I admire Louise Erdrich's characters in this novel. She portrays Native Americans with their strengths and weaknesses, and while we may not initially like many of the characters, they grow on us as we experience their stories. Despite lives ruined by government interventions, booze and hard luck, there is a resilience that generates our respect.
I write about spiritual books, books that provide a connection to the divine without being religious. There is spirituality in Erdrich's characters: in the commitment to themselves, to each other, and to the return home to their past. This is a practical spirituality, a belief in something greater than ourselves. Spirituality is not about naming a God or a Higher Being; it is living as if such an entity or belief exists and matters.
Despite all, her characters rise up as an admirable group, a group that deserves respect for their strength and reserve. Yes, that is the human spirit overcoming the mundane. That is a practical spirituality, a larger-than-life view.
Her characters force us to care. And we do. We want to be better people without realizing why, as we watch them rise above the human condition, no matter how depressing or abusive their lives. Her characters do that. So must we.
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