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The Insufficiency of Maps A Novel Nora Pierce Books

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The Insufficiency of Maps A Novel Nora Pierce Books

This book was a pleasure to read, was enthralled from start to finish, and hanging on the author's words especially at the close of each of the last four chapters. Her prose is precise and lyrical, and there is a takeaway in this book for everyone no matter your personal experience.


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The Insufficiency of Maps A Novel Nora Pierce Books Reviews

Pierce shows us the gritty struggles of mid-twentieth century Native Americans. Untreated illnesses, extreme poverty, alcoholism, domestic violence scars the life of young Alice. Alice is immune to her problems, often playing along with her mother's delusions and paranoia. But, she's not immune to her heritage. For nearly nine years, Alice attempts to map her life within the context of other maps. Maps are her passion, so is her heritage. She just wants to find out who she really is. We see other characters, even her white foster family, struggle with their identities. Lesser character Sister Joanne, strict Catholic nun, cannot stand to see stereotypical portryals of Native Americans.

Pierce does a great job of putting together Native American life in the late 1960s- 1970s. The American Indian Movement visits Yuma, where Inez's dialogue with Alice shows us that even such "progressives" aren't sure what they want.

This book will leave you with chills! You will analyze and overanalyze the choices of each character in the story. You may even gag or wince when you read about untreated fungal infections, horrific B.O., alcohol breath, etc. And no matter how weirded out or grossed out you are, you'll want to keep reading!
I don't want to sound immature by saying that the story of Alice, an impoverished yet amazing girl is messed up, but I repeatedly found myself saying, "Wow, that's so messed up."

A few of the other reviewers have summarized the story nicely, but some things I wanted to add are about the story as a whole. Since Alice is five when the novel begins, we get a very broad spectrum of incidents she sees and experiences while not always understanding them. This causes a deliciously frustrating yet refreshing perspective which parallels to the misfortunate saying, "Children are to be seen and not heard." How can you not hear this child's story? How can you not feel the innocent love she has for her Mami and later her Grampa? Alice has so much she wants to tell, all we can do is listen.

Many people are aware of how difficult it is for natives who live on a reservation-- the alcohol, the harsh living conditions, the poverty-- but Nora Pierce makes all of it real with in-your-face writing that slams the truth right on your feet.

I agree with the reviewer who said that the voice of the novel and pacing changes when Alice is taken into foster care. It's a noticeable shift, yet I believe Alice had a reason for it she was being taken away from the things she knew into a family who thought they were doing something nice for her. Even though she grew to like this family, she still longed for the one she felt she was taken from.

The prose is sparse, much like how children speak to get the a point, and it moves with a fluidity I don't encounter is many books. I like that we don't know what happened to Alice's mother, or to Alice. I like that she still has a long way to go before she can overcome her demons and that nothing is wrapped up neat and tidy. I recommend Nora Pierce and this sad yet gripping novel for a look into the world we see but do not hear. You won't be disappointed.
"The Insufficiency of Maps" by Nora Pierce is a compelling but flawed story concerning an endearing, imaginative, and confused child struggling against adversity. The story begins with Alice, a five-year old Native American girl telling us about the bus trip she is taking with her mother. They are taking an exhausting, exciting journey so her mother can be married. They end up in an impoverished Indian reservation in Arizona where Alice is introduced to a man who may be her "Papi."

The next two-thirds of the book covers a few short months in the child's life. The reader learns everything through the quiet, all-observing, eyes-wide-open voice of vulnerable little five-year old Alice. We can't help but fall in love with this child! Through the child's inexperienced young voice, the reader is able to recognize what the child cannot. While she gets to know her Papi, plays around his dilapidated trailer, makes friends, goes to school, and later goes with her mother to live with her grandfather in Los Angeles, we are consumed by fear. We cannot put this book down, so fearful are we for the young child at every turn. We see Alice exposed to poverty, endangered by malnutrition, and victimized by neglect. Her caregivers are absent, alcoholic, or mentally or physically ill. They all love her, but are incapable of fulfilling her most basic needs. It is heart-wrenching and utterly compelling.

In the last third of the book, Alice becomes orphaned, and is taken into the foster care system. She begins living with a family in the white suburbs of Los Angeles. Alice seems lost in this completely alien culture. Trying to find her way, she becomes obsessed with maps.

In a succession of brief chapters, Alice grows up. During this period, we see Alice only through quick glimpses--a series of sketches, nothing full enough to reimagine clearly how the child is changing. All too quickly we are at the end of the novel. Alice is suddenly 14, and she is finally able to put some important thing in perspective and take matters into her own hands. The novel ends with an unexpected and satisfying coming-of-age experience that puts Alice squarely on the path toward self-realization.

Pierce's prose is elegant, literary, spare, and lyrical. The dialogue is excellent. Overall, I was pleased and impressed. In particular, the author successfully transports the reader into life on a modern-day Indian reservation, and exposes us clearly to the disabling upheaval of foster care. I look forward to reading more by this talented author; however, I have mixed feelings for this work as a whole. For the first two thirds I was absolutely enthralled; I could not stop reading; I was completely captivated and compelled. But at the point where Alice is transferred into foster care, the book abruptly changes pace and voice. Alice seems to have the very life drained from her. As a reader, I could no longer imagine Alice or believe in her as a middle-schooler, preteen, or adolescent. Thus the overall three-star rating on a book that might easily have earned five stars.
This book was a pleasure to read, was enthralled from start to finish, and hanging on the author's words especially at the close of each of the last four chapters. Her prose is precise and lyrical, and there is a takeaway in this book for everyone no matter your personal experience.