The Wilderness is a book that describes the barbarous world of the American Civil War and the aftermath of it. In the meantime, the author recovers the book with flashes of delicacy as brilliant and transient as falling stars with the entrance his hero, Abel Truman.
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Truman is an odd however intriguing character to exemplify the time's little glints of benevolence. When we first meet him he's a rough, old, damaged, ghastly looking Civil War veteran. He lives near the ocean shore of the Pacific Northwest with his dog, who's in just as bad shape as he is in. Abel can barely be relied and always seems to be doing the wrong thing, frequently to the point where he puts his own life in risk. Yet his sympathy is unsullied, if he's helping a youthful trooper to his demise, sparing the life of a visually impaired Chinese lady who still recollects that him in her old age, or tending to his puppy.
Like such a large number of Civil War stories, Wilderness is a story of excursions throughout a confused country. The war has decimated the social aspect of life, and nobody realizes what will happen in the future. Indeed nature, portrayed in Weller's wonderful exposition, has been unsettled, the trees impacted separated by cannonballs and glades set blazing.
Trees, incidentally, aren't the main things impacted separated by cannonballs. Weller's portrayals of a fight Truman and his kindred fighters end up in are as horrific as his depictions of nature are as stunning. The marvel is that Abel Truman keeps his account of humankind much in the wake of seeing such things. With its affirmation of both awfulness and magnificence, Wilderness is a noteworthy read.
Best part of story, including ending:
The amount of detail that the author puts into describing the nature and surroundings, to the point where ones imagination can clearly see the picture the writing is trying to paint.
Best scene in story:
All the Civil War stories Abel recounts are very interesting. As if one's own grandfather were telling the tales.
Opinion about the main character:
That Able is a likable old man with a lifetime of tales. A very interesting and intriguing character.