marcuolo

** spoiler alert ** Faye Travers lost her sister and dad young and has continued to live (and work) with her mom into her fifties. She goes to take care of the possessions of a dead person (her occupation) and finds a drum, which she steals. We then get the history of the drum - it's creation (man builds it after his wife leaves him for another man, taking their daughter, who is killed by wolves on the way to their new home, he puts the daughter's bones inside), what happens with the 'other' man to make them stop using the drum, the man's son sells the drum for alcohol funds, hence Faye finding it, then Faye returns it to the grandson of the man (Bernard). We then see some children who are starving and freezing alone in their home while mom parties, they accidentally burn down the house, then walk three miles through the woods to Bernard's, miraculously surviving. In the hospital, the drum is used to help save them. There's also Morris, who can't close his eyes and helps party mom (Ira) get to her kids. There's also Faye's sort of boyfriend Kurt, who loses his daughter, Kendra. Themes: Native american history, folklore, and beliefs, family, coping with death (especially of children), healing powers, love, life is too complicated to plan and understand, we're alive in order to live I love how Louise Erdrich ties so many characters and themes together into one big ball of meaning. It's like a giant knot that you can continuously pick at and always unravel some new part. I loved the talk about why we live in this novel; the man who wants to be an Indian (winnebago!) tries to talk to the wolves and they say "we live in order to be alive." It all boils down to that in a way. I like that things come back to Faye in the end, she realizes that she didn't protect anyone by remaining static (at home with mom) for her whole life - she didn't protect either herself or her mom from the loneliness and grief. I like that Kurt revives the orchard - in a way this wakes Faye up. Also interesting that Kurt feels a sense of freedom or almost happiness when his statues are destroyed (by Davan's mom, probably). So many scenes and characters!

2022-11-14 16:50