Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

 

     YES! I finally finished this book! When I finish a book like this, one that is incredibly deep and challenging, and takes me months to read, I say that I conquered it. So, I've finally CONQUERED Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden, the "beast" as I've been calling it. I don't want to dissuade you from reading it though, because it's actually a great book and I highly recommend it.

     Let me explain why this book is so challenging. To begin, Boyden's writing is lyrical and literary. Almost every sentence creates such vivid pictures in your mind because of Boyden's use of intense imagery. Each line is chalk full of literary devices including metaphors, anecdotes, symbolism, and alliteration, to name a few. While this type of writing is brilliant and unique, it can be difficult to read 380+ pages of it because you have to decipher each line's meaning.

     To continue, Boyden's writing is challenging because it is not something that can be zipped through. It's not a quick read at all. It's taken me MONTHS to read this book! Normally, I would have given up on a book this deep and challenging, but it's just so good, that I couldn't stop. Now, mind you, I only read this book during silent reading in my classes so I didn't devote enough time to it.

     Furthermore, Three Day Road is challenging because of the content. Let me provide a summary and explain why it's difficult to follow.  The story is told from two different perspectives, flip-flopping from chapter to chapter. The longer chapters are told from Xavier's perspectives and then the next chapter moves to his Aunt Niska's perspective. They are Cree Native Canadians in the early part of the 1900s before, during, and after WWI.

     Xavier, or X, is travelling with Niska in a canoe by river. Xavier has just returned from war, wounded, addicted to pain medication, and forlorn. He recounts his time in the war with Elijah, his best friend. Most of the book is X's flashbacks to the war and Niska's flashbacks to her early life.

     In their past, Xavier's parents die and Niska learns about her sister's disappearance and decides to rescue X from a residential school. Elijah, another residential school student, wants to join X and his aunt so he escapes from the residential school too. The three live together in the wild, feeding off the land, learning to hunt, and practicing traditional Native life. When they become adults, X and Elijah decide to enlist in the war. The majority of the flashbacks in the story recount their time as soldiers, primarily in the trenches. Wow! What an experience. They become snipers and X describes Elijah's descent into madness as he becomes more and more successful at murdering the "Fritz".

     Boyden clearly did a great deal of research into WWI and Native Canadian soldiers. This book highlights the successes of Natives and focuses on something that most history text books of the past do not: the amount of Natives who participated in the war and how valuable they were. I did not know much about this aspect of trench warfare so, as I've mentioned in previous blogs, I love when a book teaches me something new about a topic in which I thought I was well versed.

     This book also includes a lot of Cree language, which was interesting. The chapter titles are in Cree with an English translation underneath.

     There are two things that I did not particularly like about the book, so here is my warning to you. For one, the book is incredibly violent. As I mentioned, Boyden is a talented writer who creates phenomenal imagery in his readers' minds. So, when describing the violence of the war, such as scalping the enemies, it can be a little much to take! There are a number of very disturbing scenes, including one with an innocent mother and child. However, I completely understand the need for this violence, as it accurately depicts what WWI was like. I thought I understood the atrocities of trench warfare, but now I know much, much more!

     For another, I did not like Boyden's choice to give away one of the main characters' fates at the beginning of the novel. I don't mind when an author foreshadows an event, but in this case, Boyden directly tells his audience what happens to a character at the beginning of the novel. Of course, we don't learn until the end of the book how this character received this fate, but we still know his fate nonetheless.

     Also, there are a few very graphic sexual scenes in the novel. Their inclusion is necessary for the plot development, but some people may not appreciate them, so that is the reason why I am warning you.

     I do highly recommend this book because it's beautifully written, insightful, educational, and deep. If you read this book, your reading level is elevated and you too can also say that you conquered this beast! Give it a try. Boyden's writing is worth the challenge!

