The Crown of Columbus

I remember enjoying this novel quite well, and even mentioning this to Louise Erdrich when she visited on a promotional tour for another book in England, back when it was recent. I think it is pretty true to life for a novel set around a university, and the images of Columbus remain, giving a very interesting point of view into how he may have actually looked at things. The times and his life were nothing if not complicated. 1492 is the same year that Isabella and Ferdinand completed the long Reconquista of Spain in Granada, which is itself quite a tale, clearly full of its own intrigues and the march up to the Alhambra. How she found time to understand, approve, and bankroll Columbus would be very interesting to know. Anyway, again an entertaining novel of some particular kinds of life, which is after all what novels do. It's not Nanapush and Fleur, but it's not entirely far away in its approach if you think about it.

I loved the Crown of Columbus. Everything from the richness of the language and characterization to the intricate plot development. A quintessential love story, Vivien Twostar leaps off the pages: one can identify with her struggles - both as an individual and also in a relationship. While the feckless Roger Williams adrift in his sea of academic and masculine arrogance is a wonderful counterfoil. Beautifully written prose has depth yet is concise and conveys rich imagery and conflict. Oh if only all books were this good!

I thoroughly enjoyed this novel. Once I got past the misleading synopsis on back of the novel and accepted the novel for what it really was, I became intensely involved. Roger Williams and Vivian Twostar are stereotypes, which is the point. They are cariactures; Dorris and Erdrich having a little fun with the stereotypes people have placed on them. The depth of character found in Erdrich's other novels is clearing missing; however, _The Crown of Columbus_ is a different kind of novel. It is a modern romance, detective, adventure, and historical novel at the same time. I recommend this book to someone looking for an entertaining read; anyone seeking high literature should read Erdrich's _Tracks_

In Crown of Columbus, Erdrich created a thrilling novel around historical information regarding Columbus. She further explored many of the cultural perspectives about the meaning of Columbus and particularly looked at Columbus' meaning to many Native Americans. In addition to the educational and historical perspective, she created characters who were real and complex. Erdrich also developed a suspensful end to the story which proved somewhat predictable but none-the-less made the book difficult to put down.

I am a very big fan of Erdrich and the one other book of Dorris' I read, "Yellow Boat.." was good if seeming to me, a bit derivative from some of Erdrich's work. But "Crown of Columbus" ranks among the most tedious, unoriginal works I can recall. The characters, especially Roger Williams, are all too familiar stereotypes of ivy league social dynamics, painfully etched in more interesting tales elsewhere. Indeed, every character without exception from the semi-rebellious teenage son to the resentful Native granny to the mildly eccentric old couple in the Bahamas (I am forgetting names as much else about the book, thankfully) are gnawingly predictable. This book strikes me as the downside of collaborative fiction. Please Louise and Michael: enjoy your lives together but pursue your individual muses separately lest there be another such offspring to waste the time and money of your faithful!