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| photo by Joe Mehling |
Each of these methods is so distinct, so powerful in its own way!
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Louise Erdrich: "The Red Convertible," "Saint Marie," and "Satan: Highjacker of a Planet"
Like Bobby Mitchell's story, "Entry Wounds," or whatever he may end up calling it, pays a lot of attention to a box, Erdrich's first story, also about a soldier, takes as its first focus a car. Strange, that a car is a container, too, a kind of box. Anyway, we can think of this symbol-driven narrative as a type of a story, although I don't know if it is ever classified by theorists as such: a story whose world turns on the axis of a single material object.
In this trio of first-person stories chosen by Brady Udall, we can marvel at Erdrich's range of voice, certainly. How different is Lyman from Marie, and from the unnamed girl who sees pictures. We might also notice how Erdrich wields the world of objects differently in each story. In "The Red Convertible," there is the car and willow tree and hair and chair and picture and river, and they're all as alive as the brother characters, perhaps even more so, yet they're still confined to something we might call realism. In "Saint Marie," the material world is upended, the line between reality and mysticism is gone, and Erdrich has announced her intentions right in the first paragraph: the dark fish must rise, and toenails are little pink ocean shells. In "Satan: Hijacker of a Planet," the object world entwines with language, and, forgive me, but it's a lot like spinning, dizzily, the way the girl is when she enters her pictures, hijacked, the planet turning, and "You are locked in, twisted close, braided, born" (508). In this last story, we encounter not a symbolic world, nor a narrator who confuses the world, but a narrator for whom the world can be perceived as composed of language: "The words are inside and outside of me, hanging in the air like small pottery triangles, broken and curved" (506).
Each of these methods is so distinct, so powerful in its own way!
Each of these methods is so distinct, so powerful in its own way!
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I really appreciate Louise Erdrich’s writing style. Honestly, it was my first time reading any of her work. (And, I don’t think I’ve heard too much of her, either.) So, it was an entirely new experience, which I found quite fruitful. I had no preconceptions about her work, whatsoever. Okay, then, what exactly do I especially enjoy about Erdrich?
ReplyDeleteWell, first of all, the realness of her stories is something that really struck me. The three stories (The Red Convertible, Saint Marie, and Satan: Highjacker of a Planet) in 3x 33 seemed terrifically real. This specific quality is particularly effective, because it pushed me as a reader. Moreover, it had something of that oh, shit quality to it. In The Red Convertible this quality is a bit less obvious and successful than the others. This is largely due to the subject matter. It is too normal for it to be shocking and yet, at the same time… It is. We get the sense that there is something off about Henry. Vietnam has clearly changed him. But, we aren’t entirely certain how it has changed him. In a way, depression seems like a logical thing. But, at the same time, he seems to be coming out of it. Right when you think it’s going to be some sort of feel good story about how a car rescued some brothers’ relationship, it kills it. It kills the older brother. But, it feels right, in a twisted sort of way. Would it have been the same story if Henry had been saved in some way? No. Honestly, I think it would’ve been a weaker story, simply because it would’ve been far less believable. It is chilling, yes, but The Red Convertible seems accurate. The truth makes us uncomfortable, but it is still the truth. Such an idea was also effective in Saint Marie and Satan: Highjacker of a Planet. First of all, in Saint Marie, Erdrich paints a terrifying picture of brainwash and torture in an orphanage. But, it does not seem like an unlikely story. She does an excellent job of setting up the piece, so that the place is believable. I had no problem with Sister Leopolda, other than the fact that she’s clearly insane. But, her insanity isn’t really the problem, is it? Perhaps, the problem is Marie. Her background has destroyed her, it would seem. Is that why she has decided to become a nun? It could be. Or it could be, because she has been so severely indoctrinated that she has no other options. Either way, it is a very real world. It’s the sort of thing that I have no problem about, simply because it could happen. In a very real sense, I’m sure it has happened, which makes it all the more effective. Satan: Highjacker of a Planet is chilling in a different way than the other two pieces. Certainly, its realness is a clear strength of this story. However, it relies heavily on character and setting. As in the other pieces, we realize this is set deep in Native American culture. But, as in The Red Convertible and Saint Marie this is only made clear through situational scenarios. We never are told about the place, other than what is necessary for the story. I found this quite effective, because it is, in its own way, quite realistic. It is written for a general audience, perhaps. But, that general audience should accept this culture. I hesitate to say it diminishes the importance of the culture (because it doesn’t), but it doesn’t make it the forefront of this fiction, either. In a way, this is quite important to Erdrich’s work (at least from this limited sample). This is a culture, but that’s not necessarily the important part. The important part is that these are people. And they are living in a very normal way. Whether it’s “normal” or not depends on perspective. In the end, this doesn’t really matter all that much, anyway. The most crucial part of these stories is the truth in its own way. We have no trouble believing Erdrich, which makes her writing that much stronger.
