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The Wars
  
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The Wars (Hardcover)

by Timothy Findley (Author)
3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (35 customer reviews)

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Product Description

Amazon.ca Canadian Essential

Sixty years after the armistice, the horrors of the First World War were still spurring antiwar literature, one of the most compelling of which is Timothy Findley's The Wars. Slim and elliptical, but told with a level-headed, lyrical clarity, The Wars traces the atrocities and absurdities of war through the journey of a young Canadian officer through trenches in which barbarism and civilization exist side by side. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.


Amazon.ca

Timothy Findley's slim, dense novel The Wars offers nothing short of an explanation of human violence. However alien or mad Findley's World War I events become, war itself is repeatedly depicted as damnably quotidian. A front-line nurse confesses, "the passions involved were as ordinary as me and my sister fighting over who's going to cook the dinner. And who won't." Bringing Dostoyevsky's moral palette to the trenches of the Great War, The Wars seems compelled to reveal how the same men who save one another's lives will also torture trench rats or stray cats for sport.

Written in surgically precise prose and studded with unforgettable scenes and memorable characters, The Wars is Findley at his best. In Cambridgeshire are "towns with names like Camden Lights and Grantchester--roads that wind past canals and over bridges--whirl you round a hundred village greens, scattering geese and waving at children--whip you past the naked swimmers in the ponds and deposit you at inn yards where the smell of ale and apples makes you drunk before you've passed the gate." Informed, compassionate, and insightful, The Wars is uniquely sensitive to the causes of social division and union. --Darryl Whetter --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Customer Reviews

35 Reviews
5 star:
 (18)
4 star:
 (3)
3 star:
 (5)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:
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Average Customer Review
3.6 out of 5 stars (35 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Please read this review before purchasing the novel., Jun 6 2007
By A. Lakusta - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Wars (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)
I am surprised at the reviews of this novel. I see some people claiming to have literally burned this book and I see a ?teacher? who condemns a Governor General?s Award winning novel without the courtesy of proper punctuation or even capital letters. And I see people claiming that this novel is the greatest ever produced by a Canadian. The truth is somewhere in between. But make no mistake: it is a classic for good reason.

Anger comes from confusion so it is no surprise to see many angry people reacting to ?The Wars?. It is a difficult read. Robert Ross is a difficult character to identify with because Findley holds him at arm?s length for almost the entire novel. The only instances I remember where the reader is given direct access to Robert?s innermost thoughts are in the opening section, before he enlists in the army. From there we are shown his actions and only the most obvious of thoughts. Much of the novel is presented as hearsay, where the reader sees the toll the war takes on both his family and personal life, and this is perhaps the reason for the negative reviews here: the reader cannot become attached to Robert Ross. Findley does not present empathy as an option. We are forced to examine his actions coolly with little emotion involved save the horror of killing or the pleasure of love. What does this say about Findley?s goal with this novel? Why does he not allow us to be close to Robert Ross? Because he is not a hero. He is not a great man. He was the average soldier (or officer, in this case) and his trials were average for the Great War.

This is a novel about World War One written sixty years (or so) after the armistice, and we are now approaching its one hundred year anniversary. So why do readers think it should be a rip roaring adventure of bravery and heroism? Wake up people. It is a novel about the legacy the war has left. It is about how we were and are affected by it and that is why it is written from the point of view or a reseacher/historian. It is about darkness and savagery and how these things are in all of us, only to be revealed by the horrors we subject each other to. Look at the things Robert has to deal with within his own army. Are the Germans the ?bad guys? in this novel? We only ever see one, and he shows great humanity and sacrifice. Robert?s own army wreaks as much destruction and havoc in the lives of their own soldiers as they do to the Germans. It is not a heroic tale of Us versus Them. It is a cautionary tale of Us vs. Ourselves.

