Flight: An entertaining novel that has a big appeal to teens.

books:


	• Flight: A Novel Sherman Alexie Grove Press, Black Cat, 2007 - 208 pages average customer review:based on 50 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Short and succinct, in a good way

Before I begin my actual review, I would like to agree with previous reviewers stating the novel is very short. It is indeed a quick read - I finished in about 4 hours - but this is not necessarily a bad quality. I would much rather read a short book, which I enjoy immensely page to page, than read a long book with only specific scenes that I enjoy (for example, LOTR or The Catcher in the Rye). This obviously depends on the reader, but I think the ability to write a piece of literature that captures my attention from the beginning to the end should be judged on that quality, not how long it is.

That being said, Flight is a good name for this novel - the action and superb styling made me want to fly through the story and find out what happens at the end from the very beginning. Although not exactly multi-dimensional, Zits is a convincing reproduction of a mistreated adolescent, with an interesting past and about a 90% correct teenage attitude (I'm 16, so I think I'm allowed to judge this).

The plot twists are interesting, if a bit confusing at first. I found myself letting go of over-thinking in favor of simply enjoying what was happening after his first trip to another's body.

The only lull in the story I would say was the trip to the pilot's body, but that's quickly fixed in his next trip. I also didn't really like how the ending was completely and utterly happy. After such a negative atmosphere from the rest of the novel, the juxtaposition was slightly awkward. Along with that, as said by an English classmate of mine during a discussion we had after reading the novel, the message was a bit too strong and the symbolism a bit too weak - the allusion to the smell of "beer and onions" throughout the novel, for example, was, I thought, a deeper allusion to something evil... but even that is answered by the end.

This is still an engaging read, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to fellow teenagers - for adults, I really have no clue, although my English teacher Mr. Johnston seemed to like it!

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Another winner by Alexie

I love Sherman Alexie. He is an accomplished writer, poet, stand-up comedian, screenwriter, director, and editor. I love his poetry. I love his unique style. He can make you laugh and cry at the same time. This quirky book is a fast entertaining and interesting read. The young man in the story is about to commit an extreme act of violence when he finds himself yanked into time and into the body of an FBI agent during the civil rights era. He continues to travel through time inhabiting several different bodies. When he finally comes back to his own body he has learned a lot along the way, and so have we--vicariously, through him. He is transformed by what he's seen and we are transformed in the reading of this book. This is Sherman's shamanistic magic and he puts it to good effect in this book.

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Flight: An entertaining novel that has a big appeal to teens.

The story of flight tracks a 15 year-old known only as Zits. He is an American Indian living in Seattle with a foster family. His real mother is dead and his father abandoned his mother. Zits' first appearance in the novel is one that will not be forgotten. He curses at his foster father and is sent to jail. Eventually he is let out by a kid named Justice, who tries to fill Zits' head with ideas of a violent revolution.

Then Zits starts traveling back and forth through time in different peoples' bodies. For example, he wakes up in the body of an Indian boy at the Battle of Little Bighorn and witnesses what occurred there. In all of these events there are moral issues and Zits must choose what is right in each situation. The dialogues feel like they were said by a teenager and are very exciting. Overall, the story is entertaining and raises some provoking questions about society.

Words of caution: the is some severe language as well as some descriptions of intense images so it should not be read by anyone of an age lower than 13.

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Easy, interesting read

Flight by Sherman Alexie is a very nice escape from the usual high school literature taught in classes. IT reads much easier and quicker than many other books, due t6 its target audience of teens, which could be interpreted by some as being boring. I do not think this, with Alexie's story of Zits, an "orphaned" half-Indian teenager in Washington state who gets shipped from jail to jail and foster home to foster home.

After one escape from jail, Zits meets a white boy named "justice" who convinces him to rob a bank. While in the process, Zits has an epiphany and gets transported into multiple circumstances ranging from a remorseful flight instructor, to an FBI agent, to an Indian at Little Bighorn, to a homeless man near his home town.

Alexie's writing style is one that reads very easily compared to much clasic literature, and the story is compelling, so to keep the reader reading. It is however on the short side of books, and a relatively quick read, so one may be better off checking it out from a library rather than investing in their own personal copy. One other criticism of the book is that there are many literary cliches placed throughout the book, which some readers may find annoying and repulsive. Overall, it was a good book and was worth reading, and I hope Alexie Continues to write books of this genre.

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Yes, I bought it for the cover and it was well worth it

Ya know, it was one of those things. I've collected non-fiction Native American books for for close to two decades. They remain largely ignored. I spied Flight on the shelf for $13.00!, not knowing if Sherman was a woman or a man, Indian, European or what he or she was about to teach me. The concept was brilliant, the humor made me laugh out loud and I came out of it humbled and grateful. Very short, sweet and to the point; this novella taught me something about what it might be like to be fatherless, a Northwest Native American shunned and stunned by what the America of the Starbucks's generation has become. Alexie has a great sense of humour and I suppose, if he didn't he might be one dead or bitter alcoholic.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10

The best-selling author of multiple award-winning books returns with his first novel in ten years, a powerful, fast and timely story of a troubled foster teenager ? a boy who is not a ?legal? Indian because he was never claimed by his father ? who learns the true meaning of terror. About to commit a devastating act, the young man finds himself shot back through time on a shocking sojourn through moments of violence in American history. He resurfaces in the form of an FBI agent during the civil rights era, inhabits the body of an Indian child during the battle at Little Big Horn, and then rides with an Indian tracker in the 19th Century before materializing as an airline pilot jetting through the skies today. When finally, blessedly, our young warrior comes to rest again in his own contemporary body, he is mightily transformed by all he?s seen. This is Sherman Alexie at his most brilliant ? making us laugh while breaking our hearts. Simultaneously wrenching and deeply humorous, wholly contemporary yet steeped in American history, Flight is irrepressible, fearless, and again, groundbreaking Alexie.

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