LaRose
Erdrich, LouiseWhen five-year-old Dusty Ravich is shot in a hunting accident, the Ravich and Iron families must find a way to deal with the tragedy on their close-knit North Dakota reservation. Following ancient Obijwe tribal traditions, five-year-old LaRose Iron is in turn 'gifted' to the Ravich family in retribution, and thus begins a journey of fragile recovery.
With its focus on contemporary Native American culture, this is a powerful, well-crafted story examining the quest for justice and restoration in a fractured community.
Pages
372
372
Year
2016
2016
Reviews
09-05-2023
A great read, although at times grim and sad, as well as funny at times. An interesting look at First People's culture, which in its spiritual beliefs has some similarities to Mori culture. The book elicited a great discussion.
13-11-2020
An excellent read, with well developed characters that are memorable and a complex plot. We were dismayed by the Life section of the plot which gives a narrow understanding of her. We would like to see a wider focus with more depth to her life.
30-08-2020
A challenging read but very rewarding for those who persevered. Very descriptive and interesting journey into cultural values and beliefs. A sad read for many while dealing with winter and Covid-19.
17-03-2020
We were very divided, and our star rating varied from 2/12 to 41/2 stars. Some of us found it hard work and others loved it. The theme upset one member but others could relate it to practices in other cultures. Some of us found the character depth, interplay, dialogue, gradual unfolding of back stores and the way Edrich 'showed' rather than 'preached' meant a great read. Others found it rambling, confusing and hated no quotation marks. We all agreed found it needed time to get into it and to read it in chunks and that her descriptions were lyrical.
12-08-2019
An interesting glimpse into Native American culture and beliefs with rich, poetic language, but confusing at times and too long. The lack of speech punctuation drove a couple of members "crazy" and a couple more didn't finish it. A challenging read.
12-08-2019
Group enjoyed the book although some found it sad. Good discussion.
17-07-2019
This book provoked the most extensive/sustained discussion we have had! It was engaging, well structured, well written and evocative.
17-06-2019
The group found it (at times) a long, dark and difficult read, but enjoyed learning about aspects of indigenous American culture.
27-05-2019
Most of our group enjoyed reading the book for different reasons - some liked the layers of different stories, others enjoyed the characters, particularly the children - and all found the elements of Native American culture interesting. However in general we found the story overly complicated, with confusing characters and timelines, and although the loose ends were tied up neatly the conclusion felt unsatisfactory and out of character.
08-04-2019
Very divided on this one. The positive comments included powerful, well executed, lots of different constructs (faith, morality, forgiveness, love), good descriptions and a lot packed into a small book. However others found it a struggle to read with flat characters who were difficult to empathise with. Not everyone finished it. Everyone agreed this was a challenging read.
28-03-2019
LaRose tells the story of several characters living in one community. Group members found some stories compelling and others less interesting, which meant they enjoyed only parts of the book. Members who had read other books by Louise Erdrich felt it wasn't her best work.
06-03-2019
We liked the dynamics and the cultural bent, but many of us disliked the writing style. Emotive and probably a great book club book, but we were not particularly impressed.