Donnelly Library's Plague of Doves Discussion Highlights

Donnelly Library had its second meeting of the Pulitzer Prizes Reading Group on Thursday, September 22, 2016 when we got together to discuss Louise Erdrich’s novel Plague of Doves. As with our first meeting, the discussion of the book and the author was lively. Some of the highlights from the discussion include the below.

• Erasure of modern Native American lives and stories in most of American literature and how Erdrich’s novels include tales of contemporary Native Americans. 
• How the landscape of the Great Plains is a character in the stories that comprise this novel. Reading group participants from this region remarked that her stories capture the landscape and its influence on area residents’ lives. 
• Reading group participants also noted that this novel is more a cycle of stories than a traditional novel. It was interesting to learn that sections of the novel had been published separately as standalone short stories. 
• Erdrich’s elliptical storytelling style was also a point of discussion. The characters and their relationships with each other unfold slowly throughout the different stories of the novel much like how we learn about other people in life. 
• Religion and spirituality are important to many of the characters in the novel. These are important to many people, but are not always included in American literature. 

What did you find most interesting about the second meeting’s discussion or about the novel? Please post in the comments below.

Questions for Donnelly Library's Discussion of Plague of Doves

Donnelly Library’s Pulitzer Prize Challenge reading group has its second meeting on Thursday, September 22. Below are a few questions to think about for the upcoming discussion.

Take a look at the questions and please post your own questions or discussion points for this novel in the comments below.

Questions

1. Although there is no ghost in Erdrich’s novel as there is in Morrison’s Beloved, the past haunts the communities of this novel. What events haunt the characters of Plague of Doves?
2. Erdrich uses multiple narrators in this novel. Why do you think she chooses to use changing perspectives? What do the different narrators reveal about the history of the communities in this novel?
3. How does religion and spirituality effect the different characters’ lives?  
4. What is the role of the murder plot in this novel? Can this novel be called a murder mystery? How would you describe this novel?

About the Author: Louise Erdrich

"Louise Erdrich is the author of fifteen novels as well as volumes of poetry, children’s books, short stories, and a memoir of early motherhood. Her novel The Round House won the National Book Award for Fiction. The Plague of Doves won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and her debut novel, Love Medicine, was the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Erdrich has received the Library of Congress Prize in American Fiction, the prestigious PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She lives in Minnesota with her daughters and is the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore." From Harper Collins.

Albuquerque Dialogues Picking up Steam

Check out this video of the very first discussion at the Albuquerque-Bernalillo County Public Library's South Broadway library, on Louise Erdrich's Plague of Doves.

Plague of Doves Recap

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!

Horror and Humor in The Plague of Doves

It's not long now until our first book discussion and we've got a good number of people registered. This novel is so rich it's hard to decide what to focus on. One thing that got my attention right off is the way Louise Erdrich uses dichotomies in The Plague of Doves to create conflict. There are the obvious ones, of course, like indigenous vs. white culture and Christianity vs. the Chippewa religion, but I’m intrigued by the contradictions of the sacred vs. the profane and humor mixed with horror that arise, especially in Mooshum’s stories; in particular, the use of humor before the lynching. I’m looking forward to hearing everyone’s thoughts on these ideas, and more!

More Discussion - Plague of Doves

Hello everyone!  I will be sending a group email to everyone who has signed up so far.  One of the instructions will be for you to find this blog and make a post.  We have people still signing up and taking the challenge.

Today I would like you to think of Mooshum and his role as storyteller and historian about the events that take place throughout the book.  How believable are his stories? What is your first impression of him as you meet him on page 6 and learn of his fear of outhouses and the reason why. Evelina Harp describes him as, "our favorite indoor entertainment, next to the television."  Do his stories serve to humor, to educate, or to preserve history?  Or all three.  It is a treasured personality trait to be a good storyteller in Indian culture.  The ability to tell a good story is a rare gift and should be appreciated.

