Bag O' Books: THE ROUND HOUSE

The Round HouseThe Round House by Louise Erdrich


This is the first Louise Erdrich novel I've read from beginning to end (I started "The Night Watchman" right when the pandemic started and got distracted) and I am utterly devastated.

This novel plays like an update of "Stand By Me," only set on a reservation. But the indigenous setting aside, I was about the age of the protagonist, Joe, in the precise era of this story, and shared Joe's obsession with "Star Trek: The Next Generation" at the time. I am stunned out how clearly and precisely Erdrich nails the interior life of an early teen nerdy boy -- I feel completely seen.

But I don't just love this novel because it reminds me of, well, me, but for how well it transports me into a real but unfamiliar world, it's details so closely observed, its storytelling so readable. I learned things from "The Round House." But I was captured by it, too.

Utterly absorbing. Heart-breaking. This is my favorite book I've read this year.

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