May 2018 - The Last Report on the MIracles at LIttle No Horse

[Sarah]

One of the group reads for May is The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse by Louise Erdrich. Please discuss the book in this thread.

Janice will be leading the discussion.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have completed the book before or during May 2018.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favourite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading!

[Cherie]

I just downloaded an ebook copy from my library. I started to read the prologue and I am half way through. Unfortunately, I am too tired to appreciate it, except peripherally (view spoiler)["Sister Leopolda Puyat, recently (though perhaps not entirely) deceased."??? (hide spoiler)] I'm going to sleep now...

[Cherie]

I finished the prologue. I really liked what I have read so far. (view spoiler)[I am looking forward to finding out how Father Damien became a Catholic priest and was adopted by "his people". I cannot imagine writing to anyone, for all of the years indicated and never receiving a reply. I picked up on the confession issue. He has no one to confess to, so he writes to the Pope. Is this correct? I'm having a little problem getting my head around this story line. I think I have been living in Demon country too long. (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

I brought the book from the library already. I'd rather finish the book I am reading before starting this, but if it takes more that 3 or 4 more days I will start this one anyway.

[Cherie]

I am not prepared for this! I started Chapter 1. It is too beautiful!

[Janice, Moderator]

I'm glad to see you are off and running, Cherie, and that you're enjoying it. I've read Louise Erdrich before and have quite a few of her books on my wishlist.

I'm not going to get to this book right away. I've overtasked myself with too many books on the go as it is. I hope to join you soon.

[Cherie]

I finished chapter 1
@ Sister Cecilia (view spoiler)[ Never heard of Swabian before, but I knew that the woman said that she was hungry. Oh, I loved the description of the convent and the music Sister Cecilia played. I could just see the sister scrubbing the floor and crying because the music was so beautiful! Did you listen to Chopin's Prelude in E Minor? I Did! I loved the sexual description of how the music touched her as she played.
The prose is wonderful! You can see and almost smell with the words! I was as dumbfounded when she started undressing as the Mother Superior was.

Wow - I'll never get through all that happened in the first chapter at this rate. I need to break it down. (hide spoiler)]
My brain is too overwhelmed with it all. I am going to switch books to calm down.

[Janice, Moderator]

Now that sounds intriguing!

[Ashley]

Prologue:

Just finished readin the prologue. I think it will be an interesting book. (view spoiler)[ I think you would have to be really dedicated to your work to continue doing it when you have had no recognition for it even after nearly a lifetime of sending in reports. He is probably also very devout in his faith or perhaps he’s trying to make amends for his own “sins”. <\spoiler> Can’t wait to read more. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Janice wrote: "Now that sounds intriguing!"

It was great, Janice!

[Cherie]

Chapter 1
@ Agnes DeWitt and Berndt Vogel (view spoiler)[I think Agnes was lucky to happen upon Berndt when she did and that he was a good man, even if he was "dogged and ruthless" as an opponent. I loved the way the author described the contest between them. (hide spoiler)]
@ The Caramacchione (view spoiler)[I think the author made up the name of the piano company. Regardless - It was a hoot the way she purchased it, got it home and how they got it installed into the house. Did you listen to the Nocturn in C Minor? Here is a link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKZM1... Close your eyes and feel it! (hide spoiler)]
@ Blessing - no words - I loved this section!
@ Arnold Anderson (view spoiler)[He was awful, wasn't he? I could not believe that he kidnapped her and held her outside on the running board of the car to get shot at! (hide spoiler)]
@ Berndt Vogel/The Blue Horse (view spoiler)[OMG - I could not believe the Actor shot Agnes. Berndt thought she was dead and he had nothing to live for, except to kill the Actor. It was awful. I was so shocked that he just kept walking after the horse and letting the Actor shoot him. (hide spoiler)]
@ Frederic Chopin (view spoiler)[That first chapter was so sad. Can you almost identify with "she became a reader"? I feel like that sometimes. Her walking around naked - can you just imagine? (hide spoiler)]
@ Father Damien Modeste (The First) (view spoiler)[ I didn't like him. I felt so bad for Agnes, when she shut herself up. Wasn't she amazing when she was teasing the Father? (hide spoiler)]
@ The Mission (view spoiler)[So, she got the idea of going to the Indians from the Father as a means to get away and "do good". I am really interested in how that part comes about. (hide spoiler)]
@ The Flood (view spoiler)[Amazing! Wouldn't it have been a horrific sight to see a woman clinging to the top of a grand piano racing along in the current of the flooding river? (hide spoiler)]

Okay - I've caught up and now I can go on to Chapter 2.

