The Painted Drum: A Novel (P.S.)
by Louise Erdrich
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Book Summary Information
Author: Louise ErdrichEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2006-08-22
ISBN: 0060515112
Number of pages: 304
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Book Reviews of The Painted Drum: A Novel (P.S.)
Book Review: A flash of insight...
Summary: 3 Stars
Sometimes, it's worth reading a book for a single sentence. The Painted Drum was one of those books. Don't get me wrong, I love Louise Erdrich. Her books are beautifully written, and her characters stay with you for a long time. But, lately I've gotten the impression that Erdrich has become trapped in her own formulas. Her designation as a Native American author has essentially shackled her creativity and forced her to travel in time-worn ruts of her own making. As a consequence, the best part of this book took place in modern day New Hampshire, not in the Native American past. As long as Erdrich stayed in New England, the dialogue sparkled, the characters were vivid and the plot was engaging. Had Erdrich taken the plunge and left the Native American theme out entirely, this book would have been all the better for it.
That being said, there was one passage in the Native American section that caught my eye and held it. On page 118, the character remarks that he has always had a longing, a need to "pierce through" his existence. "I am a boundary to something else, but I don't know what," he says. I read that passage with the dawning realization that Erdrich was talking about herself. That elusive "something else" is what has led Erdrich to increasingly fall back on Native American stereotypes (the "shaman", the "drunkard", the "grandmother")rather than give her characters flesh and blood. The problem, so clearly stated by her character, is that she herself is liminal--someone who marks the border of two cultures but doesn't really belong in either. Her inability to "pierce through" is ultimately what gives Louise Erdrich's writing its strange dreamlike quality. It also makes Erdrich the remarkable, ineffable, haunting writer that she is.
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