jrboudreau's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-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? No
4.75
ratthew86's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
zoe_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
I honestly didn't know what to expect from this but what I got was a book that felt like Octavia Butler without the obvious and frank magic/science fiction. Maybe if Octavia Butler decided to write a children's book (which is about as "childlike" as you'd expect without actually losing the wondrous atmosphere of a children's book). Obviously this is not a Butler book and any comparisons will fall short sooner or later so I don't want to harp on this to much, but I do want to make clear that I mean to draw this "if you like Butler, you might like Gardens in the Dunes as well" in the best possible way.
There is a lot of wonder, empathy, and exploration to be found within the pages of this novel and Silko really knows how to make one excited about plants (... well, to be fair, you don't need to persuade me to be excited about plants but I am quite confident that this excitement would be shared by other readers, too). Silko also knows how to make the reader feel a lot of warmth and connection with the characters that appear. Naturally, not every character is loving and loveable but it's really easy to let the right characters into one's heart.
There were some parts where the narration lost me somewhat in the latter half of the book but I'm glad to have gone on this journey nontheless. And I'll be re-reading this book a bunch soon, I'm sure.
There is a lot of wonder, empathy, and exploration to be found within the pages of this novel and Silko really knows how to make one excited about plants (... well, to be fair, you don't need to persuade me to be excited about plants but I am quite confident that this excitement would be shared by other readers, too). Silko also knows how to make the reader feel a lot of warmth and connection with the characters that appear. Naturally, not every character is loving and loveable but it's really easy to let the right characters into one's heart.
There were some parts where the narration lost me somewhat in the latter half of the book but I'm glad to have gone on this journey nontheless. And I'll be re-reading this book a bunch soon, I'm sure.
alyssathorn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.25
nolo42's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-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
booksaremyjam's review against another edition
3.0
It feels as though these authors notice a lack of Native American fiction and thus rush to fill the gap which ultimately makes the stories fall short.
This book could be 200 pages shorter and a lot more powerful. Silko has some great plot devices that she just sort of throws to the side going: "meh." Infuriating.
This book could be 200 pages shorter and a lot more powerful. Silko has some great plot devices that she just sort of throws to the side going: "meh." Infuriating.
tangleroot_eli's review against another edition
4.0
A beautiful, lush book. As a playwright, I struggled with the lack of dialogue, but I came to appreciate the necessity of the narrative style to the atmosphere of the story. Despite the "heavy" tone and the sorrow that permeates the plot, this is ultimately a hopeful book and one with a message I really needed right now: the Earth, and our connection to it, is what endures.
clairewords's review against another edition
4.0
2019 is becoming my year of reading Silko, this now is the second novel I've read after [b:Ceremony|588234|Ceremony|Leslie Marmon Silko|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1442880122s/588234.jpg|2937863] and I loved it as much, in some ways perhaps more, given the journey it takes the reader on. As Ceremony was the coing of age of a young man and set over a shorter period of time, Garden in the Dunes is more of a historical novel, set in the late 1800's, following the lives of two native American sisters, Indigo and Sister Salt and at various times, their Grandmother and the white woman Hattie who provides refuge for Indigo for a period of time after she escapes a boarding school she has been virtually imprisoned in.
The novel rests in numerous locations where the girls live and must adapt, but their spiritual home and the place they always wish to return to, the place where their Sand Lizard people come from is the gardens, inland from the river, where there is natural spring and if enough rain, plentiful opportunity to grow what they need to survive.
When the girls are with their Grandmother and return to the gardens they have a purpose, they learn when and how to plant, to prepare food, to stock it, to identify edible plants, they are natural foragers. When they are removed from their natural home, they have to find other ways to survive.
At times it has been necessary to flee, when there is insufficient rain or when pursued by authorities, who effectively kidnap Indian children, separating them from their families and way of life to put them into institutions, forcing another form of education on them.
Sister Salt is put to work in a laundry, then she and twin sisters she befriends decide to set up their own laundry service, living near a dam construction site, surviving together.
It's far-reaching in its geographic span and in its themes, which through the storytelling are often repeated in various forms through the behaviours of multiple characters along the way. Exploitation and corruption are everywhere, interfering in the way people try to live their lives, imposing their ways, trying to keep people(s) separate or making them conform to one perceived way.