I look forward to our meeting on August 27th.  Feel free to post comments or questions to one another, this is a great forum to prepare for our discussion group.  See you soon!

And we're off! - Plague of Doves

Hello everyone!  First of all, let me thank you for taking the challenge with the South Broadway Library.  As you begin to read "The Plague of Doves," please remember to check the blog regularly as I will be posting questions to help facilitate our discussion on August 27th.  Please post any ideas or questions you might have.  The blog is intended to be a tool to keep us communicating as we read.

The first question I would like you to consider as you begin the book or even you're already on page 74 like me is, "Why do you think Erdrich uses a series of different narrators who tell their own stories, going backward and forward in time? What effect does this narrative style have? How do the voices of multiple storytellers reflect the novel’s broader themes?"  It may help to keep a list of characters (and there are quite a few) and their relationships with one another.  

Happy Reading and we'll see you August 27th.

Albuquerque, Are You Ready for the Pulitzer Challenge?

Albuquerque Bernalillo County Librarians in the South Broadway branch are ready to celebrate five months of Pulitzer winning literature.  Although we're just focusing our discussion groups on three novels and two short story collections, these wonderful librarians have assembled a broad collection! 15 lucky participants can sign up here to receive free copies of the books to be discussed.

First up, Plague of Doves by Louise Erdrich, on August 27.

Plague of Doves in Deming

The Pulitzer Dialogues in Deming had a lively discussion around Louise Erdrich's Plague of Doves! Kudos to these active and engaged readers for tackling so many aspects of this book so deftly, from spirituality to romance. Everyone was thrilled to get their copy of the next book, Junot Diaz' Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

Meet the Author: Louise Erdrich

Louise Erdrich is the author of fifteen novels as well as volumes of poetry, children’s books, short stories, and a memoir of early motherhood. Her novel The Round House won the National Book Award for Fiction. The Plague of Doves won the Anisfield-Wolf Book Award and was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize, and her debut novel, Love Medicine, was the winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award. Erdrich has received the Library of Congress Prize in American Fiction, the prestigious PEN/Saul Bellow Award for Achievement in American Fiction, and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. She lives in Minnesota with her daughters and is the owner of Birchbark Books, a small independent bookstore. From HarperCollins' bio

More about Louise Erdrich at Notable Biographies.

Pulitzer Dialogues in Gallup

Louise Erdrich on Native American Heritage

"The Plague of Doves" @ Octavia Fellin Library (Part II)

In an earlier post, I mentioned one the more confusing plot points in Louise Erdrich's "The Plague of Doves" and how our group discussed it.  While I thought this was the most interesting part of our discussion, it was far from the only one.  Here, I'm going to run through some other topics we discussed.  If you ever find yourself in a book club with "The Plague of Doves" in front of you, these are all great aspects to bring up!

Early in the discussion, religion was brought up, and differing religions in the story play a central role in many ways.  Mooshum and Father Cassidy argue over elements of Catholicism and Mooshum's soul.  From sexuality to transubstantiation, Mooshum takes Father Cassidy's beliefs and turns them around.  In a similar situation, snakes and doves seem to have their roles reversed from what they would be in traditional Christianity.  Marn Wolde describes the snakes as having "judgement in them... And they have love"  (p160).  On the other hand, a swarm of doves is described devouring crops and crushing houses on the first page of the book.  That's not even getting into the cult founded by Billy Peace.

We found that characters were constantly haunted by the past, particularly their crimes or sins, and just as frequently they end up trying to avoid those ghosts as long as they can.  As a major spoiler, the man who committed the crime three Native men were executed for spends his entire life trying to avoid a meeting with the sole survivor of his murderous actions, only to be nursed to health by her.  John Wildstrand forces Billy Peace into kidnapping his wife.  As a result of this, Billy flees the town, joins the army, and founds a cult.

While these were just a couple of the topics we touched upon, there were a lot more.  Race and sexual identity both came up, particularly in relation to Evelina.  We touched on how the characters in the book deal with trauma and how labels/identities change how they perceive each other.  There was a lot in "The Plague of Doves." It was a great discussion and I think everyone in the group would highly recommend it.

