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A review by bookalong
The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
4.0
"The government acted like Indians owed them something, but wasn't it the other way around? She hadn't been educated in boarding school or educated in any way about Indians. From her Catholic schooling, she would never have known about Indians at all except as a bunch of heathens who were vanquished or conveniently died off. She'd hardly known her family and was as assimilated as an Indian could be. And people hardly recognized her as an Indian. So why did she firmly see herself as Indian? Why did she value this. Why did she not long for the anonymity of whiteness, the ease of it, the pleasure of fitting in? When people found out why she looked different , they would say, "I never thought of you as an Indian." And it would be said as a compliment. But it felt like more of an insult. And why was that?"~pg. 366
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~THOUGHTS~
Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Erdrich reinvents the story of her grandfather who carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota to Washington D.C. I enjoyed this one. At the beginning I was a bit lost keeping track of all the characters but then fell into the rhythm of the story. Set in 1953 the Native Americans of the Turtle Mountain Reservation are fighting to save themselves from termination through a bill proposed by the US Congress. Thomas Wazhashk (based on Erdrich's grandfather) is a night watchman at a jewel bearing plant, is heading the fight. The other side of this story focuses on Patrice who's sister Vera has gone missing in the cities. Patrice sets out to find her but encounters the darker side of the city. As these and other characters intertwine Erdrich's storytelling abilities shine. With themes of love and death unfolding in a truly unique way, heartbreaking yet hopeful. I enjoyed the chapters with Patrice and her family the most but understood and appreciated Thomas's role and what he did for his people. I definitely recommend this one. It felt a bit uneven at times, almost like two books put together but Erdrich's writing pulled me in with ease and didn't let me go. I encourage you to seek out own voices reviews for this book as mine is not one.
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For more of my book content check out https://www.instagram.com/bookalong
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~THOUGHTS~
Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction, Erdrich reinvents the story of her grandfather who carried the fight against Native dispossession from rural North Dakota to Washington D.C. I enjoyed this one. At the beginning I was a bit lost keeping track of all the characters but then fell into the rhythm of the story. Set in 1953 the Native Americans of the Turtle Mountain Reservation are fighting to save themselves from termination through a bill proposed by the US Congress. Thomas Wazhashk (based on Erdrich's grandfather) is a night watchman at a jewel bearing plant, is heading the fight. The other side of this story focuses on Patrice who's sister Vera has gone missing in the cities. Patrice sets out to find her but encounters the darker side of the city. As these and other characters intertwine Erdrich's storytelling abilities shine. With themes of love and death unfolding in a truly unique way, heartbreaking yet hopeful. I enjoyed the chapters with Patrice and her family the most but understood and appreciated Thomas's role and what he did for his people. I definitely recommend this one. It felt a bit uneven at times, almost like two books put together but Erdrich's writing pulled me in with ease and didn't let me go. I encourage you to seek out own voices reviews for this book as mine is not one.
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For more of my book content check out https://www.instagram.com/bookalong