Griever: An American Monkey King in China

by Gerald Vizenor

Griever de Hocus, an American, reservation-born tribal trickster, becomes a teacher at Zhou Enlai University in China, but is soon flouting the state bureaucracy like the cosmic trickster common to both Chinese and Native American mythology.

Genres: Native American, Fiction, Indigenous

240 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Gerald Robert Vizenor is an Anishinaabe writer and scholar, and an enrolled member of the Minnesota Chippewa Tribe, White Earth Reservation. Vizenor also taught for many years at the University of California, Berkeley, where he was Director of Native American Studies. With more than 30 books published, Vizenor is Professor Emeritus at the University of California, Berkeley, and Professor of American Studies at the University of New Mexico.

Reviews

[Nathan "N.R." Gaddis]

just not for me. Not at this time. But likely worth your time. Interviewed in McCaffery's Some Other Frequency: Interviews with Innovative American Authors. Should be a good supplement to Monkey: The Journey to the West, or the full four=volume attack of course.

[Hannah Kelly · Rating 1 out of 5]

I don't know what else to say other than I absolutely loathed this. From the horrible, disgusting, sexual objectifying of women, to the gross and languorous descriptions of bodily functions that I just DID NOT need to know, to the inscrutability and bewilderment I felt while reading it, I can only ask Gerald Vizor, what were you thinking? If this hadn’t been assigned I would never have read this piece of trash.

[Nated Doherty · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a beautifully written book, for sure, but I think if part of the goal is to depict China, then it offers a troublingly narrow view of China. There's only a little bit, towards the end, where anythign outside the maze of officialdom is depicted, and the 'beaurocracy' that is depicted is finally characterized with a murderous individual. I dunno, it seems like the book very well encapsulates an experience of profound culture shock, which makesthe unity proposed between Vizenor's Native American Trickster, and the Monkey King of Chinese myth, a bit strained. But still, very worth reading for Vizenor's style and creation, just keep in mind that there's a lot to Chinese society that bears very little resemblance to what he depicts here.

[Dan]

Hard to review this one.

If you want lucid narrative, look elsewhere. Vizenor's essays should be read next to this novel. His background & philosophy of narrative/reality/etc. influences every page of this dream/metaphor mess. In terms of whether or not it is enjoyable, I can't say it is. But in terms of expressing his ideology and views of a wide range of subjects, it does so . . . but it is a muddled (by design) narrative.

If I were to suggest anything, read his essays on survivance over this novel.

[Bryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Appropriately enough Vizenor's most acclaimed book is the one I enjoyed the least. The satire of the Chinese bureaucracy was a bit been there done that for me. Other sections took place wholly within shamanistic dreamspace and I had no idea what he was getting at. I haven't read a lot of the sources that were his touchstones. Perhaps that would have illuminated things a bit.

I would love to know what Chinese scholars and Chinese readers thought of this book.

There is still nothing like him though: boundless, bizarre, confrontational and sometimes hilarious.

[Karl Kronlage · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this in class - otherwise, I'd have never made it through this one. The main character is a trickster and the chapter are out of order. It has funny moments, but for the most part I was confused. I wouldn't really recommend it and I'm not sophisticated enough to enjoy it for pleasure, but I do recognize it as a post-modern literary novel that has it's merits.

[Laura K · Rating 3 out of 5]

an interesting contrast/comparison/blend of native american and chinese cultures in a communist revolutionary atmosphere. quick and interesting read!