sherman alexie the lone ranger and tonto

This is the main crux of my disappointment with this text. Perhaps this was intentional, a meta-commentary on the monotony, the depravity and sadness, that each of these people lived with every day, but that does not redeem the text from simply being unapologetically confusing and boring. I simply cannot fathom what the perspectives of these other people were intended to contribute, nor could I ever discern their unique voices, nor what time period they were narrating from. Every single character we meet, and all of their pasts that are explored, could have been introduced and explored just as well from the perspective of Victor. Victor lives in the same reservation as everybody else, and is granted very lenient, near-omnipotent perspective in his narration. The other perspectives within this short story anthology add nothing absolutely nothing.

If only we could have stayed with Victor. The writing here is at its strongest, with some really beautiful imagery interwoven with the pervasive melancholy which oozes from every word. Reading successive paragraphs which alternate between past and present, recollection and action, was an immersive and enjoyable way to take a scene where, essentially, nothing was happening (kids eat plants, kids get high), and turn it into an evocative and introspective exploration of love, friendship, and vice. Victor is an interesting character, and the writing is dripping in melancholy, resembling a ‘stream-of-consciousness’ style in its rapidity and loose punctuation, but falling just short of it (which isn't a negative, as I don't believe the text was ever aiming for such a style). Nothing of value would have been lost, and I think that speaks for the impact of those discarded pages. This text would have had much more impact if it had been reined in, and mercilessly cut down to be one-hundred pages shorter. Similar to McCarthy’s The Road, it's difficult to review this collection of short stories in the way one would review a traditional anthology, particularly due to the construction and presentation of these short stories.

Sherman alexie the lone ranger and tonto