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3.45 AVERAGE
3.45 AVERAGE
Beautiful and lyrical, a story about a family coping with legacies of ancestral trauma and loss, stemming from genocide of indigenous Americans. Told from the rotating perspective of each family member as they prepare for a memorial of a son killed by police. There are so many elements at play here and the author doesn’t over explain the layers of allegory which include Alzheimer’s disease, a foster kid who helps heal the family, drug addiction, Cherokee legends and a holographic first person shooter game. I really liked this one. Its a quick read but also really complex and heavy.
3.5 stars. Beautiful writing and a very interesting story. I had a hard time understanding what was going on…I tried to just go with it but I didn’t love the experience. That said, I appreciate the writer’s background and perspective, and the opportunity to learn about Cherokee heritage.
Both grounded in history and relationships, this story is also surreal and mystical, digging into the past of this family and their broken tribal community. Hobson's distinct character voices are impressive, and his ability to weave a story that easily draws the reader in, even moreso. Part heartbreaking and part healing, I can't think of anyone who shouldn't pick this one up.
Everyday, ordinary, yet significant events unfold alongside a narrative from ancestors that are long gone, and ever present. Beautiful and haunting. Surreal and heavy.
Totally disjointed writing style is not for me. The stories don’t ladder into each other to make a point or bring a cohesive larger plot together. Couldn’t finish it, and neither could others I spoke to. I think it has great potential, but am sad I spent $$ on it.
This was my second read with Jesmyn Ward’s Literati book club, I am loving the experience of reading along with others and with one of the modern literary greats. Jesmyn will note a piece of symbolism I didn’t see or others may note connections between characters, it’s like being in the classroom again and I’m here for it!
This novel centers on a Cherokee family whose eldest son, Ray-Ray, was wrongfully killed by an Oklahoma police officer 15 years ago. As each family member continues to grapple with the trauma of this loss, they also carry the generational trauma of the Trail of Tears.
Each chapter is narrated by a different family member, and one narrative line is told by Ray-Ray’s ancestor, Tsala, who weaves in myth and legend to the story of Indigenous Removal in some heartrending ways. Ray-Ray’s sister, Sonja, struggles mightily with seeking her worth in worthless men. His brother, Edgar, struggles with substance misuse. Ray-Ray’s father is succumbing to Alzheimer’s, leaving his wife, Maria, with the enormous burden of holding of their memories of Ray-Ray.
I loved the blending of history with myth and present, I loved the ways in which each character views the loss so differently, and I especially loved the character of Maria: her strength, her resolute positivity, and her heart for children even after the loss of one of her own. I found this book to be so much better than Hobson’s last book, and I loved reading it in community.
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of Maria’s sections, as she considers a small miracle in the midst of so much pain and loss,
“Maybe this was a season for miracles to occur, I thought. Maybe the earth was healing itself of trembling and drought…as the sun came out from behind a cloud…I kept thinking we were due for a season of healing ourselves.”
This novel centers on a Cherokee family whose eldest son, Ray-Ray, was wrongfully killed by an Oklahoma police officer 15 years ago. As each family member continues to grapple with the trauma of this loss, they also carry the generational trauma of the Trail of Tears.
Each chapter is narrated by a different family member, and one narrative line is told by Ray-Ray’s ancestor, Tsala, who weaves in myth and legend to the story of Indigenous Removal in some heartrending ways. Ray-Ray’s sister, Sonja, struggles mightily with seeking her worth in worthless men. His brother, Edgar, struggles with substance misuse. Ray-Ray’s father is succumbing to Alzheimer’s, leaving his wife, Maria, with the enormous burden of holding of their memories of Ray-Ray.
I loved the blending of history with myth and present, I loved the ways in which each character views the loss so differently, and I especially loved the character of Maria: her strength, her resolute positivity, and her heart for children even after the loss of one of her own. I found this book to be so much better than Hobson’s last book, and I loved reading it in community.
I’ll leave you with a quote from one of Maria’s sections, as she considers a small miracle in the midst of so much pain and loss,
“Maybe this was a season for miracles to occur, I thought. Maybe the earth was healing itself of trembling and drought…as the sun came out from behind a cloud…I kept thinking we were due for a season of healing ourselves.”
I really liked the character development in the book, but I especially liked Maria’s voice.
I was involved in the story from the beginning, enjoyed the details and at first the changing narratives for the chapters. Further into the book the sentences seemed to repeat themselves, and the ending feels undone. I feel the ending did not come together as strongly as it could have, but overall I enjoyed the book.
I picked up this book because I am attending Brandon Hobson's session at the 2022 #antiracistbookfest at the end of April and I like to read as many of the author's books beforehand, so I have some context for the discussion. I very much enjoyed reading this novel even though the story was a difficult one at times with very real, and very tragic characters.
Hobson tells the story of an indigenous family who lost their 15 year old son to police gun violence. Each chapter is told from a specific character's point-of -view; mother, father, older sister, younger brother and is interspersed with Cherokee mythology and storytelling. Each character had a tragic aspect to their story but they were all believable and I found myself sympathetic to each for different reasons.
I especially appreciated the, what I will call, 'magical realism' utilized throughout this novel. I am not sure if 'magical realism' is exactly the right way to describe how Hobson utilized the 'miraculous' throughout this narrative, but I found the spiritual/magical aspects of this story believable in a way that usually illudes me when I'm reading this kind of literature. Hobson's use of the mythology and spiritual nature of the Cherokee worldview brought an imaginativeness to the story that made it both intriguing and unique.
I highly recommend reading this book, it's beautifully written and tells a poignant, important, and timely story that we all need to hear.
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Hobson tells the story of an indigenous family who lost their 15 year old son to police gun violence. Each chapter is told from a specific character's point-of -view; mother, father, older sister, younger brother and is interspersed with Cherokee mythology and storytelling. Each character had a tragic aspect to their story but they were all believable and I found myself sympathetic to each for different reasons.
I especially appreciated the, what I will call, 'magical realism' utilized throughout this novel. I am not sure if 'magical realism' is exactly the right way to describe how Hobson utilized the 'miraculous' throughout this narrative, but I found the spiritual/magical aspects of this story believable in a way that usually illudes me when I'm reading this kind of literature. Hobson's use of the mythology and spiritual nature of the Cherokee worldview brought an imaginativeness to the story that made it both intriguing and unique.
I highly recommend reading this book, it's beautifully written and tells a poignant, important, and timely story that we all need to hear.
Want more book content? Follow me at thebookwar.com
This is a book I was definitely too ignorant for. I know very little about Native mythology and I found much of the story hard to follow. At the beginning, I didn't care for Edgar's chapters at all and was only interested in Sonja. By the end, that was reversed. Also, maybe I'm just dumb because . I thought the Maria/Ernest/Wyatt story was fine. The parts with Tsala were so confusing to me. Maybe if I reread this one day I'll understand more having finished the book. Ultimately I found it uninteresting. I wanted to like it a lot more than I did. I also think it needs better cover design. I want to reiterate that I cannot in anyway speak to the representation this book gave because I am not Native American.