*Review* The absolutely true diary of a part-time indian- Sherman Alexie

Heute mal ein etwas anderer Beitrag. In der Schule hatten wir die Hausaufgabe auf, eine Rezension zu unserer Lektüre zu schreiben:) Deshalb dachte ich, dass es ein perfekter Beitrag wäre, ausnahmsweise auf Englisch! Viel Spaß!

The book ”The absolutely true diary of a part-time indian“ is about Arnold Spirit, also known as Junior, making his way through life. Junior isn´t a ”normal“ kid, because he was born with water in his head and still suffers from the consequences. He lives on a reservation, because he´s an idian and he also goes tot he high-school there. But when he smashes his geometry book in the teachers face, he thinks about changing his life. Junior decides to go to Reardan, a Highschool outside the rez, where he gets the attention he deserves. At Reardan he doesnt´t feel comfortable at first, but the more he gets in contact with the white kids, the more he learns accepting himself and his life. The book is about the ups and downs in life as well as about loosing but also finding hope.

The protagonist is Junior who the follows trough a year of his life. He´s a very strong character. His experiences are unique and make him special. He changes through the story from a victim and looser (he thinks that about himself) to respected and a self-confident person. Rowdy, Juniors best friend, also has an important role in the novella, because he and Junior have been friends since they were born. The friendship with Rowdy ist he only friendship Junior has at the beginning and without Rowdy he feels incomplete. Rowdy is a polarizing character, because his alcohilic father beats him and fort hat reason he beats up other kids, exept Junior. He wants to make others feel his own pain. Another important character ist Penelope, Junior´s girlfriend. On the outside, she´s a beautiful, intelligent and talanted girl, but at the inside she´s insecure and vulnerable tot he pressure coming from her dad. So she throws up sometimes, but doesn´t tell anyone.

I can partly identify myself with each oft he characters named, because they all show problems most of us have. I also had Junoir´s experiences, people told me that I was dumb and I wouldn´t be any. Some of my classmates were really unfair and impolite to me most time when I was younger. But I also felt like Penelope, not because someone in my family put pressure on me, but I often put too much pressure on myself. I´m often confident and don´t feel proud despite the good grades I have, how I look and other things, but I don´t show it to anyone. Also I sometimes feel like Rowdy, when someone is unfair or something didin´t work like I wanted it to I want to make others feel like I feel, but I don´t beat  them up. I think this novella can be projected to everyone of us and that´s why I like it so much.

First I wans´t sure i fit would be a good read, but at first sight I found it very funny, because I saw the cartoons. I was excited about how the „diary“ would tell the story and I was surprised that it went that well. I really liked Junior as a main chracter and read the book in like…4 hours (I´m a quick reader). So I just can highly recommend this book to everyone of you!

I give 4,5 of 5 stars to “The absolutely true diary of a part-time indian“!

So ich hoffe ich konnte euch ein bisschen von dem Buch überzeugen und man liest sich dann nächsten Sonntag:)