(no subject)
So, I recently finished reading Joseph Boyden's Three Day Road. And I talked a little bit about it elsewhere, but I'm still feeling flaily, so I guess I'm not done with that yet.
I've been meaning to look up stuff about First Nations people in the Canadian forces during WWI and WWII ever since it was first discussed in a Canadian literature class that I was taking, but never got around to it. So it was pretty awesome to come across this novel, which deals with exactly that subject - two Cree guys going off to fight in WWI and how their friendship changes over time.
I'd already read Boyden's novel Through Black Spruce, and didn't like it (though I can't remember why - I think maybe I found it depressing?), but it turns out that it's a sequel to Three Day Road, which I didn't know at the time. And now I'm tempted to look into re-reading it. Though I think I don't have my copy any more, and if so, it's unlikely I'll get around to that.
Usually, I find WWI literature depressing. But this one, even though it didn't hold back anything about the horrors of trench warfare, it didn't bring me down. It's possible that it's partly just the mood that I'm in, but it's also possible that it's just that good. I think it's also that it doesn't just cover what's going on in Europe; half of the novel is from the point of view of Niska, the aunt of Xavier, one of the soldiers. Those sections takes place after the war when she meets with him again when he returns to Canada, and tells him stories of her life in order to comfort him. So the switching between points of view and time periods helps keep things balanced, I think. There isn't too much... misery. (Though many of Niska's stories aren't happy, either. But it's a different kind of thing than what Xavier was dealing with over there.)
Anyway. Yes. It's good, I'm definitely going to re-read it at some point. I'd say that right now it's pretty high on my list of Canadian literature, honestly. If you're interested in First Nations characters, friendship narratives, family themes, and/or novels about Canadian military history, go read it.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3333738.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.
I've been meaning to look up stuff about First Nations people in the Canadian forces during WWI and WWII ever since it was first discussed in a Canadian literature class that I was taking, but never got around to it. So it was pretty awesome to come across this novel, which deals with exactly that subject - two Cree guys going off to fight in WWI and how their friendship changes over time.
I'd already read Boyden's novel Through Black Spruce, and didn't like it (though I can't remember why - I think maybe I found it depressing?), but it turns out that it's a sequel to Three Day Road, which I didn't know at the time. And now I'm tempted to look into re-reading it. Though I think I don't have my copy any more, and if so, it's unlikely I'll get around to that.
Usually, I find WWI literature depressing. But this one, even though it didn't hold back anything about the horrors of trench warfare, it didn't bring me down. It's possible that it's partly just the mood that I'm in, but it's also possible that it's just that good. I think it's also that it doesn't just cover what's going on in Europe; half of the novel is from the point of view of Niska, the aunt of Xavier, one of the soldiers. Those sections takes place after the war when she meets with him again when he returns to Canada, and tells him stories of her life in order to comfort him. So the switching between points of view and time periods helps keep things balanced, I think. There isn't too much... misery. (Though many of Niska's stories aren't happy, either. But it's a different kind of thing than what Xavier was dealing with over there.)
Anyway. Yes. It's good, I'm definitely going to re-read it at some point. I'd say that right now it's pretty high on my list of Canadian literature, honestly. If you're interested in First Nations characters, friendship narratives, family themes, and/or novels about Canadian military history, go read it.
This entry was originally posted at http://yuuago.dreamwidth.org/3333738.html. You can comment here or at the original entry.