BOOK REVIEW
The Absolutist
Author: John Boyne
John Boyne is one of my favourite Irish authors and he has excelled with this very moving and thought provoking story of a man, a soldier and one who struggles with his sexuality.
Tristan Sadler narrates his own account of his time briefly as a young lad living with a father who cannot accept his son’s sexual choice and completely disowns him.
When WW1 breaks out, Tristan who lies about his age (he is not quite 18), enlists and spends 10 weeks at the training camp in Aldershot before being sent to France. His time in the trenches, along with his fellow soldiers, is horrific and, as we know, changes a man forever.
Tristan befriends Will who is initially a ‘willing’ companion but because of an incident which happens in the trenches Will ‘s life takes another turn which results in something catastrophic and in which Tristan becomes a player.
Tristan survives the war and In 1919 he visits Will’s sister, Marian. He delivers letters she had written to Will but that was not the real reason for his visit.
This story is very real and at the same time subtle in its telling.
As the author of “The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas”, John Boyne is a novelist of supreme storytelling.
Rosalie Howarth
Author: John Boyne
John Boyne is one of my favourite Irish authors and he has excelled with this very moving and thought provoking story of a man, a soldier and one who struggles with his sexuality.
Tristan Sadler narrates his own account of his time briefly as a young lad living with a father who cannot accept his son’s sexual choice and completely disowns him.
When WW1 breaks out, Tristan who lies about his age (he is not quite 18), enlists and spends 10 weeks at the training camp in Aldershot before being sent to France. His time in the trenches, along with his fellow soldiers, is horrific and, as we know, changes a man forever.
Tristan befriends Will who is initially a ‘willing’ companion but because of an incident which happens in the trenches Will ‘s life takes another turn which results in something catastrophic and in which Tristan becomes a player.
Tristan survives the war and In 1919 he visits Will’s sister, Marian. He delivers letters she had written to Will but that was not the real reason for his visit.
This story is very real and at the same time subtle in its telling.
As the author of “The Boy In the Striped Pyjamas”, John Boyne is a novelist of supreme storytelling.
Rosalie Howarth
