4 SOULZ

i heart this book, and what it has to say.

at first it was sort of hard to start reading it because i was just ready for it to be another "native american tragedy story" or whatever, but once i started getting into it, it was hard for me to stop.

i sincerely enjoyed reading the nanapush narrative. in my opinion his voice was humorous but accurate. the way in which he would talk was crude and in some ways unclear at times but it just added to the mysticism and wiseness that only an old indian dude can give. he was ready to talk about his feelings on every subject and also do anything that would prove himself (in the case that he steals the wine). it is only appropriate that nanapush would be the one who would talk in the "epilogue" and not fleur or margaret or polly. more than any of the other characters, i would trust his word.

which brings me to my second favorite narrator in polly elizabeth. in the beginning, the author sets up for the reader to dislike the woman because she is an apparent bigot. however, it is not her fault, as it is society that puts these norms into her mind, and she is only a product of her society. i mean she is from the upper crust of society and lives in a sweet house. she can't like indians because all of these things that they own are taken from them. if they liked indians they wouldn't mistreat them and take their shit. anyway, polly is probably the most touching narrative in the story, because her character shows true dynamic by changing how she feels and how she acts towards most characters in the book. she turns from rigid to flexible and uptight to loose. and in only this way does she find true happiness. i think her part of the story could work on so many people today, which is why i like it. it was really touching that she marries fanton (who she used to hate) and accepts fleur as her sister (which she used to think was less than human). in the end she takes them both as equals and probably even more.

anyway, i really enjoyed the story. it was really good, it pertained to all aspects of life. and i like how fleur wins her land back in a card game, that her retarded son wins! that's such a twist, and really original, thumbs up.