Humor & the Teenage 'Tude
So, I recently read The Absolutely True Diary of a Part Time Indian by Sherman Alexie. First off, despite the total eleven-year-old boy factor present in the cover, I'd one-hundred percent recommend that everyone, including women over the age of thirty go ahead and check it out. Despite my initial interest, I did avoid purchasing it the first time I saw it in the book store, but the second time I went, the National Book Award won me over, and I scooped it. Genius decision, that.
Second, if I were to compare this book to any other media, I would compare it to Juno, the movie starring Ellen Page and screenplay by Diablo Cody. Both Juno and Junior, the protagonist in True Diary, have what I like best about protagonists in teenage comedies: they are confused, angsty, good-hearted, and yet grounded with a healthy dose of teenage attitude. What is more impressive is how difficult it is to achieve the forementioned balance with teenage fiction. Often the "tude" descends to a state of total petulance. The reader finds himself incapable of relating to a character that is obviously lost to their own insecurities, but what makes both Juno and Junior so relatable is the total realness of their life's hurdles. Just as Juno finds herself knocked up, Junior finds himself being "the traitor" for attending the white school instead of the tribal school, and must pay the consequences for his decisions.
Oh, and did I mention there are cartoons? Simple at first, further examination would bring unexpected tears or bursts of guffaws when you least expected it.
Anyway, I wanted to compare these two jolly works, because even if they are told by two different people from such completely different backgrounds, they both achieve this amazing grace through this basely jerkish humor.
It's frickin' awesome.
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