Implicit memory Book

Wow, I love those little gems that you read "just 'cause" and turn out to be amazing.

Now, I'll say up front, I very rarely read paper books. Since my introduction to e-reading, that's all I want. Why? Because I can take a break from my book and Crush some Candy or snipe at a digital wildebeest or do a Sudoku, and then go right back to my book, ALL ON THE SAME MIRACULOUS GADGET! What a sci-fi world we live in, right? (Plus, if i'm eating chicken wings for lunch while reading, i can just tap the screen with the tip of my nose, and the 'page' turns. No grease-stains for this reader!)

So, that being said, the only time I ever read actual old-school paper-type books is when I go camping, which is once a year. This year, I was searching through my house for a paper book. I was getting discouraged, as I couldn't find any unread ones, and was about to resign myself to reading Galápagos for the seventeenth time, when I stumbled upon this book under a pile of random junk. I was very happy to find it, and promptly slapped it in a freezer bag and whisked it off to a canoe.

Now, I don't know if this is true or not, but I'd heard somewhere that this author does not allow his work to be converted to e-books. Before I read this book, I was kind of thinking that was a douche-y move, but I get it now. After you read it, you will too.

On to the book. That's what y'all came for, right? Well, this book was extremely enjoyable to read. The author's skill at his craft made what would seem like detriments from someone else into loveliness. Examples, you ask for? Ok, then: Firstly, the omniscient narrator jumps into multiple peoples heads within POV chapters, sometimes within the very same paragraphs. I usually hate that, and get all befuddled, but Mr. Alexie does it so gracefully and fluidly. Second-of-ly, short sentence fragments. Like this. Sometimes good. Not all the time. But sometimes. Usually bad. (Ok, I'll stop.) But, again, with this author it flows so beautifully.

There are no easy answers in this book. In fact, sometimes there are no answers at all. Answers aren't what matter. At the heart of the novel, there are two things that matter, one broad and one specific. The broad theme is Indians, the First Americans, and our treatment of them (then and now). The specific theme is a young man's slow, gentle decline into madness. Both themes are examined from every angle possible, and are at turns both disturbing and beautiful.