[Cherie]

Chapter 2
@ the 3 A.M. Letter 1996(view spoiler)[I started laughing as I read "Agnes. Beloved of Chopin and Berndt Vogel, raiser of chickens..." and saw - well, I can't write it. It was almost a wrench going into first person POV. What a horrible experience! (hide spoiler)]
@1912 (view spoiler)[So that was Christ with her when she woke and lay beside her in the bed? (hide spoiler)].
@ The Exchange (view spoiler)[Finding Father Damien's body and having had the experience when she woke is what gave her the idea to assume the Father's clothes and take his place. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 3
(view spoiler)[ It was nice that Father Miller did not wake Father Damien, even though he seemed anxious to. I was shocked when the old man gave Father Miller the letters and he read the one. I wonder what he thought of the first sentence? And the list of seven principle goods. Awesome! It was an interesting account of Sister Leopolda, but now we have Mary Kashpaw and her story too. (hide spoiler)]

On to Part Two, Chapter 4

The back and forth from 1996 and the letters and back to 1912 are making me a little anxious.

[Ashley]

Chapter 1

I read part of chapter 1 (view spoiler)[ I also play the piano so I totally understand what it’s like to feel like you have a personal connection with a certain piece of music or even the piano itself. I’ve definitely never had as intimate of a connection with my piano or music as Agnes had. I’ve certainly never played the piano naked lol <\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: "I just downloaded an ebook copy from my library. I started to read the prologue and I am half way through. Unfortunately, I am too tired to appreciate it, except peripherally [spoilers removed] I'm..."

I was going to comment on the same thing. I hope we find out exactly what that means.

[Janice, Moderator]

Usually I make my own comments and then go back to see what others say, but switched it this time around.

Prologue - (view spoiler)[I thought it was interesting that Father Damien resorted to writing the Pope when he didn't get a respond from his immediate superiors. I imagine that it's not surprising that he didn't receive a reply from the Pope either. It sounds like these reports are copious in quantity, and hopefully in quality.

I'm also curious exactly what was meant by "deceased, though not entirely". Could the Indians have shunned her, and treated her as if she was dead even though she was still alive? I've heard that there are some cultures that do this. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Janice wrote: "Usually I make my own comments and then go back to see what others say, but switched it this time around.

Prologue -..."
Re your spoiler about writing (view spoiler)[ I do not think he wrote to his immediate superiors. I got the impression that all of his letters were written to The Pope, whichever one it was at the time. I think they are all listed somewhere. (hide spoiler)]

re the deceased (view spoiler)[ still waiting to find out more about this. She is mentioned chapter 3 again. (hide spoiler)]

I skipped reading this book last night to get to a couple of other books. If my comments are too verbose let me know and I will scale back.

[Cherie]

Ashley wrote: "Chapter 1

I read part of chapter 1 [spoilers removed]"

LOL!

[Sandra, Moderator]

I started it yesterday, and although is not what I was expecting, so far I am loving it!

Prologue (view spoiler)[It requires conviction and perseverance to keep writing for so long, I agree. He mentions 7 popes, from Pius X to John Paul II. (Smart thing he doesn't mention John Paul I, since he was pope only for a month, probably not enough to receive anything from Father Damien) This shows not only for how long he has been writing, but also how old he is!
It is my understanding he writes to the pope himself because he feels his sin is too big or important and can't be confess to anyone else. (hide spoiler)]

Chapter 1 (view spoiler)[I loved everything about this chapter. The images are so vivid. The characters are so intense. The music fills everything. I agree, Cherie, we should listen to Chopin to feel Agnes' passion closer. I cheered for Berndt from the beginning, because I liked him right away. I can't believe how many thing have already happened in Agnes life being her so young. (hide spoiler)]

