Little: A Novel

by David Treuer

Back in print, with a new introduction, the memorable debut by the author of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee

The grave we dug for my brother Little remained empty even after we filled it back in. And nobody was going to admit it.

So begins Little, first published by Graywolf Press in 1995 when David Treuer was just twenty-four. The narrative unfolds to reveal the deeply entwined stories of the three generations of Little’s family, including Stan, a veteran of the Vietnam War who believes Little is his son; Duke and Ellis, the twins who built the first house in Poverty after losing their community to smallpox and influenza; Jeannette, the matriarch who loved both Duke and Ellis and who walked hundreds of miles to reunite with them. Each of these characters carries a piece of the mystery of Little’s short life.

With rhythmic and unadorned prose, Treuer uncovers in even the most frost-hardened ground the resilience and humor of life in Poverty. From the unbearable cruelty of the institutions that systematically unraveled Native communities at the turn of the century, to the hard and hollow emptiness of a child’s grave, Treuer has orchestrated a moving account of kinship and survival.

In his new introduction, Treuer, now among the foremost writers of his generation, reflects on the germ of this novel and how it fits into his lasting body of work centered on Native life. More than a quarter of a century later, Little proves as vital and moving as ever.

Genres: Fiction, Native American, Literary Fiction, Novels, Indigenous

288 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1995

About the author

David Treuer is an Ojibwe Indian from Leech Lake Reservation in northern Minnesota. He is the recipient of a Pushcart Prize, and fellowships from the NEH, Bush Foundation, and the Guggenheim Foundation. He divides his time between his home on the Leech Lake Reservation and Minneapolis. He is the author of three novels and a book of criticism. His essays and stories have appeared in Esquire, TriQuarterly, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, Lucky Peach, the LA Times, and Slate.com.

Treuer published his first novel, Little, in 1995. He received his PhD in anthropology and published his second novel, The Hiawatha, in 1999. His third novel The Translation of Dr Apelles and a book of criticism, Native American Fiction; A User's Manual appeared in 2006. The Translation of Dr Apelles was named a Best Book of the Year by The Washington Post, Time Out, and City Pages. REZ LIFE is his newest book and is now out in paperback with Grove Press.

Reviews

[shawn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is Treuer's first book. He's gone on to write (among other things) a truly visionary contemporary novel ("The Translation of Dr. Apelles") and has made a name for himself as trying hard to redefine the idea of Native American writing and its place in the world.

His first novel is short (or unfocused) on plot, but he was clearly more concerned with the craft. It still has a ways to go, but this is definitely a worthwhile read. Very descriptive. Successful in conveying the particularities of place.

This passage is a particular gem:

"It was dark and she lay against the wall in a pile of quilts made from rotting panels of fabric that I had cut from the pants legs of drunken loggers as they lay passed out along the boarded walls of the town bar."

There are many, many descriptions like this one: honest, unromanticized, but thickly layered, rich, well-grounded descriptions that do everything they can to convey the living conditions on the reservation -- not only of the Natives, but of the white folk who live there as well. The destitute conditions of the Natives are artfully mixed in with the similarly destitute conditions of the surrounding poor white farmers, or the white trash who operate the few businesses on the rez.

This conflation is the book's strength -- it is honest about the poverty of all, and deals with the Native plight (racism, etc.) by subtle measures within that encompassing destitution. The book is never "about Indians". It strives, from the outset, to be about everyone.

[Παύλος · Rating 3 out of 5]

Η αλήθεια είναι πως το ξεκίνησα με πολύ υψηλές προσδοκίες καθώς θα περίμενα να ξετυλιχτεί μπροστά μου μια πραγματική κατά το δυνατόν ιστορία ενός Ινδιάνου. Δυστυχώς κάτι τέτοιο δε συνέβη αν και παρόλα αυτά πιστεύω πως θα μπορούσε να είναι ακόμα πιο ενδιαφέρον εάν η μετάφραση ήταν καλύτερη. Διαπίστωσα αρκετές φράσεις ασύνδετες μεταξύ τους και δαπάνησα αρκετό χρόνο στο να προσπαθώ να διαβάσω πίσω από τις λέξεις ξανά και ξανά ώστε να καταλάβω τι συμβαίνει.

