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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Beautiful and stunning. I loved this book. In a nod to Atwood's Handmaid's Tale and P.D. James' Children of Men, Future Home of the Living God focuses on a world where evolution seems to be progressing backwards. Children are being born and not developing, fetuses are disappearing, and nature seems to be producing strange new hybrids.
Within all of this is our protagonist, Cedar Songmaker, who is Ojibwe, but has been raised by her white liberal parents. Cedar is pregnant, which is precarious enough, but she's on a search to find her biological birth parents.
There's the usual apocalyptic, world-is-ending survival narrative, which is relevant and interesting. There is a hunt on for women, pregnant women like Cedar in particular, and this adds a pinch of thrill. What I think makes this a standout is the writing (definitely looking into more of Erdrich's stuff.) This book isn't just about the plot, it's about Cedar (and the other characters) and her reflection on what all of this means. So often we read books or watch movies about the world ending in some form or another, but we never see or hear the characters talk about how this will affect them. Future Home of the Living God is heavily philosophical, which I just loved. I think that our search for the meaning of life (through science, religion, both, neither, what have you) is what makes us human - and this book explores that so beautifully within the context of the plot.
If philosophy isn't your thing - and I can see from other reviews that they wanted more action, less thought - then this won't be your book. But if you're like me, and you always wondered what people are feeling when the (zombie/nuclear/political/outbreak) apocalypse appears, then this book is for you. Richly layered and gorgeously, thoughtfully written.
P.S.
Within all of this is our protagonist, Cedar Songmaker, who is Ojibwe, but has been raised by her white liberal parents. Cedar is pregnant, which is precarious enough, but she's on a search to find her biological birth parents.
There's the usual apocalyptic, world-is-ending survival narrative, which is relevant and interesting. There is a hunt on for women, pregnant women like Cedar in particular, and this adds a pinch of thrill. What I think makes this a standout is the writing (definitely looking into more of Erdrich's stuff.) This book isn't just about the plot, it's about Cedar (and the other characters) and her reflection on what all of this means. So often we read books or watch movies about the world ending in some form or another, but we never see or hear the characters talk about how this will affect them. Future Home of the Living God is heavily philosophical, which I just loved. I think that our search for the meaning of life (through science, religion, both, neither, what have you) is what makes us human - and this book explores that so beautifully within the context of the plot.
If philosophy isn't your thing - and I can see from other reviews that they wanted more action, less thought - then this won't be your book. But if you're like me, and you always wondered what people are feeling when the (zombie/nuclear/political/outbreak) apocalypse appears, then this book is for you. Richly layered and gorgeously, thoughtfully written.
P.S.
Spoiler
One of my favourite personal theories is that if I were ever in an end-of-world scenario, the mail route/post office is where the people should re-group. It's a perfect solution for all kinds of things - anyways, this book uses that idea!
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
disclaimer: bias because parts of the story are set in two locations that feel very much like home! captivating dystopian near future set in Minneapolis and White Earth reservation.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Well that was depressing. And more than depressing, I just could not like really any of the characters! Cedar at the beginning of the book comes across as rude, naïve, self-absorbed, and oblivious to what is going on around her. She made it impossible for me to root for her or to believe that she was someone who could hold her own in this new world. And for the most part I was right- she is basically a rag doll that others lug around in hopes of saving her and her child’s life- Sera, Tia, Phil, Hiro, Eddie, etc. all risk their lives for her countless times and literally do ALL the dirty work for little in return. Okay, okay, she did sit on some guy’s back to pin him down at one point and did some very important knitting, to be fair.
I also wish there was more world-building. I want to know what this new reality is actually like, but since it is told from Cedar’s point of view, she primarily focuses inward on herself and how she is feeling and how this all affects her.
I was also turned off by the overt infusion of religion into the story. I guess as someone who is not religious at all, I found it very hard to believe that 1) Cedar would remain so dedicated to her religion in the face of reverse evolution (which we never get any description of, whatsoever really. Just people saying, “evolution is going in reverse now!” SHOW DON’T TELL- thanks for teaching me that, Mrs. Peterson) and 2) I find it hard to believe that this new government would behave in the way it does in the story. It seems counter to all political tendencies or characteristics in the US political system. The government is very bible-centric. To me, that equates with republicanism, and therefore a desire for LESS government, and a pro-life stance. The government depicted in this story is a weird mish- mash of lots of disparate ideologies that just don’t make sense to me.
And just one other small thing that bothered me and probably shouldn’t have because people can name their kids whatever they want and it doesn’t matter their nationality or ethnicity, but it bothered me that Hiro (a very Japanese name) was described as a Korean-American man. This could have been easily explained, but it came off as the author just giving a “Korean-American” a name that she knew was at least of Asian origin, without taking the time to look up an equally effective Korean name.
So, that’s that. Not a fan, but I guess it had a couple of interesting moments.
I also wish there was more world-building. I want to know what this new reality is actually like, but since it is told from Cedar’s point of view, she primarily focuses inward on herself and how she is feeling and how this all affects her.
I was also turned off by the overt infusion of religion into the story. I guess as someone who is not religious at all, I found it very hard to believe that 1) Cedar would remain so dedicated to her religion in the face of reverse evolution (which we never get any description of, whatsoever really. Just people saying, “evolution is going in reverse now!” SHOW DON’T TELL- thanks for teaching me that, Mrs. Peterson) and 2) I find it hard to believe that this new government would behave in the way it does in the story. It seems counter to all political tendencies or characteristics in the US political system. The government is very bible-centric. To me, that equates with republicanism, and therefore a desire for LESS government, and a pro-life stance. The government depicted in this story is a weird mish- mash of lots of disparate ideologies that just don’t make sense to me.
And just one other small thing that bothered me and probably shouldn’t have because people can name their kids whatever they want and it doesn’t matter their nationality or ethnicity, but it bothered me that Hiro (a very Japanese name) was described as a Korean-American man. This could have been easily explained, but it came off as the author just giving a “Korean-American” a name that she knew was at least of Asian origin, without taking the time to look up an equally effective Korean name.
So, that’s that. Not a fan, but I guess it had a couple of interesting moments.
dark
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Kidnapping, Pregnancy
Moderate: Racism, Sexism
Minor: Abortion
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I don't know why but every time I would sit to read this book I would make excuses to myself to not read it now. It just failed to spark the attention which would've kept me reading it.
This book had me so immersed, I want to recommend it to everyone I know. However, I feel like the venn diagram of people who love dystopian fiction AND poetic prose in literary fiction is fairly close to two circles. I'm so glad I fit in the middle. I have so many questions remaining about this book and I can't ever remember thinking I'm glad I don't have the answers.