“What is life if not a joke” (lyrics from Alabama Motel Room by Matthew Good Band)
I was never able to find much humour in the existence of abject poverty, or for that matter much comedic appeal in open displays of senseless violence, bigotry, and racism; that was of course until I read Sherman Alexie’s The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian—misfortune and despair is always hilarious when it happens to other people. In all seriousness, Alexie writes a wonderful story about life growing up on an Indian reservation as experienced through the eyes of a 9th grader. Although, I must admit, I did find the humour to be initially off-putting; however, realizing that this was the narrator’s (Junior) attempt to deal with the harsh realities of his life, I was more accepting of it. In fact, it plays out to be a beneficial aspect of the story, serving much as comic relief (there are certain plot events which are unbearably difficult to read through). The illustrations are particularly useful to this end—some of the stuff you could not help but laugh at or actually laugh with the narrator.
Another strong part of the book is the character of Junior; you can’t but feel for his plight and be uplifted by his determination to want to do better for himself, despite the challenges he faces, i.e. he lives in crushing poverty, rarely haves enough food to eat, suffered from ‘water on the brain’ as a child, is the target of an endless barrage of jokes and assaults by reservation bullies; on top of that he (through his own volition) is forced to navigate the unfamiliar confines of a new school (of which he is a complete outsider being the only Indian among a sea of Whites), all at the same time of copping with the loss of multiple significant close friends and family members. The appeal of this book for YAs is right on the mark. While there are a few story lines that go nowhere, this book is nevertheless pure gold, at least for me it was. I compare this book to the movie Forest Gump as it will make you happy, mad, sad, and happy all over again, ultimately, in the end, somewhat happy.
On a side note. doesn't Sherman Alexie look like a young Ray Romano! Wow, the resemblance is spot-on.
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