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1sweetiegherkin
To close out 2015, we'll be reading Sherman Alexie. Anyone read Alexie before? Have any plans on what to read for this month?
2sweetiegherkin
When I took a YA literature class, we read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian; the same title was also selected this year for my RL book group. Both times I seemed to be in the minority for not being as in love with the book as everyone else. My review from the first time around is as follows:
"This book is written in a diary format, complete with the "author's" cartoons, of approximately one year of Arnold "Junior" Spirit's life. A Spokane Indian, 14-year-old Junior begins high school on the reservation, with incredible excitement about learning in general, and particularly about learning geometry. When he opens his geometry book, however, he sees that this same book was used by his mother when she was in high school. In utter disgust, he throws the book and ends up hitting his teacher. Instead of being angry, his teacher tells Junior that he'll have to leave the reservation to succeed in life. So Junior treks 22 miles a day, facing anger from his tribe members, to an otherwise all-white school. Junior's life takes many ups and downs over this year, both in and out of school, but always his acerbic wit is there to make light of every situation. The book, billed as "hilarious" and "really funny" is in fact humorous, but I was more overwhelmed by how depressing Junior's life is. It just seemed like one thing after another and I was wondering if the kid was ever going to catch a break. Even though Junior tries to maintain hope throughout, I can’t help but wonder how he does. Just reading his life was depressing to me, and that's part of the reason I rated this book as just so-so. Another part was after seeing how many awards it won, my expectations were just too high for what I received."
One of my classmates recommended that I might enjoy The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven more, and it's available through my local library system, so I may try to tackle that one this month.
"This book is written in a diary format, complete with the "author's" cartoons, of approximately one year of Arnold "Junior" Spirit's life. A Spokane Indian, 14-year-old Junior begins high school on the reservation, with incredible excitement about learning in general, and particularly about learning geometry. When he opens his geometry book, however, he sees that this same book was used by his mother when she was in high school. In utter disgust, he throws the book and ends up hitting his teacher. Instead of being angry, his teacher tells Junior that he'll have to leave the reservation to succeed in life. So Junior treks 22 miles a day, facing anger from his tribe members, to an otherwise all-white school. Junior's life takes many ups and downs over this year, both in and out of school, but always his acerbic wit is there to make light of every situation. The book, billed as "hilarious" and "really funny" is in fact humorous, but I was more overwhelmed by how depressing Junior's life is. It just seemed like one thing after another and I was wondering if the kid was ever going to catch a break. Even though Junior tries to maintain hope throughout, I can’t help but wonder how he does. Just reading his life was depressing to me, and that's part of the reason I rated this book as just so-so. Another part was after seeing how many awards it won, my expectations were just too high for what I received."
One of my classmates recommended that I might enjoy The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven more, and it's available through my local library system, so I may try to tackle that one this month.
3.Monkey.
Ah thanks for that, I hadn't realized that was who this author was, I was not familiar with the name. Amazingly, that book is available at my library, and I do want to read it, however, I doubt that I'll be getting around to going there and paying to have my card this year; I'm trying to read from my shelves, and occasionally the uni library, which does not have it (or anything else by him), so I guess I will be waiting a bit longer! Lol.
4sparemethecensor
So many choices! I have never read anything by him before but I'm tempted by many, many of his works.
5Tara1Reads
I have never read Sherman Alexie. I want to read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian and Indian Killer.
6sweetiegherkin
>5 Tara1Reads: Indian Killer sounds interesting!
So, while I was waiting for some current and very popular titles to come off hold status at the library, I did decide to go ahead and give The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven a try. It's hard to sum up how I feel about. It explores similar themes and plot points as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, but for an adult audience rather than YA and as short stories rather than an overarching narrative. The stories are interconnected, all taking place on the same reservation and with the cast of characters popping up in multiple stories; in fact, about the first half of the book all centers around the character of Victor, although the stories alternate between first and third person points of view. Like with Part-Time Indian the book is funny at times, but it is a largely bleak world full of pessimistic outlooks that is portrayed. While I found Alexie's writing beautiful, the subject matter was so depressing and almost unremittingly without hope that I'd find it difficult to wholeheartedly recommend this book. To say I "enjoyed" it would be the wrong word choice, but I am glad that I gave Alexie another try and read this book.
