The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

Deep, touching, sad , and funny. I was reminded of Les Miserables (Victor Hugo, not the musical).

KD

(Note regarding the store requirement for 19 word review minimum: Eliminate unnecessary words.)

A mesmerizing tale from a writer whose ability to create another culture and world is unsurpassed.
Erdrich's descriptions, imagination and creativity leads us into a spiritual and fantastical experience.

I purchased this used from an the store seller and received free shipping. This is a first edition hardback library book that is in wonderful condition and I paid a fraction of the original price. Louise Erdrich is a master story teller and I plan to read more of her stories.

Required to read this for book discussion group. Would not have read it otherwise. This is a great book but I may not read anymore of her books as I am not particularly interested in reading books about American Indians. This was only secondarily about Indians. I only must put this author aside as I have so many other books on my "to read" list.

This is t;he best book EVER! A mesmerizing story that makes you wonder how the heck Louise Erdrich came up with and conveyed it in such exquisite language. I cried at the end of the book not because it was sad,; I didn't want to say goodbye to the characters. Because it's Louise Erdrich, at least you stay connected to those characters as their progeny appear as characters in her other works.
Be prepared for the story to get off to a bit of a slow start, like a river. Fasten you life jackets because this river gets rockin' and rollin'. Her style is evocative of Latin American realismo magico where the spirit world and the here and now are not so neatly separated. Wonderful.

This is an odd story with lots of interesting developments. There are complex characters, but it's a little difficult to follow their progression. At times I felt a little lost in the storyline because of the switches in genders & characters & timeframes. It is a good book. I recommend it for something different.

Have previously enjoyed Louise Erdrich, but I couldn't get through this (quit at 84%)......and I ALWAYS finish a book. For some reason the cast of characters lost me; just seemed to be a lack of cohesiveness and I just didn't care about them enough to continue on.

Man! The prologue and first chapter had me captivated and then it just turned into soft porn. I thought this was going to be one of the great novels I would have read. Instead I just could not finish it.

I will have to try one of Ms. Erdrich's other novels. Maybe this just wasn't the one for me. I do recommend trying a sampling of the book to see if it is for you. It was just not my cup of tea

This was suggested for my book club. I read almost halfway through and decided, "life is too short"! I just didn't connect on any level with this book but several in my book club really enjoyed it so go figure...

If you yoked Faulkner with Garcia-Marquez, and anointed them with the comic hijinx of John Irving, you would experience a sense of Louise Erdrich's poetic, visually imaginative power. She interweaves a traditional pagan mysticism with Catholic catechism, the animate with the anthropomorphic. The central figure, Father Damien Modeste, is a Catholic missionary priest who, since coming to the Little No Horse reservation in 1912, has fluidly blended the customs of the Ojibwe people with the Holy Trinity. Through his eighty years there on the reservation (he is at least 100 years old now), he has integrated the spiritual faiths into a potent hybrid, a mystic fusion that also informs the book's imagery, without a shred of proselytizing. Father Damien takes great pleasure in forgiveness, in absolving all of people's sins at confession.

Many of Erdrich's characters develop over time in her Argus novels, with intricate histories and relationships. Father Damien was a peripheral character in past books, such as Love Medicine,The Beet Queen and Tracks. Erdrich's use of the multi-narrative voice and nonlinear storyline brings specific characters in and out of focus at different times and in different books. In LAST REPORT, I could sense the full lives of characters such as Nanapush, Damien's closest friend, who came with a full history by the time he was introduced in this book. It is difficult to review this novel without mentioning some surprises about Father Damien's identity, which is shared in the first several pages. However, I leave that to the reader to discover, and will give very little plot point information.

Father Damien is now at the end of his life. He has been writing letters to the Vatican asking for spiritual guidance for half a century, awaiting a reply, persevering in this quest. When Father Jude shows up, it is not for the reasons Damien is hoping for. Rather, Father Jude has come to interview the cleric and others because the Vatican is considering Little No Horse's deceased Sister Leopolda (the Puyat) for sainthood. The Sister is inexplicably bound up with some reported miracles on the reservation. However, she was also a treacherous woman responsible for the tragic fate of several people. During the investigation of Sister Leopolda, Father Damien's extraordinary life unfolds.