This was my first time as well reading stories by Louise Erdrich and I have to be honest when I say I didn't really enjoy them as much as I thought I would. When it came to Red Convertible I had trouble following the actual writing and voice of the narrator. I think this had to do with the fact that it was in first person but then the narrator would say "and his youngest brother lyman(that's myself)" The first paragraph also comes out and says "boots filled with water" and I automatically knew he died so I felt like I lost my motivation to read it. I don't know if I wanted more emotion out of Lyman or what, but I just didn't connect to the brotherly bond and the car that I think I was supposed to. I did however like the idea of the red convertible bringing them closer together but then separating them forever.
ReplyDeleteWhile reading Saint Maria I realized that the subject of indian reservations were a reoccurring theme in her stories as well as her characters pasts sort of haunting them. In the Red Convertible it was Henry's past of the military and in Saint Maria its this young girls past of torture that had rendered her unable to function or think for herself clearly. I found myself more connected to Maria in this story, maybe due to the chilling plot that was keeping me reading. This story was bone chilling and real to me. I also really like the voice of the narration of Maria. "I was the girl who thought the black hem of her garment would help me rise Veils of love which was only hate petrified by longing- that was me(493)." I also love the language Erdrich used and the imagery that came out of her sentences. "I was rippling gold.My breast were bare and my nipples flashed and winked(497)."
In Satan: Highjacker of a Planet, I felt like Erdrich carried the same tone into her story of this young innocent girl, however we the readers are kept at a distance from her narration. We don't know her name nor do we fully understand what she is seeing or feeling when she touches the sick woman. Again with this story we see the setting and the reoccurring theme of the native american culture, I liked that Erdrich had this threaded through all of these stories.
I had never read Louise Erdrich before, and I must say that reading her was quite different than I expected. I felt quite torn while reading her short stories.There were some parts of her writing that I enjoyed, and some parts that I did not. I think that this was because I had such different reactions to her different voices in her stories.
ReplyDeleteI found “The Red Convertible” to be the most difficult voice to connect too. I did like how the red car was the thing to connect the brothers and than separate them forever. However, because sometimes Lyman would switch to the third person while talking, and it got confusing at times. Also, it was, in my opinion, a very unoriginal plot. The whole “helping a wounded veteran recover by fixing a car/house/object” has been done over and over again. Also, I found it hard to relate to the brotherly bond with the two boys.
I found “Saint Marie” to be my favorite of the stories. There was something so cold, unnerving and sometimes downright terrifying. The story of Marie's torture kept me interested and invested all the way through. It was also around this time that I realized that the subject of Indian Reservations kept coming up in this story, and how the characters pasts kept them connected to the reservations. I loved how truly terrifying Marie's torture was in this story, and how it later affected her into not being able to live a real life. I related to her the most, mostly because I so wanted her to survive this torture, so wanted her to get out of that horrible place.
I found “Satan: Highjacker of a Planet,” to also be a very unnerving story, but in a different way than “Saint Marie.” Since we are kept at a distance from the girl who is narrating, we do not truly know what she is experiencing when she touches the old women. We are kept at a distance, physically and emotionally, right until we are given, in excruciating detail, her sexual assault. Once again we are given details into native American culture, and I liked that Erdrichh kept this theme throughout her stories.
Before I even finished the first page of “The Red Convertible” I felt I was having a conversation with Lyman, but as if he was updating me on his entire life thus far. After reading through a bit more, it was as if he was telling the story while driving the convertible or sitting motionless outside like he and his brother used to. The narration sounds natural enough that with every paragraph break I can almost see the change in Lyman’s facial expressions; the exclamation when he’s reminiscing about the car, the fascination with the girl with long hair, or when Henry finally came home and realizing how different he had become. I thought the story was wrapping up nicely with the intense man talk at the end that became a fight, somehow I saw that coming but in a hopeful way. I thought that needed to happen. I agree with Paul, that Henry’s death and the death of the car was dark and unexpected, yet was the truest way to end the story. After the brothers had undergone that much turmoil it seemed the only decent way to finish it up. With “Saint Marie” it’s almost like a complete switch in at least the narration style. It has more than twice the poetic language used in “The Red Convertible” before, and applying that to the plot it creates a realistic and eerie atmosphere throughout. At first, I thought all of these visions that Marie had were imagined and she was the only one experiencing these evil sensations. When Erdrich describes Sister Leopolda’s actions in such detail, however, it’s obvious that supernatural forces have been plaguing the convent for a long time. Especially during the last scene, when Marie has apparently transcended and her entire being seems to have changed as with Leopolda too. With Marie’s perspective, there is still this overhanging sinfulness between the characters and it builds the tension even higher until the story simply ends. I was unsure if I was to keep wondering or just accept it. In “Satan: Highjacker of a Planet”, that sin still creeps in everywhere within the story, but this time it has much more realistic slant than in “Saint Marie”. We still reach an intense depth within characters, like Ed’s mother, and it’s all from the protagonist’s perspective. Erdrich, at least with these stories, seems to approve of giving the main characters this strange descriptive ability to look beyond their own self and into the minds of others.