So, while I was waiting for some current and very popular titles to come off hold status at the library, I did decide to go ahead and give The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven a try. It's hard to sum up how I feel about. It explores similar themes and plot points as The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, but for an adult audience rather than YA and as short stories rather than an overarching narrative. The stories are interconnected, all taking place on the same reservation and with the cast of characters popping up in multiple stories; in fact, about the first half of the book all centers around the character of Victor, although the stories alternate between first and third person points of view. Like with Part-Time Indian the book is funny at times, but it is a largely bleak world full of pessimistic outlooks that is portrayed. While I found Alexie's writing beautiful, the subject matter was so depressing and almost unremittingly without hope that I'd find it difficult to wholeheartedly recommend this book. To say I "enjoyed" it would be the wrong word choice, but I am glad that I gave Alexie another try and read this book.
7dianeham
I have a poetry collection by Alexie What I've Stolen, What I've Earned.
8sparemethecensor
At the library today, I picked up The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Looking forward to reading it in December.
9sparemethecensor
I finished The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian today. I liked it. I understand what you guys said about it being so bleak but funny at the same time, but that appealed to me in a way. I grew up not far from a reservation and went to school with a lot of Native American kids, and their lives were pretty terrible. To me, the bleakness plus humor felt real.
I thought it was quite funny and I liked the inclusion of the drawings in the book. It made it feel authentic. One thing I didn't like -- which is true of many YA novels, I've found -- is how heavy-handed it was about particular topics. One was alcoholism. Yes, alcoholism is a huge problem in low-income communities and particular on reservations, but every time it came up, we weren't shown the problem so much as conked on the head repeatedly by being told "I hate alcohol" and similar. It wasn't as seamless as the racism issues were -- I really thought the way racism informed the novel, and the takeaways about this, were meaningful but not so heavy-handed it would turn readers off.
When I go to the library this weekend, I'll see what adult books they have by Sherman Alexie. I liked his writing a lot.
I thought it was quite funny and I liked the inclusion of the drawings in the book. It made it feel authentic. One thing I didn't like -- which is true of many YA novels, I've found -- is how heavy-handed it was about particular topics. One was alcoholism. Yes, alcoholism is a huge problem in low-income communities and particular on reservations, but every time it came up, we weren't shown the problem so much as conked on the head repeatedly by being told "I hate alcohol" and similar. It wasn't as seamless as the racism issues were -- I really thought the way racism informed the novel, and the takeaways about this, were meaningful but not so heavy-handed it would turn readers off.
When I go to the library this weekend, I'll see what adult books they have by Sherman Alexie. I liked his writing a lot.
10sweetiegherkin
>9 sparemethecensor: Wow, you're quick! There was a realness to The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian, which is what made is so bleak for me. But, I think I'm in the minority of not being a huge fan of the book.
You might like The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven then. Similar themes but because it's for an adult audience, the PSA that alcohol is bad isn't there so much -- the alcoholism is, but not the blatant reminder (e.g., "I hate alcohol" statements).
You might like The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven then. Similar themes but because it's for an adult audience, the PSA that alcohol is bad isn't there so much -- the alcoholism is, but not the blatant reminder (e.g., "I hate alcohol" statements).
11sparemethecensor
Thanks for the suggestion. My library doesn't have that one. In the adult collection, they have Indian Killer (novel), Blasphemy (short stories), What I've Stolen, What I've Earned (poetry) and War Dances (short stories and poetry). I'm leaning toward the first since it's a novel.
I found The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to be a really quick read. I read on my train commute home, which is just less than an hour, and I finished the book in two train rides.
I found The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian to be a really quick read. I read on my train commute home, which is just less than an hour, and I finished the book in two train rides.
