Reviews

The Beet Queen: A Novel by Louise Erdrich

stitchykitch's review against another edition

3.0

Authors would hate me if they knew i compared every book i read to a steinbeck novel, but this one really did have that kind of feel. At times the characters were larger than life, and other times they were people you could relate to. All in all, this book was a nice read for the metro, though definitely not one to keep you up at night.

jodiboe's review against another edition

3.0

Interesting. Not what I expected when I picked up the book but I enjoyed the ending.

snowmaiden's review

dark funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I remember when my mother rescued this book from the bargain bin of a local store. My older sister had just married a man who raised sugar beets in the Red River Valley. "Your sister will love this book," my mother crowed, "because she's the Beet Queen!" I thought this was spurious logic, but I held my tongue. Sure enough, a few days later came the whispered pronouncement, "I can't give that book to your sister after all, because it's a dirty book!" (Clearly, my mother had no idea about the racy 70's romance novels my sister had left behind in the attic!)

Of course, hearing that it was a dirty book made me rescue this one from the garbage the first chance I got. To me, it seemed not very dirty, but also not very interesting, and I quickly gave up. Still, for all these years, it's been in the back of my mind as a book I should give another try.

Reader, my 12-year-old self was right. I've read a lot of Erdrich since then, and this isn't one of her finer efforts. In a lot of ways, it reads like a slightly less interesting version of The Master Butchers Singing Club. I'm not upset I gave this one another chance, but it wouldn't be the first Erdrich I'd recommend to anyone.

P.S. I still don't think this is a dirty book, but I can see why my prudish mother thought that. There's a hastily-drawn gay sex scene on page 25. This is pretty much the only sexual content in the whole book, but having read that, there's no way she could have brought herself to go on.

slampie's review against another edition

emotional funny hopeful reflective sad medium-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? Yes

5.0

I loved this book so much. The characters were interesting and complex. It has a wonderful sense of place and the changes in the Dakotas over the mid-20thC. Like much of her fiction, it manages to be moving in an unsentimental way. Highly recommend. 

gitli57's review

challenging funny reflective

4.0

Inhabits the same community as Erdrich's first novel, Love Medicine. I have-not reread this one for quite some time, possibly since the eighties when it was first published. It's probably not in top five fave Erdrich novels, but it holds up very well.

margjar's review against another edition

2.0

Strange story.

kmelchior's review against another edition

emotional funny lighthearted

4.5

minnejenny's review against another edition

reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

jennyleebla's review against another edition

adventurous emotional sad tense slow-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

4.5

okenwillow's review against another edition

3.0

Curieux roman que cette nouvelle traduction de The Beet Queen. Ma première lecture d’Erdrich fut un coup de cœur, et les deux suivantes m’avaient laissées mi-figue mi-raisin. Ici, je suis tout aussi perplexe et mitigée.
[La suite sur mon blog, merci :)]