ReplyDeleteThis is my first time reading Louise Erdrich and I really loved it. Each story was so distinct and I noticed how in every story she added a lot of detail with one-liner images. These give the reader an idea of the characters and how they are feeling. In “The Red Convertible,” one great line was, “He was built like a brick outhouse anyway (487)” in describing Henry. What an image, especially making it not a “brick house,” but an “outhouse.” Marie, in “Saint Marie,” describes her skin as “golden” after it has been burned (497). A very interesting way to described singed, painful skin. Nevertheless, I could totally see the image of this girl in golden skin. The narrator in “Satan: Highjacker of a Planet,” describes these pictures she sees in her head, “She is dimming her lights, she is turning as thin as tissue under my hands (507).” Each of these one liners creates a very vivid image even though they are very nontraditional ways of describing things. Each story brought the reader to a completely different place than the story before. Each narrator and story is different with very distinct voices leading a path for the reader to follow.
ReplyDeleteAnother tool that Erdrich used that I really enjoyed was how each character wanted to make everything alright for another person in the story. They wanted to give pieces of themselves to make the situation better. For Lyman it was the red convertible to his brother to make Henry be himself again. Lyman really loved that vehicle, but he loved his brother even more. By giving the car to Henry, Lyman believes the car will make Henry better and that it really belongs to him. In the end, Henry is helped, only for a few short minutes. Marie gives herself over to God to please Sister Leopolda. Marie has this interesting magnetic connection to Leopolda where she likes her and yet doesn’t like her. She fights with the devil to try and please Leopolda. By the end of the story, Marie has been pushed so far that she believes Leopolda is really the one the devil wants and Marie gets deemed a saint. A person is deemed a saint by fully giving himself or herself to God. The narrator in “Satan: Highjacker of a Planet” used the pictures in her head to heal Ed’s mother and begin a relationship with Stan. Each of the narrators tried to transcend themselves to make others happy. They were, Giving Narrators, trying to help others instead of themselves. And each succeeded in giving away what they could, although it didn’t mean the ending was happy.
I had also never read Louise Erdrich before and, like Jen, I didn’t enjoy the stories as much as I enjoyed reading Atwood’s. Red Convertible was my favorite of the three, and I did enjoy reading that one. I liked the voice and the quick pace of the story. Even though I found out Henry died eventually in the first paragraph, I didn’t know the story of how or why he died. The last few sentences of the first paragraph confused me. “…until his boots filled with water…and he bought out my share. Now Henry owns the whole car and his youngest brother…walks everywhere he goes.” I didn’t mind reading the rest of the story to clarify how Henry, if he died, could own the car after having died. Finding out Lyman pushes the car into the water after Henry drowns solved that mystery though. I liked how that car had brought the brothers together, had helped Henry deal with what had happened to him, and then connected the two brothers even after Henry’s death.
ReplyDeleteThe language in Saint Marie is much more poetic, creating a supernatural but believable world and feel. I honestly found this story pretty confusing at times. There were moments when I would just think, “What is going on?” I don’t know if I completely understand even after finishing it. Erdrich managed though to make these unbelievable situations, such as Satan hiding in a closet and talking to Marie, and make them sound realistic. Marie was an interesting character, getting caught up with Leopolda and practically transforming near the end.
In Satan: Highjacker of a Planet, the details are much more believable in a real-world sense than in Saint Marie. Just like Saint Marie, the element of sin was there as well as the ability of the main character to look beyond themselves and examine other characters. The end was a bit weird, with the sudden reveal of the narrator having pictures in her head of those she touches? That confused me and I’m still not sure I entirely understand it.
This was my first time reading Louise Erdrich. I was most impressed with just how different each of her stories is from the last, with completely different voices and tones for each of the characters. “Red Convertible” was the most like other stories I’ve read before. I was very confused by the beginning, and I didn’t see it coming when Henry died at the end, or how he would ‘buy’ his brother’s share. I thought it was very real and I could definitely see and understand what was going on, and how the two brothers came together over the car, and how it brought them back together, even briefly, at the end.
