Over the past few years, I’ve read and reviewed several books
from the Native (American) Literature genre.
Almost exclusively, these titles have dealt with “Rez Life” -- the
impact of growing up and living, permanently or seasonally, on a
reservation. Last year however author Tommy
Orange added a new and often ignored topic to this literally canon with his
book There There set in an urban “ghetto” in Oakland, California.
Oakland, like most North American cities, has neighborhoods
that are often the “first stop” when a Native individual or family arrives in
town from a reservation. These neighborhoods, like first generation immigrant
communities, are generally low-income neighborhoods where people learn about their
new environments, and get their first jobs, all the while being able to connect
with people who understand and respect the culture they are coming from. The existence of these neighborhoods is part
of a familiar, even predictable, pattern of urban settlement.
When I began the book, I immediately guessed wrong. It is
structured as a collection of intermingled short stories, each about a
particular character. After story #2
about a young man’s grant project, I thought I had the book figured out. His idea was to produce a video of Native
(full-blooded, or not) residents of Oakland, letting them talk on camera,
without a script, of their life experiences -- much of the taping would take
place at Oakland’s Pow Wow. Because of
this, I jumped to the conclusion that the book was a written version of the
project. And, in a way it is. There There could easily stand on its
own as a sociology research study, the material is there, it’s a key part of
the character development of the story.
And, it reads sort of slow at first, the way a study would. And if it stopped there that would be fine,
it’d still be a good book.
But, as I eventually discovered, the book isn’t a textbook,
it is essentially an action-thriller, masked as a sociological survey. It seems the people whose lives we get to
witness are often tangentially connected, and in many cases actually related. Their
stories will come together at the Pow Wow.
Despite being a first-time novelist, Orange expertly takes us to the
climax. At about three quarters of the
way through the book, the chapters start to get progressively shorter, with no digressions,
yet lots of detail. Reading speed picks
up dramatically, and you are there, in person, holding your breath. And that,
without a spoiler, is all I’m giving you.
Recommendation: Yes.
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