How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With by Clarice Rutherford and David H. Neil

     

     While I am not a huge fan of non-fiction - I prefer fiction and historical fiction - I read How to Raise a Puppy You Can Live With by Clarice Rutherford and David H. Neil because I have a new puppy in my family. Santa brought my daughter Isabella an 8 week old Landseer Newfoundlander / Italian Spinone puppy on Christmas morning. Isabella named the puppy Sparkles, which is both cheesy and adorable. Sparkles is now 16 weeks and HUGE! She's likely over 40 lbs by now. Thankfully, she's a really well behaved, sweet, cuddly, and loving girl. However, it's been about 7 years since I had a puppy in my house, so I figured I needed to read this book and refresh my training skills. Mrs. Kirwan, a good friend and colleague, welcomed a puppy into her family this past summer, so she lent me the book. It's a great, quick, informative, and helpful book.

       Writing a review or blog about this book is rather challenging for a number of reasons: there is no plot to analyze, no characters to decode, no themes to unravel, and no setting to explore. It's a basic how-to guide in raising and training young dogs. The book is, however, very useful and engaging. So, while I would never have picked this book off a shelf without having Sparkles in my life, it's a great book for those who have puppies. I highly recommend it, but only for those who have new puppies. I even recommend it if you have had several puppies in your life and you know very well how to train them. This book still provides some great tips and suggestions.

       One thing I loved about this book is that it describes what your dog's movements, facial expressions, and body language really mean. I had no idea that a dog's yawn rarely means that she's sleepy! It actually means that she's bored, nervous, uncomfortable, restless, or frustrated. Quite the eye-opener for me!

       This book is an excellent resource guide because the chapters and sub-headings are clearly labelled and it's easy to flip to a particular section or tip that you are interested in. I read the book from cover to cover, following from birth to 12 months. However, you can easily read the book in whatever order you like. You can begin at the age your puppy is or read only the chapters you think you need. I do recommend that you read the introduction and at least skim through the parts you think you may not need because chances are, these other chapters will be helpful and informative too.

       When we received Sparkles, she was 8 weeks old, as I mentioned, but I still read the chapters about the first 8 weeks. It even begins with how to choose a puppy, which I obviously didn't need because we picked Sparkles out when she was 2 weeks old. Nonetheless, this chapter was still interesting and educational. I love reading any kind of book where I learn something new.

       I also learned about how much the first 8 weeks of a puppy's life can shape whom she becomes. I mean, I guess that's pretty obvious; it's just like human babies. The first few weeks are crucial to proper development. But it was still helpful in understanding why certain dogs behave the way they do in later years. It is directly correlated to their formative weeks.

       In conclusion, I enjoyed this book immensely and recommend it to new puppy owners. It's well worth the reading time and money to purchase it.

The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd

I just finished The Invention of Wings by Sue Monk Kidd. It has been on my to-read list for a long time, but I actually purchased the book for my dad's girlfriend. She and I share books often, as we're both avid readers. When I gave it to her at Christmas, she had just finished reading it a few days earlier. So I kept it for myself. And I'm so glad I did! 

What a great book! I highly recommend this book. It is a historical fiction about slavery and abolition in the early part of the nineteenth century. The book is about Sarah Grimke, based off the real Sarah Grimke who was one of the first female abolitionists in USA.  The fictional Sarah is 'gifted' a 10 year old female slave on her 11th birthday. Hettie, referred to as Handful, is supposed to be Sarah's maid.

The two actually develop a strong bond, a strange friendship, and a unique relationship. Each chapter moves from Sarah's to Handful's perspectives and follows their lives for over 35 years. Sarah is unlike most Southern girls and actually despises slavery. As a result, she becomes an abolitionist in adulthood. Doing so creates incredible challenges. She is even banned from her hometown!

I highly recommend this book because these two girls are so believable, likable, interesting, rebellious, intelligent, and loving. It's impossible not to love them! They are flawed, yet kind, intelligent, yet naive, and compassionate, yet fierce. 

I know quite a bit about slavery and abolition from years of studying it. Well, at least I thought I did! But I learned so much more from this book. I discovered many things I did not know anything about, particularly the kinds of unique and hellish punishments slaves received. 

What I LOVE about reading historical fictions is that you get the human perspective. You get to feel what it's like to live these lives, endure these tragedies, and suffer these inhumanities. You get to see people's lives from their perspectives. You get to experience their joys, sorrows, and triumphs. 

This book has it all. Read it. You won't be disappointed!