There There

I was not sure what I was getting into when I picked up this book but I know I wanted to read more about Native stories. What I got was a philosophical treatise on all things America and a Native, couched neatly in a multi perspective family drama. Specifically, we see over generations that the idea of America for its original people has been a history of evil and tragedy visited upon them without end. Tommy Orange shows us how that violence never stops, but gets reimagined and doled out sometimes by your own people. The timelines that Tommy Orange walk us through show us how this violence erases and then rewrites; often by the oppressors. This erasure leads to lost heritage and broken lineages between generations. Each line of the family tree moving further away from the trunk with almost no common connection but trauma. That’s where the book really shines. Where it highlights the compound effects of generational trauma. In some ways I was reminded of Achebe’s “Things Fall Apart” but from a Native perspective. Tommy Orange employs multiple perspectives on what it means to be rudderless and without a home while facing uncertain futures. This divergent perspectives also make the storytelling more dynamic. Characters relive histories as a way of rebuilding the self and community while also reclaiming the narrative. All the while the author raises questions of how modern technology helps to amplify agency or diminish it.

An immersion inti Urban Indian Culture. Vivid descriptions, passion and insight.

There, There by Tommy Orange is a glimpse into the challenges and struggles urban natives face in the modern world. He gives voice to the struggles through the twelve main characters. They range from a fourteen-year-old boy eager to learn about his Cheyanne hereditary, a young man raised by his white mother who never met his Native father, a Lakota Vietnam veteran, a drug dealer and his crew, and two half-sisters of Cheyanne descent - to name a few. I never became attached to any characters - too many to develop fully. I had to occasionally flip back to the cast of characters to remember who they were and their connection to each other. The story's timeline skips around, making it challenging to stay connected to each person’s individual story.
I struggled with getting into the flow of this book, initially trying to read it six months earlier before shelving it. All the rave reviews and high praise made me think I was just in the wrong mindset about something, and I wanted that to be the case. Since November is Indigenous Peoples month in America, the book came up again in my recommendations, so I gave it another chance. I finished it, saddened by its picture of the Native community and its prospects. I wished that I had loved it, though; however, the story fell short for me. I should have been in tears upon finishing the book and would have been had I cared more for the characters.
I found it to be educational, which is why I recommend it. Orange’s powerful prologue details America’s history of brutal treatment and genocide of its Indigenous peoples. That section alone with worth reading. 2.5 Stars

This was an incredible read. I didn't want it to end. I'm excited to see what this author does next; the prose was beautiful, the pacing was great, and the build to the climax was excellent.

Book 33