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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Erdrich's writing is, as ever, skilled and a pleasure to read. I could not, however, get over the sensation that we had been here before. So I list pros in cons of this novel for you.
PROS:
1. I really like what she's trying to do with the Virgin Mary references and the idea that a messiah has to come from somewhere when the end of the world is about to happen, at least if you believe in Revelations. I like how she's trying to interlace western monotheist religion and beliefs with those of indigenous peoples. For me this was the most interesting part of this book. That she was asking us to think about belief and spirituality and what end times might look like if a messiah came from an indigenous person as he did originally according to the Bible. If we don't see Jesus as white, for example. But she could've done so much more with this idea. More on that below.
2. I really liked the characters. I came to like them especially well and felt like they were all fairly well rounded. I felt invested in what happened to Cedar. I hated her name. It was so silly, but I get to the author's point was that she's been adopted by these super liberal liberal upper Midwest folks who thought that's what a native American child should be named. Even though the naming conventions felt a bit heavy-handed to me.
CONS:
1. Essentially, Erdrich wishes she'd written The Handmaid's Tale, but Atwood beat her to it and does it better. Both created dystopian novels in which reproduction becomes questionable. Both give us a world in which the government is turned over to religion. Both give us a new government that is authoritarian and fascist. Atwood's version is far more violent, and for that, more realistic. Etdrich's is in some ways off putting for trying to step around such violence (e.g. having one of the prison nurses refer to Cedar as a "preggerpot"). Erdrich's version lacks the incandescent, homocidal rage of Atwood's, which, given the scenario, feels more warranted than the somewhat cutesy handling here.
2. Honestly, Erdrich has written better work. You read The Master Butcher's Singing Club and think she was at the height of her game there. This is not even close to that level of what she's capable of. It feels so derivative and like she's better than this.
3. Although I understand that Cedar's paeans to her unborn child's week by week status as it grows are somewhat common for pregnant women (when I had my children I certainly thought about whether they were the size of an avocado or a stack of butter), it's just that Erdrich has her do this constantly. It starts to feel like a right to life argument. That's ironic given the fact that cedar does go to a clinic in the beginning and it has somebody basically try to talk her into keeping her baby. Erdrich's choice to have Cedar's story told in the format of a journal written to her unborn child sets of the conditions for this in someways. I think it was a bad choice on the author's part. After a while the litany of how big the baby is and what it's doing and what body parts it has now feels rhetorically oppressive.
Ultimately, if I could give this 3.5 stars, I would. I round up because:
(a) I was interested enough to read to the end; and
(b) I liked Cedar as a character.
PROS:
1. I really like what she's trying to do with the Virgin Mary references and the idea that a messiah has to come from somewhere when the end of the world is about to happen, at least if you believe in Revelations. I like how she's trying to interlace western monotheist religion and beliefs with those of indigenous peoples. For me this was the most interesting part of this book. That she was asking us to think about belief and spirituality and what end times might look like if a messiah came from an indigenous person as he did originally according to the Bible. If we don't see Jesus as white, for example. But she could've done so much more with this idea. More on that below.
2. I really liked the characters. I came to like them especially well and felt like they were all fairly well rounded. I felt invested in what happened to Cedar. I hated her name. It was so silly, but I get to the author's point was that she's been adopted by these super liberal liberal upper Midwest folks who thought that's what a native American child should be named. Even though the naming conventions felt a bit heavy-handed to me.
CONS:
1. Essentially, Erdrich wishes she'd written The Handmaid's Tale, but Atwood beat her to it and does it better. Both created dystopian novels in which reproduction becomes questionable. Both give us a world in which the government is turned over to religion. Both give us a new government that is authoritarian and fascist. Atwood's version is far more violent, and for that, more realistic. Etdrich's is in some ways off putting for trying to step around such violence (e.g. having one of the prison nurses refer to Cedar as a "preggerpot"). Erdrich's version lacks the incandescent, homocidal rage of Atwood's, which, given the scenario, feels more warranted than the somewhat cutesy handling here.
2. Honestly, Erdrich has written better work. You read The Master Butcher's Singing Club and think she was at the height of her game there. This is not even close to that level of what she's capable of. It feels so derivative and like she's better than this.
3. Although I understand that Cedar's paeans to her unborn child's week by week status as it grows are somewhat common for pregnant women (when I had my children I certainly thought about whether they were the size of an avocado or a stack of butter), it's just that Erdrich has her do this constantly. It starts to feel like a right to life argument. That's ironic given the fact that cedar does go to a clinic in the beginning and it has somebody basically try to talk her into keeping her baby. Erdrich's choice to have Cedar's story told in the format of a journal written to her unborn child sets of the conditions for this in someways. I think it was a bad choice on the author's part. After a while the litany of how big the baby is and what it's doing and what body parts it has now feels rhetorically oppressive.
Ultimately, if I could give this 3.5 stars, I would. I round up because:
(a) I was interested enough to read to the end; and
(b) I liked Cedar as a character.
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Utterly compelling story made that must much better by Erdrich’s writing style. What could have been an overdone, overused, cliche dystopian slow burn was turned into a beautiful work of reflection on motherhood, religion, humanity, and race. The characters each felt unique, lovable in their own ways, I kept turning pages not just to see what would happen next but to hear their thoughts.
Overall, subtleties of this novel are perhaps my favorite. A truly unique well crafted story.
Overall, subtleties of this novel are perhaps my favorite. A truly unique well crafted story.
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
Wow did I think I was going to love this book. It started out strong and took a strong dive for the worse around the halfway point. I felt like I was reading a weird Handmaids Tale copy cat. I expected too much realism, especially as I read this book at the beginning of quarantine madness and so anticipated eerie realness not absurdity.
fast-paced
dark
emotional
reflective
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
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This novel is well-written and wonderfully compelling, one of Erdrich's faster-paced novels, without losing her poetry and careful introspection. As is always the case with her novels, the characters are both real and unique. I really enjoyed this book, and I thought that, despite the dark premise, Cedar was filled with more hope than many of Erdrich's protagonists. I was left disappointed in the last few pages, that there was not more of this hope, or even closure, in the ending of the story.
It bears saying, given that every review of this book mentions The Handmaid's Tale, that, if you look deeper than the synopsis, this book is unique in a whole host of ways, not to mention timely. In an era where fertility is dropping and we are dipping below replacement rate, discussion of a reproductive crisis is not, in itself, derivative. In fact, perhaps it's something we should be thinking more about, as Erdrich clearly is.
It bears saying, given that every review of this book mentions The Handmaid's Tale, that, if you look deeper than the synopsis, this book is unique in a whole host of ways, not to mention timely. In an era where fertility is dropping and we are dipping below replacement rate, discussion of a reproductive crisis is not, in itself, derivative. In fact, perhaps it's something we should be thinking more about, as Erdrich clearly is.
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
Although THE HANDMAID’S TALE came to mind while I was reading this, I had a hard time making sense of it all. In fact, I kept reading to ensure I picked up that which I felt I’d missed at the beginning... I never did. I felt obligated to finish this one because it was a book club choice.