The Keeper of Me

It has been on my possibility reading list for ages as Richard Wagamese is one of my favourite authors. Once I started to read the book, I took my time. The longer reading time had more to do with my savouring the book than not enjoying it. In addition, there was a lot of dialogue in the book, a great deal being slang and the use words spelt phonetically. This combination of dialogue, word choice and pronunciation made reading the book feel like listening to an oral story in my head. I could imagine the characters speaking. At the start sometimes the book became difficult to read - the sentences seemed lengthy and the storyline rambling.

This is a minimal criticism given that this happened only occasionally until I got into the rhythm of this particular book. I have been spoiled by how well he crafts words and writing in his later stories so my expectations were rather high. Also, I think the structure made the book more difficult than it needed to be for some readers.

There were only chapters in an approximately page book - something many readers do not seem to like. The shorter chapters like the structure of many books currently being written might have been an easy way to improve readability and likability for this book for many readers. Each book is unique in terms of characters, content and style.

What each have in common is that Wagamese tells a good story and that he uses each story to teach his readers. Keeper'n Me is filled with native tradition, folklore and healing practices. Many were new to me so I took my time absorbing them and learned so much. I perceive that it is Wagamese's conscious intention to educate readers about native traditions. Kudos to him for doing this so well in his debut novel. Below the Partial Review from Manitoba Historical Society shares some of the Ojibway culture and teachings as well as examples of the diaglogue and phonetic language used in the book: Customs and practices of reserve life are woven into the story artfully.

The most significant teachings come from Keeper. This book is unique in that one of the recurring themes is that of gender balance, both within the culture and within each human being. But sometimes the world gets hold of us and makes us see diff rent way. We get told as men that we gotta be strong, gotta be fearless. Lotta us kinda start ignoring the gifts of our mother. If interested and you want to learn more about this book review, here is link to the full review: Poignant and touching describes how I felt about this book throughout and particularly when when it was nearing the.

It certainly caused me to pause and reflect on why Wagamese was also well deserving of honour and praise for the changes he made within himself and the courage and character he demonstrated in his own healing and writing. Many might call it a memoir or autobiography but I considered it fictional as marketed. Keeper'n Me reads almost like a universal story that could have been written about far too many native men during this time-frame.

Government agencies sent children far away from their families making family reunification difficult. Many were moved to residential schools and group homes to be fostered, adopted or boarded; usually with white families and attending predominately-white schools - often being the only native, or one of very few natives in their communities. The loneliness and hardship growing up this way without native mentors or any family members took a huge toll on native individuals - both male and female.

Much of themselves, their history and cultural identity were lost. I am glad I postponed reading Wagamese's first novel. As a result, I found reading about the honour ceremony and the praise for the main character's changes and accomplishments in light of Wagamese's own life difficulties to be very, very moving. This book is wonderfully hilarious.

It's a testament to inner spirit and the fundamental truth of finding yourself within the roots of family and traditions - when all odds are seemingly against it. Having very distant Cree in my family made this book a little more close to my heart as it somehow resonated within me - the unbreakable family ties and the family love and the sense of humor to get you through those days that seem interminably grey and sad. Not to mention the 'papoose telegraph' tha This book is wonderfully hilarious. Not to mention the 'papoose telegraph' that my Dad would exclaim about when my Mom happened to mention anything to her sisters and then the whole world would know.

I did laugh out loud when I read that as I only thought it was my family's expression. Great story with really warm fuzzy feelings as well as wrapped around an important message that is for everyone. Highly recommend this one! I read this for my upcoming book club in September.

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It was a quick and enjoyable read. Seems like a lot of the books I've read lately have related to how I'm feeling about losing my Mum.

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Keeper 'n Me was a story about a man re-discovering himself as a native after being raised in white foster homes. All the connections he makes between the earth and nature and human life made so much sense to me with how I'm feeling. View all 3 comments. Aug 21, Brian rated it it was ok. For all its failings as a novel lack of conflict, lack of plot, lack of relevant action, lack of subtlety, lack of likable characters Keeper'n Me is a good sermon. It is politically correct and spiritually uplifting. What it lacks in romance , it excels in ritual to the point of becoming an interminable infomercial.

Bursting at the seams with folk humour and wisdom, it teeters on the edge of parody, something the badly maligned by Wagamese CBC pulled off so much better with its "Dead Dog Cafe For all its failings as a novel lack of conflict, lack of plot, lack of relevant action, lack of subtlety, lack of likable characters Keeper'n Me is a good sermon.

