From the Bookshelf of The Complete Idiots Guide to the Ultimate Reading List…

The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven

Sherman Alexie

Start date: March 1, 2010

Finish date: March 31, 2010

Discussion: Chapter 3: Literary Fiction

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Chapter 3: Literary Fiction

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* Books Worthy of Oprah -Chapter 3 book list
By MJ , Idiot's Top libriarian · 13 posts · 682 views

last updated Jun 09, 2009 09:30PM

The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini ** Book Club Selection: MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS **
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May 29, 2010 Lisa (Harmonybites) rated it it was ok

Shelves: contemporary, short-stories, literary-fiction, fiction, ultimate-reading-list

I feel a bit mixed about this book, which is a collection of connected short stories. It was on a list of recommended literary fiction. Picking it up, I realized that though I've read many a book by African Americans, several assigned in school, I couldn't recall ever reading a work of fiction by a Native American about Native Americans. I found myself jotting down the unfamiliar or recurring words and themes, wanting to learn more later: frybread, salmon, commodity cheese, alcoholism, diabetes, I feel a bit mixed about this book, which is a collection of connected short stories. It was on a list of recommended literary fiction. Picking it up, I realized that though I've read many a book by African Americans, several assigned in school, I couldn't recall ever reading a work of fiction by a Native American about Native Americans. I found myself jotting down the unfamiliar or recurring words and themes, wanting to learn more later: frybread, salmon, commodity cheese, alcoholism, diabetes, sweathouse, longhouse, HUD, fancydancing, owldancing, basketball, powwow, tipi, braids, ribbon shirt.

That glimpse into another world, the world of the Spokane Indian Reservation, is a lot of what kept me reading, but I wondered at times when Alexie was giving us a look behind the stereotypes or playing with them. Especially given the touches of magical realism, I found myself wishing at times this was straight memoir and not (as admitted in the introduction) autobiographically inspired fiction.

This is a very bleak book--so much of it dealt with drunkenness and alcoholism and the self-destructive behavior it engenders, sprinkled with historical grievance and the experience of present-day bigotry and a terrible poverty. The most upbeat tale in the book revolved around a terminally ill cancer patient: "The Approximate Size of My Favorite Tumor." Two of the other standouts for me were "Fun House," about a women who finally has had it with the behavior of her husband and son, and "Indian Education." Here's a quote from that story that stuck with me:

The farm town high school I play for is nicknamed the "Indians," and I'm probably the only actual Indian ever to play for a team with such a mascot. This morning I pick up the sports page and read the headline: INDIANS LOSE AGAIN. Go ahead and tell me none of this is supposed to hurt me very much.

I think that's a passage that captures a lot about the book. Clean, spare style, a cruelly self-directed gallows humor.

I find myself dithering about the rating here. Liked it? (Three stars) Really liked it? (Four stars) Amazing (Five stars)? I'm not sure any of those fit. I don't know if it's a book that I can say I enjoyed, or one where the individual stories impressed--I think often the titles were more impressive than the stories, which felt a bit thin and the repeated (and repetitive) notes of hopelessness ground me down. However, the book did make me think and once or twice broke my heart a little, and I think it'll stay with me. ...more

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