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samgoodale 's review for:
Green Grass, Running Water
by Thomas King
Robert May has lost his mind, he put Moby Dick in this one?? He can't be stopped.
Men suck. I should know because I am one. This book—at least how I read it—is about various men sucking in various ways. King deconstructs colonial gender norms metaphorically in his manipulation of Christian myths, as well as the roles male and female characters play in the story. It's all very satirical, and that's pretty cool, I guess?? I don't know; I found myself not really caring. The way the more mystical Coyote crap is presented here is pretty cool; structurally, it mimics the format of oral storytelling which it seeks to emulate. But it's pretty hard to follow—by the time I figured out what was going on, the book was ending. Maybe that's just because I'm dumb, but I was scratching my head a few times.
But by far, the best stuff in this book is what King says about gender. Men are all Lionels and Charlies; it made me reflect on how I suck in my own man ways. I think the most interesting takeaway I had from this book was how I felt about Alberta. I really did not like her, but I think that says a lot more about me than it does about her. She was annoying, and I thought the way she treated Lionel and Charlie was kinda gross—but again, I think this has more to do with me, Charlie, Lionel, and men in general than it does with Alberta.
I really liked Eli and his and Karen's sections of the book. It's in these parts that King's ideas of Indigenous peoples "dancing" between traditional Indigeneity and contemporary Western culture appear strongest to me. The parts with Charlie and his dad were also super good, and I really liked Charlie's ending. Also, Eli and Sifton are SO in love.
But yeah, this book was super weird, but it was kinda good. I didn't care much for the stuff with Coyote and friends, but I guess that's kinda what this book is about. There's a lot of interesting crap on gender, and I tried to focus mostly on that. King's depiction of men is sadly accurate, and I found his reversal of gender roles within Christian myths to be particularly effective in illustrating men's primary drive from base desires.
If you're into Indigenous stuff, you'll probably get a lot more out of this book than I did. I really only read this because of Robert May and the pretty cover (and Sarah Rose)
There's some stuff about carpets in here, too, so maybe if you're a big carpet fan, you'll find this one enjoyable.
Men suck. I should know because I am one. This book—at least how I read it—is about various men sucking in various ways. King deconstructs colonial gender norms metaphorically in his manipulation of Christian myths, as well as the roles male and female characters play in the story. It's all very satirical, and that's pretty cool, I guess?? I don't know; I found myself not really caring. The way the more mystical Coyote crap is presented here is pretty cool; structurally, it mimics the format of oral storytelling which it seeks to emulate. But it's pretty hard to follow—by the time I figured out what was going on, the book was ending. Maybe that's just because I'm dumb, but I was scratching my head a few times.
But by far, the best stuff in this book is what King says about gender. Men are all Lionels and Charlies; it made me reflect on how I suck in my own man ways. I think the most interesting takeaway I had from this book was how I felt about Alberta. I really did not like her, but I think that says a lot more about me than it does about her. She was annoying, and I thought the way she treated Lionel and Charlie was kinda gross—but again, I think this has more to do with me, Charlie, Lionel, and men in general than it does with Alberta.
I really liked Eli and his and Karen's sections of the book. It's in these parts that King's ideas of Indigenous peoples "dancing" between traditional Indigeneity and contemporary Western culture appear strongest to me. The parts with Charlie and his dad were also super good, and I really liked Charlie's ending. Also, Eli and Sifton are SO in love.
But yeah, this book was super weird, but it was kinda good. I didn't care much for the stuff with Coyote and friends, but I guess that's kinda what this book is about. There's a lot of interesting crap on gender, and I tried to focus mostly on that. King's depiction of men is sadly accurate, and I found his reversal of gender roles within Christian myths to be particularly effective in illustrating men's primary drive from base desires.
If you're into Indigenous stuff, you'll probably get a lot more out of this book than I did. I really only read this because of Robert May and the pretty cover (and Sarah Rose)
There's some stuff about carpets in here, too, so maybe if you're a big carpet fan, you'll find this one enjoyable.