Wandering Stars by Tommy Orange
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Web ID: 17868213book club pick
This was the April pick for my Senior Center Book Club, loved all the characters and their stories.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Run on sentences
I never DNF a book and I almost never give lower than 4 stars but this was pretty hard to read. The storyline has so much potential which is the only reason I tried to finish but the run on sentences are ridiculous, how did this get past an editor?? One sentence would be an entire paragraph long it was so hard to follow. I would have to reread a sentence/paragraph multiple times to follow what was going on.
Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Okay Literary Fiction
Actual Rating 2.5 Similar to the author’s debut, this is another work of literary fiction that follows many characters and looks at Indigenous peoples in the U.S., from 1864 to present. I enjoyed how this work was set up, following the same family from the Sand Creek Massacre to the present day. The author did an excellent job keeping the whole thing cohesive with similar things that played out similarly (and differently) over the centuries. This was probably the aspect I enjoyed most. I also liked that the purpose of this work felt like it was to help readers consider the history of Indigenous folks in the U.S. and how they’ve had to endure and overcome hardships many of us don’t often see or consider. But like the first book by this author, I had a difficult time connecting to the characters. I think it’s in large part due to the writing style. There are so many places where it’s pages and pages of introspection, and some characters’ POVs consisted almost solely of that. I could certainly see why the author chose to tell the story in this way, but it just didn’t work well for me to stay engaged or connected to the characters. Then there was the plot. There wasn’t really a plot and nothing cohesive aside from the family and themes to keep everything together. This isn’t totally unexpected for literary fiction, but in this case, it didn’t work for me. If you like literary fiction following a family over time that focuses on generational trauma and identity, then you’ll probably like this one. I do recommend reading There, There before this one though, as there is overlap. While I didn’t love it, it was still a good read and I know many other folks loved this one.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Extraordinary novel
Tommy Orange has quickly become one of my favorite writers. He has a rhythmic style of writing that I love, it almost sounds like a chant. It can be challenging but it is definitely rewarding in the end. This book is not plot heavey (yay!) but rather is full of themes (generational trauma, assimilation) and ideas (who gets to claim being a Native) and the human experience (addiction and loneliness). It is a follow-up to his first novel which is about the urban Native experience and the wounds that they have had to carry and live with. While some will tell you that it is not necessary to read “There, There” first, I do think it is necessary if you want to get the most out of “Wandering Stars”. I believe they exist together. And you get closure with some of the characters from “There, There”.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Great follow up to a Pulitzer Prize-finalist debut
I read “Wandering Stars” immediately after reading its predecessor novel, “There There,” a Pulitzer Prize finalist and widely regarded book by then first time author Tommy Orange. “Wandering Stars” is Mr. Orange’s follow-up story to “There There” and is written in a similar, non traditional style. Each chapter uses a different voice, sometimes telling the story from a character’s first person point of view, describing their own experiences and feelings, while other chapters are written in the third person, discussing the character’s actions and feelings. At some points the story even is told in the form of a letter or as one character’s effort to write his story for posterity in the form of a book. “Wandering Stars” is, in some ways, a prequel to “There There,” providing a broad understanding of the Sand Creek Massacre of Native Americans in 1864, the subsequent founding of the Carlisle Indian Industrial School where Indian children were forcibly removed from their families and subjected to extreme efforts to eradicate their heritage and placed in white families for adoption. After this, the novel turns into a sequel, following the lives of the characters first introduced in “There There.” At times it’s difficult to ascertain which character is speaking, as the dialogue between characters blend together without identifying who is saying what to whom, and the chapters often are not logically or chronologically related. In the end, however, it doesn’t matter, because the impact of the book as a whole is overwhelming powerful. It’s a devastating indictment of the way white, European settlers treated the original inhabitants of this land we currently live on and the horrible effect this history continues to have on subsequent generations of Native Americans, only recently starting to be acknowledged and, in very minor ways, attempting to be rectified. I received a free advanced copy of “Wandering Stars” by NetGalley, author Tommy Orange, and his publisher, Knopf, for which I am extremely grateful. I thoroughly enjoyed reading it, particularly after just finishing “There There.” My review of “Wandering Stars” is given entirely VOLUNTARILY.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
An Important Topic But...
As a character study of generational pain caused by years of systemic racism and oppression, Orange nails the assignment. This book dramatically shows how our nation's horrible treatment of Native Americans is still being felt by them today. Sadly, I wasn't a fan of Orange's run-on sentences. In my opinion, it detracted from the readability. I shouldn't have to re-read a sentence multiple times to make sure I didn't miss a word. If you enjoy deeply depressing books where no one - and I mean no one -- escapes from tragedy and want a reminder of our horrid treatment of Native Americans, then you will like this book. However, if you are looking for an enjoyable read, then go with something else.. Overall, I give it a B-.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Family saga of generational trauma
WANDERING STARS is the eagerly-awaited follow up to Tommy Orange’s THERE THERE. The book opens with the story of Star in Colorado in 1864, a young survivor of the Sand Creek Massacre, who is brought to the Fort Marion prison where he is forced to learn English and practice Christianity by Richard Henry Pratt, an evangelical prison guard who later founds the Carlisle Indian Industrial School, an institution dedicated to the eradication of Native history, culture, and identity. A generation later, Star’s son, Charles, is sent to the school where he is brutalized by the man who was once his father’s jailer. While there, Charles forms a friendship with Opal Viola, and the two envision a future far from Carlisle. Future generations experience displacement and impoverishment at the hands of the government, as Orange ramps the narrative up to the stories of the adult Opal Viola Victoria Bear Shield, her half-sister Jacquie Red Feather, and Jacquie’s culturally adrift grandchildren Orvil, Lony, and Loother, from There There. When Orvil, who has been injured in a rollerblade hockey game, meets Seth, who still bears the bullet he took at the Powow, the two become addicted to painkillers. Eventually Orvil finds sobriety and severs his relationship with Seth. WANDERING STARS is an unflinching look at epigenetics and generational trauma told through the one-hundred-and-sixty-year history of a family – who survive unwavering cruelty, indifference, and injustice, but ultimately rise above it all … like shining stars.
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com
Highly recommend
I didn't read Tommy Orange's debut novel There There, so I came in with fresh eyes to this author. This is definitely a slow and meandering journey (rightfully so) through a lot of painful and traumatic experiences, heartache, and trying to process all of that in written form, by multiple people, without losing the audience, which this novel has profoundly done well. It's also difficult to 'rate' someone's personal story, so I will rate this based on the written form alone. It's really difficult to read these kinds of personal testimonies without flinching at the atrocity of mankind, and yet, this story deserves to be told AND heard so that we don't repeat this type of horror in the future, so I highly recommend this to all. Look forward to reading more by Tommy in the future. *I received a copy of this book from NetGalley. This review is my own opinion*
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Customer review from barnesandnoble.com