March 28, 2022
4:00
Tommy Orange’s “groundbreaking, extraordinary” (The New York Times) There There is the “brilliant, propulsive” (People Magazine) story of twelve unforgettable characters, Urban Indians living in Oakland, California, who converge and collide on one fateful day. It’s “the year’s most galvanizing debut novel” (Entertainment Weekly).
As we learn the reasons that each person is attending the Big Oakland Powwow—some generous, some fearful, some joyful, some violent—momentum builds toward a shocking yet inevitable conclusion that changes everything. Jacquie Red Feather is newly sober and trying to make it back to the family she left behind in shame. Dene Oxendene is pulling his life back together after his uncle’s death and has come to work at the powwow to honor his uncle’s memory. Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield has come to watch her nephew Orvil, who has taught himself traditional Indian dance through YouTube videos and will to perform in public for the very first time. There will be glorious communion, and a spectacle of sacred tradition and pageantry. And there will be sacrifice, and heroism, and loss.
There There is a wondrous and shattering portrait of an America few of us have ever seen. It’s “masterful . . . white-hot . . . devastating” (The Washington Post) at the same time as it is fierce, funny, suspenseful, thoroughly modern, and impossible to put down. Here is a voice we have never heard—a voice full of poetry and rage, exploding onto the page with urgency and force. Tommy Orange has written a stunning novel that grapples with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and profound spirituality, and with a plague of addiction, abuse, and suicide. This is the book that everyone is talking about right now, and it’s destined to be a classic.
Video link for interview:
There There:
ReplyDeleteThe opening section of this novel was powerfully written. I was anxious to find out what came next in terms of plot and character. I read over the cast of characters and had no idea what to expect.
I put down the book to read at a later date. When I did get into the stories of each of the characters, I became aware that all the stories would interconnect somehow in a dramatic conclusion, and that is exactly what happened.
So many of the chapters are character monologues, most of them with distinct voices, but not always. Perhaps I was struck mmost by the use of the second person in one chapter, and other stylistic approaches that Orange used in writing the novel.
Yes, it's gritty and raw, but it's also so honest and real. I'm sure it could be taught in creative writing, and for independent reading/literature circles, etc. Belongs downstairs in the library, too.
I really appreciated the read - I think everything that Marcy mentioned speaks to the book's potential significance and place at SOTA purely on its literary merit. However, I think the significance could easily extend into a Social Studies classroom.
ReplyDeleteWhat spoke to me most was the prologue - the breadth of what's covered in a very short piece is extraordinary, though beyond that the style and relatability makes this something that I could very easily see making its way into my classroom. The rich perspective that is expressed here is often missing from many discussions of American history, and sadly, I often find myself hurriedly rushing through discussions of AIM and the modern/urban indigenous populations - this book, specifically the prologue handles this exceptionally well without requiring substantial amounts of time.
Also - I think the discussion is presented in a way that invites the reader to make connections to the text, allows readers to bridge their experiences with that of indigenous populations.