The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse

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'm going to have to reread the six novels that lead up to one. If Louise Erdrich never writes another novel about the folks in and around this fictional reservation she would have given us one huge and marvelous tale, encompassing the lives of characters who not only become the people we feel we've known (or, at least, wish we had known) but people who we feel have become our teachers: ones who teach us to see what is important; teach us to see grace and providence when things become irreversibly fouled up. "Little No Horse" is a strange place. I won't go into too many details, but it is a place where women over age seventy still have enough sex appeal to make men obsess (sexy enough to make priests want give up the call) -- reminiscent of the women of the Old Testament, particularly Genesis.In "The Last Report At Little No Horse" Louise Erdrich wrote less of the first person narratives -- which seemed to dominated the first six novels of this series -- telling the story predominately in the third person (my own opinion is telling a story from a third person perspective is much more difficult to do right). You need only open any page in this book to discover the work of a master wordsmith. Beautiful.

"The Last Report on the Miracles at Little No Horse" is Erdrich at her best. While I find all her works amusing and entertaining, works to be savored and not just read, Little No Horse pulls together the best elements of her talent. There is passion, death, humor (both subtle and blatant), excellent characterization, and a plot that is tightly bound from beginning to end while loosely juggled between various character points of view. Her characters, whether central or peripheral, are believeable, understandable, and in some ways ordinary while carving out a niche in the extraordinary or mysterious. There are wonderful tales within the larger story. Tales that are crafted well in themselves but always work towards enlightening the pathway of plot or character development. The book begins where "Tales of Burning Love" left off, but quickly moves back to 1912 so that those with little or no experience in Erdrich's novels need not worry about being left out. "Little No Horse" is both prequel and sequel. Entertaining on a surface level, but it also brings to light many issues worthy of reflecting on long after you are done reading. A true work of art.

Although I have long been an Erdrich fan, I have to say that this book stands alone as one of the most beautifully written novels I have read in a long time. From a bear baptism to an ugly Virgin Mary to a death by flatulence, this book is alternately funny and poignant. Louis Erdrich continues her tradition of intelligent, respectful and captivating writing with this book. Rather than elaborate on the specifics of characters and background in this novel, I will just say that this book gave me an overall sense of a writer who has found peace and come to appreciate life's joys.

I loved this book! My favorite of Erdrich's books is Antelope Wife, but "The Last Report..." ties for second with "Bingo Palace." I would say Last Report is one of her finest works. Great character development, depth, insight, and many doses of humor. Much of the humor in this book seems to be directed at the ways in which people interpret and understand Catholicism, but it also can be seen as an extention of how people understand their own circumstances and make meaning of them. A definite must read. Sort of felt a little like reading the John Powers books (Last Catholic in America, etc.) plus all that we have come to love and respect from Ms. Erdrich.