Here a couple of maps: the first is of Hudson's Bay and the second shows that Moose Factory is the end of the "handle" of the bay.
This was such an interesting book – I really enjoyed it. The style that Boyden wrote with really caught me as a reader. I couldn’t put my finger on it until class today when we talked about the novel being similar to oral storytelling; the short sentences, not always ‘correct’ grammatically – it was as if I was living/hearing the story, not just reading it. I was there in the trenches, in the craters. I could feel the spirits as they came to Niska in her shaking tent. Joseph Boyden never allowed me to be bored – I was engaged from start to finish.
With that said, I was a bit disappointed in the end scene when Niska and Xavier come out of the sweat lodge. I guess I wanted to know with absolute certainty that Xavier recuperates and goes on to live a full life. I did not get that feeling. It was vague and open ended – anything could happen. Is it really Xavier that Niska sees guarding the two boys? She doesn’t even confirm it but simply says, “I know who he is, and who those boys are too” (381). Like I said, I like things to end my way, but then again, I’m not the author!
The war scenes were very brutal but I again have to say that reading about it did not affect me, as it would have if I had seen this as a movie. I was moved with compassion for many of the characters and situations but I wasn’t disturbed by it, even when Elijah starts scalping his ‘kills’. After thinking about this some more, I realized that my imagination, as vivid as it can be sometimes, sees in black and white, not colour. My mind’s eye sees blood and guts in black, white, and grey – this is not as powerful as seeing it in full colour (like on a movie screen).
There is so much to this book that I think it’s an impossibility to cover it all in just two weeks. I will leave you with a link to the Macleans article that I mentioned in class today - Windigo in the First World War:
http://www.macleans.ca/article.jsp?content=20050527_180400_6736
5 comments:
I like your comments. In regards to the ending, I really like the way it was left open ended. If we are comparing this story to an oral story, I think the ending is very well suited.
What I know about oral stories is that they often lead into other stories, so one may not have the "ending" we desire, but it most likely has served its purpose and is "ended" in that respect.
I can see what you mean Holly. The past 3 years of schooling for me has really opened my eyes in a lot of ways -- especially in being exposed to different types of literature. I have always read novels that are ended tight & neat. I guess I could even say that I've only read 'white' books; and there's been many years of reading! I guess it'll take me a bit longer to re-train my thought pattern regarding endings.
Thanks Holly for your thoughts :-)
Yes, perhaps we can think of the stories, as they often are in contexts where oral stories are primary, as both partial and complete. Each story stands on its own and yet also contains every other story. And we are all characters in each others' stories. This last point, I think, comes across very well in the storied dialogue between Niska's and Xavier's recollection of past memories...
Anne thank you for the map, I had no clue where this "Moose Factory" even was!
Nice maps Anne - unlike you, I felt sure that it was Xavier's kids in the vision at the end and that he would go on to live a relatively normal life; as normal as could be for a war veteran.
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