NOTE: May contain **SPOILERS**
Another great one from my Canadian Literature class! This book gave me a deeper appreciation of what natives went through in residential schools and how they were treated by colonists. This is something I was admittedly ignorant of.
The story takes place over three days and slides back and forth with past and present events. I have decided to stop giving too much of a synopsis of the books I read, and instead share my opinion of the book so that you might be more interested in reading it. To give you a brief summary, a young man returns from the war quite damaged and over the course of the three day road with his aunt back to his home in the woods, you learn about his experience overseas and the awful consequences of participating in the war.
For someone who doesn't read or seek out war books, this is the second one in a row that I have read and enjoyed. It is less about the war and more about native issues, but a lot of the story takes place while two young native men are stationed overseas in the trenches. I felt that the paralells it pointed out between serving in the military and living in residential schools frightening. I don't know much about residential schools, but I have no illusions about them being good places.
My favourite part of this book is the regular reference to the lore of the Windigo and how it relates to certain people in the war. There is something so disturbing about actual canibalism, but when you start to see the similarities that Boyden is showing between actual canibalism and bahivours during the war it is distressing.
I liked this book a lot and recommend it (as I did with Generals) to anyone who might normally hesitate to pick up a war novel like I would but enjoys a good story.
Title: Three Day Road
Author: Joseph Boyden
Year of publication: 2005
Publisher: Penguin
Rating: 4/5
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