Do not expect ?Saving Private Ryan?. Expect ?Apocalypse Now?. Do not expect a page turner. Expect a meditation on humanity?s darkest hour, and you will not be disappointed. This is a novel to be read by the intelligent and the brave, not the simple and arrogant. Approach it with the right mindset and you will find a classic.
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2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars The Wars is good, but don`t be expecting a masterpiece, Mar 27 2007
By Quetzal (Brampton, Ontario) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wars (Paperback)
From reading the other reviews for 'The Wars' by Timothy Findley it looks like they eithered loved this book or really hated it. Me I come somewhere down the middle since Findley does a comendable job when describing the terror and unreality of being on the front line of war, but he loses me with the abstract tone of the story with its changing narratives (from the archivest looking at pictures of Robert Ross,to interviews with two people that knew Ross, and normal third person ominiscent narrative). Because of it I couldn`t get a strong emotional connection to the main character.
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1.0 out of 5 stars The Wars---Two Thumbs Down !, Oct 20 2009
By Furyman "Gott Mit Uns" (Coboconk Ontario) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Wars (Paperback)
First off I would like to say that I have one specific type of book in my library....WW1 and WW11 Military history. I read both fictional and non fictional accounts....this book strikes me as one mans fantasy of what he imagined could (wanted !)to have happened to himself in WW1.As I read the book,I felt uneasy...thinking somethings not right .I finished the book and announced to my wife "the guy that wrote this book is a homo".I knew nothing about the author Mr Findley until I googled his name and read his bio...sure enough I was right.If you like to read War memoirs fictional or not don't read this book you will be dissapointed.There are hundreds if not thousands of better choices.If this is mandatory reading in our Canadian highschools all I can say is I'm not surprised.
I did not burn my copy but it's definetly the WORST military book I have in my library.
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 		 Most recent customer reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars the characters and relationship of mr. and mrs. ross
characters relationship, describe the relationship of mr. and mrs ross, is there any details of their courship, what is the insight into their relationship?
Published on Mar 29 2005 by leanne

5.0 out of 5 stars Did we read the same book?
I feel as though, reading through all of the reviews of this novel, that I must not have read the same book as those who gave this book poor ratings. Read more
Published on Sep 15 2004 by bookishgal25

5.0 out of 5 stars did we read the same book?
I feel as though, reading through all of the reviews of this novel, that I must not have read the same book as those who gave this book poor ratings. Read more
Published on Sep 15 2004 by bookishgal25

5.0 out of 5 stars Powereful
This is a novel that definitly stays with you after you have read it, due to it's power and emotion. Read more
Published on Feb 23 2004 by Benjamin

5.0 out of 5 stars Necessary
Findley is an amazing writer, and his talent is out in full force in "The Wars." I am someone who has never experienced war firsthand but who has been made to read heaps of war... Read more
Published on Feb 14 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't be silly
Now listen. Get the Hardcover of this book. Don't think for a minute that you are 'saving money' buying the cheaper, paperback thing. Who cares if you like the story now... Read more
Published on Feb 14 2004

5.0 out of 5 stars The best, easy yet exciting read
The Wars,was an excellent read. The beginning was hard to grasp, but after reading through the first chapter, you understand what Findley was doing. Read more
Published on Dec 13 2003

4.0 out of 5 stars The Wars tells what the media ignores
The Wars is a memory of Robert Ross, a nineteen year old Canadian Soldier who fought in the First World War, as reconstructed by the narrator through articles, photographs and... Read more
Published on Nov 23 2003 by yourwordsdotca

5.0 out of 5 stars The Wars
simply an excellent book, all those out there who find it dumb and confusing are probably just that - dumb and confused. this story digs into human emotion. Read more
Published on Oct 6 2003 by Benjamin

2.0 out of 5 stars Good writing, bad story
The Wars as described by a pervious reviewer does jump frequently between the main character in the 1st world war and the researcher in finding out information about his life and... Read more
Published on Aug 17 2002 by Jeff

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