Usually, I do not enjoy reading war novels as the history they are writing about is being dipicted incorrectly or a far stretch from the actual truth. We as Canadians are often forgot about in the histories of war, even when our country has sacrificed so much. Joseph Boyden has done a fantastic job describing the Canadians role in World War l, as well as the settings and just how brutal the trenches actually were. In the book the author leaves nothing out about the brutalities of the trenches from mustard gas to literally rotting alive waiting for the enemy. Trenches were flooded, muddy, and unsanitary which meant that if the Germans did not get you the trenches would. Joseph Boyden also does a great job telling the reader how war changes Xavier and Elijah in the book. Even early in the book the characters begin to change, Thompson asks Elijah if he likes to kill, he responds "It's in my blood". Just from this quote I began to realize how what Elijah has expirenced in the war has already changed him. Soldiers are normal people like you and me, so it is nice that an author changes his characters based on the atrocities of war.
I enjoy how the author described the brutal tactics of World War l and how it changed the characters, as well as how he acuratly depicted Canada's history in the war. It a refreshing change from normal war books.
The best parts and most interesting parts of this book, as I see it, are the war scenes. I agree wholeheartedly that Joseph Boyden's description of the trench warfare in World War I was very real and didn't beat around the bush. I also feel that the author has done a good job of showing more than just the physical effects of the war but showing some of the psychological effects as well. Xavier, Elijah and all of the other soldiers were all greatly impacted and you can see their change in attitude throughout the book. I really think that the author did a good job of describing the things that took place during the war.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with you Carter, the author did do an excellent job of talking about the war. To be honest I didn't know to much about world war 1 until reading this book. The descriptions about the trenches and weapons helps a person paint a clear picture in their mind about how the war was. Its also great to see how it relates to the characters, just like men in the war would have felt. It shows the sad times and the glorious times, but all in all it is a very realistic story with its history on point!
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