Flight

Aug 19, 2007

Colin rated it

Shelves: youngadultlit, speculativefiction, fiction, history

Flight has a great narrative voice, and addresses important themes of revenge, violence, historical trauma and forgiveness. Alexie combines his poetic skill and humor adroitly to address these complex themes.

Yet the book was still rife with the major issues that turned me off from Alexie several years ago, that are part of why I think he remains so popular with white people in particular. He writes that all Indians are alcoholics again (including our narrarator), even going so far a...moreFlight has a great narrative voice, and addresses important themes of revenge, violence, historical trauma and forgiveness. Alexie combines his poetic skill and humor adroitly to address these complex themes.

Yet the book was still rife with the major issues that turned me off from Alexie several years ago, that are part of why I think he remains so popular with white people in particular. He writes that all Indians are alcoholics again (including our narrarator), even going so far as to offer a pointed defense that it's not part of racism to do so, but rather the truth. (This, i would imagine, is in specific response to critiques about his perpetuation of this stereotype from Native scholars).

Also, literally every female character in this book is only discussed in terms of her sex appeal. While some may dismiss that in this book as the hormonal POV of a 15 year old male, (which Alexie does near the end) to me it is a continuation of a pattern that Alexie has shown for years. Women in all of his books are one dimensional sex objects or mothers. Nothing different here, and it really got on my nerves as I was reading.

There was also this glorification of white people throughout the book, and it really was unclear if that was part of the main character's internalized racism or because it sells more books for Alexie to talk about how great white people are. I think it's a combination of both.

The post-9-11-pandering, pointless subplot about the dangers of trusting resulting in inadvertently giving flight lessons to a Muslim terrorist who you thought was your best friend is too annoying to even go into. Ick.

The ending was way too neat and cheesy, with our main character finally learning to trust again after finding a happy adoptive home with a white cop, his firefighter brother, and their family. With a major theme of the book being this mixed Native kid trying to figure out what it means to be Native, this ending rings false. Also, his severe acne, which serves as a metaphor for his self-hatred and truama, gets cured. I love "disability as metaphorical tragedy."

In sum, I'm not Alexie's biggest fan. I still think this book is worth reading though. I like most books that involve time travel, and this book illuminates some complex political/emotional themes using that as the device, even with all its faults. (less)

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Sep 26, 2007

Thea rated it

Recommends it for: anyone who likes crying in public places

I really liked this book a lot. It made me cry on the subway. This is the official review I wrote of it:

In Flight Sherman Alexie’s message is that everything is perspective, and it’s delivered in an original, moving, hilarious and intensely persuasive way.

Flight shocks its readers by presenting extremely sympathetic characters, who then do horrendous things. Zits, a half white, half Native 15 year-old orphan, has been abused and neglected most of his life. Moments afte...more

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Mar 21, 2008

Emma rated it

Published in 2007, "Flight" is one of Sherman Alexie's more recent novels. His critically acclaimed YA debut "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" came out a few months after "Flight's" publication. Together these novels illustrate how teen narrators can comfortably inhabit both adult and young adult novels. More about that later.

The book starts with a simple request from the narrator: "Call me Zits. Everybody calls me Zits." In ot...morePublished in 2007, "Flight" is one of Sherman Alexie's more recent novels. His critically acclaimed YA debut "The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian" came out a few months after "Flight's" publication. Together these novels illustrate how teen narrators can comfortably inhabit both adult and young adult novels. More about that later.

The book starts with a simple request from the narrator: "Call me Zits. Everybody calls me Zits." In other words, the narrator has no name. Given the structure of the novel, this choice actually works. Throughout the story, Zits is rarely called by any kind of name that would be termed as his own. The opening line also tells readers everything they need to know about Zits. Specifically that this fifteen-year-old half-Irish, half-Indian kid doesn't think enough of himself to bother using his own name. Worse, Zits is pretty sure no one else thinks much better of him.

Orphaned at six and in foster care since he was ten, Zits has slipped through the cracks and is truly a lost soul. After an unceremonious exit from his twentieth foster home and his latest stint in the kid jail in Seattle's Central District, Zits starts to think that maybe he doesn't really need a family. Maybe what he needs is some kind of revenge.

But things don't go as planned. Instead of punishing the white people who are abstractly responsible for his present situation, Zits finds himself on a time-traveling, body-shifting quest for redemption and understanding.

Zits' first "stop" is inside the body of a white FBI agent during the civil rights era in Red River, Idaho. From there he moves to the Indian camp at the center of Custer's Last Stand, then a nineteenth century soldier, a modern pilot with his own variety of demons and, finally, Zits finds himself in a body more familiar than he'd like to admit.

