17. Three Day Road - Joseph Boyden

Another book on a World War, but this time the first. And another change of subject, Native North Americans from Canada. So this had the potential to be a pleasant change to the norm for me, but turned into a tedious and quite slow book. It has three main lines to follow for the majority. Firstly, the story of a young man returning home from war and travelling up a river with his aunt. Secondly, the childhood and lead-up to going to war with his friend (or cousin, I lost track). And lastly, the story of both of them in the war. Although relatively easy to follow, it became very old very quickly.

The story itself followed their adjustments to a Western lifestyle, and a chaotic war-time one at that. However, their hunting skills from their usual lives come in handy and they quickly become popular amongst their colleagues – but not without suffering the crippling addictions and mental problems that come with it. It’s hardly a happy book.

Towards the end, it becomes predictable and drags on – and the final ending which could have been fantastic, was too short and ended too quickly. So it dragged on during it, and finished too quickly. Should have been the other way around.