I've had Louise Erdrich's The Night Watchman (#1,181) on my "To Read" pile for quite a while. I decided that a cruise would give me the leisure to appreciate the book. I was right to save it for this moment. The subject of the novel is a member of the Turtle Mountain Reservation in North Dakota, ThomasWazhushk. He tries to be active in tribal Chippewa affairs, fighting against the indifference of the Federal bureaucracy. Mostly his wins are small, but when he reads about a Utah Congressman's efforts to "terminate" the Turtle Mountain Reservation as a separate entity, forcing the Chippewa off their already meager property and disbanding them as a tribe, something in Thomas snaps. He cannot let this happen.
Louise Erdrich has famously used her own grandfather as the source for building the character of Thomas, and has peopled the novel with a host of interesting personalities. Family, friends, tribal and work connections all play a role here.
I guess I was expecting a serious "literary" novel. What I got instead was an engaging portrait of people just trying to leave their own stamp on the world in the place they were born. In truth, I found the book hard to put down once I started it. I'm just sorry it took me so long. If you haven't discovered what a wonderful writer Louise Erdrich is, The Night Watchman is a great place to start.
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