Themes and disorder in The Round House

Book group took on Lousie Erdrich's The Round House last night and the response to the book was generally one of disappointment, many seeming to agree (me included) that the book started off with a lot of promise as a tense mystery/coming-of-age story with the added interest in examining the culture of Indians of the Plains, both their history and legends and contemporary life on the reservation, with a focus on the injustices of the legal system - well, you can see, that's a lot of material for one novel to bear, and the novel wasn't up to carrying that weight. After the promising opening, when Joe's mother is assaulted and he feels he must figure out who did so and why - and then must avenge the act - the novel gets lost, or we do, in its many loose strands. By far the most sympathetic readers was RR, who made an eloquent case for the novel as one in which a young boy has to choose between letting the justice system take its course and bring the assailant to justice, which it can't, or taking justice into his own hands: the Indian way v. the way of the system (the white system). He avenges the crime, kills his mother's assailant, and thereby becomes a man of the tribe. Excellent and thoughtful analysis, but I wish that were the book I'd read. It wasn't; I was completely puzzled by the clunky mechanics of the crime and by Joe's "discovery" of who did it, puzzled by the enormous ellipses in the novel - how come we know nothing about what's happened in court? how come, and JRo pointed out, we never get a sense till very late in the novel that Joe must act because justice failed? And for me, most of all, if Joe takes the law into his own hands: why does this tight-knit community allow a 13-year-old to be the killer, rather than an adult? What do his parents, particularly his father, a judge, think about this behavior? In my view, the killing is such a major plot element that it shouldn't be the near-conclusion but should come at the heart of the novel and Joe should confront his father and should confront his feelings and should, as an adult writing this tale many years later, should have some wisdom and reflection. That said, I admire the scope of the novel and thought her writing was pretty strong throughout, clear and sensible and sometimes, especially in the dialogue of the elders, very funny; others, notably BR, said this novel pales when compared with Erdrich's sometime counterpart Faulkner; and M noted that we barely discussed the sexual shaming of Sonje and her difficult relationship with Whitey. Much to discuss in the novel, but to some degree that's because of its disorder rather than its scope, sad to say. Many recommended reading JCO review in NYRB, which I plan to do.