November 2017: Sherman Alexie

Hi all, our author this month is Sherman Alexie ... appropriate since November is Native American Heritage Month.

What have you all read by Alexie before? What do you plan on reading?

FYI -- here is the thread from the last time we read Alexie as a group: https://www.librarything.com/topic/199097

So I've previously read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-time Indian and The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven. Last time around, I wanted to also read Indian Killer but ran out of time, so perhaps I'll shoot for that again this month.

I have Absolutely True Diary on Kindle so will give it a go. Never read him before.

>3 Yells: I'm curious to hear your thoughts on the book. When I read it before in group settings, everyone else seemed to LOVE it whereas I just liked it.

>4 sweetiegherkin: - just finished and I really enjoyed it. I was that smart, awkward loner in high school so I found that I connected with that part. It made me laugh and cry.

>5 Yells: Yes, I have to agree, I felt that Junior was a very relatable character. While there were funny parts (which I feel like the rest of my group when I read it really latched on to), the sad parts were just so depressingly sad that my overwhelming feeling with the book was the sadness. I thought the writing was fantastic, but it was just a real downer.

A copy of Indian Killer finally became available at my library so I started that one last night; however, I didn't get far enough yet to have a real opinion on it.

I'm still only about 3 chapters into Indian Killer. So far it's not what I expected, but it is incredibly well written.

Very late in the month, but I am starting his memoir, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me.

I read Absolutely True Diary some time ago and really liked it.

>9 sparemethecensor: Coincidentally, my co-worker just picked up that book also. How are you liking it?

P.S. On an unrelated note, I saw you recently added Stephen King's Joyland to your collection... I really enjoyed that one, hope you do too!

>10 sweetiegherkin: I'm pretty early on, but I really like it so far. I like his writing style and the poetry chapters interspersed with narrative.

And, thanks for the Joyland info! I spotted it at the library recently and brought it home.

>11 sparemethecensor: Poetry and a memoir? Sounds like a good blend :)

I stumbled across this article from back in June in which Alexie talks about his memoir: http://lithub.com/sherman-alexie-i-think-we-live-in-a-constant-funeral/

edited for small grammatical error

>13 sweetiegherkin: Thanks for sharing that. I enjoyed his memoir and would recommend it.

Another interview I stumbled across in which Alexie talks about You Don't Have to Say You Love Me: https://www.booklistonline.com/The-Carnegie-Shortlist-Interviews-Sherman-Alexie-...

Okay, I finally finished Indian Killer. (It took me a while because I kept reading shorter books in between.) I really enjoyed it, except for the ending being so open-ended. A big spoiler-y question for those who have read the book:

During their confrontation on the rooftop, Jack thinks that John was the Indian Killer and after John's death it appears the killings have stopped. But then the final chapter has the killer moving about the world. Any ideas on who the killer is???

Also, there was a passage in the book about three-quarters of the way in that I felt I didn't fully grasp. An older homeless woman gives John a beat-up knife and talks about some of the troubles indigenous people have face. To wit:

"But we'll get back at them, John-John. I've got me a time machine. And I can show you how to use it. You can go back to that beach where Columbus first landed, you know? You can wait for him, hidden in the sand or something. C-a-m-o-u-f-l-a-g-e. And when he gets on the sand, you can jump out of hiding and show him some magic, enit? Good magic, bad magic, it's all the same.
The old woman pointed in the general direction of the puny knife in John's hand.
"Magic, magic, magic," chanted the old woman. You want to go back? You want to know how to use the time machine?"
"Yes."
The old woman stuck her right hand in her pocket. She wiggled it around as if searching for something.
"You want to see the time machine?" asked the old woman. "I got it in my pocket."
"Yes."
"You sure you want to see it? It's powerful. And once you see it, there ain't no going back. N-o."
"Yes."
The old woman whipped her hand out of her pocket and held it out for John. It was empty. John could see the dirty, brown skin, the four fingers and opposable thumb. John stared at Carlotta's empty hand, and then at the knife in his own hand, and understood."

The chapter then ends and the next one opens up with a different character's perspective. Any thoughts on the meaning of that one?

edited to fix formatting

Between the recommendations here and elsewhere, I started reading Alexie's memoir You Don't Have to Say You Love Me. My library had an audiobook edition, which Alexie reads himself and you can really hear the emotion in his voice. I'm about halfway through so far and am really enjoying it.

In the memoir, Alexie briefly mentions his picture book Thunder Boy Jr., which I had picked up in my library a while ago along with several other picture books to share with my niece. We both liked that one. :)

I just picked that one up on Kindle. Glad to see your positive review!

>16 sweetiegherkin:
I read it back in June 2012 ... here's my review:

Indian Killer by Sherman Alexie
3.5***

Alexie crafts a literary thriller that explores issues of racism, isolation, and mental illness.

A serial murderer known as “The Indian Killer” is terrorizing Seattle, hunting, killing and scalping white men. John Smith was taken from his Native American teen-age mother at birth and given to a white couple, who adopted him and raised him in a loving family. He has grown into a strong and handsome man, who lives quietly on the fringe of society. As the story progresses it becomes clear that John suffers from mental illness. The question is whether he is the Indian Killer.

