Shelby Van Pelt (2022) Remarkably Bright Creatures [Audible] Marin Ireland and Michael Urie (narrators)
What a sweet story! I was a little hesitant about an octopus narrator, but Marcellus grew on me, and I looked forward to his interludes. Of course, the story wasn't really about an octopus, but he was the connecting point between the characters. His observations about human behavior are comically accurate, and his touching unexpected friendship is a key plot element.
The story is about family and relationships and loss and redemption. Seemingly disparate lives intersect in unexpected and satisfying ways. I figured out how all the characters were interrelated long before the end, but I thoroughly enjoyed the journey.
Richard Wagamese (2015) Medicine Walk [audible] Tom Stechschulte (narrator)
Part redemption story, part homage to a neglected culture, and part exploration of nature's healing power, Medicine Walk is a journey of personal discovery. Frank, the 16-year-old who never knew his mother and only vaguely knew his father was raised by an old man who tried to teach him the ways of the Ojibway people, even though he himself was white. Frank was half Native American through his father's side and half white from his mother. Eldon, the father, lived his life running from mistakes and despair, drowning his sorrow in alcohol.
When the story opens, Frank is called upon to accompany Eldon on a final walk to the place where Eldon could die in peace and be buried according to the Ojibway Warrior tradition. The walk in the wilds of British Columbia offers Eldon the time to explain how he went from a strong, hardworking young man to a weak, dying man who lived with regrets. Frank is less than enthusiastic about what he considers excuses, but over the course of the trip, he begins to see the heartbreak that weighed down his father. In understanding, Frank found mercy for the failings of his father.
The language is beautiful and the narrator does all the characters justice. There are no bad characters, but rather realistic ones living with the consequences of bad decisions. In the end, there is acceptance of the past and forgiveness in the present.
George Orwell (2012; 1939) Coming Up for Air [Audible] Richard Brown (narrator)
Orwell probably deserves a high school class devoted to his prescience. This book, published in 1939, referred more than once to Hitler's inevitable bombings of England, but even more prophetic was Orwell's description of how commercialism changes culture.
George Bowling, overweight and dissatisfied with his life, decides to sneak away to his childhood home to recapture his joie de vivre. The first two-thirds of the book records his memories, while the last bit overflows with his dismay at what has become of his hometown and his realization that his life is really as mundane and unhappy as he believes it to be. The book is darkly comic, illustrating the inevitable destruction of anything innocent and beautiful by totalitarianism.
The narrator was annoying, but his voice matched the tone of the book, so I forgave him for his nasally tenor. Having said that, I will probably avoid his narrations going forward.
Louise Erdrich (2020) The Night Watchman [Audible] Louise Erdich (narrator). Winner of the 2021 Pulitzer Prize for Fiction
While competing storylines were convoluted, the descriptions of both life on a reservation and the fight against termination by the US government is a story that needs telling. I don't think it is worthy of a Pulitzer Prize primarily because it lacks focus.
Parallel storylines are always hard to do well, and this example illustrates how challenging it can be. One story traces a single family through the eyes of the second daughter, Patrice or Pixie. Her work at the local factory is the primary financial support for her family. Her elder sister, Vera, ran away, her father is an alcoholic, the white school teacher wants to date her, and her younger brother wants to box. It is clear that these characters are all fiction. Their misadventures are unrealistic: Pixie searching for her sister in Minneapolis and doing a week-long gig as some strange underwater dancer in a poisoned blue suit is especially weird. Vera's fate as an drugged and abused prostitute with a child who escapes and returns home is especially unnecessary; the character only served a purpose as an idea and was never actually needed to exist. The various love affairs were irrelevant.
The relevant story in the book was the one based on a true story. Thomas Wazhashk is a night watchman in the factory where Patrice works. He learns of a Congressional act to "relocate and emancipate" the tribe, ending their National sovereignty and forcing the people into urban areas in a vague attempt to force assimilation. Thomas is based on the author's grandfather, and this is the part of the book that makes it worth reading. Wikipedia has a good overview of the legal maneuverings, and Erdrich does a good job capturing the determination of affected tribes to maintain their identities and the land promised to them via multiple treaties.
The most important role of this book is bringing awareness to the underhanded dealings of the US Government toward the Native Americans as recently as the 1950s and 60s. For that reason alone, I recommend the book.