2024 #38 The Night Watchman (Erdrich)

 

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

1953 was the real-life year of the U.S. Congress passing House concurrent resolution 108 and therefore establishing the federal policy known as "termination", which sought to abolish tribes and relocate American Indians (the start of a series of proceedings held from 1953- 1970). Primarily through the story of the titular character, Thomas Washashk (based on the life and activism of Erdrich's grandfather, Patrick Gourneau), and Patrice (Pixie) Paranteau, the novel revisits the mid-century tension of a people long dispossessed and disenfranchised caught in a no-man's land of ambiguously defined citizenry and capitalist manipulation. Thomas, who serves on the tribal council of the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa, and works as a night watchman at the jewel bearing plant, reflects an optimism and ethic of tenacity, perseverance and patience. Patrice, a recent high-school graduate, on the other hand, has youthful energy and occasional impulsiveness, but is also the sole provider for family that includes her alcoholic father, her mother, and her brother. She, with her friends Valentine and Doris, works at the jewel bearing plant as well. Her older sister, Vera, moved to Minneapolis, but has not been heard from in months, so Patrice sets off on a brief, but Campbellian, hero's journey, which opens her eyes to savagery from which she has been relatively sheltered on the reservation.

Somehow, Erdrich manages to mix historical account, a coming-of-age-story, and an intriguing story through a rich cast of humanized characters -- from the Mormon missionaries to the Washington senators. Most of the characters are multi-dimensional and fairly well developed, but the pace of the story (stories, really) moves in fits and starts and occasionally we lose track of some threads in deference to others. Everything does come back together by the close of the book, although I found myself disquieted by the relative neatness of the ending (I won't say "happy"). There's more to tell, that we know, and it is perhaps the challenge of historical fiction: good characters will make us want to have a larger slice of the historical narrative, especially when that narrative is perpetuated into our own time. This is an important book that attempts to zoom in on the lived experiences of a whole host of characters in order to illuminate the hardship and mistreatment of a government toward its indigenous peoples--the task is not an easy one. The latter goal occasionally gets submerged under the former, but this is a good problem to have because if nothing else, the characters keep us turning the page for all their foibles, their propensity for chaos, their passions, and their search for meaning.

Louise Erdrich's reading is very beautiful, full of tender and sensitive intonation and wisdom behind each word.

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2024 #37 Rest is Resistance (Hersey)

 

Rest Is Resistance: A Manifesto by Tricia Hersey
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

It is necessary to take Hersey at her word that this is a manifesto. That can help clear out the discomfort of the lack of structure and repetition--at least a bit. The message is crucial and important, but a how-to book it is not. And that feels a bit frustrating at times. We know what we need more of: love, care, therapy, dreams, DreamSpace, naps, etc (from the list on p. 124). She gives us examples of what "resting can look like": meditation, slow dancing with yourself, not immediately responding to texts and emails". She suggests we begin by detoxing from social media, work on our trauma-informed boundaries, listen more...All of that seems do-able, but does NOT seem to be the ultimate goal of the manifesto. Resistance against and liberation from white capitalist grind culture is crucial, we understand. She clearly says "The time is up for any shallow wellness work that doesn't speak about dismantling the systems that are making us unwell. We must blame and interrogate the systems. They are the problem." (133) That message is repeated over and over again with passion and drive.

What's missing is how our choosing to stand for rest will perhaps impact those who are not empowered or are without agency to do the same. As a privileged white woman, I read her words carefully and thought about how grind culture disproportionately impacts Black women. I thought about how I might be upholding capitalism's reliance upon white supremacist models. But I am forced to wonder what happens when I say NO. Perhaps it is my role to say NO differently, or to different things, than the Black women who are reading the book. But what about the collateral damage? I'm not talking about losing my job--I'm talking about labor. Is it not an act of (white) privilege to decide to "rest" when there is so much work to be done to dismantle the very systems she cites? It is hard to believe that my "no" won't create labor for someone else--possibly someone already disenfranchised by capitalist systems.

