Where the Dead Sit Talking

De: Brandon Hobson

Narrado por: Eric Michael Summerer

With his single mother in jail, Sequoyah, a 15-year-old Cherokee boy, is placed in foster care with the Troutt family. Literally and figuratively scarred by his unstable upbringing, Sequoyah has spent years mostly keeping to himself, living with his emotions pressed deep below the surface - that is, until he meets the 17-year-old Rosemary, another youth staying with the Troutts.

Sequoyah and Rosemary bond over their shared Native American backgrounds and tumultuous paths through the foster care system, but as Sequoyah's feelings toward Rosemary deepen, the precariousness of their lives and the scars of their pasts threaten to undo them both.

©2018 Brandon Hobson (P)2018 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Meh

I will always support Indigenous authors. This had some great parts and there was potential but it was not my favorite and not one I would read/listen to again.

Indigeneity fell short

The good parts of this book included the imagery and intensity of tone. However, there were some misrepresentations when coming to the Cherokee elements of this novel. I grew up in a Cherokee community (I am ᎠᏂᎩᏚᏩᎩ) in Oklahoma, near Cherokee County. One issue I had was saying that Sequoyah means “sparrow.” Tsisquaya (ji-s-qua-ya) means real bird/sparrow, according to traditional Keetoowah-Cherokee author Robert J. Conley. I grew up learning that Sequoyah means “pig foot or pig-like” because he had a limp when he walked. This leads me to another Cherokee issue I had in the first chapter when it says Sequoyah developed the Cherokee language. Sequoyah developed the syllabary/alphabet, not the language. We had language before him. Lastly, the teepee at the end made me a little sad because Cherokees never used teepees.
The forced spirituality felt uncomfortable and awkward, and seemed like it was meant for non-Natives. It felt like this novel wasn’t targeting me as its audience, even with the use of pan-Indian elements (spirit quest & dreamcatchers). It was nice to see N. Scott Momaday mentioned.
One of my worries is that it could perpetuate stereotypes of Natives being drunks/druggies. And I wonder why the author didn’t include ICWA, since it’s a big issue in Indian Country.
Looking past some of the misinformation/representation part of the novel, it’s very interesting and makes the bleak look vivid.

Pure Story

Loved this book. It was pure story throughout. Sometimes literary novels get sidetracked with self-absorbed ego driven narration (like Alexie). Not here. We get a novel about a young Cherokee boy navigating the foster care system and struggles with identity around his Native ancestry, but also gender and sexuality. It's a refreshing Native novel that has genuine similarities to Erdrich's focus on story. Hobson doesn't beat you over the head with culture and victimhood. He tells a story about a human being being human. This gives the story a universal appeal. He does great with character development as well as lining out his plot to keep the reader interested. It's somewhat nonlinear, but mostly told in a linear format. The nonlinear aspects are used for foreshadowing the end and helps pull the reader through the plot. It's not Marquezian, but more Munro. Great audio book. The performance by Summerer is okay. Not amazing in any way, but you'll be able to get through the narration. It's worth the buy.

great read. riveting story. the author made me fee

the author made me feel like I was part of the story. very good book

Not terrible, but not amazing

Set in rural Oklahoma.
After his mother is sent to jail, Sequoyah is forced into the foster care system: moving from shelter to various foster homes. Keeping to himself, he struggles to find his place in the world.
Then comes the Trout family: Agnis and Harold, along with 2 other foster kids, George and Rosemary. Sequoyah and Rosemary begin an awkward friendship. Coming from their own tragedies, both aren’t sure how to be open and honest about who they really are, but Sequoyah’s feeling deepen.

This book was an excellent portrayal of being a Native American kid coming-of-age while dealing with an absent parent. His mother is an alcoholic, which is sadly very typical. A lot of Native parents lose their kids because they refuse to stop drinking or doing drugs. Sequoyah is not only emotionally scarred from his mothers’ actions, he is actually physically scarred. He has trouble opening up because he’s never felt supported enough to do so.
The Trout family are good people. That’s saying a lot compared to some foster families who see these children as checks rather than lives. I’m thankful they turned out the way they did.
I did feel it was a bit boring. Not a lot happens, and it’s slow paced. I kept waiting for something major to happen, and even when it did, it wasn’t that exciting.

Quite good

Although the book involves Native Americans in rural Oklahoma, this novel could really about anyone, bringing the ideas that everyone has their own story, some more tragic than others, and every person has their own set of problems and desires. There is no person in life who escapes unscathed. Although a little short, it's an excellent and well conceived novel and nicely presented by the reader.

Not memorable

This novel reads as one that people who read a lot of literary fiction would characterize as “different” while still incorporating the characteristic melancholy, angst, and, at times, pointless that has become all the rage in the genre. There’s no question that Hobson can write, and on the surface this novel has a great premise and interesting characters. But as often happens with “coming of age“ novels, the reader is left wondering “so what?” and questioning what was gained from the reading. There were a lot of characters and episodes that were dropped in made to seem important, and then never really came back or were mentioned again; if they did, it was seemingly at random with little impetus to move the plot along.

But, this is all personal perspective. If you enjoyed Lorrie Moore’s “A Gate at the Stairs,” you’ll probably enjoy this, as I found some similarities between the protagonists and how the stories unfolded.

A Slow Flatliner

The summons to note Brandon Hobson as a brilliant writer to watch simply confounds me. I felt as if this coming of age story was flat and meandering, like a slow death. The main characters seemed very one-dimensional: Harold, in his stilted attempts to connect with Sequoyah via his monologue about his disjointed relationship with his own father. Agnes, with her lonely piety and resigned, limp attempts to comfort her foster kids. Rosemary, desperately seeking attention with rebellion, cliched artist's angst and a tough but fragile veneer. The only character with any spiritual depth was George, who struggled with alienation and grief but continued to seek and create solace in a sad world.

I cherish stories, however depressing, if the prose and characters are engaging. I'm questioning my own literary astuteness, because I just don't grasp the greatness of this novel as described by other more bedazzled readers.

Expected more knowing native couture

What made me most upset is that he relied on native imagery but didn’t follow through . It MATTERS what kind of birds in the various parts of the book. the dream Lore of (spoiler) about a house was not explored as foreshadowing. Shame.