As many other reviewers are quick to point out, "Flight" is Alexie's first novel in ten years. Unlike previous works, where characters and plots intersected (even in his short stories), this novel remains disjointed. It's the kind of book that could easily be seen as a grouping of short stories. Except that each segment follows Zits' spiritual evolution. For this reason, the novel is obviously much more character driven than plot driven. But Alexie makes it work.

I consider flight to be adult fiction. Zits is a teen, so it could be YA, but that fact is largely irrelevant to the main machinations of the novel--which is why it's an adult book but "True Diary" whose narrator is close to Zits' age is a YA book.

Finally, a word on the ending of the novel: It's optimistic. There is some talk that the ending is too up, that things come together a bit too easily. In terms of the plot that could be true although I'm more of a mind that the ending was already in the works from the beginning (the fact that "The wounded always recognize the wounded" and other events support me in this claim).

Some have claimed that the happy ending might be reason to suggest that "Flight" is a YA book because only a book written for teens would have such an abrupt ending. That's bogus. This is an adult book that teens can enjoy and the ending doesn't change that. After reading this novel it becomes clear that Zits has been through a lot. Way more than any fifteen-year-old should have to take. For Alexie to end the novel in any other way would have been a slap in the face both for Zits and the readers invested in his fate.

"Flight" is a really quick read (I finished it in a day) and entertaining throughout. The novel doesn't have the depth of character found in "Reservation Blues" or "True Diary" but the story remains different enough from Alexie's usual work to make "Flight" a refreshing departure nonetheless.
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Apr 12, 2009

King Dinösaur rated it

Shelves: fiction

Sherman Alexie's anger has finally spread from predominantly against the white man to pretty much every one else, including Native Americans. He makes me despair for all of humanity and then sucker-punches me with how tender, caring and loving people can actually be. I finished this book in tears. Dreadful and wonderful. Tough and real. The Vonnegut inscription at the beginning of the book will give readers an idea of where they're headed, too.

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Feb 15, 2008

Clint Jones rated it

Recommends it for: EVERYONE

I love this book!!! However, I must say, with a bit of sadness, that this is not Alexie's best book. Alexie is at his best when his prose is poetic, thought provoking,and humorous all at once. And, while this book certainly has its moments, it fails to substain the sentence-after-sentence, page-after-page trance that Alexie's writing is capable of producing. What I love about this book is how it has gotten my high school students, who would normally not even consider reading a book, to consume t...more

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Aug 08, 2007

Mike rated it

Told from the perspective of a very dislocated, long-suffering, smart-ass adolescent, Alexie's book initially--and at times throughout--can seem to echo as much as elaborate upon its narrator's sensibilities. Certain jokes fall flat on (almost-)forty-year-old ears, some insights (and the way they're revealed and described) can seem a tad hokey. And the plot can seem a bit ... well, after-schoolish -- this abused boy turns to violence, then--as a consequence?--begins flipping through time and p...more

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May 24, 2007

Anna rated it

Recommends it for: Harold Terezon, Eric Wat

Sherman Alexie's Flight was a quick read, a much sparser book than his first novel, Indian Killer. That earlier work was more dense, much darker. I actually appreciated that first novel very much -- it was an angry, despairing book that captured well the continuing struggles and tensions of a modern-day rez-Indian and its dark, unrelenting sensibility was disturbing yet poignant too.

At the LA Times Book Festival, I heard Alexie talk about Indian Killer which he says he hates. He felt...moreSherman Alexie's Flight was a quick read, a much sparser book than his first novel, Indian Killer. That earlier work was more dense, much darker. I actually appreciated that first novel very much -- it was an angry, despairing book that captured well the continuing struggles and tensions of a modern-day rez-Indian and its dark, unrelenting sensibility was disturbing yet poignant too.

At the LA Times Book Festival, I heard Alexie talk about Indian Killer which he says he hates. He felt it was so angry and basically was his reaction to all of the pressures and conflicting expectations for him to be a mouthpiece for "the Indian Experience." I actually think it was an engrossing novel, nevertheless.

Anyway, what it has to do with Flight is that Alexie's wife pointed out to him that this one was his Indian Killer rewrite. This one is about an Indian teenager foster kid -- unloved, unwanted, and unhinged -- who at a moment of sheer death and destruction in contemporary times, is plunged back into time to relive in different personas, seminal moments of sheer death and destruction in Indian history in America.

But this is a different novel. It's shorter, breezier almost. And has a redemptive ending. And tho' at first, I was wondering if perhaps Alexie had lost his touch with the too short chapters and the quick-cut jumping around of the character into different bodies and periods of time (making me compare it unfavorably at first to Octavia Butler's Kindred, a much more masterful time-jump-back novel dealng with the legacy of slavery in the South), there's a scene that he inserts about 3/4s through that is just KICK-ASS and completely turns the tales on their heads. It becomes a more intimate take on sins of the father and is ultimately about what Alexie described (in ironic, yet beneath, maybe quite sincere) "the kindness of strangers" and "forgiveness."

