Customer Reviews

The Painted Drum: A Novel (P.S.)

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The story of the painted drum is a tale that blends the pragmatism of the modern world with the unexplained mystical forces that inexplicably bind past and present together. When estate appraiser, Faye Travers discovers the drum found in the attic of a deceased client, she does something that she's never been tempted to do. She steals it and seeks out its rightful owner. When she finds the family of the man who initially crafted the drum, she hears the story of how it came into being. She comes to understand how the drum itself may have compelled her to act on its behalf.

Louise Erdrich is a verbal artist. Through her carefully crafted prose, I could smell the dust rising from the prairie, hear the wind rustling the grass and feel the texture of the drum. The Painted Drum gives us a snapshot into the lives of people who must reconcile tradition with reality.

This was the first novel I've read by this author. At times, the story came vividly into focus and was quite engrossing. At other times, I found it difficult to maintain a firm grasp on the story as it was told by the various characters. However, overall, it left a mark that won't soon be forgotten.

"The Painted Drum" is a marvelously crafted novel that traces the history of a drum and the people whose lives it touches. Primarily set in New Hampshire, the story opens with a quiet introspective contemplation by one of the novel's narrators. ". . . I am lost in my thoughts and pause too long where the cemetery road meets the two-lane highway. This distraction seems partly age, but there is more too, I think." This opening paves the way for the unfolding of Faye's life in the small New England town where she has spent her entire existence. Faye and her mother, Elise, are proprietors of a business that specialized in estate liquidation. It is through this business that Faye finds the tribal drum that is at the novel's center. Upon first sight, Faye knows that the drum is powerful. Her attachment to it is immediate and indefinable. After a period, Faye decides that she will locate the drum's original owners and return it. In locating the owners, the novel shifts setting and an entirely new cast of characters populate the story. I found the story to be at it richest when telling about the making of the drum and the people involved with it.

Erdrich's story telling abilities are keen. I was easily wrapped up in each character's story. The relationships explored in the novel are subtly interrogated with lyrical language that's pregnant with meaning. The novel is set in three parts, each of which could be a short story; each connected by the tribal ancestors and stories that inhabit the drum. "The Painted Drum" is another superb novel by Erdrich. I read "Love Medicine" a few months back and it was familiar and pleasing to be reintroduced to the Pillagers clan in Erdrich's latest novel. Now I'm motivated to read more of her works just to see how many of her characters have lives that span multiple novels. This is a quality read; enjoy it!

(No spoilers here.) In the opening pages, Faye Travers, an estate agent in New Hampshire, inventories the home of John Jewett Tatro, whose grandfather was an Indian agent, and whose grandmother was an Ojibwe. When Faye opens an attic room, she finds a collection of enormous value, including an incredible drum, hollowed out from a single piece of cedar wood and covered by a moose hide.

The history of the "Little Girl" drum takes the reader from New Hampshire to an Ojibwe reservation in Minnesota. Bernard Shaawano, who is the grandson of the drum's maker, narrates this section, telling about the life of his grandfather, why he made the drum, who he was memorializing, and how this drum eventually came to New Hampshire. The fascinating process by which the drum was made, the ceremonies and traditional beliefs associated with it, and the traumatic lives and deaths of the Shaawano family over three generations connect the drum and its history with the essence of existence.

In the final section, Shawnee, a young girl living in a remote area of the reservation, has been babysitting for her younger brother and sister for several bitterly cold days, without enough fuel and no food. Their mother has been sidetracked, drinking in town. The depiction of the lives of these children is heart-rending, and their connection to the "Little Girl" drum adds another layer of mystery to the drum's "life."

Written with a homey intimacy and honesty, Erdrich deals with big themes of life and death and the beliefs associated with them. Nature is an intimate part of this process, and it is further emphasized through symbols and repeating motifs--a field of orb spiders, a dog which escapes its cruel confines, wolves and their mystical connection with mankind. Always, of course, Erdrich conveys Indian spiritual values, even as she depicts their often sad and limited lives.

