Book #76: War Dances

Book #76: War Dances by Sherman Alexie

February 17, 2014


Another snow day today. This day, President's Day, was originally going to be a day off for our students, but a workday for teachers. Then, it became a makeup day for a previous snow day. But right now, it's snowing pretty heavily outside; this is probably one of the bigger storms we've had this year. So now everybody has the day off. I wish I could say that I'm tired of snow days, but teachers can be just as bad as the kids when it comes to these. But of course, my entire day isn't going to be all about slacking. After this post, I'm planning to clean and finish up some homework for my class this evening (I don't have any reason to believe at this point that it will be canceled). Still, who doesn't love a suspension of the usual routine, and the lovely (though somewhat anticipated) surprise of a snow day? I know I do; I always find myself waking up early, involuntarily, on mornings when snow has been expected. I was up today at 4:45, dismayed when nothing had started happening yet. My alarm was set for 5:30; I woke up again just a few minutes before that, when I got the call that school had, indeed, been canceled. Guess that storm blew in quick, and it's still going!

Anyway, so of course I wanted to finish up a short book that I've been reading. I consider Sherman Alexie to be one of my favorite contemporary authors. When I saw this book sitting on a clearance table at an independent bookstore, I of course snapped it up without hesitation. I think this is the first collection by him that I've read that's been a mixture of short fiction and poetry. I'd only read a few of Alexie's poems prior to this; I think that I have an appreciation for poetry, but I'm not an enthusiast. I found myself wondering which of the poems in this book would be good to use with my students, ones that don't have sexual references or any "serious" curse words. When I attempt to instill an appreciation for poetry in my students, I have to show them the kind of poetry that I have a personal appreciation for; I think they'll connect more with Alexie than, say, Emily Dickinson. Still, I think that a good poem is very brief, and crams as much of an emotional punch into as possible. Or is heavy enough to leave you reeling. One poem that I loved in this collection was the very first piece, "The Limited," describing his helplessness at not being able to stop a fellow human being from going after an innocent dog with his car, and how he feels that his poetry probably doesn't have the power to change people, either. But I think poetry can. My favorite poet is Langston Hughes, and "A Dream Deferred," for me, is an example of a perfect poem, one that can change a reader.

The short stories dealt with some familiar themes that I've read in Alexie's work. Racial issues, obviously, were prominent in some of the works. In the first short story, "Breaking and Entering," a light-skinned Spokane man in Seattle kills a black teenager who breaks into his home. The death is an accident, but the light-skinned protagonist is called out by the teen's indignant mother for further perpetuating racial violence. He in turn is defensive, for he himself is part of the downtrodden minority, yet that doesn't alleviate the guilt that he feels for killing the kid...even though the young man had no business breaking into his home in the first place. It makes me think of the whole thing with Trayvon Martin's death, how most people felt that in the end, George Zimmerman was not justified in killing him; I think that George Wilson's killing of Elder Riggs was a bit more of a tricky situation, as Wilson was clearly acting in self-defense. Still, it raised the same kind of tension in the story as Martin's death and Zimmerman's acquittal had only fairly recently. Keeping in mind that this book was published in 2009, I almost would have thought that Alexie had based it a little on those real-life events.

Like in The Toughest Indian in the World, not all of Alexie's protagonists are Spokane, or even any sort of Native American. "The Senator's Son" is about a privileged white guy, but the theme of the relationship between the father and son, how complex and full of violence and love and heartbreak it was, is a common one in Alexie's works. The story also dealt with violence against gay people, and loyalty among friends (and political party lines). I know gay people who are Republicans, like Jeremy in the story, but I don't know if any of them would sacrifice their own, I don't know, sense of justice or need for closure by not coming forward about such a brutal attack.

My favorite story of the collection was "The Ballad of Paul Nonetheless," another probably-white protagonist. This guy is straight-up upper-middle-class Pacific Northwest all the way. He's a total hipster, a successful vintage clothing dealer who wears fancy, famous suits; a dandy. I bet he even has whimsical facial hair. You know, the whole "the spirit of the 1890's is alive in Portland" thing. Paul has these random run-ins with a gorgeous woman; he is most attracted to her trendy red Pumas (in 2014, Jordans are back in a big way). As he thinks of this woman, on and off, over the course of several months, his marriage has been falling apart and ending. He is no longer turned on by his wife, even though she's perfect. He reflects on how much he loves popular culture, pop music, and he seems like he's someone trying to unearth the newest old thing, like he'd be one to set up his own chicken coop just because his neighbors were doing it, too. I wonder if his lust for excitement, in this way, led to the end of his marriage, like he'd worn out his wife and gotten tired of her. I don't know.

Alexie's works are always entertaining and insightful. My favorite short story collection, and his first published, The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven, dealt more with life on a reservation, probably more a reflection of his earlier life. These stories, whether they're about Indians who are successful (more or less) off the rez, or other men in the modern world dealing with their modern problems, seem to be more of a reflection of his current life, as a husband and father. I want to read more works by Alexie. I want to get one or two of his collections of poetry (I simply love the title I Would Steal Horses, and will purchase that book in the near future for that reason alone), and I want to read another one of his novels. With each work of his that I read, I become more and more convinced that he's one of the most important authors of our time.