He said at the Festival that he could've written the darker ending -- did in fact write several -- but in the end "I just didn't want to put that shit out there." And in light of the fact that the novel was released in April 2007 -- around the time of the Virginia Tech incident -- Alexie said he felt well-satisfied with that decision, despite any critical knocks for doing so.

And I actually agree. I'm still mulling over that ending he chose. I almost feel like these days, the daker endings are becoming the trite ones. So in a way, a redemptive ending may be the weird, edgy twist, after all.

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May 31, 2008

claire rated it

I love Sherman Alexie's writing and have heard him speak on a radio program--what a loving, funny, open-hearted person. If you've ever read any of his short stories, you know how he can weave humor into seemingly dire situations. I can't wait to have a full week where I can read this new addition to his collection.

OK! I've read it and WOW. It only took me about 5 hours in total. Fast-paced and raw, this book was a roller-coater ride through not only history, but the life of the belo...more

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Jul 09, 2011

Daniel rated it

Shelves: read-2008

I am sad that "Flight" was my introduction to Sherman Alexie, because I did not care for it, and, given the widespread praise that he has received, I suspect that it does not represent his best work. Many things about this book did not work for me. The time-travel device is forced upon the story to serve Alexie's agenda, which in turn breezed through a few historical anecdotes that were themselves shallow. The revelations that Alexie produces in these episodes, though weighty, are not ...more

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May 24, 2008

Lindsay rated it

Recommends it for: militant pacifists, snapshots of AI history

Shelves: kiddos-thru-high-school

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I'm still taking a little time to process this book. It was a super quick read--I read it in a day--but it certainly packs a punch. It's a story about Zits, an orphaned and awkward half-Indian kid covered in serious acne and dealing with some severe loneliness. He's passed from foster home to foster home and has been arrested so many times he knows the officers around Seattle by name. As he goes to commit a mass murder, he is suddenly transported into several points of the past, primarily vi...moreI'm still taking a little time to process this book. It was a super quick read--I read it in a day--but it certainly packs a punch. It's a story about Zits, an orphaned and awkward half-Indian kid covered in serious acne and dealing with some severe loneliness. He's passed from foster home to foster home and has been arrested so many times he knows the officers around Seattle by name. As he goes to commit a mass murder, he is suddenly transported into several points of the past, primarily violent moments in American Indian history, where he experiences the pain and complexity of war (both literal and figurative).
I really enjoyed the several embodiments the character takes in the novel, and as with any good writing on war, Alexie effectively creates compassion for both the "good" and "bad" guys while blurring the line between "good" and "bad". He creates vivid settings for every scene no matter how quickly he bounces around time. I particularly enjoyed the exposition on how the Little Bighorn camp smelled...never really thought about the smells before. And as with The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian, I think he has a great talent for using an adolescent voice. I hope he might continue writing like this--this is a unique and underrepresented voice in young adult literature. However, this book might be a little intense for some teens.
What I can't quite figure out is whether the story is too simple. Even though I don't think I'm spoiling much (the jacket does read that "he is mightily transformed by all he has seen"), it's not much of a surprise that, when Zits finally returns to the present, he understands the error of his ways. The events he partakes in certainly would melt even the coldest of hearts (some scenes got me a little weepy), and even though I pretty much knew how it was going to ultimately end, the various experiences continued to captivate me throughout. But I still feel like something was missing...perhaps it was because I knew there was going to be a more or less "happy" ending. It felt more like a fable. Maybe this is a good thing? I haven't read a book like that in long time; plus it gives hope that a very lost kid might somehow find a way. Also, since there was so much time-travel packed into so few pages, we jump to the next story when I want to hear more about the previous one. In a way it kind of keeps in line with the fast-paced environment kids grow up with today and definitely falls into the helter-skelter life Zits has had to lead, but as a reader I wanted even more detail. Good thing I have more Alexie books to turn to.(less)

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Dec 06, 2008

liz rated it

Shelves: literary

Okay, so this was my first time ever reading Alexie. I had been kind of hesitant, since he's The Indian Author, and it makes me feel bad for all the other Indian authors floating around out there (I imagine the publishers: "Well, we got The Indian Author, we don't need to worry about finding any other ones!"). So, I was pleasantly surprised that his writing is so good.

The way the story is set up reminds me of The Law of Love, in that there's a ton of switching back and fo...more

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Mar 04, 2008

Lindsay rated it

Sherman Alexie's Flight is often beautiful and usually poignant. However, any novel written through the point of view of a 15-year-old boy can run the risk of annoying readers, especially if the character is written well (e.g., Holden Caulfield).

