"Never that which is shall die," Euripides once said. This quotation is also the opening to the novel The Wars by
Timothy Findley which I began reading several days ago. I'm on chapter 19, which seems like a lot, but is only... 47 pages.
I'm trying to figure out what the opening quotation has to do with the novel. Perhaps the theme of life and death in both the quotation & the novel? I have a feeling I won't be certain about the purpose of the quotation until later on in the novel.
I'm still kind of lost, probably because of the way the novel is written- you have to piece together everything yourself. It is written in a third person point of view and has an ominous tone- apparently, its a researcher of a sort trying to recreate the life of Robert Ross through old archives and pictures.
Robert Ross was a soldier in World War One. Of course, the title of the novel by Findley is "The Wars", maybe implying more than a physical war. I think the title is alluding to an inner war of sorts. What we know about Ross so far is that he seems to be very innocent for an eighteen year old. A girl who is very important to him, Rowena, dies- my guess is that Rowena was Robert's sister. Robert is completely against the war going on, but is enlisted in the army anyways.
I have a lot more to read, but the novel should be interesting since the main character is around the same age as myself, but in a very different setting. I will be updating this blog regularly to keep track of my reading and understanding of The Wars.
Timothy Findley which I began reading several days ago. I'm on chapter 19, which seems like a lot, but is only... 47 pages.
I'm trying to figure out what the opening quotation has to do with the novel. Perhaps the theme of life and death in both the quotation & the novel? I have a feeling I won't be certain about the purpose of the quotation until later on in the novel.
I'm still kind of lost, probably because of the way the novel is written- you have to piece together everything yourself. It is written in a third person point of view and has an ominous tone- apparently, its a researcher of a sort trying to recreate the life of Robert Ross through old archives and pictures.
Robert Ross was a soldier in World War One. Of course, the title of the novel by Findley is "The Wars", maybe implying more than a physical war. I think the title is alluding to an inner war of sorts. What we know about Ross so far is that he seems to be very innocent for an eighteen year old. A girl who is very important to him, Rowena, dies- my guess is that Rowena was Robert's sister. Robert is completely against the war going on, but is enlisted in the army anyways.
I have a lot more to read, but the novel should be interesting since the main character is around the same age as myself, but in a very different setting. I will be updating this blog regularly to keep track of my reading and understanding of The Wars.
