Although I don't like war stories, having seen enough of war myself, I slowly warmed up to Boyden's tale of two Canadian Cree Indians stuck in the muddy trenches of the Great War--WW1. Two childhood friends, Xavier and Elijah, both orphans, grew up with Xavier's aunt Niska, a medicine woman, who taught them to live "in the bushes" of Canadian north. They learned to hunt together and went to the war together. Because of their hunter's nature, they became a famous snipers duet participating in all the big battles Canadian troops fought in Belgium and France. The description of the life in muddy trenches and brutalities of the war is vivid and believable.The story is told in two voices--through the aunt Niska, who picks up Xavier upon his return from the war, crippled and addicted to morphine. While she paddles her canoe with the two of them back north, she tells the story of her youth and Xavier's and Elijah's childhood.
Xavier's voice is the one who remembers and tells the story of two inseparable friends fighting in "white man's war". It describes horrors and madness of war and how it changed those who fought it. Both stories are told in turns, woven with mysticism of the native Indians' tradition. I really enjoyed it all through the unpredictable ending. (4 out of 5)
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