Alexie's narrator, a teenage orphan called "Zits," is written rather well. Losing his Indian father to homelessness and his Irish mother to cancer, chronic foster-child Zits is understandably angry. Like many angry teenage boys, "...more

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Sep 19, 2007

Liza rated it

Recommends it for: everyone

I’ve been meaning to read a book by Sherman Alexie for a while now, and after reading Flight, I now want to devour everything that Alexie has ever written or been associated with. Flight is the story of Zits, a teenage Native American orphan who repeatedly finds himself on the wrong side of the law. Upon meeting another lost teenager, Zits thinks he has discovered the outlet for his anger, but suddenly he is traveling through time to important eras of Native American history--both in the popular...more

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Jul 02, 2007

Emily rated it

Recommends it for: Sherman Alexie lovers, pessiminsts

Shelves: booksofthepast

This is not the typical Sherman Alexie novel, but then, what is? Everything Alexi writes has its own spirit and moves through your mind by its own course. This book was different from all those that came before it, and I'm sure the next book will be different from this one.

"Flight" is the story of a young Native American boy who has been shunted through the foster care system in the Seattle area since the age of seven. Since then he has experienced no love or gentleness ...more

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Jan 23, 2009

Dorothea rated it

Recommends it for: highschool English teachers looking for a relevant book for their students to read

Flight's language is simple and the story is compelling. Alexie addresses some of my favorite themes: identity, shame, betrayal, justice, revenge and redemption. This book would be an excellent read for high schoolers and I hope teachers will begin using it, SOON! (Although, the occasional f-word will cause a stink among the narrow-minded set.)

Part of me wants to say that Flight isn't Alexie's best work in a literary sense. His 1993 book, Lone Ranger and Tonto Fist Fight in Heaven, r...more

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Jul 14, 2007

Amy marked it as to-read

Sherman Alexie is currently on book tour and is blogging: http://www.fallsapart.com/FlightBlog.htm...

He'll be in Minneapolis in October at the MBA trade show. Haven't looked to see if the reading is open to the public.

S. Kirk Walsh - The New York Times
Mr. Alexie is no stranger to this brand of gutsy writing. With 17 volumes of fiction and poetry to his name, he has established an impressive literary reputation as a bold writer who goes straight for the aorta. He is...more

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Mar 05, 2009

Emily rated it

I wept the whole way through it. This book is marvelous. It bleeds empathy and compassion and is one of the most sincere, gut-real, open-eyed, forgiving, hopeful novels I've read this year so far. I love this book. The wit and charm of the teenage boy narrator kept me giggling and grinning, and the tone switches were so subtle and genuine and seamless that I would cry and laugh at the same times. Sometimes I would just cry. I am achingly pleased with Alexie and can't wait to pick up anothe...more

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Feb 01, 2009

Carrie rated it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Flight is a short, direct and unsubtle novel, but nonetheless a powerful one. It reads more like YA to me than like an adult novel , but that has more to do with my complete inability to understand what gets shelved where - why are some novels with teens considered adult books and some juvenile fiction (and then Alexie went and wrote a YA novel which won the National Book Award, so there you have it)?? Anyway, Flight tells the story of Zits, a young half Indian - half Irish young man whose mot...more

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Jan 26, 2009

Jennifer rated it

Recommends it for: Anyone who likes Sherman Alexie, anyone interested in Native Americans, anyone not afraid to weep.

Shelves: fiction

I was feeling sad about the number of Sherman Alexie books I haven't read, so I made a bookstore run and picked this one up. Yesterday morning I grabbed it as we were getting in the car for a trip, and by the time we were home that afternoon I had finished it. In between I did a lot of crying, developed a major headache and a mild sense of nausea, all of which I'm blaming on this book. It was horrific, filled with rage and blame and fury, and yet somehow infused with hope.

It's the s...more

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Feb 01, 2012

Stefan rated it

I wouldn't say that this is a bad book by any means, but I didn't greatly enjoy it. Alexie seems to have a lot to say and has many messages and in the end, this book does have impact, but it just wasn't my cup of tea.

The main character, Zits, is overall fairly compelling. I truly felt for his situation and a lot of his actions and thought rang true to his situation. When he begins to travel through time, we see flashes of how Native Americans have been poorly treated throughout history...more

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Dec 21, 2011

Kate Mollohan rated it

Another four star book read in another day? I hit the jackpot with the last two randomly selected books, I'd say! I picked this up off a friend's shelf, and told myself if the first few lines didn't get my attention that I would put it back and read something else. I didn't put it back. A day later I finished it, and am so glad I didn't ignore it.

The narrator, a teenage orphan who has moved from foster home to foster home, has a distinct and sharp voice. He's angry, sad, and violen...moreAnother four star book read in another day? I hit the jackpot with the last two randomly selected books, I'd say! I picked this up off a friend's shelf, and told myself if the first few lines didn't get my attention that I would put it back and read something else. I didn't put it back. A day later I finished it, and am so glad I didn't ignore it.