The characters here have real faults and real conflicts, but Erdrich is generous with them, never making value judgments while showing the circumstances which have determined their behavior. With interconnected stories involving characters from three generations and three different families, The Painted Drum is a novel which taps into universal feelings and hopes, even as it depicts some of life's terrible realities. n Mary Whipple

Life and Death
I thought The Painted Drum by Louise Erdrich had both good and bad qualities. I didn't like how the book was structured or some of the characters. Faye's story didn't really have anything to do with the drum. I know she found it and in some way it helped her move on in her life, but that was barely discussed at all. I don't think Fay added much to the story. I would rather have heard more about Bernard and Ira. Also, the Pillager family tree seems to stretch far and wide. I found it hard to keep track of who was related to whom.
What I liked about this novel was the theme. It had to do with both life and death. Many of the characters didn't know at first why they should live, yet near the end everyone found a purpose for their lives. Some of them were also able to come to terms with the death of their loved ones. That's not a very easy thing to do. I think the moral in this book has a lot to teach people about life and how to get past death.

This is the type of book I miss...very rare: a true "story". A story of love, of misery, of hope. This is a story - not a formula. There is nothing shocking, fast-paced or hilarious. Just a story of a string of humans all touched by the same drum. This is what story-telling should be.

I will remember this tale a long time. It won't run together with a bunch of other novels that are so similar I can't keep the characters or the story-lines straight.

This is a story best read on a rainy Sunday afternoon when the focus of your universe is this tale. And when you read the last line and close the book, the story will come back to you during the following weeks and it will surprise you with new insights.

This is my first Erdrich, but it won't be my last.

The opening chapters center on Faye Travers, a modern woman whose grandmother was Ojibwe, and who with her mother Elsie owns an estate sale business. Faye is hired by the family of a former Indian agent whose estate is filled with Indian artifacts including a decorated drum which Faye uncharacteristically steals. Eventually Faye and Elsie decide to return the drum to a family of Ojibwe who Elsie remembers.

The real story then begins to unfold. The drum has touched several generations of Ojibwe since its creation by Bernard's grandfather who made it out of sorrow for the loss of his wife who left him for another man and the resulting death of his daughter. The story doesn't follow a straight line but wanders through the lives of the unfaithful wife, the older son, and most poignantly, the lives of three small children left by their mother in the cold and without food.

Erdrich's writing is not always easy to read; the convoluted story line of the drum is at times difficult to follow because Erdrich is mostly telling it backwards. The drum's effect on the lives of the characters is sometimes a bit of a stretch as Indian lore and beliefs intertwine with the realities of life. The book is the sharpest and most effective during the story of Shawnee, the nine-year old girl who walks her younger sister and brother to safety following a tragic house fire. The book is the least effective during the portions dealing with Faye and her relationship to a lover and her own feelings of inadequacy and guilt. I wish Erdich would concentrate more on stories and characters and less on what I call the "abstract." In short, Erdich is a great story teller and a master at phrasing. It's when she gets into the first-person narrative with rambling thoughts that she sometimes loses me and there is a bit too much of that - therefore a four, but still certainly well worth the effort it takes to read.

I enjoyed this book so much, I devoured it in two days. It's another link in the stories about the families she so often writes about, and traces the "life" of the drum itself, and the people in proximity to it, as well as those connected to the drum's origins. I don't want to reveal any spoilers, so I won't go into detail, but I will say that there is not a dull moment in the whole book and that the characters are interesting, even if some are infuriating (which makes for a better story anyway.) I believe there are openings left at the end for a sequel, but the story is complete in itself, too.

as with all of her novels, louise erdrich weaves an unusual and original story about an ordinary object; in this case, a drum. she uses odd but real characters, diverse landscapes and geographical locations, and beautiful language to entertain us to the last page.

Voice performer Anna Fields faced a unique challenge in reading this intriguing story, and she succeeded beautifully. With seeming effortlessness she segues from one narrative voice to another, all the while delivering a well paced superbly nuanced performance.

