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4.2 AVERAGE
4.2 AVERAGE
that was pretty spell-binding. When i read literature (not often) i like to try to guess the ending. I don't do this with fantasy because ANYTHING could happen but with literature, the author is basically bound to reality or the fantasy is a metaphor for reality so the options are fewer when guessing what a character's end will be.
I tried and failed with this book and i think that that was Boyden's attempt. The reader's are led to think a thing and then they are pleasantly surprised (maybe, depends really).
Dat Niska though! gurl. damn. Good on you, don't take that shit from no man. She is a character I won't soon forget.
I tried and failed with this book and i think that that was Boyden's attempt. The reader's are led to think a thing and then they are pleasantly surprised (maybe, depends really).
Dat Niska though! gurl. damn. Good on you, don't take that shit from no man. She is a character I won't soon forget.
The writing is above average, and the writer does a good job of describing the life of two Canadian Cree men and their different reactions to being thrust into WW1 battlefields. There's an unrelenting bleakness to the story that the promise of healing softens only a little
A novel that begins at the end, and ends with a beginning. Three Day Road is a stunning debut from one of Canada’s foremost writers, Joseph Boyden. When Xavier Bird returns from WWI addicted to morphine and wounded, his aunt Niska embarks with him on a three-day journey towards their home in the Northern Ontario bush. As Niska paddles along towards their home, the reader slides seamlessly between Xavier’s remembrances of his time at war and Niska’s account of Xavier as a boy. Central to the novel is the uncertain fate of Xavier’s childhood friend and fellow soldier, Elijah Whiskeyjack. As Xavier and Niska make their way closer to their home, so too does a stunning revelation about Elijah and Xavier’s acts creep closer.
From its opening chapter, Three Day Road sets itself up as a book that would put me through the wringer. The novel’s descriptive passages are evocative and powerful. As Elijah and Xavier traipse through the mud, muck, and murder of various WWI killing-fields, I could vividly imagine their struggles and the horrific scope of the world in which they were forced to survive. This is sharply contrasted with the expressive and majestic way in which Boyden paints the wild of Northern Ontario. As alluded to earlier, scenes in which Xavier shoots morphine in the canoe allow for him to slip seamlessly back to the past. The experience was much the same for me as there are never any hiccups as the novel shifts between alternate stories.
The book also resonates with authenticity: the aboriginal themes, thoughts, and practices ring true and never feel forced. Indeed, the three Cree leads are strong, fully developed and interesting characters whose cultural experiences deeply influence their world-view. Elijah and Xavier both fall victim to the torrid world of residential schools, and are enticed up by the promise of glory and adventure that the war will provide. As Niska details her own life, we also see how government has smothered her culture as she clings on to her way of life. Cree mythology also plays a central part in the structure of the novel and the Bird family legacy returns time and again to drive home a powerful theme.
There is so much contained in this novel that it is impossible to do it justice in a 500-word review. The story swept me away, and though it does read slowly, it never felt as if I was putting in work to finish. Xavier’s childhood innocence, his devolution in Europe, and his attempted rehabilitation by his aunt are all told in tandem to make for a staggeringly ambitious first novel. The writing is rich and illustrative, the story neatly tucked into place at its conclusion, and the characters are all compelling. Though a challenging read in content, writing, and emotion, Three Day Road is essential reading for those in Canada and beyond.
From its opening chapter, Three Day Road sets itself up as a book that would put me through the wringer. The novel’s descriptive passages are evocative and powerful. As Elijah and Xavier traipse through the mud, muck, and murder of various WWI killing-fields, I could vividly imagine their struggles and the horrific scope of the world in which they were forced to survive. This is sharply contrasted with the expressive and majestic way in which Boyden paints the wild of Northern Ontario. As alluded to earlier, scenes in which Xavier shoots morphine in the canoe allow for him to slip seamlessly back to the past. The experience was much the same for me as there are never any hiccups as the novel shifts between alternate stories.