The narrator, a teenage orphan who has moved from foster home to foster home, has a distinct and sharp voice. He's angry, sad, and violent and freely admits to being all of these things. He is well written and doesn't come across stereotypical or flat, nor does he sound whiny or arrogant. You really feel for this kid, and as he describes himself you can really begin to see him.

There was a lot going on in this book, including the obvious, like a lack of agency (which is not surprising, given the protagonist's status in the community, as a half native American Indian orphan) and a search for respect. There's a lot of anger, violence and revenge in the story as well. He begins by asking the reader to call him "Zits," because that's what everyone calls him, but by the end you learn his real name is Michael. He moves from "whatever" being his trademark remark to a self-acutalized teen. All it took was to find someone who actually respected him, as a person. His journey to this respect, and his self-respect, is powerful, and leaves you wondering who really writes our histories for us.

Some favorite lines:

"Is revenge just a circle inside of a circle inside of a circle?"
"God is really, really old. So maybe God has arthritis. And maybe that's why the world sucks. Maybe God's hands and fingers don't work as well as they used to."
"I don't kill anybody, but I ride with killers, so that makes me a killer."
"...any stranger can be your priest."
"Maybe you're not supposed to kill. No matter who tells you to do it. No mater how good or bad the reason."
"I wonder if [this guy] understands the difference between white and whiteness."

Good stuff, and I highly recommend it. I can't tell you what his journey is, because that would give most of the book away, but it's a quick and fast-paced read.

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Nov 15, 2011

Theddy Blanc added it

Sherman Alexie has certainly carved a new mark in my mind as he writes a distinctive narrative that crosses age, gender and racial barriers. The most experimental and entertaining aspect came in the form of Alexie’s narrative voice in his novel “Flight” and though it could become a little edgy it only furthered the theme of the novel. This book criticizes, upholds, shames, enlightens and brings pride to a proud people. Though the novel digs its roots into abandonment, crime, trust, betrayal and ...moreSherman Alexie has certainly carved a new mark in my mind as he writes a distinctive narrative that crosses age, gender and racial barriers. The most experimental and entertaining aspect came in the form of Alexie’s narrative voice in his novel “Flight” and though it could become a little edgy it only furthered the theme of the novel. This book criticizes, upholds, shames, enlightens and brings pride to a proud people. Though the novel digs its roots into abandonment, crime, trust, betrayal and coming of age its central message is to and from the Native Americans.

The protagonist is a Native American orphan in 2007, a lost soul trapped in the bowls of the adoption system. He calls himself Zits as a defense mechanism over the shame of his face and has long grown fed up and weary of the 17 homes he has gone through. After defying and running away from yet another home, he meets a mysterious boy named justice after he is caught and sent to jail. Captivated by this mysterious self proclaimed crusader, Zits is convinced by Justice of the importance of violence and is sent to bank to mass murder all inside. In the middle of the act Zits is transported through time and space and into the bodies of five different men in history who all have had a role in not only Native American history but also were severely affected by acts of betrayal, despair or kindness.

Without ruining the conclusion, the most believable aspect of the story is the manner in which they affected Zits as a person. Alexie didn’t right a campaign for Native American awareness, he didn’t scold against violence and he didn’t try to write a happy foster story. He sought to connect the aspects of heritage, personal ethics, respect for women, ambition and pain to how they teach a boy to become a man. This was so because not all the men were even involved in Native American affairs. Not all of them had a complete story and one was even almost completely unrelated to anything Zits could directly identify with. Nevertheless they all had an affect on how Zits saw the world.

Zits’ view of the world is the vehicle for how the writing in this book is brought on a whole new level for me. Alexie’s narrative voice is a lesson to me as a writer on immersion. He completely commits to the persona of a 15 year old teenager that it even reflects a genuine dirty grunge air about the novel at times. This narrative voice steadily changes as Zits sits in the bodies of these men and questions their thoughts and actions as he compares it to their own. This voice is what convinces the reader that Zits is not only changing his ways but transforming as a person, growing into a man. My one critique is that in his commitment the voice comes off as a little too juvenile, too aggressive or even too misogynistic but eventually I made peace with the style.

Sherman Alexie’s “Flight” is truly a coming of age because it attacks all the different aspects that come with the conflict of growing up. Zits is a boy with a sense of nothing. He had no history, no respect, no kindness given or shown and no goal and through each of his flights he gains them all and more. On top of all that a lesson and call to attention of native American laces each page of the novel. This book is a definite ly recommended to anyone tired with the run of the mill “becoming a man” story.
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Oct 04, 2011

Julie Fishpaugh rated it

“Flight” by Sherman Alexie was a pretty good read. The storyline should receive an award for moral valor. “Flight” is about a teenager who over comes his anger and hatred by being hurled through time and encompassing the bodies of people throughout history. During his travels he was able to see and feel what each person had to go through at particular moments in their lives and make choices which amended the situations. In the end, he rises above his adversities to try and be a better human ...more“Flight” by Sherman Alexie was a pretty good read. The storyline should receive an award for moral valor. “Flight” is about a teenager who over comes his anger and hatred by being hurled through time and encompassing the bodies of people throughout history. During his travels he was able to see and feel what each person had to go through at particular moments in their lives and make choices which amended the situations. In the end, he rises above his adversities to try and be a better human being.