Links between the living and the dead are not unexplored subjects for Louise Erdrich. However, with The Painted Drum, the dead are all young girls. Faye Travers has found a satisfactory life for herself, living with her mother in New Hampshire. The two share a business; they specialize in estate sales with an emphasis on Native American artifacts.

When Faye is called upon to handle the effects of a neighbor whose grandfather was an Indian agent, she finds something that despite her expertise she has not seen before. It is a drum, one that is embellished with symbols unknown to her and adorned with tassels, a belt and skirt. Even more surprisingly, she hears a sound from the drum.

She is the first narrator in our tale and from her we learn of the tragic death of her younger sister. Faye used to have frequent dreams about her sister, and they resume when Faye takes the drum home with her. Listeners learn that drums are considered living things, and that they have the power to link the afterlife and the present. This particular drum is a connection to the spirits of little girls.

Disconcerted by her discovery Faye returns the drum to the place where it was made long ago, an Ojibwe reservation. There, a second narrator takes up the story relating his grandfather's grief at the death of his daughter. The bereaved man had fashioned the drum.

No spoilers here - the story's conclusion is a chiller as three youngsters hear the drum's music.

The acclaimed Erdrich has penned 11 novels plus poetry and children's books. Her novel "Love Medicine" won the National Book Critics Circle Award. Once again, this gifted author has given us much to ponder and enjoy.

- Gail Cooke

While Louise Erdrich has long been a favorite author of mine, I will admit that approached THE PAINTED DRUM with a modicum of trepidation. Oddly, I had heard bad reviews of what turned out to be one of the most beautiful and satisfying novels I've read in a long time. I first encountered Louise Erdrich as the author of TRACKS and LOVE MEDICINE, novels I read for a college class and I have enjoyed her work ever since. In particular, I highly recommend FOUR SOULS, THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB and THE BEET QUEEN to anyone interested in reading more of her. Erdrich's latest offering is subtle, compelling, sophisticated and every bit as worthy of discussion and analysis as its predecessors. Much in the style of her other works concerning the Ojibwa tribe, PAINTED DRUM is a masterful blend of various voices and perspectives which creates a very pleasing overall drama without feeling jarring or disconnected. Erdrich deftly weaves images of love and nature, grief and loss, healing and music, family and loneliness, sacrifice and revenge, and tradition and need for self-discovery into a surprisingly cohesive narrative. Yes, there several stories involved in this book, but they interconnect marvelously and, as almost an added bonus with many of the characters (Fleur Pillager, Old Nanapush, etc.) of her previous works.

In the novel we meet the wonderful Faye Travers, protagonist of the first and final sections of the novel) as well as a host of other characters including Bernard Shaawano, Old Shaawano, Anaquot, several young girls both living and dead, and the marvelous drum itself. The drum, in fact, is both a character and a theme which connects and bonds the entire cast of characters. Representing healing, power and connection it is gives the novel it's chillingly beautiful conclusion. The other characters are painted in Erdrich's ineffable style: beautifully flawed and sympathetically compelling. Erdrich has a gift for creating such people - people at once ontologically removed from our lives and at one with our hearts. She deftly avoids any semblance of over-compensating for the tribulations of her tribe: her characters are too powerfully human to be pitied and there are no neither true villains nor two-dimensional heroes.

One final note: Louise Erdrich is master at storytelling and, I suspect, a musician as well. As in THE MASTER BUTCHERS SINGING CLUB, music is a great force of bonding and healing within the lives of her characters. But it is worth it to approach both the power of music and the power of stories from less American-European perspective. In many cultures both music and stories hold great power, they exist both on their own and in our lives and are not necessarily something to be manipulated and controlled simply for pleasure. Keep this in mind as you read this novel. Characters, like Faye Travers who we meet as a first-person narrator share their soul and their thoughts while others, such as those we meet in Bernard Shaawano's stories, initially appear less in-depth. But that notion in deceptive, for there is power everywhere. Take note of this as well as her use of nature and animal imagery (especially trees, dogs, wolves and ravens) and you will enjoy this book much more deeply.