finding the characters to all be believable and interesting.

It's interesting to see how each character in Joe's family is dealing with the crime that has happened. (view spoiler)[ When Geraldine finally revealed the details of what happened to her I was both shocked and horrified. I wasn't really sure if she was ever going to be able to detail the vicious assault and rape that occurred. Linden Lark seems like a sick and very twisted individual. (hide spoiler)]

I think Joe's relationship with Sonja to be very unconventional and somewhat amusing. (view spoiler)[ Her reaction to Joe finding the money was very odd to say the least. (hide spoiler)]

I love Mooshum's storytelling. I feel like it really brings to life some native traditions.

I'm looking forward to seeing how justice is served in regards to the crime. The different legal systems and where each has jurisdiction is new to me. I am not familiar with them at all so I find those parts to be informative.

[Cat]

I'm not really enjoying this book as much as I thought I would. I feel like we don't really know any of the characters, except for Joe. I had no idea why Linda's story just stops and we don't hear about the things that Linden Lark should have been caught for. Joe never processes her story or seems to take it into account at all in the next chapter. Very bizarre. It felt almost like Erdrich had written out "Linda's story" as a short story and then just inserted it into the novel, bending it to fit.

I felt the same way on p. 152 in my version (Hide and Q) when the father details the talk he had with Travis Wozniak. Why would the priest tell Joe's father that he "lay awake wondering just how many unknown and similarly inconsequential accidents and bits of happenstance were at this moment occurring...it gave him the sensation that he was tottering on the tip of a flagpole" (152). This interiority is not something you would get from one character talking to another character unless they were very close. There's a point of view, a perspective problem. I think Erdrich may have written some of these pieces in third person omniscient narrator, and then tried to squish them into the point of view of a 13 year old boy. The effect is bizarre for me.

Well, I'll keep reading because I'm very interested in the plot. I really want to know what happened. If Erdrich leaves it ambiguous, I'll be pretty annoyed because it's the main reason I'm plowing through.

[Tamara]

So I just finished this section. I'm getting more bored with this book but it's a pretty easy read so I will push through to see how justice is served.

I will post more later when I'm on a computer so I can do spoiler tags but want to chime in that I agree with what those above me have said on all accounts.

[Kamil]

Very good read so far. I love the atmosphere, the world looked at from the perspective of Native American culture. The magic realism(ghosts, Native myths) juxtapose to Christian tradition as magical as the former, however seen completely differently by living within its circle.

I'm in awe of witty cross-reference to literature (i.e. Greek myths) and pop culture (Star Trek).

Erdrich greatly captures a picture of a woman healing form atrocious crime committed against her. The way Erdrich shows Joe's mother interaction with the rest of the family is very touching and seems real.

On the other hand it's entertaining crime story skilfully weaved. I'm in the part of the book when Linden seems to be the perpetrator but I have a feeling that I might be surprised again.