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A review by dejnozkova
The Sentence by Louise Erdrich
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I polished off this audiobook remarkably quick, having fallen in love with Erdrich when I first read “Tracks” a few years ago. “The Sentence” is an elegantly written and sincere novel that explores the themes of grief and guilt surrounding current issues (police brutality, Covid, racial/ethnic identity, the prevailing struggles of native and black peoples in the United States) while also reflecting on more personal themes (motherhood, self-acceptance). This novel was an educational read as it provided plenty of historical and cultural knowledge throughout, which becomes very relevant to the question of personal identity and how that contributes to the haunting.
Tookie is haunted by a ghost who cannot come to terms with her own identity and her own guilt, and instead makes that guilt Tookie’s problem (white guilt being forced on an indigenous person who then is unfairly forced to deal with the problem). But Tookie is haunted by more than a ghost; she is haunted by her past, by a fear of illness, by tragedy and injustice. Her hauntings reveal her as a ghost in limbo herself when she is caught between her awareness of her indigeneity but also feeling not entirely “Indian” enough, between her former-tribal cop husband and her own ex-convict self, between her rebellious past and her desire to belong.
I suppose I’m kind of confused at the conditions of Flora’s departure? I wonder if the fact that Tookie has suck it up and “absolve” Flora to exorcise her from the store also has to do with Tookie having to learn to absolve herself of her own failings in order to come into full self-acceptance? And also having the strength to forgive Pollux for his work while he was a cop? Although I think it also speaks to the fact that indigenous people are under pressure to appease white people in order to gain peace, acceptance, and care. Flora had no business making her shitty family history Tookie’s problem, and she had the audacity to try to possess Tookie, and yet still refused to leave until Tookie expressed gratitude towards her (even though she had been quite the emotional burden?). I wasn’t sure if the message here was “this is the shitty shitty reality of being a native person, your problems don’t go away unless you apologize even when it’s not deserved”, or if the messaging was more like “even though white people can be fuck ups towards native people they can also have redeeming qualities and deserve to be recognized for them” as was in Flora’s case for kinda watching out for Tookie and Tookie’s mom. Maybe both though. I do think I lack the perspective to draw a solid conclusion on this one because I can kinda see both interpretations.
There was enough going on in this novel to keep me interested and I feel like I learned a lot. I also think Erdrich did well to capture a couple truly terrifying moments with the ghost. But I also agree with a couple other comments that the book felt a little too much like a personal diary record of current events. I would’ve liked dive more into the personal struggle of the characters and how current events stir up their lives. In this book the characters responses felt too cookie-cutter and predictable, with not enough introspection even from our protagonist. She cops out of life so much that it makes her easy for the ghost to possess, and she and her friends acknowledge this, but her redemption and her growth is so expedited that it doesn’t feel real or heartfelt. Considering all of Tookie’s life experiences there is SO much more feeling and complexity to tackle and this book felt a tad too short and too shallow for the depth of these issues.
Tookie was incarcerated, as a native woman, by a native cop, after living a life of poverty with a drug-addicted mother. This alone was glossed over so many times and I think that’s shocking considering Erdrich chose to capture the trauma of George Floyd’s murder. There’s a lot of connection between these issues and while they were implied I think more time could’ve been spent exploring the intricacies of this history and connection, and how it would weigh emotionally on someone like Tookie. Or the fact that Tookie feels alienated from “country Indians” because she’s a “city Indian” and the removal of native peoples from their lands (as was also mentioned but these lines also weren’t connected well in my opinion either). Even if Tookie herself doesn’t want to think about how these things impact her directly (which makes sense if your life is full of injustice and tragedy and you just want peace), I would hope at least the narrative or other characters could fill these gaps better. Maybe too much was going on at once but it was all such good material but not enough development I feel. It was touched on and addressed but pretty much just through the dialogue of the characters and not to a deep enough extent in the actual plot.
I plan to read more Erdrich in the future, I know her Love Medicine series is well-loved. I just had mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed it and I was entertained but I don’t think this one will stick with me as much as “Tracks” did.
Tookie is haunted by a ghost who cannot come to terms with her own identity and her own guilt, and instead makes that guilt Tookie’s problem (white guilt being forced on an indigenous person who then is unfairly forced to deal with the problem). But Tookie is haunted by more than a ghost; she is haunted by her past, by a fear of illness, by tragedy and injustice. Her hauntings reveal her as a ghost in limbo herself when she is caught between her awareness of her indigeneity but also feeling not entirely “Indian” enough, between her former-tribal cop husband and her own ex-convict self, between her rebellious past and her desire to belong.
I suppose I’m kind of confused at the conditions of Flora’s departure? I wonder if the fact that Tookie has suck it up and “absolve” Flora to exorcise her from the store also has to do with Tookie having to learn to absolve herself of her own failings in order to come into full self-acceptance? And also having the strength to forgive Pollux for his work while he was a cop? Although I think it also speaks to the fact that indigenous people are under pressure to appease white people in order to gain peace, acceptance, and care. Flora had no business making her shitty family history Tookie’s problem, and she had the audacity to try to possess Tookie, and yet still refused to leave until Tookie expressed gratitude towards her (even though she had been quite the emotional burden?). I wasn’t sure if the message here was “this is the shitty shitty reality of being a native person, your problems don’t go away unless you apologize even when it’s not deserved”, or if the messaging was more like “even though white people can be fuck ups towards native people they can also have redeeming qualities and deserve to be recognized for them” as was in Flora’s case for kinda watching out for Tookie and Tookie’s mom. Maybe both though. I do think I lack the perspective to draw a solid conclusion on this one because I can kinda see both interpretations.
There was enough going on in this novel to keep me interested and I feel like I learned a lot. I also think Erdrich did well to capture a couple truly terrifying moments with the ghost. But I also agree with a couple other comments that the book felt a little too much like a personal diary record of current events. I would’ve liked dive more into the personal struggle of the characters and how current events stir up their lives. In this book the characters responses felt too cookie-cutter and predictable, with not enough introspection even from our protagonist. She cops out of life so much that it makes her easy for the ghost to possess, and she and her friends acknowledge this, but her redemption and her growth is so expedited that it doesn’t feel real or heartfelt. Considering all of Tookie’s life experiences there is SO much more feeling and complexity to tackle and this book felt a tad too short and too shallow for the depth of these issues.
Tookie was incarcerated, as a native woman, by a native cop, after living a life of poverty with a drug-addicted mother. This alone was glossed over so many times and I think that’s shocking considering Erdrich chose to capture the trauma of George Floyd’s murder. There’s a lot of connection between these issues and while they were implied I think more time could’ve been spent exploring the intricacies of this history and connection, and how it would weigh emotionally on someone like Tookie. Or the fact that Tookie feels alienated from “country Indians” because she’s a “city Indian” and the removal of native peoples from their lands (as was also mentioned but these lines also weren’t connected well in my opinion either). Even if Tookie herself doesn’t want to think about how these things impact her directly (which makes sense if your life is full of injustice and tragedy and you just want peace), I would hope at least the narrative or other characters could fill these gaps better. Maybe too much was going on at once but it was all such good material but not enough development I feel. It was touched on and addressed but pretty much just through the dialogue of the characters and not to a deep enough extent in the actual plot.
I plan to read more Erdrich in the future, I know her Love Medicine series is well-loved. I just had mixed feelings about this one. I enjoyed it and I was entertained but I don’t think this one will stick with me as much as “Tracks” did.