The writing style reminds me constantly to Garcia Marquez's, even the last book by him I read was 2 decades ago. The way tragic and comical events are told at the same time, for example (view spoiler)[Agnes, Berndt and the horse being shot, at the same time of all the hilarious thing about Slow Johnny arriving late to the scene, and the inhabitants of the town considering it was more dangerous to let him drive than letting The Actor free (hide spoiler)]. Also the characters, as Gracia Marquez's characters, are exaggerated, overdone and dramatic, but still believable for some reason.
Anyone else has this feeling? Do you remember anything about Garcia Marquez?

[Sandra, Moderator]

Ashley wrote: "Chapter 1

I read part of chapter 1 [spoilers removed]"

Lol, Ashley! Maybe you will try now!

[Janice, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: "JPrologue -..."
Re your spoiler about writing [spoilers removed]."

Hmmmm, for some reason I thought there were other letters. I shall have to go and look.

I didn't get anything read last night. Hopefully I can get caught up. Thank goodness I can renew it at the library.

[Ashley]

Sandra wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Chapter 1

I read part of chapter 1 [spoilers removed]"

Lol, Ashley! Maybe you will try now!"

Hahaha! I think my family would have me committed lol

[Ashley]

Chapter 4

Just finished chapter 4 (view spoiler)[Ibcan’t decide if I think that Agnes decided to take on Father Damien’s identity because of Her faith told her to do so or simply because it was opportunistic. On her journey to the reservation she was regretting her decision and wanting to go back to being Agnes until she experienced how much respect she got being a priest. But then once at the reservation she seems to be thinking like an actual priest. Even the wording of the book makes me wonder which identity she truely is since sometimes within the same paragraph she is referred to as both Agnes and Father Damien. (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

I hardly picked up the book on the weekend. ARGH! I need to get moving on it.

[Cherie]

Sandra wrote: "I started it yesterday, and although is not what I was expecting, so far I am loving it!

Prologue It requires conviction and perseverance to keep writing for so long, I agree. He mentions 7 popes..."

I definitely have to agree with you, Sandra! It is the same dream like kind of state, but during the day, with your eyes open. Everything is too sharp and shadowed at the same time.

[Cherie]

I just finished Chapter 4
@ Ashley's spoiler (view spoiler)[ I thought the waffling back and forth was pretty normal, given her state and circumstances (where would she go/what would she do as Agnes. I loved the line about her thinking she would come clean with the nearest sane person in North Dakota. I thought it an interesting observation, all the discoveries she made regarding the respectability of the priest vs a woman/nun. (hide spoiler)]

@the river (view spoiler)[ It is hard to think about a river flowing from south to north. I know that they do, but it is hard to get my head around it. "The river was flooding three hundred miles to the south because to the north its mouth was still frozen." (hide spoiler)]
@Kashpaw (view spoiler)[Wasn't the conversation with Kashpaw a wonderful introduction to the Indians and their circumstances? And much of what he said so true?? "Why do you black gowns care if we pray to your God?" I liked him. (hide spoiler)]
Beautiful scene: (view spoiler)["There was stillneww, the whisper of snow grains driven along the surface of the world. It was the silende of before creation..." She does seem called to become Father Damien. (hide spoiler)]
His first day (view spoiler)[I cannot imagine the state and conditions that they are all in at the compound and church. I loved the first letter and all that Sister Hildegard had to say! Last: How about those "rules"???? On a personal note: As a kid, I remember reading the adds in the comic books and looking at the body building kits and booklets. (hide spoiler)]

[Ashley]

Chapter 5
(view spoiler)[Before starting the book I thought it would be about a transgender man. Now I think it’s less about gender and more about an identity and that identity just happens to be male. Which makes me wonder is that what transgender actually is? <\spoiler> (hide spoiler)]

[Ashley]

Kashpaw

(view spoiler)[ I love Kashpaw. He’s my favourite character so far. He’s a bit arrogant and has a crude sense of humour (he kind of reminds me of my own husband lol). He noticed right away that something was off about the priest but instead of holding that against him it made him more accepting of him. (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

Janice wrote: "I hardly picked up the book on the weekend. ARGH! I need to get moving on it."

