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March Toward The Thunder (2008)

by Joseph Bruchac(Favorite Author)

3.84 of 5 Votes: 3

ISBN

0803731884 (ISBN13: 9780803731882)

languge

English

genre

Historical Fiction

publisher

Dial

review 1: Not Joseph Bruchac's best novel. While he presents stunning historical detail when it comes to battles, dress, and the like, Louis Nolette is simply not that likable of a hero. It didn't take long for him to come across as more than a little whiny. The other soldiers couldn't make the slightest little tease towards him without Louis sticking out his bottom lip and whimpering, It's just because I'm an Indian. Even though the soldiers teased each other as unmercifully as they did Louis, and they weren't even that unmerciful to him. Talk about a victim complex! And a hero should never have that.Aside from that rather glaring and important fact (having a likable main character is rather important; sorry), the story was fairly enjoyable. I was not entirely fond of how the Autho... morer wrote his battle scenes - they were very choppy, lacking complete sentences most of the time, and began to feel like a screenplay. And I began to groan over the number of times the Author felt it necessary to describe how a gun was loaded, and how the characters then had to position themselves to fire it. Okay, we get it! And if we Readers want to know how to shoot a rifle, we'll either read a manual, watch instructional videos, or get our next-door neighbor to teach us. Putting such descriptions in a novel slows it down - and this is coming from a person who loves guns.
review 2: War stories are not my first choice when looking for a genre, but I picked this one up with a particular student in mind who truly enjoys them. That being said, I found March Toward the Thunder to be a very good book. As I have said in other reviews, the power of a true story well told is captivating, and this was no exception. The author bases this story on the life of his own ancestor, a young Native from Canada who joined up in the Civil War mostly for the promised money that would go to give his dear mother a better life. First of all, I was intregued by the idea of a Canadian fighting in the Civil War, but the story takes it a bit further. I also had never heard of the Irish Brigade, although I did know about the prejudice against the Irish at that time. Juxtaposing those two details against the backdrop of the war really held my interest. At times the battle scenes went on a bit long for me, but all the great historical background was worth it. less

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