Erdrich's prose is so dense and dynamic that you can extract any line and see multiple images expanding. Her sentences are not merely strung together to get to the next one. Like beautiful poetry, the journey of a single phrase can make you pause and shudder. Her sense of character is not limited to the sentient and her depiction of place contains a blend of what is now and what is ancient. I am still revisiting passages just for its supple beauty. Erdrich is an alpha-female writer; the robust writing/story doesn't depend on sentiment or emotional manipulation, but rather on singularity and strength. Flinty, brutal, feral, mystical, and inflammatory, this book is a postmodern world of the supernatural and earthly, intoxicated with great passion and love, deep sorrow and regret. And occasionally, it is hilarious.

I observed immediately that Erdrich's narrative keeps the reader at a certain distance, but it's the same way that the moon is at a distance when we gaze upon it. Too close and we would lose perspective. Within the chapters are subheadings that could rightly be their own vignettes and character studies. The structure reflects Erdrich's fealty to oral storytelling --the Native American tradition of language and the land, of birth and death, of revenant spirits, and the eternal cycles of nature. Father Damien's letters to the Vatican and his interview with Father Jude weaves the disparate narratives together, and shows the reader his candor beyond the cloak of secrecy.

I can see a higher power inhabiting the nun's fingers that channel Chopin; in the heart that beats in its cage; brittle old bones buried in the earth; the broken bits of sun flashing through the trembling leaves; a cold fat moon of an early frost; the long shadow of a life.

Erdrich has the gift, no doubt about it. Her story line, characters and prose combine in this book to make a feast for the senses. She can make us smell the stew inside an Objibwe cabin, hear the pounding rush of the Red River as it sweeps St. Cecilia/Agnes DeWitt off its banks and into the next phase of her life as the missionary priest to Little No Horse reservation, feel the hot breath of the Devil in dog form and taste the burnt coffee that one of the Kashpaw women constantly pours for Agnes' new persona Father Damien. While not a Roman Catholic, I can see why some might not entirely enjoy this book, which explores not only what it means to be a woman living a man's life, but also what it means to be a priest. The conclusion Father Damien comes to in the end is very different from church doctrine but will probably resonate with many questioning Christians of whatever stamp.
Erdrich follows and enlarges upon old trails in this book, filling in details of the main Little No Horse families. We meet up again with Nanapush, the charming trickster of "Tracks" and "Four Souls", and find out how he acquired his wife Margaret, we see Fleur Pillager again and find out what happened after her marriage to the lumber tycoon came apart, and what became of her daughter Lulu and her new son are on the reservation.
The main story concerns Sister Leopolda/Pauline Puyat and an Papal Inquiry into her possible sanctification. The Papal Emmissary (Father Jude) arrives on the reservation in 1996 seeking confirmation of the miracles and holiness of this possible new saint. Father Damien abhors Sister Leopolda and struggles to make Father Jude understand why making her a saint would be sacrilege. But while this portion of the book is fleshed out very satisfactorily, Erdlich weaves many smaller stories throughout, holding our interest all the time.
I felt better about life itself after reading this book. I hope you find the same beauty and grace in it.

Erdrich is known to me as a Native American realist. And I am in the process of being identified with Erdrich...not by her skills, but because I enjoy her skills so much; I might even end up with a book of hers in my coffin, meant to accompany me on my journey as a part of what encompasses 'me'. I read excerpts to my husband, and he laughs out loud. At least he can understand what I mean when we are out and about and I say, "That reminds me of Nanapush!" That's what Erdrich can do.

N A ONCE INNOCUOUS river, during the 1997 North Dakota flood, helpers rescued a woman in a billowing white nightgown floating by on the lid of a piano. Fascinated by this aquarelle image, author Goldberry M. Long wrote of a distressed heroine, Agnes, climbing on top of her piano and floating away to a new life.
Further inspired by the image, the author, Louise Erdrich, started work on this intriguing and beguiling new novel, written during the flood. Louise Erdrich is of both Ojibwe and German-American heritage. This unusual duality surfaces frequently in her creative writings, as with Father Damion Modeste (a modest devil?) a near 100 year-old character in her story. Writer Erdrich states in an interview, �Modeste�s character begs the question, Are the personae we deliver to the world intrinsic to us or assumed by us?�
Father Modeste�s faces a dilemma; the Vatican wants to enquire into the background of Sister Leopolda, a candidate for sainthood. Only Damion knows of her ability to perform miracles, yet remaining capable of evil. For years he wrote directly to the Pope concerning his parish and included details of the miracles occurring at Little No Horse.
However, he withheld essential facts until his last report. It reveals the unusual situation concerning Sister Leopolda and thundering facts concerning himself.
Characters from Erdrich�s previous works feature in the book. Gerry Nanapush appears in an uproarious sequence involving a mousy moose.
In addition to its sizzling plots and powerful set pieces, we learn much from this book about Turtle Mountain Ojibwe culture. Its roots appear in ancient Manichaeism, a religious dissension that built on Christianity and tried to make its practice universal. It died out around the 5th century but revived in the 20th when its ancient scriptures resurfaced in Turkestan and Egypt.
Erdrich�s style makes for great extracts, several from this book appeared in The New Yorker