Same here, Janice. I haven't touch the book since my last comment... :(

[Sandra, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: "I definitely have to agree with you, Sandra! It is the same dream like kind of state, but during the day, with your eyes open. Everything is too sharp and shadowed at the same time."

"Dream like" is an excellent way of describing it, Cherie.

[Janice, Moderator]

I finished a book that was going to disappear off Overdrive because it's due back at the library. I'll be able to focus more on this one now.

[Laura (Lclwags)]

I'm determined to actually make time to read this month! I borrowed this from Hoopla and based on the amount of discussion already, I think I picked the right book this month! Can't wait to get started.

[Cherie]

Ashley wrote: "Chapter 5
[spoilers removed]"

(view spoiler)[I do not think a woman, who thinks of herself as a woman, but posing as a male would be considered transgendered.
I think transgendered would be a woman, who thinks of herself and feels as a man, posing as a man. In the first case like Agnes it is a disguise. In the second case, it is a way of life. Does that make sense? (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

Ashley wrote: "Kashpaw

[spoilers removed]"

I agree and you put down what I felt too, but failed to put into words. :o)

[Cherie]

Laura (Lclwags) wrote: "I'm determined to actually make time to read this month! I borrowed this from Hoopla and based on the amount of discussion already, I think I picked the right book this month! Can't wait to get sta..."

Welcome Laura! I'm hoping you will like it as much as we do, so far.

I have been reading Circe during my breaks and at lunch today, but cannot wait to get back to Little No Horse tonight.

[Ashley]

Cherie wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Chapter 5
[spoilers removed]"

That makes definitely makes sense but the more I read (view spoiler)[ The less it seems that Agnes considers herself in disguise and the more it seems she actually considers herself to be father Damien. It seems to me she thinks of it as more of a religious transformation rather than a personal one. Do you think so too? (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

Ashley wrote: "Cherie wrote: "Ashley wrote: "Chapter 5
[spoilers removed]" "

Ashley, could you remove the quoted text starting right after "spoilers removed". You have to be careful when replying because the spoiler tags are removed and the spoiler can be revealed. Thanks.

[Janice, Moderator]

Laura (Lclwags) wrote: "I'm determined to actually make time to read this month! I borrowed this from Hoopla and based on the amount of discussion already, I think I picked the right book this month! Can't wait to get sta..."

Welcome Laura. I've barely begun myself so you won't be alone.

[Cherie]

I am reading chapter 5.
I keep missing the "and" in the sentences. Does anyone else feel that way? I keep stopping and rereading to find what is not there. I have a question about her breakfast too. (view spoiler)[ Are they saving the actual potatoes for something else, if she had to eat potato skins? I eat the skins, when they are cooked. Since I started the spoiler - Under the Nanapush heading, is the first sentence missing a word? It does not make sense to me. "Agnes said Father Damien's office early and long one morning, with extra fervor because she was still in bed." ??? Why did the nuns bind their breasts? (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

I love that word!! Ojibwemowin. It sounds so musical.

[Janice, Moderator]

You've finished it already Dee? That's super. What rating did you give it?

[Janice, Moderator]

Chapter 1

What an eventful first chapter! (view spoiler)[ Agnes was an interesting character, so caught up in a dream world that revolved around music. Will we see more of her in the book? I thought she was dead a couple of times, but she kept resurrecting so to speak.

I wonder what it was about bound breasts that seemed to be a bit of a fetish for Berndt. I didn't find him to be as interesting a character as Agnes, but he was steadfast and determined.

The whole bank robbery was like a scene out of an old western. It was rather amusing.

I thought it was interesting that they removed the wall of the house to get the piano it. I do know of someone who took a chainsaw to the stairwell to get an old upright piano into the basement. Being a pianist, I enjoyed all the musical references and it brought back a lot of memories. (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

Cherie wrote: "Chapter 1
@ Agnes DeWitt and Berndt Vogel [spoilers removed]
@ The Caramacchione [spoilers removed]
@ Blessing - no words - I loved this section!
@ Arnold Anderson [spoilers removed]
@ Berndt Voge..."

