Click on a thumbnail to go to Google Books.
Loading... Wooden Sword (New Canadian library ; no. 97)by Edward McCourt
New Canadian Library (56) Loading...
Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. no reviews | add a review
Belongs to Publisher SeriesNew Canadian Library (97)
No library descriptions found. |
Current DiscussionsNone
Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.5Literature English (North America) American fiction 20th CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
Is this you?Become a LibraryThing Author. |
Steven is a professor in English literature at an unnamed prairie university (which is most probably the University of Saskatchewan where McCourt taught). He fought in Northern Africa in World War II but he can hardly remember anything about that period. He repeatedly dreams about walking in the desert and having a grey cloud advance towards him which terrifies him. This dream has caused him to withdraw from his wife, Ruth, and have problems with his teaching and writing. This book examines his fight to regain his memory and his life.
I couldn't find any mention that McCourt fought in the war so that makes this book all the more amazing. His descriptions of the horror of war and the longlasting effects were completely believable. I felt like I was there as he remembers holding a pass with people dying all around him. Similarily the evocation of the nightmare that Steven has repeatedly was filled with menace and horror.
I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Canadian literature. ( )