[Paul]

Sometimes difficult to know just where this book is going. But life is like that I guess.

[Anthony Rainey · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got "Little" because I had read Treuer's anthology "The Heartbeat Of Wounded Knee". Treuer's writing is beautifully descriptive and full of emotion. The story of the native residents of the Poverty rez is compelling, but is hard to follow. I found it to be a bit disjointed and there wasn't, for me at least a clear theme. Again, I enjoyed the writing but the plot left me wanting.

[LyndaIn Oregon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lyrical writing and a strong sense of place can't save this novel, which leaps from narrator to narrator back and forward through a span of years as it tells the intertwined story of a tiny community on the Chippewa Reservation of northern Minnesota.

Relationships are complex, with "family" defined more by emotional ties than genetic ones, and multiple vignettes flash by in search of a plot. The title character, a physically and mentally challenged boy, is little more than a thread wandering through the scenes without either tying them together or giving them depth.

[Ew Lake · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't know if it was because my reading was broken up and spaced apart, but I found it hard to connect with each character's story. I think the author meant more humor and tenderness than I was able to pull from this. Listening to a current interview with the author - on the reprinting of his book 27 years after publication - I heard he really enjoys reading John Irving. That immediately made me compare Little to Prayer for Owen Meany, which wasn't fair.

[Donny J. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some of the book is really strong and some isn't. The way native life is depicted, in a manner, feels absolutely truthful and honest. The sagging parts are the end and how the book doesn't really follow a linear plot. Nonetheless, a fun, quick and engaging read with a lot of good bits to take in.

[Océanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful, slow description of a very specific demographic, time period, and class experience. I struggled to follow the many characters and keep the familial relationships straight, but I did enjoy many passages and was glad I read it.

[Myrto · Rating 1 out of 5]

Πολύ χαοτικό.

[Jodi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreaking and tragically beautiful.

[Vaios · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ωραίες περιγραφές αλλά η έλλειψη ουσιαστικής πλοκής καταντάει πολύ κουραστική και από ένα σημείο και μετά ένιωθα πως διαβάζω χωρίς να υπάρχει νόημα...

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 3/4 stars

[Julie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn’t stick with it. It was all over the place. I hoped to like it but gave up. I don’t give up on many books but this one was rough.

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely written by a Toni Morrison student turned anthropologist. But nothing necessarily wrong with that.

[Kennedy Ray · Rating 1 out of 5]

Four months later and I finished it. The page-long descriptions of a single river or tree reminded me of a book you'd be forced to read in English 201 or AP Lit where moths could be spent discussing a single sentence. Think "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë or "Wide Sargasso Sea" by Jean Rhys. While I thought I'd like the fresh take of a Native American writer on the lives of a 20th-century native family (food shortages, poverty, wars), I was simply too lazy to do the deep English-degree-required analysis required to get anything from this book.

[Luda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3,7.

Μια ιστορία που όλοι οφείλουν να διαβάσουν κάποια στιγμή. Ακολουθούμε Ινδιάνους της Φυλής Οτζίμπουε από την Μινεσότα καθώς προσπαθούν να βρουν την θέση τους σε έναν κόσμο που τους αποδοκιμάζει, τους χλευάσει και προσπαθεί με κάθε τρόπο να τους υπονομεύσει. Παρά τον χαοτικό τρόπο γραφής, την έλλειψη ουσιαστικής πλοκής το βιβλίο αυτό θα μείνει μαζί μου για πολύ καιρό, καθώς η αναγνώριση της ιστορίας αυτής είναι ιδιαίτερα σημαντική. Όμορφες περιγραφές τοπίων και ξεχωριστές καταστάσεις στις οποίες βρίσκονται κάθε φορά τα μέλη της οικογένειας αποδεικνύουν την πραγματικότητα όπως οι ίδιοι οι Ινδιάνοι την αντιλαμβάνονται. Ο τρόπος που περιγράφεται η φύση και οι ανθρώπινες σχέσεις είναι μοναδικός, γεγονός που υποδηλώνει την μοναδικότητα αυτών των ανθρώπων.