Re: The Caramcchione - I love how you research things in the books you read. I don't usually take the time unless it's something that intrigues me enough to interrupt the book. I listened to your link and read the comments. I was really impressed. The pianist did not know that piece of music. He was sight reading it! I'd be fumbling my way through and it would have taken months of practice to play with that level of accuracy.

[Janice, Moderator]

Ashley wrote: "Chapter 1

I read part of chapter 1 [spoilers removed]"

Haha - (view spoiler)[ I never played it naked either. I had a connection with mine when I was younger and could relate to what Agnes felt to a degree. My mom would often comment that she knew when I was upset about something because I'd be down at the piano, working whatever it was out. I've been without a piano for 6 years now, and I do miss it from time to time. (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

Sandra wrote: "Also the characters, as Gracia Marquez's characters, are exaggerated, overdone and dramatic, but still believable for some reason.
Anyone else has this feeling? Do you remember anything about Garcia Marquez? .."

I haven't read any of Marquez, but the prologue mentioned the sister (view spoiler)[who was deceased but not entirely. That puzzled me for a bit until I noticed that magical realism is one of the genres listed on the book page. That made sense in Chapter 1 when there was a discussion about (view spoiler)[ the floors no longer groaning and doors flying open of their own accord. Was that imagery used by the author to set tone, or did it happen? (hide spoiler)] (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

Janice, Re your questions in the spoiler in comment 64 (view spoiler)[ "Was that imagery used by the author to set tone, or did it happen?", I am not sure what is the author's idea. If I go on comparing it with Gabriel Garcia Marquez, I would say it is happening, but in this book the magic realism is still kind of diffuse. I am still in chapter 4, though. (hide spoiler)]

[Cherie]

I finished chapter 5 last night and I have still been thinking about it this morning. (view spoiler)[ I like the way Agness has come to assess and accept her role as Father Damien. He is her disguise. RE her monthly flow. I have it on good authority that women who go below a critical body mass (who loose too much weight) stop having periods. I cannot believe hers just stopped because she prayed, Maybe she was at the end of her monthly flow and had not realized it. From the moment it became real that Father Damien was a woman - I wondered about that. The whole episode with Nanapush was strange - wasn't it? I am a little disappointed that there is no dictionary of terms given by the author. I guess we are just supposed to figure things out on our own as best we can. (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

Finished chapter 4 (view spoiler)[I agree with Cherie that she feels called to replace Father Damien. Of course all about Agnes was already kind of peculiar or unusual even before this decision.

I think the fact in the same paragraph we find her addressed as Agnes and also as Father Damien shows how she is feeling in her inside. She is still both. She still seems to have some doubts about this new plan, and even considered to confess the truth to Sister Hildegarde. Probably slowly she will be find herself being Father Damien more often than Agnes, until at some point, as in the prologue, she will be just Father Damien.

The mention of a Sear catalog in the last paragraph blew my mind. I knew Sear was old, but not that old! I had to google it and it seems it has been around since 1886! (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

Sandra wrote: "Janice, Re your questions in the spoiler in comment 64 [spoilers removed]"

I might have thought it was (view spoiler)[imagery, but when I saw that people were shelving it as magical realism, I considered it literally. (hide spoiler)]

[Janice, Moderator]

I read to the end of Chapter 2.

(view spoiler)[ I knew it! During chapter 1, I kept wondering about Agnes and why there was so much emphasis on her. Did she become Father Damien? Did she get swept down the river and end up at the mission, becoming involved with the mission as a nun? It made more sense that somehow she became Father Damien.

And then along comes chapter 2, and the revelation that she did become Father Damien and how that came about.

Interesting too that in 1996, an emissary from the Vatican arrived to investigate Sister Leopolda. He didn't sound like what I would expect of a Vatican priest. He's short tempered and impatient apparently. (hide spoiler)]

[Sandra, Moderator]

I am so annoyed about my lack of time for reading. This moving to France is taking all my awake time. I really want to come back to Little No Horse!