The Beet Queen, by Louise Erdrich

[shannon_a]

Today Kimberly & I finished reading aloud the second of Louise Erdrich's books, The Beet Queen. Like Love Medicine, many parts of this new book were published individually as short stories. However, it's a much more cohesive story than Love Medicine, and I think the whole work really benefits as a result. Yet, it still holds onto some of the advantages of short stories: a number of the chapters (particularly the early ones) have real kick to them. But everything also continually builds on itself.

The structure of the story is also entirely intriguing, as it spirals through numerous characters, sometimes jumping back in time to tell one character's point of view on events we've already seen from another. It's used to best effect in the last several chapters which all circle around one day in 1972.

I also find the themes of the book quite interesting. It's about nature versus nurture, how some aspects come from how we were born and some from how we were raised. It's about shared misery, and how it can jump from person to person like a plague. It's about the webs that connect us together into society, how they can fray and come back together. And finally it's about the secrets we each hold inside, how we can never truly know why someone did the things they did.

Anyway, fine book. I'm quite looking forward to Tracks, though I've read it before too. We'll start it in a couple of months.

Comments

[robheinsoo.livejournal.com]

I never read The Beet Queen, though I would like to. I think what happened is that I read The Crown of Columbus, the one she'd co-written with Michael Dorris, and it was terrible. So I stopped reading Erdrich's books, which really isn't fair. Thanks for the reminder.

[shannon_a]

She actually co-wrote her first six books with Dorris, The Crown of Columbus is just the only one with his name on it. One presumes, though that the nameless books had less contribution.

In any case, I read Love Medicine, The Beet Queen, Tracks, The Bingo Palace, and Tales of Burning Love last time I went through her books, and I was quite pleased with all of them. I suspect The Beet Queen is one of the best, though we'll see as I continue through this re-read.