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3.66 AVERAGE
3.66 AVERAGE
Louise Erdrich is an amazing author and is usually an amazing storyteller. This book was so disjointed, it didn't feel anything like her other work.
Cedar was not likable, very immature. I had to keep reminding myself that she was 26, she seemed like a teenager.
There were other characters that didn't make sense and seemed thrown in, almost as filler. "Mother"and "Papa" we just bizarre. Phil could have been either the baby's father or the pastor, he really didn't need to be both. Little Mary was not necessary and didn't really do much for the plot, nor did Glen.
I listened to the audio, Erdrich narrated. Her voice and intonations were annoying, and that was really disappointing. I usually love when an author reads their own work.
Dystopian books have been all the rage in the last few years, and there are many good ones out there. This just isn't one of them.
Not a compelling as I had been lead to believe. Kind of all over the place and covering a lot of different issues.
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Anxiety inducing, but still incredible
The story of Cedar and her baby journeying through a dystopian land is both terrifyingly possible, yet obviously fiction that at times I became anxious for Cedar's future before remembering this wasn't reality. That's the sign of a perfectly written dystopian novel, in my opinion. The topics and themes were HARD but given the choice, I'd still read it. The book club discussion was fascinating as well.
The story of Cedar and her baby journeying through a dystopian land is both terrifyingly possible, yet obviously fiction that at times I became anxious for Cedar's future before remembering this wasn't reality. That's the sign of a perfectly written dystopian novel, in my opinion. The topics and themes were HARD but given the choice, I'd still read it. The book club discussion was fascinating as well.
I'm going to try to be more honest in my star ratings this year.
This book is well-written, thought-provoking, emotional, evocative, readable. But as I feared, it was too dark for me, and I couldn't keep reading in the end. I really enjoyed the first section of Cedar's journal, about visiting her family on the reservation and the culture clash in her head. I was stuck to my chair as I read the second section as she hides out with her lover and they observe the world changing quickly, socially, biologically around them, and fear heightens.
But I am selfish, and I can't read about the fear/pain of losing a child, or losing all freedom and hope for humanity. I read for pleasure, and I'm not sure Louise Erdrich is writing for me.
This book is well-written, thought-provoking, emotional, evocative, readable. But as I feared, it was too dark for me, and I couldn't keep reading in the end. I really enjoyed the first section of Cedar's journal, about visiting her family on the reservation and the culture clash in her head. I was stuck to my chair as I read the second section as she hides out with her lover and they observe the world changing quickly, socially, biologically around them, and fear heightens.
But I am selfish, and I can't read about the fear/pain of losing a child, or losing all freedom and hope for humanity. I read for pleasure, and I'm not sure Louise Erdrich is writing for me.
This just wasn’t my cup tea plot wise, that being said I enjoy her writing and thought the Roundhouse was a phenomenal book
With “The Handmaid’s Tale” becoming popular because it became a Hulu show, I feel like other books with similar themes that came out recently are taking inspiration from that book. “Future Home of the Living God” seems like it is in a similar situation; and I hate comparing one person’s work to another person’s, so I read this book with a mindset of reading the content without comparing it mentally to “The Handmaid’s Tale.” With that being said, “Future Home of the Living God” is a roller-coaster, going from interesting to weird. The world is evolving backwards, animals are turning into unrecognizable creatures and giving birth to children is rare. In the beginning, the protagonist gets pregnant before the madness started. When people start stocking up on supplies and the news gets taken over by fake happy people, stuff stars to go down. A lot of things change, and pregnant women are being kidnapped or turned in to the government. The women are held in hospitals and places that are converted into sort of hospitals. The protagonist is thrown into the terroir of trying to not get caught and watch as the world changes. Reading what the world would be like if it started to evolve backwards is quite fascinating, and seeing the protagonist go through in the story will keep you on the edge of your seat. Even when it seems like it is safe, there is always someone watching and waiting to strike.
With the protagonist being pregnant, I figured that there would be some adult themes. And I wasn’t wrong, but it was not explicit. The book is written as a journal by the protagonist to her unborn child, so when she comes to the conception scene, it is more symbolic then anything else. Such like saying that they came together as one, nothing more graphic then that. There is some cussing, a handful sprinkled throughout the book, nothing excessive. Overall, I felt like it didn’t taint the reading experience.
With the protagonist being pregnant, I figured that there would be some adult themes. And I wasn’t wrong, but it was not explicit. The book is written as a journal by the protagonist to her unborn child, so when she comes to the conception scene, it is more symbolic then anything else. Such like saying that they came together as one, nothing more graphic then that. There is some cussing, a handful sprinkled throughout the book, nothing excessive. Overall, I felt like it didn’t taint the reading experience.
Evolution is inexplicably moving backwards and humanity is understandably freaking out. Cedar is a native girl raised by white parents. She is pregnant as a young adult and for the first time wants to meet her birth parents. During the course of visiting them and returning to be with her boyfriend, the “government” (not the same as the one we have now) starts rounding up all the pregnant women. It starts subtly enough and then gets outright scary and we don’t even know why they are bringing them in and what happens.
I found myself thinking about this book a lot since reading it. The whole idea of evolution going backwards is an interesting concept and I had a little internal discussion about whether that is even possible. For animals maybe, but people collect seeds from the best plants and use those next season so why would broccoli come out weedy? And the usage of religion was great. Most of society went cuckoo but as a Catholic, Cedar was portrayed as relatively normal and intelligent so that was nice. There were some interesting things to think about there.
I found myself thinking about this book a lot since reading it. The whole idea of evolution going backwards is an interesting concept and I had a little internal discussion about whether that is even possible. For animals maybe, but people collect seeds from the best plants and use those next season so why would broccoli come out weedy? And the usage of religion was great. Most of society went cuckoo but as a Catholic, Cedar was portrayed as relatively normal and intelligent so that was nice. There were some interesting things to think about there.
Very good dystopian fiction, although the ending doesn't tie anything up or leave you particularly satisfied.