Video: Pulitzer Dialogues in Las Cruces

Nothing that happens, nothing, is not connected here by blood.

So says Judge Antone Coutts in Louise Erdrich's Plague of Doves. Over generations, survivors of a tragedy--and their descendants-- in the town of Pluto end up as family, friends and lovers. Some reviewers think that makes Plague of Doves a quintessentially American story.

Warning! Family tree involves spoilers!

Retrieved from Plague of Doves Weebly

"The Plague of Doves" Discussion @ Octavia Fellin Library

I'm pretty sure everyone else has moved on to the next book in the Pulitzer series, but I want to linger on "The Plague of Doves" for a while.  The Octavia Fellin Library Pulitzer Discussion Group read through Louise Erdrich's novel this week and found a lot to unpack, and I'm going to take a couple posts to do that.  So let's start off with the one thing that left everyone head scratching: Doctor Cordelia Lochren.

This is the point where you shouldn't keep reading if you haven't finished the book.

A lot of information about Dr. C is revealed towards the end of the book and one thing that really stood out to our readers was the fact that she wouldn't treat Natives.

"She had let it be known, generally, that she would not treat our people.  They all knew why.  It was more than your garden variety bigotry.  There was history involved..." p.292

This person had been Judge Coutts' lover and she had treated him in the past, but it is revealed to him that she "had turned people down - even in a crisis." For the Judge, this is an epiphany.  His ex never wanted to be seen with him and she would never stay with him because she has a deep-seated hatred, something "more than your garden variety bigotry."  It answers all his questions and the scales are lifted from his eyes... Sort of.

The very next chapter, we get Cordelia's perspective on the matter, and it ends up being a lot more than that garden variety bigotry.

"One thing shamed her, only, one specific paralysis.  She was known to turn Indians away as patients; it was thought that she was a bigoted person.  In truth, she experienced an unsteady weakness in their presence.  It seemed beyond her control..." p.298

For the readers in our group, this explanation was slightly less than satisfying.  She clearly didn't hate them from her perspective, but feeling an "unsteady weakness" didn't really justify abandoning one's Hippocratic Oath in a crisis.  Some thought that the complex feelings she had towards Natives and especially the Judge should have made her more willing to help them.

Having a long standing hatred, as the Judge was taught to believe seemed the more logical answer in many ways.  Cordelia's truth was muddier, like many truths in the book, and really gave our group pause.

My Life Was a Hungry Story

"The Plague of Doves" Book Discussion @ Branigan Library

A Plague of Doves, takes place in the small town of Pulto, North Dakota.  The novel begins with an unknown man standing in a room filled with the scent of blood.  He plays the violin solo on a gramophone while he repairs his jammed gun. The screaming baby in the crib is soothed by the music.  This gruesome murder in 1911, of one of Pluto's white families was unsolved.  Innocent were hung and distortions of truth transform the lives of Ojibwe living on the nearby reservation.

Spirituality is a powerful theme in the book. Doves always seem to represent peace.  The doves can also wreak havoc and destroy crops.  The Catholics frighten away the locust-like invasion of white doves in the field with Hail Mary's where Mooshum and Junesse met and later eventually marry.  The doves are a symbol that stand for something other than themselves and convey meaning.  They are ubiquitous.

Everyone's life is bound up with everyone else's.  The Native American and the White cultures interact and weave together into mystery, humor, sorrow and history that lives on in stories.  There are different traditions and backgrounds and yet we are much more alike than we realize.

Many years later, a violin takes its revenge on the infant's family's murderer.

 

"The Plague of Doves" family tree

I found a family tree online on a weebly page entitled "Multiple Perspectives in The Plague of Doves".  We noted that a couple of people are missing, but the family tree gave a good direction while we were reading and discussing the book.
http://theplagueofdoves.weebly.com/plague-of-doves.html