ReplyDelete“Saint Marie” was a different beast entirely than the story before it. The language she used was very different, almost mystical. I couldn’t tell if Marie was speaking metaphorically, or if Satan was actually hiding in the closet or physically speaking with her, creating a kind of doubling in that sense. I really liked how Erdrich played with the idea of sin, and played with our perceptions of which of the two, Marie or Sister Leopolda, was truly marked by the devil. Marie, who kicks Leopolda into the oven, or Leopolda who burns and stabs Marie, then covers it up with a lie, turning Marie into a saint instead.
I’ll confess that “Stan: Highjacker of a Planet” confused me entirely, it blending together magic and realism. I couldn’t tell if she was having the visions herself and projecting them to those she touched, or if her touch allowed her to experience their pasts or lives, or something else. I was also highly confused by the mixture of magical realism with the sermon in the middle, and how, if at all, they were connected.
What I found intriguing about Louise Erdrich was her ability to take on the voice of radically different characters in very different settings. In “The Red Convertible,” we have Lyman, a man who is thoughtful, if somewhat impulsive in some of his actions (at least, sinking the car would not have been my first reaction to my brother’s death), set in a world familiar to us, yet reminiscent of the easygoing seventies, the time period in which the piece is set. In “Saint Marie,” the speaker is a delusional girl skirting the line between self-righteousness and “wickedness,” trying to realize her bizarre goal of becoming a saint to assert herself as superior to Sister Leopolda in a locale eager to embrace literal Christian teachings with archaic teachings, punishments, and language. Finally, “Satan: Highjacker of a Planet” features a curios girl looking for something to latch onto due to the unreliable connection with her parents, with the setting crossing the line from typical realism into something seemingly supernatural and incomprehensible from a purely realistic viewpoint. Despite these differences, each character felt true to himself or herself, displaying the author’s ability to avoid leaking incompatible voices into each other.
ReplyDeleteWith the type of character and world changing in each story, it becomes difficult to believe that all three works were done by the same author. The tone and language in “Saint Marie” is a far cry from what is presented in the other two works, “Satan: Highjacker of a Planet” ventures into stranger content, and “The Red Convertible” contains a unique level of emotion without the use of dramatic dialogue. Each of Erdrich’s works charge, unafraid, in different directions, each tackling a new challenge. I will admit, I felt a bit thrown off by the turn to the surreal in “Satan: Highjacker of a Planet,” and it took me a moment to adjust to the different voice of “Saint Marie,” but that courage to attempt such different styles is something I can respect.
This was my first time reading any of Louise Erdrich’s work, and after finishing the three stories I have rather mixed feelings about it. What surprised me the most though, was her ability to write three stories with such different styles of narrative. I almost had trouble believing they all came from the same author. All three stories used a first person narrative, but each in a different way, mainly due to how different each narrator was.
ReplyDelete“The Red Convertible” was my favorite of the piece as it was able to give so much information with describing things in minimal detail. Many of the details were vague or glazed over because Erdrich, through Lyman, would only describe what was important. The whole trip across the country in the car was short, giving the only details we needed to make out Lyman and Henry’s character. When Henry comes back from the war, we can easily see that something is wrong with him because of the details Erdrich does decide to describe in fuller detail: the television, Henry’s bleeding lip, the messed up car. It is easy to tell that he has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder because of these details. Even at the end, when Henry ends up drowning, we hardly need any more detail than what is presented to us to understand his fate. The lack of lengthy explanation works well in this piece.
I loved the narrative style in “Saint Marie”, but I had trouble following it. It gave a great sense of Marie’s character, and yet sometimes it was so jumbled up that I was unsure of what was going on. Perhaps that was the point, as Marie seemed to be a chaotic sort of character. She was never quite sure whether she wanted to accept God, or the devil. She seemed to take pleasure in both depending on the situation. Still, it made it difficult to follow the story at times. I’m sure I wouldn’t want to have to work that hard to read a longer piece with that sort of narrative.
“Satan: Hijacker of a Planet” started off really well, and I thought I would end up liking it. I loved the parts where Stan said his sermon. I really thought we got to know his character, and the community around him by the radical words. It was rather intriguing. However, the end of the story threw me off completely, and changed my opinion of the piece. I found it so conflicting with the mood of the story so far, and I had trouble believing Stan’s actions after his whole sermon about rejecting the devil. If anything, I would have found the narrator’s “powers” more akin to the devil than credit cards. I had trouble believing those “pictures” as well. It’s hard to accept when a piece starts out looking like realistic fiction, and then takes a complete 180 on you. I can’t say I enjoyed that, but it was very bold on Erdrich’s part.
