Book Review - The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie

 

Have you ever encountered the situation where a book is recommended by someone whose taste in literature you respect and generally concur with but who you've always thought looked just "meh"? Then, after reading War Dances, another book by the same author, and finding it to be amazing, funny, and sad, you wonder why you didn't read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian three years ago. Yes? Is it just me, or?

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Well, you really ought to read Sherman Alexie if you haven't already. I'm referring to now. Go ahead and read one of his books before returning to finish this one, please. And Alexie is that exceptional talent that can blend sadness and humour. I feel as though every story he relates is his own because of how honestly he writes.

The account of Junior, an Indian from Spokane who has spent his whole life on a reservation, is told in the first person in The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. When he is fourteen years old, he makes the decision to be the first member of his reservation to attend school in the nearby town, a largely white farming community. The only other Indian at the school, Alexie slyly observes, is the mascot. Junior is a cartoonist, and Ellen Forney's illustrations in the book feature some of his work (the copy of the book I read had a really interesting interview with Forney at the very end). The illustration reveals Junior's ideas, anxieties, and true perceptions of those around him.

In this brief book, Alexie offers us a number of different viewpoints on First Nations people in America. This quotation captures so much of what Junior battles:

It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start to believe that you're poor because you're stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you're stupid and ugly because you're Indian. And because you're Indian, you start believing you're destined to be poor. It's an ugly cycle, and there's nothing you can do about it.

I don't know who "they" are, but the novel is what they call "semi-autobiographical." English professors? This indicates that a summary of this book may be found on Sherman Alexie's wikipedia page when you read about his early life. On the reserve that Junior writes about in the novel, Alexie grew up. Sherman Alexie is the best person to talk about poverty, drunkenness, and Indians living on reservations. Alexie is able to express some pretty harsh things without anyone taking offense, which may be due to the fact that he is a powerful and honest writer as well. He takes away any romance the reader would have given the American Indian and the reservation. A wealthy, white man walks up during a funeral, which leads to one of the book's funniest sequences. It is humorously and frustratingly clear how different Junior's reserve and its inhabitants are from what the outside world wants them to be. Alexie says things that many writers wouldn't be able to get away with because of his background and personal past. However, the central narrative of this book is the tale of a young man who wants to fit in and discovers that there is more to life than what has been revealed to him thus far.

What then is the issue? There won't be many high schools that will accept this young adult book. We won't soon see this book on the curriculum; the best-case scenario I can imagine is a copy in the library. The book depicts the inner thoughts of an adolescent boy as well as some violence and horrible racist slurs that Junior is called (i.e., sexual thoughts). I can understand why a teacher might not assign this book to a high school English class because not all teenagers will be mature enough to handle the topic, but intelligent kids should read it anyhow. also the mature adult.

A favourite quote:

Do you realize how incredible it is to hear something like that from an adult? Do you realize how incredible it is to hear that from someone? Just four words make up one of the shortest statements ever, but when combined, they make up the four biggest words ever.

You are capable of doing it.

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