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Summary: Witt
Review: Love Medicine, deals with the struggles of a Native American community in America. This book shows us how challenging a community can really be. It deals with love, hate, jealousy, compassion, sex, and discrimination. I enjoyed reading this book. Marcus Beard-Cal Poly Pomona
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Summary: Great multi-generational Indian family saga
Review: Many fascinating charcaters, and--in an effort to keep them straight--I have a done a simple "family tree" to show who's related to who. If anyone would like a copy, post a note with your review and I'll send one.
---MReynolds
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Summary: Disjointed, hard to care about
Review: Ms. Erdrich has some good moments. A line here or there worth remembering, one that gives the reader pause. But as a whole, Love Medicine is difficult to follow, more of an impressionist picture of the lives of individuals in several generations of two Indian families, than of snapshots of realities. Covering three generations, Erdrich jumps around, going over the same time and events from different character's eyes. I found it hard to follow. Remember Faulkner's Unvanquished? There are a few moments when this approach works, but on the whole, it is redundant. Her characters talk in sensual ways--they seem to go through life cooking, cleaning, smelling, drinking and smoking. Deep thoughts about fate and society are stated with the same simpleness as the color and design of a dress; sexual scenes are told with dispassionate summary. I don't get to read for long stretches, so I found I did not want to try to think back the previous chapters to remember, "Oh, yeah, she is so-and-so's grandmother." What I did enjoy is the subtle way she shows how our government's Indian policies have played out in the generations of Indians on reservations. But this is not really an "Indian" book. It is a family's histroy. Fuzzy Snapshots of lives told in simple detail-- a little TOO simple?
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Summary: The Plunge of the Brave
Review: Native Americans have not been treated well in fiction. Too often, authors merely fall back on old stereotypes (such as Cooper's Leatherstocking Tales), but authors also risk the danger of reverse racism, in which a minority group is portrayed as so noble and godlike that they insult the human traits of the group (Dances With Wolves, for example). A realistic portrait of Native Americans is desperately needed, and Louise Erdrich fills this void impressively.This is a deep, complicated book, encompassing many years and characters, jumping back and forth through time, alternating viewpoints with every chapter. Faulknerian in scope, the book is also blessed with a rich sense of humor, which lightens the mood and rounds out the characters. Yes, these people suffer in the book, and the plight of reservation life is presented without romance or any softening of the blow. Yet we laugh as much as we cry throughout "Love Medicine," because Erdrich is a gifted enough author to replace pathos with witty perserverence. This book requires patience and time, but has rich rewards. For an uplifting look at Native American life, and an insightful view on human nature in general, try Louise Erdrich.
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Summary: Reality Shock
Review: Sometimes I will find that I live my life expecting everyone elses to be comparable to mine. Love Medicine proves that the way I live my life is not the only way to live, even in the U.S.. The book deals with the a community of Native Americans and their culture, and hardships dealing with the American government and each other. They live the life they have been handed living on reservations and doing what they can. They seem to find the reservation, or should I say the people on it, as family even though many of the characters are not blood, and that is where they draw their strength pulling back from the world around them.
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Summary: sucked hard
Review: The book was definitly written by a retarded author who is full of caca
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Summary: CSU Pomona ENG 105-23
Review: The Love Medicine is set on the American Indian lifestyle. It makes you wonder why these characters in the book had to live their life like that. I love almost every story about Native Americans but this novel showed the "real" side of their life and how they must cope with their problems. The novel was sometimes confusing, especially with all the characters and the many relationships going on. You must be very openminded to read this book and must appreciate the Navite American culture. This novel was good but not the best that I have read.
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Summary: Read Nasdijj instead
Review: This book presents a poetic, emotional account of Native American life, but the shifts in voice give the book a disjointed feel. It is necessary to frequently refer repeatedly to the sometimes inadequate geneology at the beginning of the book. Another drawback is the sheer disbelievability as the second half of the book becomes a parade of tragic accidents, acts, and deaths.
The entire time I was reading this book, while it was an engaging, interesting, relatively light read, I was wishing that I was rereading Nasdijj's <u>The Blood Runs Like a River Through My Dreams</u>, or <u>The Boy and the Dog are Sleeping</u>, or <u>Geronimo's Bones,</u> which I've not yet read. Nasdijj presents a factual symphony of life in, including that of Native Americans, in his memoirs, presenting some of the most gorgeous prose available from a living writer.
Anyone considering reading Love Medicine should take the opportunity to experience Nasdijj's measureless passion and priceless insight instead, or at least in addition to this novel.
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Summary: love medicine
Review: This book was not a book that I would normally want to read, but because of the emphasis our Englush class had on families,it became somewhat interesting. It was interesting to learn about another culture (Native American) and how their different values and beliefs effected their family lifestyle. Overall, the book was somewhat informative and unique in style and organization.
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Summary: A great novel that transcends time and space.
Review: This is a brilliantly written story by an equally brilliant writer. Her novel, which is in fact a multitude of stories, spans generations, cultures, and boundaries. It is an epic tale of love, loss, and the constant opportunity that we may succeed and be made stronger by life's mysteries. It will touch any reader, regardless of race, age, and gender. It is, in fact, a book for everyone--a book about everyone.
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