Think about how music connects us - to each other, and to places and events and communities. This is the underlying glue that ties together - but does not necessarily bind -- all the various characters of Louise Erdrich's novel, The Master Butchers Singing Club.
It begins as Fidelis Waldvogel returns to his small hometown in Germany, having survived WW1. He marries the pregnant wife of his dead soldier buddy and eventually emigrates and settles in North Dakota, having carried a suitcase full of sausages and his butcher's knives across the sea. His powerful physical strength is balanced with a soft, full tenor voice. He starts a local singing club, just as his father had done with the other butchers back in Germany. Their bonding is a key part of the story of the town, and music has a forward theme throughout the story, which is told in alternating patterns in the voices of several characters.
Other characters are introduced - some from the old country, some from the new small town - and all with hopes, dreams, fears and things they wish to hide. The tale is epic, if somewhat disjointed, and in the end, I am left feeling somewhat battered. There is much joy and beauty - the result of hard work and a non-demonstrative, rather practical, yet deeply felt loves. There is not a lot of dialog - the story unfolds mostly through industry, action and individual reflection. There is also much sadness and despair. Love that is freely given, but not unconditionally.
Fidelis is a kind, upstanding, strong man. He loves his wife and children. He is a master butcher, and takes pride in his work. He is also private and carries the burden of war and loss. I just read this whole novel about him and his clan, and I feel I have not met him. Much of the story is told from the view of his eventual wife Delphine -- she we get to know, but she is also driven by loss and misery of her own, and
I am saddened by the fact that she never really gets to experience unbridled joy.
Through all this, there are moments tender, hilarious escapades and impressive devotion. These characters are intense and exhausting to be around.
I think I liked it. I wanted to know the end of the story. But I leave it feeling somewhat dissatisfied. Somehow the inputs don't quite seem to equal the outputs. Then again, no one seems terribly unhappy, either. Perhaps I wanted more for these kind and good people than they wanted themselves. Perhaps I live in a time and with so many opportunities that I can't appreciate their acceptance of mere survival.
If you like a novel that is sweeping, epic even, you will enjoy following the trajectory of this family.
The Master Butchers Singing Club, by Louise Erdrich.
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