The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse - Louise Erdrich
4 stars

"If memory serves me right, and I am over one hundred years old, the first of my reports dealt with an occurrence that forever set me on my course..."

Late at night, with a glass of wine, Father Damien is writing his last report to the distant and unresponsive Pope. Through Damien's own writing and a variety of different perspectives, Louise Erdrich tells the story of a most unusual priest. The story develops in disjointed recollections and anecdotes that are sometimes difficult to piece together. Gradually, Father Damien and his congregation on the reservation of Little No Horse come vividly to life. This book has complex, quirky characters, tremendous humor and great tragedy. But most important it has the beautiful language of Louise Erdrich. On nearly every page there were sentences and phrases that I had to read over and over for the sheer beauty of the words.

I found myself chuckling and enjoying this read so very much. The character of Father Damien Modeste is well developed. Found the transition from a nun named Sister Cecelia to Agnes, the live-in common law wife, to Father Damien Modeste fascinating. As she develops her persona as a priest one can't help but smile or chuckle out loud. While she operates as a priest she doesn't fool many of the tribal people who get to know her/him well.

Father Damien takes his role as priest at the reservation seriously. As he gets to know individuals in the tribe he makes many friends. Nevertheless, his mistakes haunt his dreams. He writes to the Pope letter after letter seeking advice and/or forgiveness. No answers arrive. Still he continues, year after year.

There are many humorous episodes in this book. My favorite, the one with the moose who drags the aging Nanapush in a boat around the reservation, makes for much laughter. Erdrich's descriptions of that incident had me picturing the entire episode. And, when Nanapush comes to life not once but twice at his wake I laughed again.

When the aging Father Damien has a visitor to ascertain whether an Indian woman is due for sainthood he is puzzled why the Pope sent such a low level ambassador. As he visits with Farther Jude, Modeste finds himself reliving parts of his life. Especially poignant for him was the time spent with Father Gregory Wekkle to whom she was attracted physically. They fell in love and spent their evenings making love while during the days they went about their priestly duties. For me, the humanness of Agnes/Father Damien is so realistic.

Another important aspect of this read is the insight the author gives the reader into the Ojibwe culture, beliefs, mindset and humor. Father Damien's encounters with the talking black dog are an example. There is so much to this novel that I could do it again. What an outstanding read!

Louise Erdrich creates a fascinating tapestry in her novel The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse. The characters are slowly woven in and out of the story until an intricate work of beauty has been created. This is a story of a search for hope and faith that begins in an unusual manner. It begins with Father Damien writing for answers from Rome as he has for many decades. It is revealed that Father Damien is not who many believe him to be, but the question remains, is Father Damien the person that God needed Father Damien to be. The tale then steps back into how Father Damien arrives at Little No Horse, where many people enter into the tale. When Father Jude, arrives to investigate whether Sister Leopolda, a nun at the convent in Little No Horse, really deserves consideration for Sainthood the past is unwrapped layer by layer.
The questions of faith, suffering and sacrifice are examined, when does one supercede the other to elevate each to a higher level of love and true caring.
The story started out very slowly but, halfway through this novel, each page became a gem and when the story had ended it was a wonderful tale.

