Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

15 reviews

oproy's review against another edition

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inspiring reflective slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

I found the backdrop to the story extremely interesting and awe-inspiring. The plight of the Native Americans in the not so distant past is unfathomable, and this novel brings their stories to life.  And the entire idea of the termination bill and that people can just be used as chess pieces is a sad reality many face. 

However, rating just the novel, I did not enjoy. The way Erdrich intertwined magic/mysticism with the rest of the story sometimes confused me. I felt I had to finish it just to finish it, not because I enjoyed turning the page.  I understand that the point of Patrice is that she is coming of age emotionally while also having to take care of her family, but she was just unlikeable to me. 

I did find that the author’s way of leaving certain things to our own mind (Vera’s whereabouts, Parantau’s abuse) was well done. 


Overall, I did not enjoy but mostly because I felt like there was always something I was missing just beyond the grasp of my understanding. 
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danimcthomas's review against another edition

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hopeful informative slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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matcha_cat's review against another edition

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informative mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

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madelinemarigold's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful informative inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

Very informative historical fiction, discusses the attempt to disband (destroy, exterminate) the turtle mountain band of the Ojibwe and the community that came together to stop americas attack on indigenous sovereignty. Language, sisterhood, whiteness, love, indigenous (ojibwe) cosmology, and Mormonism are all explored
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nicnocs511's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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kmetzing's review against another edition

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informative sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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republicofben's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful inspiring tense slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Although the synopsis and subject matter of this book piqued my interest, I found it hard to stay engaged with the story. Aside from the slow pace of the story's main events, the part that made it hard for me to make it through this book was the large cast of characters. One theme of this book - and also something I expect the author hoped readers would take away - is the diversity of people part of and that interact with a community. I did enjoy meeting and getting to know the wide cast of characters, but the constant switching of narrators caused the pace of the book's main events to be slow and drawn out. My rating breaks down to the book not suiting my tastes, but one I would still recommend to someone looking for a book that deals with Native American stories and history or a true ensemble book that flips between narrators.
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char1otte's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

I have never read anything like it! It took me a few chapters to get into the style of writing and to understand how the story was told but I recommend it to anyone!
Can anyone tell me what a waterjack is?
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tyrannosaurus_lex's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful informative reflective medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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branheart's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional informative mysterious reflective fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

Picked up The Night Watchman at the Tattered Cover Book Store when Andy and I were in Denver. I flew through the first half of this book, propelled by the plot surrounding Pixie/Patrice, her search for her sister, Vera, and her stint as the waterjack. Once Pixie returned home to the reservation, the pace of this book changed drastically. Although Vera remained missing, the sense urgency faded into the background and the mystery was eventually revealed in a POV switch (that slightly disappointed me, but oh well).

I liked that Louise's inspiration for the novel came from stories of her grandfather, and there were a few moments with the character he inspired, Thomas Wazhushk, that are unforgettable to me and rendered absolutely beautifully. One is the scene in which Thomas experiences the Star Powwow, which is one of the most incredible moments of surrealism/magic realism I've ever read (220-227). I loved the flexibility of time in that scene and how it escalated from realism to surrealism and--in an unexpected twist--back to realism. I loved how that moment was significant, but also not-in-the-larger-sense-of-the-plot significant. It made the spiritual so ordinary. It was absolutely poetic. Secondly, I loved how the metaphor of the Thomas as the muskrat wove together when he had his stroke near the end of the book (can't find the exact chapter or page at the moment, but I'd like to return to it).

A few thoughts that are loose-threads. The character of Roderick was extremely engaging to me. The physical lingering presence of shame and the Indian Boarding Schools. At the ND Humanities Sense of Place event on Sept. 12, 2021, Deb Marquart described Louise Erdrich's novels as conveying a sense of "accumulating violence." The book's change of pace slowed my reading a bit in the second half, but I still enjoyed the story. I read one reviewer who said this novel is "two books" but I think it goes back to telling the story of community and family and place and perhaps a less individual-focused/Westernized view of those things. Louise's novels are sprawling, interconnected stories of many. I love being immersed in the worlds and characters she creates.
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