Bursting at the seams with folk humour and wisdom, it teeters on the edge of parody, something the badly maligned by Wagamese CBC pulled off so much better with its "Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour. A group hug for sure. The message is one that I could applaud: I don't dispute for a second the truth of his vision, but it saddens me greatly that it falls so terribly short of what it might have been.

Aug 18, John Benson rated it it was amazing. I picked this up as a used book while visiting my daughter in Sudbury, Ontario. I have really enjoyed several of Richard Wagamese's other novels. This was his first novel and is a somewhat autobiographical novel. Both Richard and the narrator lost their native connections as children when they were placed in foster care. The novel tells of a young boy who fled the foster care system at 16, led a nomadic lifestyle for about 5 years and eventually ending up in prison. He had formed a connection wi I picked this up as a used book while visiting my daughter in Sudbury, Ontario.

He had formed a connection with a black family and saw himself as more black than anything else, but while he was in prison his original Native family contacted him and asked him to come visit them in a reserve north of Kenora, Ontario. Most of the book than details his connection with his Native teacher, Keeper, and his return to wholeness as he dives deeper and deeper into the lives of his family and his history.

Like the others by Richard Wagamese, well worth reading. Dec 15, Kira rated it did not like it Shelves: I don't think I've ever disliked a book more than this one. Can I give a 0 star rating? There was absolutely no appeal to it whatsoever. So I'll sum it up in 3 simple points. I don't care if it's done on purpose to mimic their normal dialect.

If a book ends up published, there shouldn't be an overwhelming amount of spelling errors. The sentences should also make sense. This book is painful to rea I don't think I've ever disliked a book more than this one. This book is painful to read at every level: Apr 13, Stephanie Kelcey rated it it was amazing. This was such a beautifully written book. It was filled with so many tidbits of profound truth, honesty, and simplicity.

I really didn't want it to end because I felt like reading it, having a glimpse into that reality, made me better. Richard Wagamese passed away while I was reading this. I hope he's flying with the eagles now. Aug 17, Rick rated it really liked it Shelves: I really enjoyed this vision of life on an Ojibway reserve in Northern Ontario. Garnet Raven returns "home" after being placed in foster homes at age 3.

After 20 years he learns who he is and where he came from. Strongly recommended if you are interested. Jun 08, Liz Jansen rated it it was amazing. Another outstanding story from Richard Wagamese. Most of the story takes place on a remote reservation in Northern Ontario. Steeped in Ojibway culture, its teachings are universal and its message timeless. Aug 05, Denise Bloomfield rated it it was amazing. Truly inspirational, I will revisit it often.

The red road is a spiritual journey that is very appealing to me. Wagamese is a master in the art of story telling. A sweet, funny book. Although it starts with the sad story of Ojibway boy Garnet Raven being taken away from his family and growing up in foster care estranged from his community and culture, at the age of 20 he is reunited with his family. Most of the story takes place over the year and a half after this reunion. The story's slow pace might be difficult for some, as this is kind of a thinky, spiritual book. But, if like Garnet Raven, you're willing to embrace the journey, there is a lot to be le A sweet, funny book.

But, if like Garnet Raven, you're willing to embrace the journey, there is a lot to be learned from this book. As someone living on traditional Ojibway territory and growing up around Ojibway people some of it resonated with what I have heard and learned, but also some of it was new to me, giving me a deeper picture of Ojibway worldview. The story is a vehicle for teachings, and the reader learns these along with Garnet, which makes the conclusion of the book all the more emotionally impactful.

Despite the sad start of Raven's story, it is a heartwarming book that really wrapped me in that wonderful feeling of community, tradition, and belonging that Garnet comes to feel over the course of the story.

Keeper of the Maine Outdoors

A compassionate and restorative book about the healing power of a loving family. Garnet Raven is only three when foster care takes him and his siblings from their home on an Ojibway reserve. He is later separated even from them and spends his youth with a series of apathetic foster families, of whom the only good thing to say is that they aren't actually abusive.

Garnet runs away in his mid teens and ends up alone on the streets of Toronto. From there it's only a short hop to jail time. Five yea A compassionate and restorative book about the healing power of a loving family. Two years into that sentence he is handed a hefty envelope one morning during mail call and what slides out are photographs and a letter from his family. They have tracked him down after twenty years and want him to come meet them.