Sherman Alexie gives his readers descriptions of his characters through the eyes of young “Zits”. In the beginning “Zits” describes his own self by his ailments. However, in the end he wants to overcome his problems and be known by his real name. The author, also, uses a lot of metaphors, similes, and other comparisons to bring out his descriptions. In chapter 1, he describes the foster mother as “…a short fat woman. If this were a fairy tale, she’d be the evil stepmother who eats children.”

He uses dialogue to bring out the scene and characters. You are brought into several back stories of “Zits” engaging with past foster parents. Also, the author takes you to different episodes in history and creates dialogue fit for that particular era.

His flashbacks are also used to show the reader the hardships “Zits” has had to endure throughout his life. He has faced people turning their backs on him since he was born. His father left as his mother was giving birth and never turned back. Some of the foster parents started out as cool people, but then turned into jerks. Others were nasty people from the start. “Zits” has endured many things a child should never have to face. Through seeing what he has been through, the reader can understand why he is as angry and resentful as he is at the beginning of this story.

When “Zits” meets a character named “Justice”, the reader is introduced to a Native American ghost dance. It is said to eliminate all white people and bring back all Native Americans. “Zits” never tried to perform this dance, until one night when “Justice” coerced him into doing so. This begins his journey through history. Sherman Alexie does an amazing job of showing how hatred and revenge has been around for centuries. Each of his historic characters has to do an act of hatred or revenge. At first, “Zits” goes along with it, not realizing he can change the outcome. However, when he starts seeing young children being affected by these acts, he begins to resist the acts and change the outcomes.

One negative part to Sherman Alexie’s story was he tended to “tell” a lot towards the end rather than “show” his story. It gave his writing a bit of a rushed feel to it. He returned to showing his story in the last chapter, and I am glad he did. The last chapter is very heart felt, and you know “Zits” will be ok.

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Aug 28, 2011

Mark Bengco rated it

The book Flight is about Zits, the young narrator, who has been through the foster care system numerous times, and later on settled down to his 21st foster parents. He attacked his foster parents, and got sent to juvenile. He met a white, pretty boy named Justice, who is also an orphan. Zits and Justice became friends, and Zits tells Justice about the “Ghost Dance”, which is basically killing white people to bring back Native Americans. Justice convinces Zits to go to a bank and shoot white peop...more

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Jun 19, 2011

Indigenous Writes rated it

Identity is a crucial issue for indigenous people and communities within the confines of the United States. Identity rears its head in many facets of Indian life. Individuals and communities struggle with how to identify themselves as US or Tribal citizens, full or mixed-blood, traditional or contemporary, reservation or urban, and in many other smaller but, just as confusing ways.

Identity is the central theme of Flight. Alexie's main character, Zits, is presented as a half Indian, ha...moreIdentity is a crucial issue for indigenous people and communities within the confines of the United States. Identity rears its head in many facets of Indian life. Individuals and communities struggle with how to identify themselves as US or Tribal citizens, full or mixed-blood, traditional or contemporary, reservation or urban, and in many other smaller but, just as confusing ways.

Identity is the central theme of Flight. Alexie's main character, Zits, is presented as a half Indian, half white-Irish, fifteen year old orphan whose mother died when he was young and whose father abandoned him.

Yes, I am Irish and Indian, which would be the coolest blend in the world if my parents were around to teach me how to be Irish and Indian. But they're not here and haven't been for years, so I'm not really Irish or Indian. I'm a blank sky, a human solar eclipse. (p5)

Zits struggles with his identity in part because while he self-identifies as Indian mostly based on how others perceive him due to his looks he is not a "legal" Indian because of his fathers' abandonment which creates a lack of specific tribal affiliation.

There's this law called the Indian Child Welfare Act that's supposed to protect half-breed orphans like me...But I'm not an official Indian. My Indian daddy gave me his looks, but he was never legally established as my father. (p8-9)*

Alexie creates a character who is a troubled and confused fifteen year old who has been abandoned, orphaned, and shuffled through the social welfare system. When the story opens, Zits is a runaway from his most recent foster home and is about to commit a mass shooting in a bank.

Just as Zits is about to fire into the crowded bank he is transported through space and time into different bodies where he explores the themes of identity, betrayal, abandonment, and love. Through these experiences Zits learns that he has a place in this world and that not everything in his life is what it seemed. It's a story of redemption that takes him to the Battle of the Little Big Horn, into the body of a 1970s FBI agent during the struggles of the Red Power Movement, a pilot, and the very father who abandoned him.

