Remembrance
CBC Books | CBC | Posted: April 4, 2017 3:18 PM | Last Updated: April 4, 2017
Alistair MacLeod
In the early morning hours of November 11, David MacDonald, a veteran of the Second World War, stands outside his Cape Breton home, preparing to attend what will likely be his last Remembrance Day ceremony. As he waits for the arrival of his son and grandson, he remembers his decision to go to war in desperation to support his young family. He remembers the horrors of life at the frontlines in Ortona, Italy, and then what happened in Holland when the Canadians arrived as liberators. He remembers how the war devastated his own family, but gave him other reasons to live. What emerges is an elegant, life-affirming meditation on "how the present always comes out of the past," and how even in the midst of tragedy and misfortune there exists the possibility for salvation. (From McClelland & Stewart)
From the book
As I begin to tell this, it is November 11, Remembrance Day, I am on a gravel road that leads to my grandfather's house in rural Cape Breton. It is early in the morning and I have been driving for four hours in my rental car from the Halifax International Airport. Driving in the dark for four hours by yourself on Remembrance Day is a certain kind of experience, making you think of how the present always comes out of the past.
From Remembrance by Alistair MacLeod ©2014. Published by McClelland & Stewart.