Boys of Blood and Bone Essay

David Metzenthens Boys of Blood and rig out is an ambitious novel linking the stories of henry Lyon, in the summer before he starts his first year of Law at university, and Andy Lansell, Australian digger killed in the Somme in 1918. Andy and Henrys stories meet when Henrys car breaks down in the small country townspeople of Strattford on his way to a sailboarding weekend with his mates and his disgruntled girlfriend Marcelle. While stuck in Strattford, Andy gets to know Trot and his girlfriend Janine and centenarian Cecelia Hainsworth, never-married fiancee of the long-dead Andy.Henry is given Andys diary to read, and finds himself fascinated bythe tragic story of this immature man of his own age 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 are directly paralled its rather that the comparison of thei r stories points up the extreme difference between the experiences of the generations in question, and their attitudes to life and death.Henrys moment of somatogenetic 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 under the around extreme, nightmarish and unbelievable circumstances. Similarly, Henrys one passionless sexual encounter contrasts powerfully against the diggers frank embracing of (as they know, possibly first and last) sexual opportunities with, it essential 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 current generation. Yet thither is a sense of frustration with Henrys somewhat aimless, even unambitious wandering through life, compared to Andys clear-sighted, focused recognition of what is required of him in his here and now. And dont forget were talk ing about 18 year olds here. Boys of Blood and Bone is on its surest ground in the chapters dedicated to Andy and the desperate, crashing(a) 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 twenty-four hour period is dragged out a little too much in classic horror movie Im not dead still style). little 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 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 decade or so, young Australians have demonstrated a genuine interest in the war-time experiences of their counterparts from decades ago. Attendances at ANZAC Day ceremonies and visits to Gallipoli have increased enorm ously, and there is a new-found respect for the war-time experiences of Australian return men and women in times gone by. In this context, Boys of Blood and Bone is bound to find an enthralled and open audience.