The first Pulitzer Challenge discussion on Saturday was a wonderful experience for us here at South Broadway Library. The dialogue was lively and people were engaged and enthusiastic. The discussion mostly centered on themes in the Plague of Doves: religion, doves, racism, guilt, the Land, small towns, Native American customs, and storytelling—just for starters. I feel like we just barely scratched the surface on some of the topics that were brought up; we certainly could have talked about the book for another hour! Not everyone liked the book and some had a difficult time with certain parts of it, but I think we all came to appreciate, or at least have a better understanding of, what Louise Erdrich was trying to accomplish with the novel.
One of my
favorite parts of our discussion was digging into Dr. Cordelia Lochren’s
character a bit and why she did the things she did. The notion of her family’s
murderer walking around all those years with no one the wiser is unsettling.
There are still some unresolved mysteries in this book. I would love to hear
some thoughts from people who attended. What was your favorite/most significant
part?
Stay
tuned for the video coverage of the discussion!
Yes, that was very interesting, but I think if you read more Erdrich, you will find that she employs this literary device often in her books. I wish we could have discussed the imagery and irony of her characters' names. Billy Peace (who brings anything but peace) and the town of Pluto (Roman god of the underworld).
ReplyDeleteThe discussion group was wonderful. I loved the way everyone participated and had wonderful insight into the rich depths of Louise's writing. Her books always deal with justice in some way and it seems in this book she was tackling the miscarriage of justice and the effects on the family members and community. I especially liked how she introduced the idea of "Indian justice" when Corwin Peace has to learn to play the violin as a "punishment" for stealing it.
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