Reviews

The Night Watchman by Louise Erdrich

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bcgg's review against another edition

5.0

Reading this book, I knew I was reading something quite extraordinary. The imagery so vivid, the prose rich and the history so clear.
I am so grateful to Louise Erdrich for giving us this novel. It moved me in ways I cannot describe and only wish I could.

Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for fiction

ortizzyy's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

brob1856's review against another edition

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4.0

4 stars - but only if you like Native American culture and or their plight in this country. You might be bored otherwise! I am definitely interested in reading more from this author!

golightlyholly's review against another edition

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4.0

I had to read this book somewhat faster than normal, as it was for an assignment (that I procrastinated). But I throughly enjoyed it! I think I would like it better if I took my time with it, but I loved the characters, and the way their stories all connected. It certainly wasn’t a difficult read, which I thought might happen if I knew it was for an assignment. time to relate it to global development I guess

clevergirl_moneke's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful informative inspiring sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

alanathehangry's review against another edition

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5.0

Words won't be able convey how beautiful this book is. Erdrich's writing is rich with haunting memories and deep thoughtfulness. She strikes clean, true, and honest, showing scars of the jagged history Native Americans (specifically the Turtle Mountain Band of Chippewa Indians) endured, cut through by invading white folk.

She effortlessly weaves so many stories together, some heartbreaking, some hopeful. History and tradition of her people flow through the story, through language, through action, through memories. It could've been a dry story about how the Turtle Mountain Band fought to keep their tribal status. But it was so much more. If you could twist and wrench this story, so much would drip out of it, because it's so full of emotion, honesty, and history.

Her writing is supreme, using characters' surroundings to reflect their emotional state. Her phrases seem to follow and haunt me.

I have a severe book hangover after this one and am now going to eagerly eat up the rest of her work.