Painted drum
From Amazon
I do not hav e this book,It was shippped to a friend to bring to me in The Dominican Republic.
It arrived too late. I will get it in June when I go to the states.
The Painted Drum
From Amazon
Another excellent book by Louise Erdrich~!! My husband and I both enjoyed it, very much.
Keeps your interest from start to finish and is also very informative with regard to the American Indian and their customs.
I enjoyed it immensely and highly recommend it.
Contemporary Sections are Better
From Amazon
Painted Drum has compeling themes about the responsibility and shortcoming between mothers and daughters. I won't say more since this is an important part of the novel since it ties the three narratives together.
Divided into three narrative styles. The contemporary setting with the main character and her mother is best. The "Native" sections going back two generations are so-so. I know Louise says she's Native, but I worry that she contributes more to the stereotypes of us by these types of writing. It's has no focus, we're drunks, we're lost in our traditions mixed with mysticism. Frankly, that doesn't do anything for us. Some of us still know who we are, can speak our languages, and attend our ceremonies, WITHOUT the aid of alcohol. We don't have study books to find them and ourselves. That's how I see Louse's contemporary characters. I didn't care for the second setting with a mother with no motherly instinct leaving her children in a cold house without food. (Has this woman heard for foodstamps? Don't talk to me about dignity. She wanted to pawn herself for food, but instead she gets stuck in a bar. Louse, stay away from Native characters on the rez!) Set in a contemporary setting but on the reservation, her elder daughters saves her siblings and hears the beating of the drum. She makes these characters almost comical, no development, and the writing bares to a level that I had to flip pages to find out how long this narrative would last before the better writing style resurfaced.
I like the themes of the book, and I think Louise could have written it from a contemporary New Hampshire setting for the entire book, and she would have achieved a better paced, interesting plot. Mixing the the other two lowered the writing quality, hence the three stars.
The contemporary setting has the most poetic writing. It's pretty, and I ended up re-reading sections because of its beauty. I bought the book because a friend read a section of it (the contemporary setting), and I was intrigued. I was not in the least bit disappointed in this respect.
Most people will fall for the exact things that perturbed me about this novel. I was also bothered that Louise left a lot of a lot of unresolved issues with the main character. She steals a drum, returns it on the belief that "white men" steal from Natives all the time, and justifies her belief, and gets away with the crime. I wanted her to not sit in the evening with her aging mother and feel sure of herself of having returned the drum to its rightful owner. I wanted a more complex novel with conflict. I understand Louise often returns to her characters, so she might very well investigate this character for a future novel. Stay tuned, I guess.
Bittersweet and Joyous; The Painted Drum
From Amazon
The Painted Drum, by Louise Erdrich 10/10 (5/5)
I know I say this about many of the books I read, but I REALLY liked this book. I liked it so much that I intend to reread it sometime soon, after it has a chance to settle somewhat. Like many of Erdrich's books, this one is about Native Americans, and the voice feels authentic and human. It is divided in four parts. In the first, we meet a mother daughter team who deals with people's estates after they die, or go in a nursing home, etc. We also learn about their personal lives, and the personal and work intertwine in compelling ways. I hate reading reviews that give away the plot of the book or what's going to happen, but it is difficult to write about a book without mentioning an specifics. The daughter steals a painted drum, a Native American ceremonial drum, from an estate. She wants to return it to where it came from, to the Anishinabe people. In the second part, told by a native elder, we learn the story of the drum and all the events that lead up to the making of the drum and what happened to it afterwards. It's a multi-generational story with deep impact. The effect of the drum touches many people and their lives are enriched (or impoverished) as a result. The book is full of pain, tenderness and magic. Erdrich looks calmly at what it means to be human in all our imperfections, and raises our humanity up of few notches. It is melancholy in a bitterweet and somehow joyous way. I want to take nothing away from the telling of the story, all I can say is I hope anyone who might love it as I did will read it.
The Painted Drum: A Heather Pugh Review
From Amazon
Louise Erdrich paints a story beautifully around the lives separate people in her book entitled The Painted Drum. The book itself is actually split into four sections, each giving the stories of different people and their tragic situations which come together through one common denominator, a sacred drum. With a rich history involving betrayal, death, grief and renewal, we come to find that the drum beats with the spirit of a lost child and through her spirit the characters in the story eventually find peace within their own lives.
The Painted Drum is very insightful when trying to gain a greater understanding of the grieving and strength that is ever present within the human condition. Louise Erdrich's own rich native history resonates through every word and the overall outcome is a brilliantly constructed piece of authentic literature that would be found enjoyable, touching, and educational by any reader.
The issue of spirituality is ever present even though characters throughout the story do not come off as extremely "religious". In this way, Erdrich shows the ways in which the natural world and spirits of the deceased act as healers and spiritual guides for those living here on this earth. In this same sense, there is also a strong wisdom that is found from animals in the story. And, as many Indians joke, a story isn't an "Indian story" unless it incorporates a dog. Well, there are dogs, coyotes, and wolves that each have a lesson of their own to offer the reader, so in this way, the story certainly qualifies as truly native. Memory and the pain that comes from the past is a large component at work as well and the past constitutes as a building ground for each of the characters. The incorporation of Erdrich's native vocabulary from the Ojibwe Tribe also adds to the novel's authentic nature.
Overall one of the most touching stories I've read in a long time!