sierrah_2101's reviews
76 reviews

 

I read Grann's novel in tandem with watching Scorsese's film, which only intensified both works' emotional impact on me. Grann's novel, which he spent over a decade researching, focused on Tom White's investigation into the 20-year terrorization of the Osage Nation. White recognized 24 murders associated with this reign, but Grann offers a significantly higher total: 60+. Throughout the novel, Grann offers many options for motives to these murders, but he offers you the above quote: money, power, greed, stolen through a government, a culture that was not only blind to it but complicit to it.

Although passionately researched by Grann over many years, my main gripe with the novel matched the opinion of DiCaprio: Upon reading the screenplay directly adapted from Grann's novel, DiCaprio realized how focused on White, and the true crime/procedural aspects of the novel. Thus, for the film, he offered that the story focuses more on the Osage themselves, specifically on Mollie Burkhart. This, emotionally, is where Grann stumbles the most. While packed with true crime intrigue, the novel focuses the vast majority of the pages on White, his history, and his contributions to the growth and development of the FBI.

This isn't to say that it was poorly written or didn't have a clear emphasis on empathy and self-awareness (of ourselves and the privileges we receive from our culture and system of government). Grann leads us through the mystery in such an intriguing way I could not put the book down for two days straight. His writing style, while simple, was straightforward in all the ways it needed to be. There was no beating around the bush on how horrible these people were. Not to mention, Grann pressed on to meet and interview many Osage families and connect tens more murders to the original "outbreak". It felt cathartic as a reader, and I hope it was even more so for the families that had been waiting a century for closure.

"Killers of the Flower Moon", the film and the novel, are heavy, heart-wrenching works that every American should be exposed to. The sheer nakedness of greed is still occurring today, with the same amount of deeply ingrained racism. Grann's novel taps into these ideas with beauty and tact, and both his and Scorsese's work. I only wish one day these stories will be told by American Indians themselves. 

This book was an undeniably aggravating read. I read it throughout a vacation where I spent over 5+ hours in a car, and I would update my mother on the goings-on of the story as she drove. Needless to say, my mother asked me, "Are you sure you want to keep reading this? Maybe you should put it away," because of just how frustrated I was getting.

The story focuses on a woman, Eleanor, who meets and swiftly falls in love with artist and pseudo-farmer Cam. They are married within 8 months of meeting and have 3 children in two years. And, Jesus Christ, I wish this story didn't exist. Cam is the most obvious horrible person, watching basketball with his buddy while his wife is in active labor in the room over. And I get it, I get it! When you're in a relationship you don't see those red flags, but Eleanor was acting so... Dumb, I wanted to roll my window down and throw this book out on the highway, but I respect my library too much to do that.

Beyond the first day, Cam and Eleanor's relationship is a toxic mess, with Cam being neglectful and mean and Eleanor being unyielding and a doormat. Even after "the Incident", for which Eleanor solely blames Cam, she does nothing but lie down and take it. She places the blame solely on Cam, then refuses to even sit down and discuss the issues with him, to you know... Work as a team to support their children was the single most frustrating thing I've read in recent memory. Is it realistic? Yes, apparently. My mother herself said that she knew a couple who had a child with brain damage and a year later they were divorced. Doesn't mean that reading this miserable dissolution of love and care between two people is any fun.

I guess that's how I can sum up this book: Miserable. Maybe I'm not cut out for this genre, but reading 500 pages of an absent, unfaithful father and a bitter, spiteful mother swapping petty remarks in front of their children is about as enjoyable as it sounds. God, not to mention the last 100 pages are like a bad 'Days of Our Lives' script.

Can all the things in this book happen in real life? Sure, absolutely. Is it relatable? In some parts, yeah. Was it a fun romp? Hell fucking no. I don't think I could recommend this to people unless they enjoy depressing family stories, but hey if that's your forte go for it. Yeesh.

This book was... Okay! I did notice pretty quickly that I for sure was not the target audience. As a 24-year-old woman, I could more than relate to Rocky's children but struggled connecting to her, the main character. I found her irrational and frustrating and had difficulty empathizing at times. Still, when I showed some passages to my mid-50s mother, she said Rocky sounded completely normal, and her behavior, while not great, was understandable. So clearly, it's not quite a book that fits for me. Another thing I also found frustrating was the "miscommunication trope", if you will, that seems to permeate a lot of books when there needs to be a conflict that arises. It's tiresome as a reader, but realistic as well, so it's not a deep-seated qualm I have with Newman. On a much minor note, there were a few times in dialogue and Rocky's inner monologue that made me physically cringe, which was a bit painful but again, I'm 24, and my mom joking about TikTok makes me cringe too, so it tracks.

Overall a decent read, but it is difficult to relate to the main character without undergoing menopause myself. I suppose that uncomfortableness I chaffed up against is intended, to try to get readers to understand the feelings and actions of someone undergoing these insane hormone changes. But I'm not in the audience/demographic that can emotionally connect to Newman's book/writing.

I mean, it's a textbook, but on textbook standards, Petty does a fantastic job introducing various topics relevant to meteorology while making it understandable and easily digestible. By taking your time analyzing the included graphics and reviewing the foundational equations for atmospheric science, even a layman could understand the topics discussed in this book. Making this the first textbook for my meteorology studies in college was a fantastic idea, and reading it back after graduation only solidified the important basics in my brain. I highly recommend this textbook to anyone beginning their studies in atmospheric sciences.