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4.03 AVERAGE
4.03 AVERAGE
I love half of the stories and am just confused by half of the stories. This reads like a self-conscious Sherman Alexie trying out a simplistic voice to express complicated emotions. Sometimes it works for me, and sometimes it doesn't. But it's still a good read for anyone wanting to immerse themselves in a reality that Alexie develops for his coeur-d'Alene family.
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A really great collection by a great author. Very interesting look into a fictional version of his life (sort of).
"The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven" is an amazing collection of interconnected short stories. Sherman Alexie's voice came through on every page. I don't mean just his writing voice, I felt as though I heard his actual voice in my head, speaking every word, making each story feel alive in a way I've never experienced before. It gave the stories a lilting cadence that brought them to life. I haven't felt such raw realism in writing since my first experience reading T.C. Boyle. Alexie's stories live.
He immerses the reader in the world of the rez, allowing us to know his characters as though they were our childhood friends, now grown up and dealing with life's pressures and pleasures. How he does this is a mystery and a joy. His writing is not overly descriptive or intricate. It is easily accessible, which makes its subtle power so much more amazing. Yet at times his prose takes my breath away. A single sentence, like this one: "He’d sit by the stereo with a cooler of beer beside him and cry, laugh, call me over and hold me tight in his arms, his bad breath and body odor covering me like a blanket." transports into the moment. He can encapsulate an entire love story in fifteen potent words: "But she loved him, too, with a ferocity that eventually forced her to leave him." His casually dropped mentions about the atrocities committed by white society on a once autonomous population pierced my soul. "While my aunt held her baby close to her chest, the doctor tied her tubes, with the permission slip my aunt signed because the hospital administrator lied and said it proved her Indian status for the BIA."
When he transports us into visions I feel as though magical realism is an everyday occurence. He gives us a glimpse behind the curtain of Powwows and roadside mocassin stands, casinos and bingo halls, which is all many of us know of the culture which once covered this land. Reading his stories made me remember every Native American I've ever known and see them in a different, more complicated light. I am filled with a new appreciation for their past, their heritage, their struggles, and their connection. I am left with a renewed admiration for indigenous culture. This book should be read by everyone.
He immerses the reader in the world of the rez, allowing us to know his characters as though they were our childhood friends, now grown up and dealing with life's pressures and pleasures. How he does this is a mystery and a joy. His writing is not overly descriptive or intricate. It is easily accessible, which makes its subtle power so much more amazing. Yet at times his prose takes my breath away. A single sentence, like this one: "He’d sit by the stereo with a cooler of beer beside him and cry, laugh, call me over and hold me tight in his arms, his bad breath and body odor covering me like a blanket." transports into the moment. He can encapsulate an entire love story in fifteen potent words: "But she loved him, too, with a ferocity that eventually forced her to leave him." His casually dropped mentions about the atrocities committed by white society on a once autonomous population pierced my soul. "While my aunt held her baby close to her chest, the doctor tied her tubes, with the permission slip my aunt signed because the hospital administrator lied and said it proved her Indian status for the BIA."
When he transports us into visions I feel as though magical realism is an everyday occurence. He gives us a glimpse behind the curtain of Powwows and roadside mocassin stands, casinos and bingo halls, which is all many of us know of the culture which once covered this land. Reading his stories made me remember every Native American I've ever known and see them in a different, more complicated light. I am filled with a new appreciation for their past, their heritage, their struggles, and their connection. I am left with a renewed admiration for indigenous culture. This book should be read by everyone.
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
N/A
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
The stories are good. Some a little darker or more dreary than I like. But an interesting collection of stories.
emotional
funny
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I just consumed this book in one sitting, for good reasons and bad.
Good: Alexie writes very smoothly; he definitely gets his picture of life on the Spokane reservation across...
Bad: ...repeatedly. As in, halfway through the book I was thinking, "I get it. I get it." Also, I did not know this was going to be a book of short stories, and because the first few seemed loosely connected (they all seem to be about Victor) it really lost me when it wandered off into the other stories which were only connected by the barest of threads.
I had a really hard time following some of the stories which included a few paragraphs in the present, then a few paragraphs of flashback, then present, then flashback... my head was spinning. Also, the prose spirals off into the nonsensical in places and that type of trippy musing doesn't really appeal to me.
I'm still willing to check out some of Alexie's other books, but it's more on the strength of how much I loved The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian than on any love for his short stories. Hopefully he has some other novels that are a single narrative.
Oh, and I guess I'm going to have to watch Smoke Signals again, as Alexie wrote it based off of this book. I saw it years ago and really liked it and I'd like to see how it compares.
Good: Alexie writes very smoothly; he definitely gets his picture of life on the Spokane reservation across...
Bad: ...repeatedly. As in, halfway through the book I was thinking, "I get it. I get it." Also, I did not know this was going to be a book of short stories, and because the first few seemed loosely connected (they all seem to be about Victor) it really lost me when it wandered off into the other stories which were only connected by the barest of threads.
I had a really hard time following some of the stories which included a few paragraphs in the present, then a few paragraphs of flashback, then present, then flashback... my head was spinning. Also, the prose spirals off into the nonsensical in places and that type of trippy musing doesn't really appeal to me.
I'm still willing to check out some of Alexie's other books, but it's more on the strength of how much I loved The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian than on any love for his short stories. Hopefully he has some other novels that are a single narrative.
Oh, and I guess I'm going to have to watch Smoke Signals again, as Alexie wrote it based off of this book. I saw it years ago and really liked it and I'd like to see how it compares.