I am looking at Crazy Horse, the magical one. Bullets couldn't hit him. He could never be photographed. He was a holy ghost, the Sioux Jesus...

I am standing right next to him. And his eyes are gold-colored.

I think the greatest warrior in Sioux history is a half-breed mystery. I think this legendary killer of white men is half white, like me. (p68)

Alexie gives the reader a powerful and raw story of Zits as he comes to understand himself, his circumstances, and his place in this world. My only issue with the book is the section where Zits transports into the body of a pilot who has trained a terrorist to fly planes and betrayed two-women in his life. This section, while touching on the one of the overarching themes of the book, betrayal, differs from the other "transport" sections in that it doesn't deal with Indians at all. Because of that, it just seemed out of place to me.

On a personal note, Flight is the only book that has ever made me cry...a personal testament to the quality and power of Alexie's story.(less)

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Apr 05, 2011

Jessica Farrell added it

Flight by Sherman Alexie. Published by Black Cat 2007.

Flight or Fight

Heavily influenced by Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Sherman Alexie takes time travel to the next level in Flight, a self-discovery novel. His main character Zits is a young Native American orphan who is in search for his true identity and doesn’t even know it yet. He never knew his drunken father and...moreFlight by Sherman Alexie. Published by Black Cat 2007.

Flight or Fight

Heavily influenced by Kurt Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five, Sherman Alexie takes time travel to the next level in Flight, a self-discovery novel. His main character Zits is a young Native American orphan who is in search for his true identity and doesn’t even know it yet. He never knew his drunken father and his mother died when he was young so he was forced into many foster homes under the impression that he would be loved and supported. Instead of acting responsible with his foster families, he takes out his aggression (from not having a real family, being a minority, not being understood, and being uncomfortable with his complexion) on the city.
“So I shoplift candy and food and magazines and cigarettes…The police always catch me and put me in juvenile jail. I get into arguments and fistfights with everybody. I get so angry that I go blind and deaf and mute. I like to start fires. And I’m ashamed that I’m a fire starter. I’m ashamed of everything, and I’m ashamed of being ashamed” (8).
As a way to find himself Zits befriends a young boy in jail and discovers that he is angry for being Native American, angry for being an orphan, and angry at everyone for not understanding him which slowly builds up to his committing an heinous act of violence. But before he can finish his crime he is suddenly thrown into the body of an FBI agent during the Civil Rights Era and witnesses the bloody history of 1970’s Idaho. From there, Zits jumps back and forth through American history as he searches for his true identity in the bodies of an American soldier during the Little Bighorn battle, the body of a young Native American during the 19th century, and the body of a pilot in his own contemporary time. Each perspective allows Zits to question his own decisions and why people are the way they are today.
The first person point of view allows for an easy read since it is in the perspective of a teenage boy. Along with that comes a mouthful of derogatory words and sentence fragments that complement the character’s personality. As Zits continues to travel through time in the novel, he becomes a more responsible person which changes the structure from fragmented to lengthy. The structure works well for the transforming identity of the main character and also provides insight to how Zits feels in each body. The development of Zits as a violent person happens rather quickly which seemed unbelievable for how smart of a child he was but it worked with how quickly he starts to travel through time. Even though the novel is rushed it still portrayed a confused and angry child discovering himself very well. Flight is a self-discovery novel with dark undertones about Native American treatment in American history. It is a book that is well worth taking a couple afternoons to read.
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Apr 03, 2011

Katie Parker rated it

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

We watched the movie “Smoke Signals” in my Washington State History class back in ninth grade, and that was my first exposure to the work of Sherman Alexie. Everyone was quoting it for weeks afterward, and this part in particular:

“Hey Victor! I remember the time your father took me to Denny’s, and I had the Grand Slam Breakfast. Two eggs, two pancakes, a glass of milk, and of course my favorite, the bacon. Some days, it’s a good day to die. And some days, it’s a good day to have breakf...moreWe watched the movie “Smoke Signals” in my Washington State History class back in ninth grade, and that was my first exposure to the work of Sherman Alexie. Everyone was quoting it for weeks afterward, and this part in particular:

“Hey Victor! I remember the time your father took me to Denny’s, and I had the Grand Slam Breakfast. Two eggs, two pancakes, a glass of milk, and of course my favorite, the bacon. Some days, it’s a good day to die. And some days, it’s a good day to have breakfast.”

I had been eyeing his book Flight for a while, but it isn’t available for the Kindle yet, so I wasn’t sure when I would get to it. It’s hard to go from reading on an e-reader device to a book with actual pages, which is why I hadn’t tried in nearly two years. But I bought a paperback copy of it at Barnes & Noble a few weeks ago, and when I was having trouble picking a Kindle book to read, I thought, “Screw it,” and grabbed it off my bookshelf. What a wise decision.

