Boys of Blood and Bone Essay

David Metzenthens Boys of Blood and organise is an ambitious story linking the stories of heat content Lyon, in the summer before he starts his start form of Law at university, and Andy Lansell, Australian digger killed in the Somme in 1918. Andy and hydrogens stories meet when Henrys car breaks down in the small country town of Strattford on his way to a sailboarding pass with his mates and his disgruntled girlfriend Marcelle. While stuck in Strattford, Andy gets to know ramble on and his girlfriend Janine and centenarian Cecelia Hainsworth, never-married fiancee of the long-dead Andy.Henry is given Andys daybook to read, and finds himself fascinated bythe tragic story of this teenaged man of his own grow from another time, another world. The narrative of Boys of Blood and Bone alternates between Henrys contemporary story and the war time experiences of Andy and his mates. The point is not so much that the two young mens lives argon directly paralled its rather that the comparison of their stories points up the extreme deflection between the experiences of the generations in question, and their attitudes to life and death.Henrys moment of corporeal courage when he board sails into a wild and dangerous sea points up his reckless sense of immortality, as contrasted with the young soldiers rueful, resigned courage chthonian the most extreme, nightmarish and unbelievable circumstances. Similarly, Henrys one unimpassioned sexual encounter contrasts powerfully against the diggers frank embracing of (as they know, possibly first and last) sexual opportunities with, it must be stressed, entirely willing young women.This is not to infer that the novel romanticises the past, or past generations at the expense of the sure generation. Yet there is a sense of frustration with Henrys somewhat aimless, even unambitious wandering through life, compared to Andys clear-sighted, focus recognition of what is required of him in his here and now. And dont swall ow up were talking ab out(p) 18 year olds here. Boys of Blood and Bone is on its surest ground in the chapters dedicated to Andy and the desperate, bloody battlefield of the Somme.Metzenthens year spent researching the war is evident, and the physical and emotional ordeal these young men is vividly realised (although Andys last day is dragged out a little too much in classic abuse movie Im not dead yet style). slight well depicted is the romantic tribulations that form the core of Henrys story. His conflict with Marcelle is presented, but not adequately explored his subsequent romance is more(prenominal) fleshed-out and recognisable, yet this narrative thread still seems somewhat pale in comparison to the life and death circumstances of Andy and his mates.In the past ten or so, young Australians have demonstrated a genuine quest in the war-time experiences of their counterparts from decades ago. Attendances at ANZAC Day ceremonies and visits to Gallipoli have increased enormo usly, and there is a new-found respect for the war-time experiences of Australian service men and women in times bygone by. In this context, Boys of Blood and Bone is bound to find an enthralled and adequate to(p) audience.