Indigo never loses the essence of who she is, despite being groomed and dressed to accompany Hattie and her prospector/explorer husband, despite being taken far away to Europe, her heart is like a magnet, she never loses sight of her intention to find her sister and her mother. Fortunately for her, Hattie is a sensitive and intelligent woman, who though the child brings out a maternal response and desire in her, doesn't ignore this wish and promises to help her find them.
It's a brilliant depiction of so many issues around origins and identity and the ways people survive and thrive, in particular women. We see how their attempts and how they are thwarted, then how they compromise and how being with other women provides them a force, even when they are from different tribes or cultures, sometimes that is a necessary element to their survival, to learn from other women, from other experiences, to share what they know.
Despite it being a relatively long read, it felt like it could have gone on, some threads leave the reader wondering what happened next (Big Candy and Delena, Hattie), the endings come about a little quickly. It could easily have been two or three books.
That said, the final page and the closing sentences are beautifully given over to nature, to a demonstration that though we may grieve at what is passing, nature will always ensure that new life prevails, that something will survive from the ruin. That hope can manifest, though it may not be what we expect.
Themes
Women surviving, collaborating, working together - the gardens, the laundry, Aunt Bronwyn
Exploitation, domination - the dam, river, the rubber trees, flowers, orchids, citron, meteorites
Oppression/Judgement - of authorities over Indians, of one tribe over another, of men over women, of capitalist over explorer,
Spiritual, mystical, respect, ritual - Hattie's thesis and its rejection by the male order, the Messiah dance, Delena and the rains, standing stones in Bath, sculptures in Lucca
The novel rests in numerous locations where the girls live and must adapt, but their spiritual home and the place they always wish to return to, the place where their Sand Lizard people come from is the gardens, inland from the river, where there is natural spring and if enough rain, plentiful opportunity to grow what they need to survive.
When the girls are with their Grandmother and return to the gardens they have a purpose, they learn when and how to plant, to prepare food, to stock it, to identify edible plants, they are natural foragers. When they are removed from their natural home, they have to find other ways to survive.
At times it has been necessary to flee, when there is insufficient rain or when pursued by authorities, who effectively kidnap Indian children, separating them from their families and way of life to put them into institutions, forcing another form of education on them.
The authorities judged Sister Salt to be too much older than the others to be sent away to Indian boarding school. There was hope the little ones might be educated away from their blankets. But this one? Chances were she'd be a troublemaker and might urge the young ones to attempt escape. Orders were for Sister Salt to remain in custody of the Indian agency at Parker while Indigo was sent to the Sherman Institute in Riverside, California.
Sister Salt is put to work in a laundry, then she and twin sisters she befriends decide to set up their own laundry service, living near a dam construction site, surviving together.
It's far-reaching in its geographic span and in its themes, which through the storytelling are often repeated in various forms through the behaviours of multiple characters along the way. Exploitation and corruption are everywhere, interfering in the way people try to live their lives, imposing their ways, trying to keep people(s) separate or making them conform to one perceived way.
Indigo never loses the essence of who she is, despite being groomed and dressed to accompany Hattie and her prospector/explorer husband, despite being taken far away to Europe, her heart is like a magnet, she never loses sight of her intention to find her sister and her mother. Fortunately for her, Hattie is a sensitive and intelligent woman, who though the child brings out a maternal response and desire in her, doesn't ignore this wish and promises to help her find them.
It's a brilliant depiction of so many issues around origins and identity and the ways people survive and thrive, in particular women. We see how their attempts and how they are thwarted, then how they compromise and how being with other women provides them a force, even when they are from different tribes or cultures, sometimes that is a necessary element to their survival, to learn from other women, from other experiences, to share what they know.
Despite it being a relatively long read, it felt like it could have gone on, some threads leave the reader wondering what happened next (Big Candy and Delena, Hattie), the endings come about a little quickly. It could easily have been two or three books.
That said, the final page and the closing sentences are beautifully given over to nature, to a demonstration that though we may grieve at what is passing, nature will always ensure that new life prevails, that something will survive from the ruin. That hope can manifest, though it may not be what we expect.
Themes
Women surviving, collaborating, working together - the gardens, the laundry, Aunt Bronwyn
Exploitation, domination - the dam, river, the rubber trees, flowers, orchids, citron, meteorites
Oppression/Judgement - of authorities over Indians, of one tribe over another, of men over women, of capitalist over explorer,
Spiritual, mystical, respect, ritual - Hattie's thesis and its rejection by the male order, the Messiah dance, Delena and the rains, standing stones in Bath, sculptures in Lucca