The book also resonates with authenticity: the aboriginal themes, thoughts, and practices ring true and never feel forced. Indeed, the three Cree leads are strong, fully developed and interesting characters whose cultural experiences deeply influence their world-view. Elijah and Xavier both fall victim to the torrid world of residential schools, and are enticed up by the promise of glory and adventure that the war will provide. As Niska details her own life, we also see how government has smothered her culture as she clings on to her way of life. Cree mythology also plays a central part in the structure of the novel and the Bird family legacy returns time and again to drive home a powerful theme.
There is so much contained in this novel that it is impossible to do it justice in a 500-word review. The story swept me away, and though it does read slowly, it never felt as if I was putting in work to finish. Xavier’s childhood innocence, his devolution in Europe, and his attempted rehabilitation by his aunt are all told in tandem to make for a staggeringly ambitious first novel. The writing is rich and illustrative, the story neatly tucked into place at its conclusion, and the characters are all compelling. Though a challenging read in content, writing, and emotion, Three Day Road is essential reading for those in Canada and beyond.
I carried this tale with me long after turning the last page...
Powerful narrative about modern warfare from the perspective of Canada's Aboriginal soldiers. They volunteered selflessly for WWI, endured the hells of trench warfare, and returned to their homeland with very little recognition, much less the accolades they so richly deserved. Boyden's rich prose brings the struggles to life, and transports the reader to the scenes. This is not always a comfortable read, but you will be changed by the time you read the last page.
Just arrived from UK through BM.
The idea behind the book is great but the obsessive Xavier's compulsion by the use of morphine in almost every paragraph made me boring in some way, sorry guys.
The idea behind the book is great but the obsessive Xavier's compulsion by the use of morphine in almost every paragraph made me boring in some way, sorry guys.
Joseph Boyden does not disappoint once again. Even though this is his first book, I read his other novels first, starting with the Orenda which was also spectacular.
Three Day Road takes place during WWI and relates some of the atrocities of trench warfare as seen through the eyes of a Cree Canadian man, Xavier. It is very well done and we get a break from the war scenery when Xavier reflects on his childhood (also fraught with challenges) in Northern Ontario and when we hear his aunt's story, much of it related to Xavier during their voyage back home from the train station after the war.
I haven't read Boyden's book of short stories (Born with a Tooth) yet but I can highly recommend all of his other works of fiction!
Three Day Road takes place during WWI and relates some of the atrocities of trench warfare as seen through the eyes of a Cree Canadian man, Xavier. It is very well done and we get a break from the war scenery when Xavier reflects on his childhood (also fraught with challenges) in Northern Ontario and when we hear his aunt's story, much of it related to Xavier during their voyage back home from the train station after the war.
I haven't read Boyden's book of short stories (Born with a Tooth) yet but I can highly recommend all of his other works of fiction!
Three Day Road is a debut novel by Joseph Boyden who is part Native American. Though there has been recent controversy surrounding the truth of this claim. Regardless this book bridged the gap for me between the older view of Native American of the frontier period and more modern times. Told in a style which honors the view of Native American we follow both Xavier Bird who ends up fighting in the Great War and that of his aunt Niska in alternating chapters. Both stories are of surviving in a world that seeks either to marginalize your existence and/or conform you to its way.
My only issue was with the use of Cree words but no hint of how to pronounce. But the meaning was easily gathered from context.
An unforgettable experience both in terms of warfare during the Great War and that of Cree family.
My only issue was with the use of Cree words but no hint of how to pronounce. But the meaning was easily gathered from context.
An unforgettable experience both in terms of warfare during the Great War and that of Cree family.
Like many settler Canadians, I am on a remarkable journey this year to connect with a past that was hidden from me about the atrocities in our past towards First Nations people. I didn't know what I didn't know. Having read and enjoyed Boyden's Through Black Spruce a few years ago, I needed to explore more about the controversy around author Joseph Boyden and the appropriation accusations that have been made against him. I didn't expect that Boyden's book Three Day Road would feel as important to me as The Odyssey in terms of its place in Canadian literature. I was delighted to read Boyden's masterful and painful character revelation and the searing hot pain of alienation, war and betrayal. I think the argument goes that Boyden isn't native enough to be revealing the sacred secrets of ritual and belief. Perhaps my point of view doesn't matter, but I found this book to be accessible, to be inviting into a culture not my own, and above all, to be a really really good story.