Reservation Blues is the first novel I’ve read by Sherman Alexie. I’d heard so many good things about him – and I don’t think a single negative word – that I went into this book assuming I’d love it. I didn’t.
The story follows a series of reservation folks who want to start a band. There’s a lot of Magical Realism stuff going on, and a whole bunch of dream sequences (many of which I skimmed or skipped because I have zero patience for ten-page long dream sequences). There were plenty of parables shoved in there too, with obvious morals like “be careful what you wish for,” and “don’t be a drunk.”
I was fine with the story, though the pace was slow enough and the path was obvious enough that it didn’t really get me excited. The writing was fine. Not particularly tight but not overly flowery either. I guess that’s about how I’d sum up the book as a whole: Fine.