Come stay with them. And Garnet, who hasn't known a home or feeling of belonging since his earliest years, screws his courage to the sticking point and rides a taxi out the long road to White Dog, where he finally begins the long process of healing the damage done when he was stolen from his family, and the work of discovering his identity and history.

Between stories, laughter, silence, and love, Garnet gets a chance to put himself back together. One of the warmest books I have read all year and an excellent choice for anyone feeling a little lost. In my opinion, this is a very well crafted piece of Canadian First Nations literature with emphasis on family and self-discovery. A book of what it means to honour yourself and who you really are inside. Without one's culture, can anyone of us live at peace within our soul? Wagamese demonstrates with ease the way in which the healing process of a lost soul can come to be when he comes back to his "roots".

It's like he was trying to explain that a person can't have a "full" relationship with anyon In my opinion, this is a very well crafted piece of Canadian First Nations literature with emphasis on family and self-discovery. It's like he was trying to explain that a person can't have a "full" relationship with anyone else, unless they have one with themselves first. This story does turn out to be a wonderful success story of overcoming the obstacles that this young man found on his path in life. I enjoyed the many different passages that Wagamese used to explain the importance of being true to oneself See, us those who held true to their culture and traditions we know you can't make a beaver from a bear.

Nature don't work that way. Always gotta be what the Creator made you to be. Biggest right we all got as human bein's is the right to know who we are. Right to be who we are When you quit lookin' around at nature you quit learnin' the natural way. The world gets to be somethin' you gotta control so you're always fightin' it.

Us those who held true to their culture and traditions we never fight the world. We look around lots, find its rhythm, its heartbeat, and learn to walk that way. Concrete ain't got no rhythm, and steel never learned to breathe. You spend time in the bush and on the land, you learn the way of the bush and the way of the land. Way of the Universe. Spend time surrounded by concrete and steel, you learn their way too, I guess.

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Wagamese's book a favourable rating because I come away from reading it with a peaceful feeling within my heart and mind. I really liked this book, but then again, there was little doubt right from the beginning that I would. Canada lost a national treasure, a storyteller who infused his writing with his heart, his soul and his lived experiences. If you have not already enjoyed The Medicin https: The Medicine Walk is one of my most favourite books and although I never got to meet this storyteller, I am lucky to have a signed copy!

I had trouble staying focused while reading it.

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Perhaps, it was because this story was so close to his own life which I had already learned about in One Native Life or perhaps it was just the timing. I hope that he reads The Medicine Walk as I think that it would be a far more engaging read for students to enjoy! Garnet became homeless, abused substances and ended up in a jail where he worked on a farm coincidentally Wagamese had spent time incarcerated at Burtch Jail which is on the outskirts of Brantford before he got a letter from his family which changed his life. Garnet moved back to the reserve, got to know his family, learned his heritage and spent time on the land.

It is hard to imagine the pain that this character and Wagamese felt as a child being torn away from his culture and how overwhelming it would be to be accepted back into his family, his community and learn his culture. Make a good story of our life right here. People always gonna wanna tell it. Nov 04, Douglas rated it it was ok Shelves: I'm not the first reviewer to note that as Wagamese's first novel, this is very much a case of a writer with potential learning their trade - and if I'm being honest I somewhat regret not giving those reviews greater heed, as "Keeper'n Me" became quite a tedious read by the end.

The first 80 pages or so contain a genuinely interesting story, and made me really want to give this 3 stars at least. But Wagamese basically resolves the entire conflict by the end of Book 1 of 4. The remaining I'm not the first reviewer to note that as Wagamese's first novel, this is very much a case of a writer with potential learning their trade - and if I'm being honest I somewhat regret not giving those reviews greater heed, as "Keeper'n Me" became quite a tedious read by the end.

The remaining pages or so are little more than a series of purposeless vignettes and miscellaneous Ojibway spiritual teachings that only barely fit the narrative. No doubt I would appreciate the latter more if I were part of the culture, but alas I am not. Wagamese is a talented writer, and that does come through in this novel: It would appear he just needed more attempts to figure out how to get it out there.

Nov 11, Meg rated it really liked it. Jun 28, Erika rated it it was amazing. Garnet Raven was a victim of the '60s scoop ending up in Toronto where as an adult he ends up in a bit of trouble and does a stint in jail. He also develops his musical chops, and for lack of another identity, hangs out in the local black music scene. Eventually though, he longs to connect with his family of origin on the White Dog reserve in northern Ontario. He arrives there sporting an afro and platform shoes; a good joke for his family members on the reserve.

