Thoughts on: The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian ~ Sherman Alexie

From the Book Jacket:

Junior is a budding cartoonist growing up on the Spokane Indian reservation.

Born with a variety of medical problems, he is picked on by everyone but his best friend. Determined to receive a good education, Junior leaves the rez to attend an all-white school in the neighboring farm town where the only other Indian is the school mascot.

Despite being condemned as a traitor to his people and enduring great tragedies, Junior attacks life with wit and humor and discovers a strength inside of himself that he never knew existed.

Sometimes reading for my course is anything but a chore. Such was the case with Alexie’s Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian. Not that it was necessarily an easy read; in fact, I put it aside for a bit before even attempting tp write about here. But it’s one of those, I think, that you walk away from with something that you didn’t have before.

As I read, I stuck little shreds of paper in places where a particular passage really caught at my attention. By the time I was done there was over 30 pieces in there.

In some cases, the passages seemed like brutally honest portrayals of life on a reservation, so much so that I thought: really, is it like that? And then because this is a fictionalized account of Alexie’s life, I thought it must be like that, and that made me…sad? shocked? angry? surprised? I’m not sure. (Do I even have a right to feel any of those things? I wondered about that, too.)

It sucks to be poor, and it sucks to feel that you somehow deserve to be poor. You start believing that you’re poor because you’re stupid and ugly. And then you start believing that you’re stupid and ugly because you’re an Indian. And because you’re Indian you start believing that you’re destined to be poor. It’s an ugly circle and there’s nothing you can do about it. (13)

That entire chapter was tough. Tough because all of Junior’s emotions seemed so raw, so immediate. Actually, that pretty much sums up all of the book, and those feelings made Junior’s hope seem that much brighter, his belief in it that much more wonderful. With so much tragedy in his life, with his very circumstances trying to hold him back, Junior broke through, attempted to do more than anyone thought he could.

Then there were parts I enjoyed because they were universal and written so well, but simply:

I draw because words are too unpredictable.

I draw because words are too limited.

If you speak and write in English, or Spanish, or Chinese, or any other language, then only a certain percentage of human beings will get your meaning.

But when you draw a picture, everybody can understand it.

Like I said, this novel is brutally honest, filled with tragedy and moments of joy, and I can absolutely understand why it is so well regarded.