Saturday, April 7, 2007
I Had Seen Castles by Cynthia Rylant
The horrors of the World War II period became immediately real and vivid with the backdrop of our country's stance in the war with Iraq. Cynthia Rylant showed a different side of herself in her writing of this book. Others of her books that I have read show her writing style as simple yet reflective with children as her main characters in situations requiring reflection and/or deep soul-searching. In her typical style of narrating a story simply and without needless rhetoric she effectively crafted the story of a young man's experience becoming involved in the war with a series of flashbacks and flashforwards strategically placed throughout the story. The character of Ginny brought out the passionate, caring side of John as they grew to be close friends and lovers. John's family members were clearly experiencing stations in life common through the World War II times. Rylant's portrayal of John through his war experiences showed the ugliness of war but John's steadfastness in dealing with each new challenge of it. The reader knew from the beginning of the book that John survived the war, but the terrors and tragedies of the war were no less gruesome as the reader was felt to be standing beside John witnessing those horrible deaths and tragic wounds. The castle appeared to be an icon of hope for John, and he seemed to associate the castle with hopes and dreams that he allowed himself to realize in his adult years living in Europe. He must have seen a need to be needed there. That is one common feature that is becoming evident to me in Rylant's books: the perceptive ability for the main character to endure tough times yet to feel needed by one or more characters around him/her. This book is a to-the-point "must-read" in the genre of historical fiction to enable the reader to connect present stresses of war with stresses of times past in war.
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2 comments:
I agree with what you say about the readers knowing that John makes it through the war, but it's no less gruesome as we are reading. On page 78, especially, Rylant writes some graphic, but necessary, images of war. Also, it's a to-the-point story. I really liked how this story was written.
Carolyn, I agree that Rylant has a reoccuring theme of a main character going through tough time, but also being needed by others. You mentioned the horrors of war presented in the book and acknoeledged that they were necessary. I agree with you. I was particularly struck by the story of the young girl whose legs had frozen. To help the girl, they put her into a tub of warm water. Instead of warming her legs; the legs broke off. Shocking image of the effects of war even when the characters are not fighting.
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