My Final Thoughts

         At first I thought that this book was gonna be about World War 1. As I finished reading it I realised it wasn’t just about the war in Europe in the early 1900's, but it was more about the wars that the main character was fighting in his own head. I found that it had a slow start and took a while to get into. But almost every page you turned it got slightly more interesting and by the end of the book I could not put it down. I really liked it and connected it to my life in some ways. I really care about animals and find a sense of happiness through them just like Robert Ross had done so many times in the novel. My dog was put down the other day and it was a really sad time in my life for me. I had him for 13 years of my life and considered him a best friend. It really upset me to see him go. I was his guardian I took care of him and fed him everyday. This is sort fo what Robert had with his sister Rowena. Connecting my life to the book really helped me to take it in better and thoroughly enjoy it on a whole different level. I do not read much but I think Timothy Findley’s work has inspired me to begin to broaden my horizons and enjoy literature more. All the time and effort I have put into this book really makes it one of my favourite books I have ever read. Timothy Findley really described everything perfectly. With my good sense of imagination I could imagine myself in the novel as if I was Robert Ross. There was definitely some graphic parts that caught my attention and I had to keep reading. But on the other hand there was some parts that I wish would just end. To be completely honest I thought the novel would be completely different. I thought there would be a lot more fighting and a lot less homosexual intercourse. But throughout the course of the novel you only see one of the Axis soldiers die. It was a lot more of the battles that Robert Ross had to face mentally and overcome. But in the end it was to much for his mind and it imploded on himself. Robert was completely corrupted by the atrocities of war. I think it would be very difficult for anyone to overcome what he had to face and it would have ended the same way. My predictions were way off I believed that Robert would become a veteran and a hero of war. But in fact the exact opposite happened he became insane he went AWOL and killed members of his own army. The main themes I found were innocence and corruption to the mind during the awfulness of war. How the madness of battle can truly drive a person mad. All in all I really enjoyed my Novel thank you for suggesting it to me Ms. Breivik