One Of Ours

When one reads a novel such as One of Ours, it's hard not to think of those who have died giving the ultimate sacrifice fighting for freedom. And yet war is such a horrible experience for all those involved, most often the youngest and most vibrant of society.

This novel tells the story of Claude Wheeler, who is impatient and unenthusiastic about his life on a Nebraska farm. He has little enthusiasm for farm work, merely tolerates his family and feels a constant sense of agitation. Until, that is, the US enters World War I. All of a sudden, as if it's a revelation, Claude feels a sense of duty, a sense of belonging, a sense of raison d'etre. The slow moving pace of the early part of the book reflects, I believe, Claude's attitude with how slow and meaningless his life had been thus far. Cather makes use of this beginning section of the book to expertly develop his character as well as the long list of supporting characters.

During the latter part of the novel, when Claude experiences war, Cather's imagery was so real and so emotionally provoking that I had a hard time believing that she had never been to war. As the reader, I felt like I was there in the trenches with Claude or walking alongside him. Towards the climax of the book, when Lt. Claude Wheeler arrives to take over at a trench, the description of what he found was visually and emotionally graphic: "The stench was the worst they had yet encountered, but it was less disgusting than the flies: when they inadvertently touched a dead body, clouds of wet, buzzing flies flew up into their faces, into their eyes and nostrils. Under their feet, the earth worked and moved as if boa constrictors were wriggling down there, soft bodies, lightly covered..." Words so descriptive that as the reader, I found myself swatting the invisible flies away and covering my nose against the stench.

Claude, who would have considered himself Christian, "wanted little to do with theology or theologians," and, in many respects, found himself leaning toward liberal ideology. However, in the climax of the book, he surprises himself (and the reader) by beseeching God in the face of tragedy and asking for nothing short of a miracle. In exchange, Claude makes his own promise with God.

Willa Cather was one of those writers who encompassed the entire package: great storytelling, exquisite writing, memorable characters, visually clear and exciting imagery. This is an ideal book to read around Veterans Day or Remembrance Day in November.

I highly recommend this Pulitzer-prize winning novel to anyone who wishes to read a good story, but also for those who wish to understand that "Real freedom isn't really free," and to allow Colonel John McCrae's words from the poem "In Flanders Fields" to hit home: "We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved, and were loved and now we lie in Flanders Fields."Get more detail about One Of Ours.