12sweetiegherkin
>11 sparemethecensor: I picked up Indian Killer from the library yesterday but I'm not sure if I'll be able to get to it this month as I have two other books to get to before it plus it's just a busy month. We'll see....
Yeah, I seem to recall that book being a quick read but I'm not sure I finished it in under 2 hours!
Yeah, I seem to recall that book being a quick read but I'm not sure I finished it in under 2 hours!
13sparemethecensor
I finished Indian Killer tonight and afterward read an interview with Sherman Alexie in the Guardian (link: http://www.theguardian.com/books/2008/may/03/featuresreviews.guardianreview13)
Indian Killer is very violent and is much less a "mystery" (as many have billed it, and some have tagged it here on LT) than a catharsis. It feels like it was cathartic for Alexie to work through these issues of race and anger and identity, and it is interesting for that reason. The novel grapples with this question of small-scale interpersonal violence in response to the institutionalized violence of an oppressive government and society without coming to resolution, but it really grapples, over and over, with every incidence of violence that occurs. You can see it in the nonviolent plotlines as well: Marie's conflict with the literature professor (who seems like a caricature of a supercilious but out-of-touch academic, thinking that the white man can be the best Indian, namely himself -- but I have experienced this person so sadly I know he exists) clearly represents a sort of wish fulfillment fantasy that all of us who have hated the condescending "expert" on a topic we know intimately can relate to.
Interestingly, in the interview I linked above, which was conducted ten years after Indian Killer was released, Alexie backs away from the novel's violence and almost throws his own novel on the pyre by saying he sees the violence in it with disgust now and thinks the entire thing was childish. At first I found this strange, because the violence in Indian Killer isn't gratuitous. It's reflecting a real feeling among certain people and populations and grapples with a real question of what to do in an unfair system and what justice means. But I think what he must be expressing is that this embarrasses him because he wasn't expressing a viewpoint but expressing his viewpoint, and his viewpoint has changed -- he'd say matured -- now. I think there's value in a viewpoint even if it isn't your own in fiction, so he could still own that the novel explores a viewpoint that exists elsewhere, external to himself. But it may still feel too fresh for him.
Anyway, the juxtaposition of political opinions in the novel versus the interview gave me a lot to think about.
(Readers of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian may also find the interview interesting, as it reveals how autobiographical that novel is, down to specific details. I didn't realize this when reading it.)
Indian Killer is very violent and is much less a "mystery" (as many have billed it, and some have tagged it here on LT) than a catharsis. It feels like it was cathartic for Alexie to work through these issues of race and anger and identity, and it is interesting for that reason. The novel grapples with this question of small-scale interpersonal violence in response to the institutionalized violence of an oppressive government and society without coming to resolution, but it really grapples, over and over, with every incidence of violence that occurs. You can see it in the nonviolent plotlines as well: Marie's conflict with the literature professor (who seems like a caricature of a supercilious but out-of-touch academic, thinking that the white man can be the best Indian, namely himself -- but I have experienced this person so sadly I know he exists) clearly represents a sort of wish fulfillment fantasy that all of us who have hated the condescending "expert" on a topic we know intimately can relate to.
Interestingly, in the interview I linked above, which was conducted ten years after Indian Killer was released, Alexie backs away from the novel's violence and almost throws his own novel on the pyre by saying he sees the violence in it with disgust now and thinks the entire thing was childish. At first I found this strange, because the violence in Indian Killer isn't gratuitous. It's reflecting a real feeling among certain people and populations and grapples with a real question of what to do in an unfair system and what justice means. But I think what he must be expressing is that this embarrasses him because he wasn't expressing a viewpoint but expressing his viewpoint, and his viewpoint has changed -- he'd say matured -- now. I think there's value in a viewpoint even if it isn't your own in fiction, so he could still own that the novel explores a viewpoint that exists elsewhere, external to himself. But it may still feel too fresh for him.
Anyway, the juxtaposition of political opinions in the novel versus the interview gave me a lot to think about.
(Readers of The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian may also find the interview interesting, as it reveals how autobiographical that novel is, down to specific details. I didn't realize this when reading it.)
