3/3

Here we are,
at the end of the novel.
As a general statement, I really enjoyed most things about the book, the characters were great, the story line was interesting and the writting style had a wonderful originality to it, that kept me interested the whole time.
But before we go on,
I have to mention that the ending was something I really did not enjoy,

Yes, it was a happy ending, with Susan back in the picture and Will recovering from his coma, but part of me wanted this book to end on a more negative note,
for me, there were so many questions left unanswered that I would have rathered Susan be left missing, than end up mentioned breiefly on the last page. It felt unfinished, and rushed. But overall the ending was the only complaint I have.

Next I would like to mention how happy I am that Annie ended up with Gordon, there relationship was defintly something I really enjoyed about this novel, the whole "protector" thing really made me think and brought some questions to mind, I think a whole novel could easily be written soley about their relationship.

At the end, I still found myself leaning towards Will being my favorite character. Everything he faced and overcame throughout the novel really made me gain respect for his character. From befriending a bear, to living in solitude, to waking up from a coma, to coming to terms with his problems, he was a very uncomplicated complicated character that I felt myself drawn too from start to finish.

Overall,
this has to be one of my favorite books read up to date.

I hope everyone enjoyed reading this novel, just as much as I did.

2/3

As someone who is constantly watching movies (and will hopefully one day be in movies), I always find myself matching characters in a book, to working actors. Below, I have matched some of the main characters with actors/actresses who I thought could play them well.

  Lindsey Morgan as Annie

 Jason Momoa as Gordon

 Rusell Means as Will

 Nina Dobrev as Violet 

So, now on to the story. 

I specifically wanted to talk about one character in particular, and that is Gordon. Just imagine, never talking your entire life, imagine being around someone who never talks. I wondered through the entire book, why, what event in his life caused him to never say a word. He certainly understands words, he can read and write, so why not speak? It seemed that Annie found comfort in his silence, but personally, I think I would find it, unnatural and uncomfortable, I guess, to each their own. 

Another topic I wanted to discuss was Will, through the telling of his stories, we get to go back to where his problems began, the day his family was killed in a fire, one he could have prevented, one he could have stopped. Will even says "Me, I tried to end it"(Boyden,275), it really puts into perspective why Will is the way he is, he was fully ready to die at one point, and he mentioned on various occastions that part of him died that day. I know I talk about Will a lot, but he is definetly my favorite character in this novel, he's just so honest and complex, in a simple way, its difficult to explain really. Something I found compelling that Will said was his wondering wether an area he was wondering around was a church or an old factory, he said "One claiming to take what the cree didn't need, the other claiming to give us what we were missing, neer clear for me which was which", this compairison really stuck with me. 

Thanks for reading!

Until next time !

1/3

Through Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden basically entails everything I need for a book to appeal to me. Mystery, adventure, lots of internal conflict and of course, some strong female characters to top it all off.
Below is a video of author Joseph Boyden explaining a brief description of the story, and where his inspiration comes from. You can tell through this interview and others that Boyden himself is very spiritual and takes his writing seriously, which I think, adds a lot of credit to his work.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sK9HJ2nEKE

Anyways, time to get into the novel itself. I personally couldn't put this book down. Every chapter ended with a cliff hanger, making you want/need to read more. Both main characters Annie and Will are dealing with some really deep seated issues, Will is able to work through those in his coma, and Annie is able to work through them by talking to her uncle Will, while he is in the coma. 

One character I was able to relate to personally was will (You know, even though he's a ragging, hated, alcoholic). It is shown through different events, that he's a lonely man, and it's been years of suffering that has made him the way he is. When he can't get ahold of his friends, he drinks until he passes out, or he does something dangerous like, befriending a bear, often times he is forced to hide in his house because he is scared to leave. Will had some very valuable insight and often I found myself enthralled in his words, like "In my world I was not worthwhile. I hadn't been for years. Booze will do that to a man. But booze is not the root of the problem. Just a condition. When you lose something, something that was your whole world, two choices present themselves. Dig through the ash and burnt timber, through the bits of ruined clothes, and blackened shards of dinner plates and waterlogged photo albums that was the sum of your life, and find something that makes you want to go on. Or allow that black pit that is born in the bottom of your belly to smoulder, and spend your days trying to dampen it with rye" (Boyden.13) I think I was able to relate to Will so well, because of this quote, it just depicts grief so well, and no, I'm not an alcoholic, but after losing someone, as I did, these two choices did present themselves. I think this quote symbolizes exactly what will is going through, and I think it really draws out two paths in which Wills life could go as we read on. 

A lot of people when reading this novel discuss how well it depicts life on a reserve, and how well it describes that culture, but too me, the idea that these characters are different from me, spiritually, didn't really cross my mind. The only thing that really jumped out to be as aboriginal, was the insight the book held surrounding a cree culture, as mentioned in the paragraph above, the first third of this book has touched on so many important, SPIRITUAL conditions that have really opened my eyes and made me think about the world around me.

Hope you guys enjoyed reading this, it was a lot of rambling, but this book has made me feel a lot of things that are hard to put into words.