Louise Erdrich: "The Red Convertible: Selected and New Stories"

Contents

The Red Convertible................................................................A+
Scales................................................................B
The Worlds Greatest Fishermen................................................................F
Saint Marie................................................................C
The Plunge of the Brave................................................................A
The Blue Velvet Box................................................................B+
Pounding the Dog................................................................C
Knives................................................................A-
Destiny................................................................B
Anna................................................................D+
The Antelope Wife................................................................B
The Gravitron................................................................C
LeMooz................................................................A
Naked Woman Playing Chopin................................................................D-
Shamengwa................................................................C
The Shawl................................................................A
Revival Road................................................................B
The Dress................................................................D
Fleur................................................................B-
A Wedge of Shade................................................................C
The Leap................................................................A-
Fuck with Kayla and You Die................................................................A
The Crest................................................................B
The Painted Drum................................................................D
Hasta Namaste Baby................................................................C-
Beauty Stolen from Another World................................................................A

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Analysis

The Red Convertible (A+)

The Red Convertible is a story highly recommended to continue forward. It is fantastic, a story that is effortless in the way it engages you. One of the opening lines makes you question some things immediately. “We owned it together until his boots filled with water on a windy night and he bought out my share.” This hints that the story will explain how the journey of the red convertible between siblings Marty and Stephan. However, we don’t see the explanation until the very end, when Stephan jumps into the river after a few beers. His boots fill with water, and he is swept away by the current. The last line is haunting and brings emotions crashing down. “And then there’s only the water, the sound of it going and running and going and running and running.”

This big reveal at the end is made stronger in the middle of the story. We, as readers, are taken on the journey of this car. Marty and Stephan take it on a trip during the summer, going all the way to Alaska. We see the car used as a way for Marty to try and “fix” Stephan after he returns from the war with PTSD. Marty is so desperate to help him, she takes a hammer to the car so he has something to do. That night at the river is the first time Stephan is normal in a long time, and he acts silly with Marty and dives into the water. He appears down the river a ways, and he announces in a “normal voice” that his boots are filling up. He disappears again, and Marty drives the car down the bank to look for him, but all that is there is the water.

A phenomenal story. Could read over and over again. Highly recommend.

Knives (A-)

Knives does an excellent job of spinning what we are used to seeing on its head. Celestine is the one who initiates a sexual relationship with Karl, and she continues to pursue it. They are both inexperienced, but Karl is shown as the bashful, clumsy one, and Celestine ends up as the one to surprise him with further knowledge during their next encounter. The story follows as their relationship progresses. Celestine calls it love and how it wasn’t quite what she had expected. It is clear she can’t stand him, and she constantly tries to get him to leave, as he is lazy and refuses to help any by even attempting to sell his bum knives.

Celestine and Karl are both such interesting characters that they are what really makes this story the success that it is. Celestine is masculine and not pretty. Her hands are described as beaten, having handled too many knives in her time. Karl is lazy, a bum that Celestine has convinced herself she is in love with because she enjoys the sex he provides her. Karl wants to keep up the relationship for convenience. She provides sex and a place to stay. Celestine thinks this is love, and she finally tosses him to the side only to realize she is pregnant. She’s confused, scared, angry.

Overall, what the story lacks in plot, which albeit isn’t too much, it definitely makes up for it in its characterization.

The World’s Greatest Fisherman (F)

Unfortunately, this story was nothing short of a disappointment, simply because it was nearly impossible to follow what was happening. The story is divided into three parts. The first part talks about a woman, June, who gets called into a bar by a strange man. She has nothing else to do and nowhere to go, so she entertains him for a while. She decides he must be “different” and has sex with him in his car. She leaves, walking down the road in the snow on Easter.

The second and third parts follow the same story. Delmar is, presumably, June and her ex-husband Gordie’s, son. He is married to Lynette, and they have two children: Delmar Junior and the narrator. Otherwise, there is a whole mess of other characters who aren’t given much depth or distinguishing features. Delmar is abusive, and he goes so far as nearly drowning Lynette in the sink after trying to break into the car earlier to get to her. They destroy the pies in their struggle, the narrator attacking Delmar to get him off of Lynette. The narrator calmly fixes the pies in the morning, remarking that no matter how they try they cannot put them right once broken.

I felt that the story had potential to be something interesting about family and traits passed down. The beginning part was done very well, and June was one of the most fleshed out characters. I wanted to see more of her, but she was absent. The other characters, except for maybe Delmar, were stale and often just confused the story.

Overall, very disappointing. Wish the plot and characters had been more cohesive.