The sacred and the profane. Faith and eroticism. Earth-drying sunlight and earth-rending flood. Night and day. Heaven and Hell ... could any of them exist without their opposite?
In her new novel, "The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse," Louise Erdrich weaves the intricate and the uncomplicated into a story that is, by turns, extraordinarily tangled and beautifully concrete. Opposites dependent upon one another.
Maybe it's because Erdrich writes in sacred circles. Families, generations, places, events and individual characters swirl among her various novels. The Turtle Mountain-Pembina Reservation, which sprawls across the Red River halfway into North Dakota -- the setting for "Love Medicine," "Tales of Burning Love" and other Erdrich tales -- is again the crucible where Erdrich re-mixes the lives of the Nanapush, Kashpaw, Morrissey, Mauser, Pillager, Lamartine and Lazarre families. In her work, you'll recognize Faulknerian rhythms: a northern plains Yoknapatawpha where the Sartorises, Snopeses and Compsons are known by Ojibwe names, where voices shift like sand.
In circles where the literary air is more rarefied, Erdrich's juxtaposition of disparate concepts might be called *Manichean* -- relating to an ancient spiritual belief that life is governed by an endless battle between equally potent forces of good and evil, neither of which can ever annihilate the other. That's one way to look at it. But while her writing invites a number of interpretive methods and philosophies, it is Spartan and simply human, more Cather than Faulkner. In environs where landscape is less influential to life, readers might see only Manichean metaphors in rivers, forests and blizzards; in the West, it's just the way things are -- starkly contrasted depending on the time of day, the angle of sight, or the weather. The place that is good by day might be evil by dark. It is not just the stuff of Erdrich's writing, but her life, too.
The pivotal event in "The Last Report" is a Dakota flood that not only sweeps Agnes away on the lid of a piano, but also represents her spiritual evolution -- her ordination, if you will -- into Father Damien. A heaven-sent event, delivered by the Muse of Metaphor into the fervid imagination of a writer in need of a symbol? In fact, it is a scene inspired by the 1997 flood on North Dakota's Red River. It is certainly an apt spiritual metaphor, but it is also a simple account of how fortunes are so swift to change in the Western landscape. Pick your poison, dear reader: Mysticism or reality. They both work.
The part-Ojibwe Erdrich, like indigenous writers Sherman Alexie and Leslie Marmon Silko, deftly blends mysticism and dark humor in a complex, compassionate amalgam that, when burnished, not only reflects the Indian experience, but human existence in any color, at any moment in time.

Another reviewer has likened the Erdrich oeuvre to one vast novel. The epic in this portion spans most of the 20th century with the Anishinaabeg & chimookomanag on the fictional Little No Horse Reservation in North Dakota. I found myself wishing that I remembered more of the people's stories from the other books, as it would have been an even richer experience. But rich it still is. Not as laugh-out-loud funny as "Bingo Palace," "Last Report" does have its moments: death by fertile Red River farm mud; the jesting wars of NoDo Catholics v. Lutherans: after going somewhat daft at the loss of her companion and being seen naked by neighboring farm children whilst feeding the chickens: "That episode with the chickens made the gossip table rounds. People put it off to Berndt's death and an unstringing of her nerves. Still, she lost only a Lutheran (piano) student or two. She continued playing the organ for Mass ...; " and how, through a series of misadventures along the processional route of the Feast of the Virgin , the statue of the Blessed Virgin comes flying "into the house of seven of the most notorious drunks in Little No Horse, who lay groaning at that very moment for whiskey. ... Of course, the drinkers all knelt, blessed themselves, wept in astonishment and converted - not to Catholicism, but at least to a much less potent form of alcohol : to wine. "

An unusual life journey - that of Agnes Dewitt originally from rural Wisconsin, briefly a nun, then a passionate affair with Bernt, hostage in a bank robbery and then, after assuming the identity of the deceased Father Damien Modeste, a priest living on an Ojibwe reserve. This is a many layered reading experience with much about the lives of native Americans in the twentieth century, comic scenes to make you laugh out loud, moments of intense passion, and spiritual theme throughout reconciling Ojibwe spirituality with Catholicism. The novel begins with Father Damien at an ancient age being visited by the younger Father Jude Miller who has been sent to interview him about the possible sainthood of a nun from the reserve, Sister Leopolda, finally Father Damien is compelled to revisit events of the past and to tell his story.

At times Erdrich's writing is more like poetry than prose, though the different stories were beautifully told it was all somewhat disjointed for a novel, hard to keep track of the characters. What really held my attention was the idea of someone living as the other sex for an entire lifetime, this is what makes this book unique and unforgettable for me. I was curious all the way through as to what would happen when the "Father" died, that kept me turning the pages and was pleased by way the end finally came for Agnes.

I resonated fully with the negative reviews, they pretty well reflected my own history of trying to read Louise Erdrich. Except for The Beet Queen I never finished any of them, and even that book was nothing special for me. But this book I really liked, probably for the historical qualities of the story, I do love a good historical fiction.