Flight is about an angry and violent fifteen-year-old called Zits, a half Native American and half Irish boy living in Seattle. His drunk Indian father left the moment he was born and his mother died when he was six, and since then he’s been shuffled between foster homes and getting into trouble for a long string of crimes. One day in jail Zits meets a seventeen-year-old boy named Justice, who later teaches him about guns and convinces him that doing a Ghost Dance might bring back his mother. But in this case, a Ghost Dance is going to a bank and killing innocent people. Just as he enacts this plan, Zits is transported into the body of an FBI agent in the 1970s, thus beginning a journey through time and space. At one point he finds himself in the body of a young Indian boy in the 19th century, and at another time he is an old, feeble Indian tracker. Sometimes he is a by-stander in these different settings, and at others he is a full participant, but along the way he learns about humanity and the stakes of revenge.

This is a really short book (181 pages, with huge type) but an awesome one nonetheless. Alexie’s writing is both humorous and honest, and I thought Zits came across similar to Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye. There is a lot of coarse language, due to the narrator being a troubled fifteen-year-old boy, but it doesn’t feel out of place. I highly recommend the book to anyone looking for a quick but substantial read.(less)

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Mar 03, 2011

Colleen rated it

Shelves: america

Alexie is not profound in the way that other writers are. His sentences aren't long and overly complex, or even pure prose really--they are simple and good.

Flight was a quick read that I finished within three days, mostly reading only on the bus, but that doesn't mean that it didn't pack a punch. It was being 15 again, evaluating self-worth, and being overwhelmed by the enormity of inequality in this country, particularly in our history. What made it that much more hard-hitting wa...more

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Feb 23, 2011

Hazel rated it

Shelves: 2011

This book falls into the trap of thinking that because its audience is primarily young adults, the narrative style should be simple and vapid. Aside from underestimating the reading comprehension skills of young adults, the narrative voice is simply annoying. Utilizing pop culture references and swearing, the hero ("Zits," yet another thing that all teenagers can relate to, obviously) attempts to win us over with his street-savvy attitude and tear-jerking past, ultimately leaving the r...more

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Feb 16, 2011

Kaylee Hix rated it

Time Hopping With Zits

New York: Black Cat, 2007.

Sherman Alexie’s book Flight has got to be the most interesting book I have read in a while. Zits, a half Indian orphan who is in and out of jail and foster homes, goes on an adventure through times and identities. Zits starts out a self loathing, angry teenager who hates the world. Until one encounter with the law brings him to someone he believes to be a friend. They plot for Zits to do an angry, violent crime but as soon as h...moreTime Hopping With Zits

New York: Black Cat, 2007.

Sherman Alexie’s book Flight has got to be the most interesting book I have read in a while. Zits, a half Indian orphan who is in and out of jail and foster homes, goes on an adventure through times and identities. Zits starts out a self loathing, angry teenager who hates the world. Until one encounter with the law brings him to someone he believes to be a friend. They plot for Zits to do an angry, violent crime but as soon as he does he awakens in the body of someone else, then another person and another person. During his journey through time, he experiences the lives of many other people in different circumstances. Through their lives he learns things about himself and comes to terms with his past.

I love this book. It is both tragic and hopeful. Zits is a very believable angry kid. The drunk-Indian stereotype is brought up and even supported; it is a thing Alexie is known for. But it fits the character because he believes it, and knows no other Indians to get a sense of what it is like to be Indian. The only other one he knew was his father, who abandons him and his mother. Others find it racist, I find it working in the context of the story and also a harsh picture of what for many Indians is a reality. I am sure not all Indians but it is still a major issue.
The time/identity skips are jarring at first, but once you have jumped in the head of the third person down the line, you get use to him waking up as someone else. Just like with Zits, it get easier as time goes by. You begin to expect the next jump and once he is back in his own head you almost forget where we left him.

What I liked the most is the dark humor. I mean, throughout the novel Zits is funny. At one point he is in a man named Gus, and someone calls for the man. He thinks Gus is a stupid name. His next thought is, “…who am I to judge? I’m a time traveling mass-murderer and my name is Zits.” The sardonic wit brings a whole different level to Zits. It makes all the hardship and tragedy Zits must witness a little more bearable. He cannot change the events he witnesses, he can influence their immediate actions but what happens, happens. That sense of helplessness and inevitability would be suffocating without the instances of humor.

This book is not about someone saving the world. There is no epic quest. It is about everyday people. That is what really drew me in. It is a normal kid, who is put in these extraordinary circumstances and comes out on the other side with hope for the future. I recommend this book for anyone who feels unable to connect in a world where everyone feels like a stranger. The overall theme to me is that we are not alone.
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