Alexie peoples his Seattle neighborhoods with a variety of characters, though most are thinly drawn. We have angry students, arrogant college professors, puzzled middle-class parents, alcoholic homeless men, and young men who prefer to use their fists. There are plenty of people here who threaten (and commit) violence on each other. Could one of them be the killer instead of John? The main problem is that none of these characters is fully fleshed out. Alexie gives us lots of hints, but few facts, and leaves us wondering “who dunnit?”

I am usually pretty tolerant of ambiguous endings, but I was disappointed in the “non-ending” here. I can only assume that this is Alexie’s way of showing that there really is no end to the hatred that we humans feel towards one another. It’s a pretty bleak outlook. Still, the book moved quickly for me; I was drawn in and couldn’t read fast enough.

>19 BookConcierge: Your last paragraph sums up a lot of my feelings. It was very compelling but the ambiguous ending left me wanting something a little more clearcut. I wouldn't mind if the killer was never caught but I felt that the readers should learn who he/she was. If the killer really was John, that almost felt like a cop-out. Maybe I've read too many mysteries and am sucked into their tropes, but it seems like the most obvious suspect right from the outset shouldn't be the actual killer! My money is on Reggie, but I guess we'll never know!

Re: the characters, though, I felt very differently than your review states. To me they seemed pretty three-dimensional. I didn't hate anyone and I didn't love anyone either, which feels fairly accurate about people in real life. Marie was angry, but also compassionate. Aaron was viciously violent, but also filled with grief and remorse. And so on. Just my take though.

FYI, in case you hadn't seen it, recently numerous sexual harassment allegations have been lodged against Alexie. More details here (as well as in other news coverage): https://www.npr.org/2018/03/05/589909379/it-just-felt-very-wrong-sherman-alexies...

>21 sweetiegherkin: Wow, thank you for sharing that, sweetiegherkin. Certainty casts things in a different light.

I read that article just after I 'discovered' him late last year. It felt weird thinking 'oh, I like this author' and then 'oh, he did what?'. I was encouraged to see that he admitted to his mistakes so hopefully he takes that and does something positive with it.

>22 sparemethecensor:, 23 Yes, it definitely casts things in a different light. Personally, I'm trying to separate the author & his actions from the works, but it does certainly make me hesitate now before recommending his books to someone else.

>24 sweetiegherkin: Right after I read his memoir (for this group!) last year I recommended it to someone else. I enjoyed it. Now I would hesitate to recommend a memoir for sure...

>25 sparemethecensor: Same :/

I haven't seen where he admitted to anything, but the picture painted of him is incredibly awful; not only did he repeatedly take young women aspiring to be authors "under his wing" as a guise to abuse his position of power for sexual gain, but he also just plain acted like a piece of shit towards them. I have less than zero respect for him after having found out about all that, and it's even more disheartening given his status as a kind of minority role model and such.

>27 .Monkey.: He posted a statement but it's one of those 'sorry if I offended' type apologies, a.k.a. not really an apology.

https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/4391069/Sherman-Alexie-Statement.pdf

Yeah I didn't figure anything more than that, because they pretty clearly demonstrated how awful of a person he is. There's no possible way that he actually feels bad about anything he did, or that it wasn't done with eyes very wide open. He's just attempting damage control.

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian – Sherman Alexie
Audiobook narrated by the author. Illustrations by Ellen Forney.
5*****

This young adult novel tells the story of Junior Spirit, a Spokane Indian living on the reservation with his parents and older sister. Junior was born with hydrocephalus and has some lingering effects of brain damage, but he’s a good student, a talented artist and a pretty good basketball player. A mishap at school leads his teacher to tell Junior that he needs to get off the reservation and find his future elsewhere, and thus begins his journey.

I loved this book. I could not help but think of all the kids out there like Junior – kids with limited abilities in one aspect, but extraordinary abilities in other aspects. Kids who just need someone to believe in them, and for an adult to step in to stop the bullying and give them a chance to grow and excel.

Things do not go smoothly for Junior just because he decides – and is supported by his parents in this decision – to attend the white high school off the reservation. He loses his best friend as a result. He’s bullied and ostracized at his new school. He is under tremendous social pressure due to his poverty and his efforts to hide that poverty from his classmates. His family remains dysfunctional, with parents who drink to excess, and multiple deaths among those he loves. But he never gives up. He is determined to succeed and to make the most of the opportunity he has.

The audiobook is narrated by Alexie and I cannot imagine anyone else doing a better job. Outstanding!

NOTE: The text version I got was the 10th anniversary edition and had supplemental information, including an interview with the author, an early draft of the first chapter, a draft of a possible sequel focusing on Rowdy, an interview with the illustrator, and a heart-breaking eulogy to Alexie’s childhood friend (and the model for Rowdy). Greatly enjoyed this additional info (which was not included on the audio) and it made me appreciate the book even more.

Additionally, I am fully aware of the allegations made against the author. While I abhor the behavior, I am judging the book on its own merit.

>30 BookConcierge: The art vs. artist debate rages strong. I try to also judge based on the book alone but it is difficult sometimes.

If I recall correctly the "diary" part of the book meant it also had a number of sketches/doodles. I wonder how that came across in audiobook format?

>31 sweetiegherkin: you wrote: If I recall correctly the "diary" part of the book meant it also had a number of sketches/doodles. I wonder how that came across in audiobook format?

It doesn't. But I had the text handy, as I always do with audiobooks.