The novel did start to drag a bit about 3/4 of the way in, but by then I was hooked. I did find Erdrich's writing very good, and I never did before. Now I would say she writes like an angel. A memorable read, a fine work of art.

A lovely, sometimes provocative, sometimes lyrical, tale of a gender-bending priest--a woman who goes into Indian country disguised as a male priest and serves the parish there for decades, seemingly unbeknownst to the local population. The story is told from her/his point of view, post-mortem in a letter of confession to her/his bishop, who arrives at the reservation to investigate a story of sainthood. The story ends up giving us key information about Sister Leopolda from Love Medicine. The novel is finely plotted, and the reader can get lost in the sheer beauty of the language at times. But the novel offers more: it is a tale of human compassion and community, and asks us what it means for us to accept ourselves, accept one another, and accept with humility the roles life hands to us. The novel offers less of the magical realism of some of Erdrich's other fiction, though there is some of that here; oddly, however, it does not seem contrived but integral to the narrative plot, setting, and theme. A terrific book.

The incredible life of Father Damien is chronicled with very entertaining and humorous details as she manages to survive some incredible obstacles that lead her to the role of priest at a Native American village in Minnesota. The life that she inherits allows her to come very close to the native lifestyle of the village and the inhabitants are a group of brilliant and very humorous characters that have already created a very impelling saga of their own. This was the first book that I have read by Louise Erdrich, and I plan to read many more.Dancing on the Edge of an Endangered Planet

I have enjoyed this author since her first book, Love Medicine. That said, I think The Last Report on the Miracles of Little No Horse is one of the best stories in the realm of storydom - an engaging novel about commitment and love. I did not want it to end.
We learn in the first pages that Father Damien is a female once called Agnes. Agnes/Father Damien has a passionate life ride and the good fortune to befriend and be friended by many wonderful characters. All of Agnes' loves are intriguing and inform her choices. These include the music of Chopin and a drowned piano. Agnes' respect for the Ojibwe people influences Father Damien's belief that the Four Directions are as sacred as the Trinity and must be incorporated into all blessings.
My favorite character, the trickster genius, Nanapush, teaches Father Damien how to survive in practical ways, as in how to make snow shoes and how to unnerve an opponent in a game of chess. Father Damien is generously helped by Nanapush to regain his commitment to the living world in a sacred Ojibwe sweat lodge ceremony. Their discussions about the concept of the Catholic Devil, as opposed to the Ojibwe devils ( some good, some bad), the Ojibwe concept of "not time," and that even a pair of old pants can harbor spirit are wonderful passages to read and read again. Nanapush introduces the Father to a spirituality of wit and compassion and bone deep wisdom that causes his Agnes self to hope in her last breathing moments that she might bypass the devil she fears has conscripted her soul and even bypass the Catholic heaven for the Ojibwe version of the after life that she has learned to prefer as the most hopeful final option.
The character most will loathe, Sister Leopolda, the Puyat, is the best literary example of spiritual materialism I have had the good fortune to discover. Save us all from the Leopolda's of this world! And save us all from becoming her!! Let us hope that the canonized saints will not have to recognize her as one of their hierarchy and then be forced to reconsider their own worthiness!!! Leopolda is the product of terrible abuse. Her treacherous nature, however justified, is a great challenge to the harmony Father Damien so valiently strives to maintain. Their encounters are also passages to savor and return to. When Leopolda wants to repent, beware.
The irony of confusing material wealth and power over others - or even painting one's nails with a laquer called "Happiness" - in hopes of achieving perfect happiness permeates the novel. Ribald humor and miraculous serendipty are artfully balanced with sobering and historically true natural disasters and crimes of human disregard for our first people and the land. Above all, this is a joyous tale of one tormented soul's journey to beatitude.
Thank you Ms. Erdrich.

I loved everything about this book, especially the opening sequence of events regarding Agnes, they were so clever and imaginative. From beginning to end, the story was written so well, so fluidly, creating a strong poetic transition to each chapter. This was the first book I have read by Louise Erdich and immediately became an avid fan of her writing style.
The characters are well developed, the story is interesting, and the style of her writing is sometimes breathtaking. I find it rare to come across a book that captures my attention so quickly, then most importantly, maintains it. Every moment reading this book was enjoyable.