A Tale of Trauma Beautifully Told

Title: The Round House
Author: Louise Erdrich
Host: Margy

Houseguests were the perfect excuse for us to meet in one of our favorite places -- the book club room at Open Book in downtown Minneapolis. Since all of us have made either major or minor contributions to bringing Open Book about, we were thrilled to sink into the comfy cushions, and discuss.

The perfect combo of wine, grapes, cheese,
nuts, and homemade cookies

Insights and Opinions

First, a quick overview, using the official book description:

"One Sunday in the spring of 1988, a woman living on a reservation in North Dakota is attacked. The details of the crime are slow to surface as Geraldine Coutts is traumatized and reluctant to relive or reveal what happened, either to the police or to her husband, Bazil, and thirteen-year-old son, Joe. In one day, Joe's life is irrevocably transformed. He tries to heal his mother, but she will not leave her bed and slips into an abyss of solitude. Increasingly alone, Joe finds himself thrust prematurely into an adult world for which he is ill prepared.

While his father, who is a tribal judge, endeavors to wrest justice from a situation that defies his efforts, Joe becomes frustrated with the official investigation and sets out with his trusted friends, Cappy, Zack, and Angus, to get some answers of his own. Their quest takes them first to the Round House, a sacred space and place of worship for the Ojibwe. And this is only the beginning."

+ We started by congratulating ourselves on our foresight in choosing this book before it won the National Book Award, clever choosers that we are.

+ Joanne marveled at the prose, so straightforward, yet within two paragraphs, the reader is drawn in, then laughing, then crying. There is no point at which disbelief enters.

+ The relationship between the boys is perfectly drawn -- honest, funny, sweet, male, goofy and frightening all at once. All of the mothers of sons noted the accuracy and bittersweet truth of these young pre-men.

+ Written without quotation marks, the story takes on an almost dreamlike quality and an arms-length distance between the reader and the story.

+ Geraldine's depression and gradual recovery are beautifully realized.

+ Erdrich molds wonderful elder characters -- well-rounded, fully human individuals who are as fascinating as the younger, central characters.

+ A page turner, this book tells us much about a culture that is among us, but hidden from us.

+ Some wondered why this is the book that won the National Book Award versus other Erdrich titles beloved by people in the room -- Love Medicine, or The Plague of Doves, or The Master Butcher's Singing Club (depending on who was doing the beloving). Perhaps this time was simply her time.

+ Bottom line: read it.

Oddments and Telling Details

+ We spent some time discussing Philip Roth's declaration that he's finished with writing, and trying to decide whether or not we care.
+ Everybody appears to be heading off somewhere in January, so we've changed our meeting week so at least some of us can be there. The next meeting is January 14.