[Mary Aalgaard · Rating 4 out of 5]

David Treuer is a good writer. He paints a picture with his words and creates characters we care about. While the writing pulled me in, I had a little trouble reading this book because it is so sad and some of the descriptions are disturbing. I skimmed through the graphic parts about butchering cows and the horrors of war, but I couldn’t avoid the sad part about the baby near the beginning of the book. I read this book for book club, and I’m glad the member chose it. We’ll have a good discussion. I found the story interesting, and I got another perspective of Minnesota history, from the people who were here first.

[Penny · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book mostly because of Treuer's writing style; his use of language is beautiful.

The tone, though, is grim, grim, grim, to the point where it almost becomes absurd. For example, there is a scene where the butchering of a cow is described from the perspective of a child who has the wrong temprament for farm life. This scene was so over-the-top bleak that it made me laugh, which is probably not what Treuer had in mind.

Still, it's engaging if you give it a chance and stay with it for a while, and worth it just for the flow of words.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Treuer's two other novels before I read Little, his first. The writing here is not as well-crafted as in his later novels, but it is still graceful and moving. Treuer's description of the young priest Paul's life on the Ojibwe reservation in northern Minnesota had me feeling Paul's loneliness. The bonds that tie the small Objibwe community are explained through multiple voices, jumping back and forth in time, each voice distinct and each person with his or her own story to tell. I cared about these people and their lives. This is a very fine book, written with enormous empathy.

[Carla (literary.infatuation) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed it. This is the story of a Ojibwe family in a reservation in Northern Minnesota, their struggle against the system that is made to oppress them, the church and inclement weather that makes it hard to make a living.

This story, told through the POV of all different characters, starts with the burial of a child, Little, by his Ojibwe family. While we slowly get to discover who we died and who we was, the story is much bigger than him. It’s about life in a reservation and a family’s fight for survival.

Overall, a story that deserves to be read again and again

[Ashlyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Treuer's characters are resilient, funny, and they frequently stun me into heartache... This is his first, and an experimental novel of sorts using multiple storytellers. The shifts in perspective can be confusing, although I found the rational and the art of it entirely appropriate. There are a few bold decisions that test logic. I took them as poetic and have gone on to read all of Treuer's work.

[Alane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A stunner that has aged well. Although I am no longer a fan of the many points of view Style and novels, this one does it well. I think what I like best is how much is left unexplained from all the many points of you. And there are sometimes where the author has some issues and keeping voice consistent. My personal bias is that he is weak in some of the female characters and one of the priests. However, I gobbled it up and relished the writing.

[Paddy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off great, love the writing but encountering different voices/characters as the protagonist for each chapter did me in. When a house became a character, I chucked it. Read The Translation of Dr. Apelles, however.

[Katerina · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I read this for a class. The beginning was extremely confusing, but other than that, I really enjoyed the book. The only reason it isn't in my ultimate favorites shelve is because of the way Little died. That was just stupid. And confusing.

[Eli Brooke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Told in chapters by distinct, believable voices from a range of very different narrators. True to life in a way that could be depressing but is ultimately uplifting. Lyrically written.

[j_ay · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned it.

[Allison · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read this book twice and plan to read it again after I finish Truer's "Rez Life" (currently reading). "Little" is on my top 25 modern fiction list.

[Marti]

beautifully written but very difficult passages about the treatment of children. not recommending this to sensitive parents.

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved his writing style and imagery, but would have appreciated a more coherent narrative and more answers to some questions.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful tragedy, a smidgen of hope at the end.