The Wars - The Author behind the post-modern novel [Entry Two]

He seems like a nice guy.

          Timothy Findley describes that the common writer has the "responsibility to speak out about what is wrong in society." (Acadia University class website @ http://ace.acadiau.ca/english/rmorriso/findley/Findley2.htm). In his novel, The Wars, he deals with several issues that may seem subtle at first, but soon become apparent if you take into consideration the time frame (early 1900s) and its attitude in which he strives to achieve for. Some of these issues include animal rights, isolation in a chaotic world, sexuality, conflict (man vs society, man vs self, man vs nature), and most evidently, violence. As with all writers, a connection to the reader must be maintained ( to keep the reader from dying of boredom haha!) and this is not an easy task. Chinua Achebe, the author of Things Fall Apart, states that a "good storyteller is not bound by political power or personal concerns or even by the demands of specific historical moments" and Timothy Findley does this well as he structures his novel through a post-modern narrative. What is meant by this, is that he goes out of the way to challenge the norms of how novels are typically written. For example, it was previously thought that those who had gone to the Great War could only describe and retell war stories, however, he challenges this by including these archives and their respective evidences to reflect the idea that the Great War, and including internal wars, are inclusive to everyone. In order to appeal to the readers, you must appeal to the mind and reach beyond particular circumstances and therefore speak to other periods and generations. A good story should not only pertain to a certain generation. It must be universal in its theme and power. Findley has received praise for just doing that as his novel received the Governor's General Award.

So what's the hype? Who exactly is Timothy Findley? He was born in Toronto, Ontario on Oct. 30th 1930 and died on June 21st 2002. He had several successes in theatre and dance before moving on to writing. His novel The Wars was acclaimed in 1977. In 1985, he was even appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada (look out! someone's successful ;) ). His works were influenced by mental illnesses, sexuality, gender, and Jungian psychology (Carl Jung's works on the importance of memories and dreams). His characters often carried dark personal secrets, and were often conflicted — sometimes to the point of psychosis — by these burdens. Very interesting, I wonder what this "newfound" information foreshadows in The Wars.

As I read The Wars, I become more wary of the way Timothy Findley writes and how he uses several methods of capturing the attention of his readers even though the plot seems very fragmented. The life of Robert Ross, the soldier who you, the reader investigates the life of is seen through several entries found in the form of archives. This type of writing style is referred to as an "episodic narrative". The plot depends on several different "episodes" in order for the reader to connect all the missing pieces to form the big picture at the end. Such a style is exactly like that of a movie (sadly there is none)! It has holes, and there is no flow like you would expect a novel to have. But mind you Findley chooses to do this and trust me, it definitely makes a statement.

Till next time,
Alexander Truong.