Hersey extolls the value of sacred community. And certainly it echoes the proverb "If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together." But when she said "Individualism is leading us to the path of exhaustion and death," even though I know what she meant, I wanted more discussion of what "individualism" means there. Creativity, which she honors, could be argued to be very much tied to a concept of "individual." And I'm not looking to parse every word. I want to "stand in the gaps for each other" (189) and "be relentless in [my] support and witness" (189) and I didn't come away from reading the book with the strongest sense of how best to do that. I believe that rest will come in to play, yes, but I was struggling with how to reconcile that with activism.

This is an important message, and despite my struggles with the delivery, it is sitting with me. I'm looking for the best way to "spiritually disconnect from the shenanigans of grind culture while physically still living in it" (136). I think it is incumbent upon those of us with privilege to hear her message and think about how we strengthen and support "rest as a reimagined way of life" (136).

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2024 #36 The Outlaw's Tale - Sister Frevisse #3 (Frazer)

 

The Outlaw's Tale by Margaret Frazer
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

The third installment of Margaret Frazer's Sister Frevisse series, The Outlaw's Tale is the best of the first three. This is my first time going to an audiobook for a volume in the series, and the experience was overwhelmingly positive. Susan Duerden's reading is excellent, and her voicings make the characters come alive.

Particularly striking in this book are the female characters who, very much beholden to their time, still manage a subtle defiance that flies under the radar. Frazer* doesn't resort to a clichéd feminist who is self-righteous and outspoken (not that it is a problem, but it gets tiresome as a trope), but instead illuminates what must have been much more common behavior in the Middle Ages and Renaissance. After all, when faced with a sword, even the most strong-willed might step aside if not equally armed. (
*Frazer = sadly deceased Gail Frazer with Mary Monica Pulver/aka Monica Ferris)

Sister Emma grates on our nerves and I did find dragging out her illness to be a bit tedious, but the audiobook really brought out the subtle and dry wit that accompanies much of Dame Frevisse's inner thoughts, particularly in regard to Emma. After the last book being VERY obsessed with the sickness that had taken over the convent, I was not enthused about a constant return to Sister Emma's "rheume."

There are some wonderful descriptions, including that of Dame Frevisse's uncle who has a "look about him that he belongs where he was." For whatever reason, the audiobook seemed to highlight these particular moments of character definition and description, and it is delightful.

Dame Frevisse has more opportunity for character development here because she's away from the convent, and she becomes embroiled (embroils herself, really) in a situation involving her cousin. There is a lot of self-reflection in regard to the choices she makes and that helps give her more dimensionality than was revealed in the previous two books.

I'm more excited to continue the series than I was, and I hope that the rest of the series continues with the same level of character definition and plot complexity. Unlike book 2, The Servant's Tale, which had so many characters it was hard to stay focused, this story does a much better job of focusing on a few key characters, with a good pacing of introduction to new ones, and actually threw me off the scent of whodunnit, so brava!

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2024 #35: Orphan X (Hurwitz) - Orphan X #1

 

Orphan X by Gregg Andrew Hurwitz
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I bought this on a whim (and also because I was looking for a book title that had the letter X), and, well, it was good fun. Evan Smoak is a bit of James Bond meets Jack Bauer/Jack Reacher, and the book sets up what hopefully is a riveting set of thrillers. Smoak has the requisite mysterious past, and Hurwitz gives us just enough to be sated for the time being, but knowing that we will need to know more soon (and the end of the book helps with that).

Not surprisingly, the thriller is quite violent, bordering sometimes on the edge of gratuitous description, but there's a lot of substance too, particularly in the dynamic nature of the "cat and mouse" scenario(s). Hurwitz keeps us on our toes in terms of characters too--who is to be trusted? Even Evan seems to have trouble deciding. A young character, Peter, and some sundry members of the Homeowner's Association, bring some levity and charm to the cast, with an occasional outright chuckle. Evan himself is at his most endearing as he attempts to navigate the vagaries of human sociability. And yeah, there are gadgets and guns galore, if that's your thing.

Scott Brick does a great job with the voicing, although I much preferred Candy McClure and Mia Hall to the other woman whose name I've already forgotten because I found "her" voice so cloying. But overall, a great ride for the genre, and I'm likely to continue the series because sometimes that level of escapism is what's needed.

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