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Author : Louise Erdrich Publisher : Harper Manufacturer : Harper
Description
Louise Erdrich's mesmerizing new novel, her first in almost three years, centers on a compelling mystery. The unsolved murder of a farm family haunts the small, white, off-reservation town of Pluto, North Dakota. The vengeance exacted for this crime and the subsequent distortions of truth transform the lives of Ojibwe living on the nearby reservation and shape the passions of both communities for the next generation. The descendants of Ojibwe and white intermarry, their lives intertwine; only the youngest generation, of mixed blood, remains unaware of the role the past continues to play in their lives. Evelina Harp is a witty, ambitious young girl, part Ojibwe, part white, who is prone to falling hopelessly in love. Mooshum, Evelina's grandfather, is a seductive storyteller, a repository of family and tribal history with an all-too-intimate knowledge of the violent past. Nobody understands the weight of historical injustice better than Judge Antone Bazil Coutts, a thoughtful mixed blood who witnesses the lives of those who appear before him, and whose own love life reflects the entire history of the territory. In distinct and winning voices, Erdrich's narrators unravel the stories of different generations and families in this corner of North Dakota. Bound by love, torn by history, the two communities' collective stories finally come together in a wrenching truth revealed in the novel's final pages. The Plague of Doves is one of the major achievements of Louise Erdrich's considerable oeuvre, a quintessentially American story and the most complex and original of her books.
Customer reviews for 'The Plague of Doves: A Novel'
«Beautiful stories, not a novel»
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I have loved Louise Erdrich for years, ever since I found Love Medicine in the 80s. She tells amazing stories about her overlooked people, the Indians of the North Plains. She writes with stunning attention to detail that makes every scene and character come alive. She faces terrifying history and powerful emotions without flinching.
Over the years, I have really liked The Crown of Columbus and many of her others. Lately, she seemed to have lost something, or maybe I was finding some of the stories repetitious. But The Plague of Doves, to me, contains her best stories in years. Reading this book, you will spend equal amounts of time crying, laughing, and imagining the vivid worlds she unfolds.
Unfortunately, you will also spend time trying to figure out who the characters are and how they relate to each other, and even in what time period each story takes place. Plague of Doves really isn't a novel; it's a collection of loosely connected stories. The characters who are central at the end are completely different from the ones you grab onto at the beginning. You want to find out what happens to Evelina and Corwin and others, but you won't, really.
But if you treat it as a collection of stories, I feel confident you will love it. These are truly powerful, some of the best I've ever read.
[Saturday, November 29, 2008]
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«Surrendering to a Skilled Author»
My first time reading Louise Erdrich, well, second if I were to count starting over with the same book: by the fire in the afternoon, instead of just before bed. This was a lovely experience to share, told like a series of meetings between complex friends, the way we get to know our own histories and assocoiates.
The author was in total control of my impressions, sympathies, and prejudices. The sexuality, vivid in its personal and interpretive nature caused me to blush, to feel joy, to squirm, to laugh and to feel restfulness. Look for the sound of humanity played by a violin, but heard through the author's mastery of words.
I thoroughly enjoyed the critical and highly intuitive look at an upstart rural religion, as if the religion itself were one of the many literary characters. Every part of the book: the landscapes, the town, the stores, the coffe shop, were knowable in their own right, but not overdone.
[Sunday, November 23, 2008]
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«The Plague of Doves»
A very powerful writer although book was at times hard to follow and got mired down in sexual content. Still all in all a good read.
[Tuesday, November 11, 2008]
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