Quiet Until the Thaw

I‘m intrigued by this author and her chosen subject matter. Fuller was born in England and moved to South Africa as a child. In her 20s she moved to Wyoming and this book is about Native Americans. Anyone read anything by her?

Grrlbrarian I have:

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood

Grrlbrarian Thought it was interesting and eye-opening and alarming, all at once (edited) 6y

Lacythebookworm @Grrlbrarian Good to know! I have the ebook of that one. 6y

See All 9 Comments

charl08 Everything she's written! 6y

merelybookish Her memoirs are fabulous. But this one makes me uncomfortable. 6y

merelybookish I should add I haven't read it yet but did go to a reading. She's funny and eloquent and passionate and I'd like to give her a pass. And yet, I'm still not sure we need a novel written by a white woman from a First Nations perspective. 6y

EKonrad I remember reading Don‘t Let‘s Go to the Dogs Tonight years ago and absolutely loving it! 6y

Lacythebookworm @merelybookish Yep, I was thinking the same. It was a decent book and I‘ll pick up her memoirs, but what made her write this?! I need to see if I can find an interview... 6y

Lacythebookworm @charl08 @Ekonrad 👍 Hopefully I‘ll get to a memoir in 2018. 😊 6y

92 likes1 stack add9 comments

Soscha

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

My 1st shipment from Politics & Prose Book-A-Month (you can also add-on a surprise CD and/or DVD!) subscription service. They surprise you based on your preferences, and with these choices I feel safe in saying the bookseller knows best. 👏🏻🎟🎯

13 likes

merelybookish

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

I went to hear Alexandra Fuller at the Tattered Cover. She opened by saying she'd been raised by white supremacists. She talked about how we all be a bit white supremacey, and that we live in a white supremacist country. She did not hold back.
I knew from her memoirs, she'd be entertaining but her talk was moving and urgent in a way I wasn't expecting. She is not letting herself or her readers off the hook.
If you get the chance, go see her.

merelybookish Her white settler readers, I should say. 7y

merelybookish I should add I feel conflicted about her new novel which is written from the perspective of two Lakota men. Obviously that's problematic and she did discuss it. She said her goal was not to speak FOR indigenous people but to deconstruct the dominant narrative FOR her most white settler audience. But she said ultimately there's no defence. So weird and problematic. Good intentions but still...? 7y

batsy @merelybookish This is interesting. I have such mixed feelings about this. What did you think of the book, if you've read it? 7y

merelybookish @batsy I haven't read the book yet but did buy a copy. She was so passionate and on fire while she spoke. She obviously wants to end racial disparity. And she has spent significant time with the Lakota people. And I think her outsider position (having been raised in Africa) is valuable. BUT, in the end, it's still a white woman writing from the perspective of two indigenous men. It just feels unnecessary. 🤤 7y

batsy @merelybookish I can understand that and I feel the same. There's always a question of no matter how well one does it, and with care and respect, is it at the same time taking up space from Native American voices? I'm so intrigued by your description of her talk, though. I might check out her book at some point. 7y

68 likes2 stack adds5 comments

shawnmooney

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

I tend to avoid politically-controversial literary topics like the plague, and if this post sparks a heated debate I won't participate in it, but non-indigenous writers writing fiction about indigenous folks is a red-hot screaming match of an issue in Canada. Not in America? I am not sure why British, Rhodesian-raised Fuller would wade into this minefield by penning her first novel with Native American women as the main characters.

Sydsavvy I think we don't have enough of these stories, & this looks good. As Fuller writes, "The belief that we can be done with our past is a myth. The past is nudging at us constantly." Per Elizabeth Gilbert in Big Magic, maybe this story wouldn't quit nudging her, maybe she was the one to tell it? On the other hand I always wonder how men can tell female stories, but they seem to be able to quite well through one method or another.??? 7y

Hooked_on_books I was surprised at her choice as well, but I've heard good things about the book. I definitely agree that we need diverse voices in literature and books but also feel people should be free to tell the story they are moved to tell. 7y

35 likes1 stack add2 comments

diovival

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

pick

I received a free advanced copy of this book via a Goodreads giveaway. Turns out this was just what I needed to pull myself out of a reading slump. Part of what I loved so much about reading this book was it's short chapters. Most were only a page or so long. There were ample places to pause if need be, but more often than not I found myself having internal negotiations when external obligations threated to interrupt my reading. 👇

diovival I'd tell myself just one more chapter but that always turned out to be a lie. One more chapter was never enough. The story moves forward and backward and forward in time. At turns humorous and sad and painful and hopeful. Snippets of the fictional lives of Lakota men and women across generations deftly strung together by Fuller. Good storytelling? Absolutely. I have other more complicated feelings about the author and her choice of subject matter. 7y

diovival And, I am linking again to a YouTube clip of the final lap in the 1964 Olympic 10,000 meter race. To this day, Billy Mills is the only American to win Olympic gold in this event. Not gonna lie, I have watched and rewatched this clip.

https://youtu.be/uOj0zjPzg-c 7y

andrew61 It sounds interesting, her rhodesia memoir i recall was very good. 7y

29 likes2 stack adds3 comments

diovival

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

I had to look this up. "Look at Mills! Look at Mills!" Pure and unfiltered human emotion spilling out of Dick Bank. Wow. And there is a Billy Mills movie? I need to find it.

https://youtu.be/uOj0zjPzg-c

22 likes

diovival

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

My mini reading slump has been destroyed by this #arc 😍

Moray_Reads This sounds gripping 7y

Hobbinol This does sound really good. I'll look forward to your review. 7y

26 likes1 stack add2 comments

diovival

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

"You'll hear people from the Bureau of Indian Affairs say Indians sleep all day. Show up at any time, even during so-called working hours, they'll tell you, and you'll find all the kids running wild in the hills with a pack of Rez dogs, and all the adults passed out. It's never occurred to anyone to suppose the kids and the dogs are running for their lives and the adults are not asleep so much as playing possum. Tonic immobility..."

26 likes

diovival

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

Started a new book today. Feels good.

IamIamIam Happy you got your mojo back!!! 7y

diovival @IamIamIam 💃 7y

22 likes2 comments

BethFishReads

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

I have loved every one of her nonfiction books. Can.Not.Wait to dive into her first novel. Set not in Africa but in South Dakota. Opening sentence: "They say Rick Overlooking Horse didn't talk much."

44 likes2 stack adds

Pandalibrarian

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

Such a beautiful book with lots of food for thought. There are lots of passages worth quoting but this is my favorite, I think. Will definitely read this one again.

4 likes

Alan

Quiet Until the Thaw | Alexandra Fuller

pick

It's a good story. Sensitively told. Beautifully written. And the mechanical and moral dilemmas tackled by the author are interesting to consider. It's totally what you should read if you've already read all of Erdrich, Wagamese, Silko, and Treuer.

2 likes

Welcome to Litsy!

Trending Hashtags

Trending Books