The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | Sherman Alexie

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian | Sherman Alexie | Really Good

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The Absolutely Tru...

	The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian Sherman Alexie Little, Brown Young Readers, 2007 - 240 pages average customer review:based on 93 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Heartbreakingly funny and moving

This is the first-person narration a gifted 14-year-old Spokane Indian who is advised by a teacher in the shambles of the Wellpinit reservation school to transfer to the nearest public school in Reardan, WA. The reality of life on the reservation is poverty, hunger, alcoholism and the death and violence that attends those conditions. Junior Spirit has his wits and the love of his family to keep him upright though the realities he encounters on and off the reservation--many of them absolutely heartbreaking--are a challenge alongside the usual teenage issues. He tells his story with the humor and timing of a stand-up comedian mixed with occasional cries of anger and despair. He's a cartoonist who also articulates his feelings and world through drawings that accompany the text.

An adult fan of Sherman Alexie's adult level fiction, I was curious about THE ABSOLUTELY TRUE DIARY OF A PART-TIME INDIAN even though I haven't read young adult books since 7th grade. It took me a moment to get into the YA groove--it is immediate, voice driven, frank, episodic and the prose is very clean--but I got a lot out of this. Alexie's adult fiction informed, entertained and dazzled with its literary style. It was this book, though, that truly made me angry on top of informed and entertained. It isn't right that kids like Junior--or any living being--should deal with the hopelessness and poverty legislated on the reservation.

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Really Good

I loved this book. I thought the main character was relateable, and through the story while he learns, the reader learns with him. The book will keep you laughing (and in my case, crying a bit too).

Part-Time Lover of Part-Time Indian

Filled with Alexi's trademark beautiful and straightforward prose, Part-Time Indian tells the story of Arnold, a Spokane Indian trying to better his life beyond the confines of his race and his circumstance. This is a moving story filled with wonderful storytelling moments and thrilling scenes. While I finished the book wanting more, which is a good thing, although I also felt that some of the most interesting aspects of Arnold's character (dealing with his disability, his physical "difference" from kids in his new school, his determination to get beyond the rez, his being an artist, etc.) were dropped in favor of a tidier conclusion. In the end, the book leaves us centering on his relationship to his best friend, his ability to move on and at the same time leave the reservation behind. However effective the symbolism, I wanted more in the way of Arnold's coming of age. This is a gratifying read, in part because there are such beautiful moments, but I prefer books in which the character details affect the narrative more powerfully. Arnold is a fascinating character, and I felt that he was reduced, simplified by the end's tidy message. This may be knit-picking, but although I love Ellen Forney, I thought the "voice" of the cartoons was not exactly in sync with that of the main character. The cartoons are very clever and they add to the humor in this otherwise very funny book, but they felt like they were authored by someone other than Arnold.

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