Literature oozes from the pores of a Louise erdrich writer and bookseller. But in addition to literature as an absolute vital value, Erdrich shows a singular miscegenation towards that cultural blessing that is the mixture. Even more so if it is a hybrid as exotic as the Germanic with the North American native. The result of cultural baggage, dual ethnic inspiration, and hard work results in a remarkable bibliography in contemporary American literature.
The truth is that what remains of the Chippewa people, just a few strongholds between the United States and Canada, gains new vigor thanks to an author like Erdrich, in charge of vivifying their myths and transmuting that imaginary of her people for survival despite everything. Because we are in the same that some take the black legend, (Spain, having conquered South America where the autochthonous lasted - Elvira Rock knows a lot about all this-), and others are in charge of the most underground extermination (the United States with its aboriginal peoples without going any further).
But historical and political disquisitions aside from Louise Erdrich, it is clear that this author manages to honor the memory of her people and regain the necessary awareness that there would be no America without them. Only that the matter has substance and gives a lot of itself in the narrative. Because integration is not easy when the vision of this type of people appears more as a hindrance to interests of various kinds. Even so, the essence remains black on white, sending us that telluric force of those who still live in tune with nature, the true sages of our days ...
Top 3 Recommended Novels by Louise Erdrich
The night watchman
Who wouldn't want to have an exciting story to tell? But the point is that perhaps we always had it there and we did not appreciate it. To those who like to listen, their parents and grandparents may have real treasures to tell them. Even more so if it is one of the last Chippewa willing to reveal great secrets to a granddaughter ...
1953, North Dakota. Thomas Wazhashk is the night watchman of the first factory opened near the Turtle Mountain Indian Reservation. He is also a prominent member of the Chippewa Council, baffled by a new bill that will soon be brought before Congress. The United States Government calls the measure "an emancipation," but rather appears to further restrict the freedom and rights of Native Americans over their land, based on their identity. Thomas, outraged by this new betrayal of his people and even if he has to face all of Washington DC, he will do everything possible to fight it.
On the other hand, and unlike most of the girls in the community, Pixie Paranteau does not plan to carry a husband and lots of children in any way. He has enough already with his factory job, earning just enough to support his mother and brother, not to mention his father, who only shows up when he needs money to keep drinking. Plus, Pixie needs to save every penny to get to Minnesota and find her long-lost sister, Vera.
Based on the extraordinary life of her grandfather, Louise Erdrich gives us in The Night Watchman one of her best novels, a story of past and future generations, of preservation and progress, in which the worst and best impulses of human nature collide , thus illuminating the lives and dreams of all its characters.
The round house
The worst racism is one that pulls violence out of contempt, fear and ignorance. In the case of this story, the idea of ​​the most supine stupidity emerges, of the contempt for life and the surrender to a bestiality of spirit more verging on the perversion of demonic hatred. And yes, sometimes the most unsuspected heroes have to end up steeling themselves with courage to exorcise society of fears and misgivings capable of anything.
One Sunday in the spring of 1988, an Ojibwe Indian woman is assaulted on the reservation where she lives in North Dakota. The details of the brutal rape are slow to be known as Geraldine Coutts has been traumatized and refuses to relive or tell what happened, both to the police and to Bazil, her husband, and Joe, her thirteen-year-old son.
In just one day, the boy's life takes an irreversible turn. He will try to help his mother, but she barricades herself in bed until gradually sinking into an abyss of loneliness. Increasingly lonely, Joe will find himself prematurely thrown into the adult world for which he is not yet ready.
As his tribal judge father tries to get justice done, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and, with the help of his loyal friends Angus, Cappy and Zack, sets out to find some answers on his own. Your search will lead you in the first place to the round house, a sacred and cult space for the natives of the reserve. And this will only be the beginning.
The son of all
Nothing could have been different. What happened was written somewhere with the most unpredictable purpose until the final outcome of destiny. The accidental is always causal in some script that we usually ignore. And in the most immense tragedy, no matter how small, it only remains to expect some kind of compensation as unexpected as the very trigger of everything ...
North Dakota, Summer 1999. Landreaux Iron shoots a deer on the edge of his property but, as he gets closer, discovers that he has shot down his neighbors' son: Dusty Ravich, five years old and his own son's best friend. , LaRose. The two families have always been very close and the children have practically grown up together. Landreaux, horrified by what happened, seeks advice in the visions and rites of his Indian ancestors, who will discover a way to partially repair the evil caused.
The next day, together with his wife Emmaline, they will deliver the little boy to Dusty's heartbroken parents: "Now our son will be your son." LaRose thus becomes the cornerstone that keeps both families standing, allowing their pain to slowly begin to subside. But the sudden intervention of a stranger will endanger the fragile balance reached ...
With heartbreaking prose, this novel by Louise Erdrich examines with icy beauty the unfathomable consequences of a daily tragedy. Through an intense story of mourning and redemption, the author proposes a personal approach to universal themes such as the healing power of love or the insatiable need for consolation that all human beings need.
