No Man's Land
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
2 journalers for this copy...
Let's see what J.R.R. Tolkien's grandson can do!
Released to GoryDetails as part of their wishlist. Please enjoy!
The book arrived safely today; thanks so much! I'd first read this one via audiobook, and wanted a text copy. (The book includes a note honoring J. R. R. Tolkien, the author's grandfather, who fought in the Somme in 1916.)
Later: The story centers on Adam Raine, whom we first meet as a boy in 1900. His parents are barely making a living in London, and when his mother dies horribly under the hooves of a policeman's horse during a workers' protest-march turned violent, Adam finds himself effectively alone - his bereft father is rudderless without his wife. With few choices open, they move to a mining town, where Adam's uncle gives them shelter and a chance at a new life - if they're willing to work in the mines. Adam's father insists that Adam stay in school, but does take a mine job himself, and - of course - events conspire to force Adam into the coal-blackened tunnels too...
Despite the hardships, Adam does make some friends as the months and years roll by. But labor unrest interferes once more; a miner's strike threatens everyone's livelihood, violence ensues, and Adam's father dies trying to save the mine-owner's elderly mother from the burning house.
Cue the next stage in Adam's career: he's taken in by the mine owner and supported at school. An upturn in his luck, after all the tragedy? One might think so, if one didn't know what was coming {rueful grin}. But it isn't until almost halfway through the book that Adam and his friends decide to join up together, and set off to a war that they don't expect to last more than a few months...
The war scenes are very effective, and as harrowing as one might expect, with the ups and downs of fate stressing the friends and their loved ones back home. I won't say too much about all that, as the various fates of the main characters take some surprising turns, with entanglements that affect the lives of the survivors well after the war.
Given the plethora of fascinating historical source material, the story does have lots of impact. However, I felt that the author seemed to do a lot more "telling" than "showing" regarding how the characters feel, especially when switching from Adam's viewpoint to that of a primary antagonist - Brice, the spoiled son of the mine-owner, who's been jealous of Adam for years. Brice is a character that could read as a complex one, given how he shifts between bored selfishness, blazing homicidal rage, and pathetic self-pity, but instead just seems hard to believe.
Overall, an enjoyable - if often horrifying - story.
Later: The story centers on Adam Raine, whom we first meet as a boy in 1900. His parents are barely making a living in London, and when his mother dies horribly under the hooves of a policeman's horse during a workers' protest-march turned violent, Adam finds himself effectively alone - his bereft father is rudderless without his wife. With few choices open, they move to a mining town, where Adam's uncle gives them shelter and a chance at a new life - if they're willing to work in the mines. Adam's father insists that Adam stay in school, but does take a mine job himself, and - of course - events conspire to force Adam into the coal-blackened tunnels too...
Despite the hardships, Adam does make some friends as the months and years roll by. But labor unrest interferes once more; a miner's strike threatens everyone's livelihood, violence ensues, and Adam's father dies trying to save the mine-owner's elderly mother from the burning house.
Cue the next stage in Adam's career: he's taken in by the mine owner and supported at school. An upturn in his luck, after all the tragedy? One might think so, if one didn't know what was coming {rueful grin}. But it isn't until almost halfway through the book that Adam and his friends decide to join up together, and set off to a war that they don't expect to last more than a few months...
The war scenes are very effective, and as harrowing as one might expect, with the ups and downs of fate stressing the friends and their loved ones back home. I won't say too much about all that, as the various fates of the main characters take some surprising turns, with entanglements that affect the lives of the survivors well after the war.
Given the plethora of fascinating historical source material, the story does have lots of impact. However, I felt that the author seemed to do a lot more "telling" than "showing" regarding how the characters feel, especially when switching from Adam's viewpoint to that of a primary antagonist - Brice, the spoiled son of the mine-owner, who's been jealous of Adam for years. Brice is a character that could read as a complex one, given how he shifts between bored selfishness, blazing homicidal rage, and pathetic self-pity, but instead just seems hard to believe.
Overall, an enjoyable - if often horrifying - story.
Journal Entry 4 by 
GoryDetails
at Little Free Library, Mast Rd. in Goffstown, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, April 28, 2024
GoryDetails at Little Free Library, Mast Rd. in Goffstown, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, April 28, 2024
Released 2 wks ago (4/28/2024 UTC) at Little Free Library, Mast Rd. in Goffstown, New Hampshire USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book in the Little Free Library; hope someone enjoys it! (The LFL is located in a small memorial garden to a Korean War soldier.)[See other recent releases in NH here.]
Released for:
** 2024 April Showers/May Flowers challenge **
** 2024 Keep Them Moving challenge. **
