The sole reason I picked this old book
(2012) from the library is that i found it on the 'National book award' winner
list. Along with it, I also picked up winners from 2010,2014 and 2015. I did
not know much about NBA (National Book Award), so i thought reading a few
winning books would get me the idea.
I like to pick different stories, which
are culturally or geographically different, to get something more than just a
good story- for me, it kind of works like a small window to a new place or
culture. So a story set in an native reservation somewhere in North Dakota
where a crime and its aftereffects are unfolded through eyes of a young boy
felt like a good choice to pick up.
The novel is coming of age story of a
young boy, his friendships, story of his family after tragic event, his life in
a reservation in late 80s, with some ingredients of detective work and revenge
drama.
The story starts with most gruesome event
- Joe Coutts, the 13 year old protagonist, learns that his mother, Geraldine
Coutts, has been raped. His mother goes in depression and the family along with
his father, tribal judge, Bazil Coutts, struggle to keep the family together.
The rape happened near reservations' Roundhouse, which is a spiritual place in
reservation. Joe along with his friends Cappy, Zach and Angus tries to find the
culprit. His father, with his limited authority, tries to do the same. As the
plot unfolds more characters are added to storyline - Joe's uncle Whitney and
aunt Sonja, who is an ex-stripper, Linda Wishkob, a white woman adopted by
Wishkob family in the reservation, Linden Lark, Linda's brother by birth, a
racist and a drunk, Moosham, Joe's grandfather who claims to be more than 100
years old and who tells him story of Round house in his sleep and father Travis,
an ex-marine who is now a priest. The novel goes on to explore ineffectiveness
of tribal laws, the sexual awakening of teenage boys midst of a terrible crime,
and beliefs of natives in contrast with Christian views.
The main story is compelling, however the
overall book is trying to achieve too many things. There are too many tracks,
so the story keeps changing from a crime thriller, to a emotional drama, to
coming of age story, to a post on tribal laws, to a revenge drama. Before you
could adjust into a track it changes into another.
I have problem with books where writer
wants to make every sentence a thoughtful abstract story in itself, and wants
reader to imagine and fill to get the complete story. And that is the same
problem I faced with this book. The type of writing is works well when plot is
mostly linear, but with multiple tracks I lost interest in later half of the
book.
Overall, this book is not for everyone and
NYT bestseller or not, an average reader like me would find hard to keep his
interest in the book.
Time for Trivia, while reading about
National book Award I found this interesting criticism about the award process
which i think is true in case of this novel "the nominated books [often] exhibit
qualities – a poetic prose style, elliptical or fragmented storytelling – that
either don’t matter much to nonprofessional readers, or even put them off"
(Wikipedia)
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