This book is loosely based on the famed Native Canadian WW1 sniper Francis Pegahmagabow. It is about WW1 trench warfare; it is about the role Native Canadians played in this warfare and it is about mystical Cree beliefs. I think this book goes a step deeper. It is about warfare in general and also about taking another person’s life outside of the war setting. I am left very troubled by the ending. I have more questions after reading this book than before. Am I a pacifist? Am I against all wars? This book puts you in the trenches and you see what it is really like there, well how it was fighting in France during WW1. You learn more than just about death and suffering and pain, but also grit and filth and morphine and human bonding. But the real question is: when does killing go over the edge? Isn’t a soldier supposed to kill as many as possible? When is it right? When does it all of a sudden become wrong? It is right here that this book upsets me. I am left with unresolved questions, and, more specifically, do I agree with what the author is suggesting? Should Xavier have killed Elijah and taken his identity papers?Finally, the book is also very much about healing. How does one attain physical, emotional and spiritual healing after living through such war horrors? Here again I have problems with the book. The solutions proffered are too simplistic. The Cree matatosowin ritual is not a solution I can wrap my head around. It is too simplistic!
Remember, for me, a three star book is worth reading!
