Author
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Topic: The Wars
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Flowers By Irene
rabble-rouser
Babbler # 3012
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posted 07 January 2003 01:45 AM
Last week I read The Wars by Timothy Findley. Anyone else read this novel? Whaddaya think? (For those who have not read it, I say go to the fricken library. A summary of the story: "Robert Ross, a sensitive nineteen-year-old Canadian officer, went to war - The War to End All Wars. He found himself in the nightmare world of trench warfare; of mud and smoke, of chlorine gas and rotting corpses. In this world gone mad, Robert Ross performed a last desperate act to declare his commitment to life in the midst of death.") I must say this is one of the best books I have read in some time. Its kinda like digging through a shoebox full of sepia-toned photos, trying to piece together the life of someone you never knew, yet could have been your neighbour. Some (to me) memorable excerpts: quote: 'Robert?' 'Yes Rowena?' 'Will you stay with me forever?' 'Yes, Rowena.' 'Can the rabbits stay forever, too?' 'Yes, Rowena.'This was forever. Now the rabbits had to be killed.
quote: Someone once said to Clive: do you think we will ever be forgiven for what we've done? They meant the war and what the war had done to civilization. Clive said something I've never forgotten. He said: I doubt we'll ever be forgiven. All I hope is - they'll remember we were human beings.
quote: (We're all strange, Robert thought. Everyone is strange in a war I guess. Ordinary is a myth.)
I'm not very literary, but even I picked up the 'Fritzy boy' and a few other late 19th/early 20th century references. Anyhoo...
From: "To ignore the facts, does not change the facts." -- Andy Rooney | Registered: Aug 2002
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