Well wouldn't you know it, I have never read anything by Louise Erdrich either. Pretty glad I did. I really liked the description Catherine gave for "Satan: Hijacker of a Planet." I definitely felt dizzy reading it. I was pretty sure that's how the story was going to end up, but the way it looped lazily to it's finale was something else. I actually found it hard to follow as a narrative and ended up reading it more as a series of disjointed scenes.
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed the other two stories much more. I'm going to have to go with the popular choice of "The Red Convertible" as my favorite as well. First off, the depictions of reservation life were super spot on. Although thoroughly white myself, I did take a race literature course which had a Native American unit, and these characters definitely feel like real Native Americans. I enjoyed the different style in which this story was written. It seemed almost a written homage to the oral tradition of Native Americans. It was told exactly as if Lyman were sitting there and telling you the story. It's amazing the way she can all at once write a scene where it looks like Henry is getting better, but the reader knows he's really not. That last line from Henry is so perfect. And to tie it back to one of the first sentences, which I just kind of glazed over because it didn't make sense at the time, was perfect. Good read. Marie's a little weird, but I guess it's fine, because in the end she got what she wanted. I too was unsure as to her motivation or what she actually wanted from moment to moment. Sometimes it seemed like she truly wanted to be all pious and loving. Other times she was literally inviting the "devil" into her heart. Served to reinforce a fear of nuns for me. Still a good read.
I am most impressed by the range of storytelling styles and voices that Erdrich employs between these stories. As someone who tends to write with exactly the same voice, it was interesting to see.
Louise Edrich is up to something. There's this sense of spiritual angst, of interior conflict, floating through her stories. I was drawn to The Red Convertible for obvious reasons, but I think what's gotten after in this story is much bigger than a story of a man who comes home from war not the same way he left. This is a tired narrative better suited for HBO specials. What is absolutely fascinating to me is this idea Edrich raises of Henry buying out Lyman's share of the red convertible. Of course, in the opening this is an innocuous statement. We assume the action of buying out is literal. But what we really see in the end is that Henry buys Lyman out of his share by dying. What does this mean? What does this mean in the context of the way Lyman wrecks the car, the way the Henry fixes it back up, the violence they do to each other before Henry goes into the water, seemingly renewed? Does Edrich redeem Henry just before killing him, or is this redemption impossible for Edrich? I'm also fascinated by the fullness of the relationship in this story, and again in the fullness of the relationship between Leopolda and Marie. What a strange story! Extracting, if this is even possible, all of the religious subject matter and language, the relationship between Leopolda and Marie echoes the relationship between Henry and Lyman. There is competitiveness, a bond like that between siblings, and this idea of something material being handed down. I can't quite nail it down, but this is what Edrich is up to, this is something she is working through in her understanding of human relationships, in the way they are full, multi-faceted, rather than simple and easy to make sense of.
ReplyDeleteLouise Erdrich certainly does have a skill for taking an object and carrying it through her story, giving it more “life” as it becomes more involved in the characters’ lives than if it was just mentioned once and forgotten about. I’m thinking mainly about “The Red Convertible,” and how the car represents this link between Henry and Lyman as well as their relationship. It is valued, it is beaten. Ultimately, it sinks. Erdrich shows us how a writer doesn’t have to be limited with “people” characters. Instead, there is a whole other world out there of personification with objects, too.
ReplyDeleteI had a different reaction with “Saint Marie.” Rather than focusing on an object, I spent my time wondering how in the world an author can create such an outrageous story and yet keep me interested all the way through. One minute Marie is saying how “I wanted Sister Leopolda’s heart” (494), and right above that line she says, “The real way to overcome Leopolda was this: I’d get to heaven first. And then, when I saw her coming, I’d shut the gate. She’d be out!” What? Weird, in an intriguing way. I finished reading this story with the conclusion that Erdrich wants to keep her readers guessing.
In the last story, I found myself more confused than ever. I wanted to return to the familiarity of “The Red Convertible.” But, as befuddled as I was in some parts like when she “shows Stan Milwaukee,” I was drawn in by some aspect of this writing. Maybe it was the more familiar “girl-meets-Bible-salesman-and-hooks-up-with-him” storyline that I wanted to keep reading, or maybe it was just that it was something so out there and supernatural that I wanted to see if I could keep up. Either way, I really like how Erdrich’s stories stretch in many directions and challenge her readers to go along for the ride.