But they, his mother and brother Garnet Raven was a victim of the '60s scoop ending up in Toronto where as an adult he ends up in a bit of trouble and does a stint in jail.

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But they, his mother and brothers and sister and a local elder Keeper , receive him with open arms and Garnet starts the slow process of healing, finding a new sense of family, and learning about the spirituality of his people. This book is so beautifully and descriptively written. I didn't take notice of Richard Wagamese until after he died this last winter, and wasn't aware of what an outstanding writer he was. There's one section where he describes being in the middle of a lake in a canoe early in the morning with no wind, that blew my mind. In this era of 'truth and reconciliation' this is a good book to read.

It's fun and inspiring to get a peek into day to day life in this Indigenous community with its wonderful characters, beliefs and traditions. Jul 18, Donna rated it really liked it. I am such a Richard Wagamese fan that every time I pick up one of his books, I worry that this time I will be disappointed. Maybe someday but not this time! Keeper'n Me is about Garnet Raven who was taken from his family when he was very young.

His life is a series of families to get used to.

Under Old Earth They Made Me The Keeper Of The Vineyards But Mine Own Vineyard I Have Not Kept

When he finally settles as a young adult, he's with a black family. He has a sense of belonging. I won't tell you how he ends up back home with his real family - you need to read the book for that. But the p I am such a Richard Wagamese fan that every time I pick up one of his books, I worry that this time I will be disappointed. But the people he goes home to are wonderful and real and so ready to embrace this long lost soul. I laughed and cried at the wisdom and reasoning of this community of Ojibway people.

Every time I read one of Richard Wagamese's books, I get a bit of insight into the indigenous people of Canada. Please read this book. Laugh at the way Garnet is dressed when he goes home and marvel at the ceremony and sense of belonging in his community. Jul 14, Gail Amendt rated it really liked it. Having read and enjoyed most of Richard Wagamese's other books, I decided to read the very first novel he ever published.

He appears to have followed the oft given advice to write about what you know, as the story has many similarities to his life story as written in his autobiography. It tells the story of Garnet Raven, a young Ojibwa man who returns to his family after having spent his childhood in foster care.

An elderly man known to all as Keeper helps him to reconnect to the traditional bel Having read and enjoyed most of Richard Wagamese's other books, I decided to read the very first novel he ever published. An elderly man known to all as Keeper helps him to reconnect to the traditional beliefs and lifestyle of his people. This is a very introspective book, with a few occasional humorous moments. It is very slow and not much happens, which has led to some rather negative reviews.

While it is not my favorite Richard Wagamese book, I do see the potential that led to some truly brilliant writing later in his career. My mother's sons were angry with me. They made me the caretaker of the vineyards, but I didn't take care of my own vineyard. My brothers were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards. Alas, my own vineyard I could not keep! They made me keeper of the vineyards.

I haven't kept my own vineyard. The sun has tanned me. My brothers were angry with me. They made me the caretaker of the vineyards. I have not even taken care of my own vineyard. JPS Tanakh Look not upon me, that I am swarthy, That the sun hath tanned me; My mother's sons were incensed against me, They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept. Jubilee Bible Do not look upon me because I am dark because the sun has looked upon me; my mother's sons were angry with me; they made me the keeper of the vineyards, but I have not kept my own vineyard.

King James Bible Look not upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has darkened me: My mother's sons were incensed against me; They made me keeper of the vineyards; But mine own vineyard have I not kept. Brenton Septuagint Translation Look not upon me, because I am dark, because the sun has looked unfavourably upon me: Douay-Rheims Bible Do not consider me that I am brown, because the sun hath altered my colour: My mother's children were angry with me: They made me keeper of the vineyards; Mine own vineyard have I not kept. English Revised Version Look not upon me, because I am swarthy, because the sun hath scorched me.

My mother's sons were incensed against me, they made me keeper of the vineyards; but mine own vineyard have I not kept. Webster's Bible Translation Look not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me: World English Bible Don't stare at me because I am dark, because the sun has scorched me. Young's Literal Translation Fear me not, because I am very dark, Because the sun hath scorched me, The sons of my mother were angry with me, They made me keeper of the vineyards, My vineyard -- my own -- I have not kept.

He leased it to the tenants. For its fruit, each was to bring a thousand shekels of silver.