Just finished "Future Home of the Living God" by Louise Erdrich. It's a beautiful and entrancing novel in many ways, but I couldn't bring myself to like the ending. I think in one of my most recent book posts I complained about a deus ex machina, so it's ironic that in this case as the pages dwindled I was fully prepared to accept and even welcome one, especially with all of the deus-related stuff going on already. I am left profoundly unsure as to whether Erdrich imagines a positive future beyond our current oppressions, or just futility, when for most of the book it seemed like the former, which is something I seek out in earnest these days. It is of course impressive that a book about innocents being hunted through the streets of Minneapolis & Saint Paul, while a volunteer citizens network organizes to keep them safe, could be published in 2017. There are strong echoes of Octavia Butler here, and in both cases I think it's a marginalized position which allows authors to see with clarity that most mainstream authors miss or don't even attempt.

I think I will seek out more of Erdrich's writing, but only after a bit of a break.

#AmReading #ReadingNow #Bookstodon

@tiotasram I am a fan of Louise Erdrich but not of this one. LaRose is one of her best IMHO.

@miki_lou oh thanks for saying this! Makes me more eager to read more by her.

I really appreciated the character complexity & contradictions in this one, especially the complicated ways that love and hatred and more complex emotions can all coexist between one pair of characters, and especially how Phil's arc ends as a warning about what is and isn't enough to be loyal. The hot dog scene was also completely hilarious but also touching, and then the way it was recalled later was fascinating. But yeah, the ending left me with some dissonance (and maybe that's exactly Erdrich's intention?).

If this is one of her not-greatest works, I'm excited to see more.