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jrosenstein's review
4.0
The Antelope Wife turned out to be a surprisingly good book to read during the pandemic. It is not escapist, very far from it, but it is transportive. Erdrich builds her own world that hovers somewhere between reality and fantasy, where everything is heightened and every step of an ordinary life feels mythic and momentous. Maybe that's the truly beautiful thing about her writing. She writes about ordinary people as if they were saints or legends, yet with a deep understanding that we're all just flawed humans muddling our way through, hoping that there is some kind of design to our pain.
dejnozkova's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.25
foxglovefairy's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
3.0
zoraidasolo's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This is the most beautiful book I’ve read in a long time
yzma_into_it's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
book_concierge's review against another edition
4.0
Digital audio read by the author.
From the book jacket: “Family stories repeat themselves in patterns and waves, generation to generation, across bloods and time. Once the pattern is set we go on replicating it,” writes Louise Erdrich in The Antelope Wife, her sixth novel. Rooted in the landscape of city life, yet continually influenced by the power of Ojibwa family, the intricacies of Ojibwa language and religious belief, this book extends the branches of the families who populate Erdrich’s work and reflects the irrevocable patterns set in motion by certain fateful acts.
My reactions
I just have to say that Erdrich is one of my favorite writers. Her prose is luminous and poetic. Her use of magical realism seamless. It reminds me of listening to my grandparents, aunts and uncles tell stories of family lore, sitting on a dark porch of a summer evening. I would be entranced by their stories and the images they painted found their way into my dreams and into the very fiber of my being.
The novel weaves history, contemporary urban life, legend, and sacred myth into a marvelous tapestry of a story. There is violence, and lust, and tenderness to break your heart. There is birth and death, humor and tragedy, betrayal and forgiveness, broken people scattered on the battlefield of life, and others standing tall and moving forward.
I want to go back and read it again.
While Erdrich frequently uses characters over and over again in her novels, you can really read any of them as a stand-alone work. This novel was first published in 1998, and reissued in 2016 as Antelope Woman.
I was excited to get an audio read by Erdrich. The poetry of her language really comes out in her performance. HOWEVER … I realized too late that this was an abridged version. No wonder I felt that I would better enjoy the novel if I read the text … which I did.
From the book jacket: “Family stories repeat themselves in patterns and waves, generation to generation, across bloods and time. Once the pattern is set we go on replicating it,” writes Louise Erdrich in The Antelope Wife, her sixth novel. Rooted in the landscape of city life, yet continually influenced by the power of Ojibwa family, the intricacies of Ojibwa language and religious belief, this book extends the branches of the families who populate Erdrich’s work and reflects the irrevocable patterns set in motion by certain fateful acts.
My reactions
I just have to say that Erdrich is one of my favorite writers. Her prose is luminous and poetic. Her use of magical realism seamless. It reminds me of listening to my grandparents, aunts and uncles tell stories of family lore, sitting on a dark porch of a summer evening. I would be entranced by their stories and the images they painted found their way into my dreams and into the very fiber of my being.
The novel weaves history, contemporary urban life, legend, and sacred myth into a marvelous tapestry of a story. There is violence, and lust, and tenderness to break your heart. There is birth and death, humor and tragedy, betrayal and forgiveness, broken people scattered on the battlefield of life, and others standing tall and moving forward.
I want to go back and read it again.
While Erdrich frequently uses characters over and over again in her novels, you can really read any of them as a stand-alone work. This novel was first published in 1998, and reissued in 2016 as Antelope Woman.
I was excited to get an audio read by Erdrich. The poetry of her language really comes out in her performance. HOWEVER … I realized too late that this was an abridged version. No wonder I felt that I would better enjoy the novel if I read the text … which I did.
knod78's review against another edition
2.0
This book was magic realism to 11. Half the time, I had no idea what was going on and quite honestly, it was too weird. I think if things were explained better, than maybe I would have enjoyed the weirdness. But it wasn't explained. In fact, once things were happening, we get moved into another weird part of the story, like a tangent and then some weird stuff happens. When the story followed an actual story for a time period, I was in the story and wanting to know more. But it didn't always last. I couldn't invest in the characters, but I tried. I didn't really like any of them, especially Klaus and Richard. And I'm still trying to understand why Klaus kidnapped Calico Sweetheart in the first place.
I will say the author writes beautifully; I just wished there was a smoother transition between the stories. Although I loved the dog's point of view on survival, I just didn't get it nor did I understand his death and return to life and whatever that was.
At least it had a clear ending.
I will say the author writes beautifully; I just wished there was a smoother transition between the stories. Although I loved the dog's point of view on survival, I just didn't get it nor did I understand his death and return to life and whatever that was.
At least it had a clear ending.