Last week, I finished:
You know there's nothing I like better than a good memoir, and I'm always on the lookout for one I haven't read. I especially like memoirs that deal with other cultures and have a strong element of finding one's identity. I thought Sherman Alexie's memoir, You Don't Have to Say You Love Me, would check all of my boxes. And in many ways it did. Alexie talks about growing up on an "Indian rez." Both are his words, not mine; I would be more apt to say an "American Indian reservation," as I was educated long ago it was not acceptable to refer to American Indians as simply Indians. Perhaps that has changed? At any rate, this is a book written about Alexie's difficult relationship with his mother, and to a lesser degree, with the rez itself. He had a tough childhood, full of violence, racism, and dishonesty. One can tell he has had a hard time developing his identity as an American Indian man, being the product of an alcoholic father who could not hold a job and a mean-spirited, lying mother whom he felt didn't always love him. The chapters are short, and there are dozens of poems throughout, which further the narrative. I loved reading those poems in context of the more traditional narrative. They were powerful. Several things, however, bothered me about this book. One was the amount of repetition in the book. At over 400 pages, this is a little on the long side for a memoir, and had you removed the repetitious parts, it would have been much shorter. He seems to defend, or at least acknowledge, his continuously repeating himself, and perhaps there is a cultural or personal significance for doing so. The story of our lives, after all, is often a repetition of our personal stories. Another memoir, or perhaps another memoir writer, could not have gotten away with the constant reprises, but Alexie is a very skilled writer and storyteller. The repetition was mildly annoying to me, and was more so when it came to simple facts being repeated over and over. My main issue with the book is how it deals with the racism of whites toward Indians as horrific, but the return racism of Indians toward whites as more acceptable, perhaps because the white folks "started it." If racism is bad, it's always bad, no matter what, no matter who. Alexie does not seem to like nor trust white persons, and that makes it hard for me to trust him or his narrative. Overall, the book made me think about how difficult it must be to go through life so attached to your identity that it comes first in every though, action, and interaction. To not be able to be simply "a man" or "a woman" but to always be "a white man" or "and Indian woman." How exhausting and soul-crushing it must be to need to define and defend at every turn. I was stuck at the end of the book how my perception of American Indians and their lifestyles changed. I'd always envisioned reservations as being dignified and well-governed places where the outside (white) world could not hold sway. I'd always assumed the "drunk Indian" stereotypes were, indeed, stereotypes. Alexie's book disavowed me of my estimations of reservations. Of course, I don't know how many reservations are like his and how many are more lawful and practical. I enjoyed this book, though parts were rough to read. I'd recommend it for anyone interested in American Indians and frank stories of cultural identity. My rating: 4 stars.
So, Tom Hanks is a writer now. I have to admit to being a bit skeptical, but often when a person is gifted in one area, he can be just as gifted in another. I was willing to put my cynicism aside and give Hanks' Uncommon Type: Some Stories a try. And I'm glad I did. I opted for the audio version, which is narrated by the actor-cum-author. It was a good choice. First off, I need to tell you, I am not, nor have ever been, a fan of the short story. I think there's more distance between the short story and the novel than between the novel and the graphic novel. We like to think short stories are "little books," but I just can't bring myself to feel that's true. Short stories are their own thing. I hate how disjointed a short story collection can be. It's like watching half of a movie about climbing Mount Everest, then moving quickly to watching half of a movie about shark attacks, and then moving on to watching half of a movie filmed on the Serengeti. It hurts my brain. But this short story collection had a much more cohesive approach. Several of the characters show up in other stories, and although I'd normally itch over so many styles, it worked here. There was room to rest your brain before moving on to the next adventure. What sold me on trying the book was reading several reviews that the stories were heartwarming. While I don't particularly like fluffy books, I am tired of heavy topics, too, so a nice humane, life affirming set of stories was right up my alley. And the book delivered. I was impressed by the writing, the characters, and the overall tone. You've probably heard others talk about the fact that all of the stories feature a typewriter, but I also noticed many references to space. Whether space appeared in every story, I'm unsure, but we do know Hanks is keen on space. Give this one a try, as I think it has wide appeal and offers a respite from the heaviness of the world. I'm eagerly awaiting more from Hanks. My rating: 4 stars.
This week, I'll finish:
This is re-read, and I adore it.
My evening reads:
Whew, that's a lot of books to read each night. I'm nearing the end of two of them, which will leave a much more manageable number. I just love starting books so much.
I'm enjoying all of these. Three are re-reads, and it's nice to be back in those books again.
My current audiobook:
I'm almost done with this one. Then, I'll move on to this:
