Tracks

Rating:
Summary: Poetry in motion.
Review: When I used Love Medicine in a university level English Literature course I thought I'd hit gold for getting my students to open up to literature with Erdrich's book. Lipsha's quest for identity connected with the young men and women alike. But Tracks was even more efective. Fleur's fight against the loggers and land developers turned 32 college sophmores into hardy land conservationists. The incredible transportating of a successful hunt with the meat tied to the hero's body struck a cord of awe at having been given a view of survival that took them beyond their trips to their local grocery stores. Erdrich opens windows to another culture, different values, and to history in ways that made my students begin to "see" the world beyond their dormrooms. What other author writing today can do the same with such poetry?

Rating:
Summary: Remote characters, flat style, nothing of interest here
Review: With few exceptions this book was plodding and lifeless. Although I found certain passages (very brief) moving and angered me (in terms of white greed) I found this book failed at dealing with effectively the subject matter it purports to address.