Review by Okoro Chinasa -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
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Okoro Chinasa
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- Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
Review by Okoro Chinasa -- Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
[Following is a volunteer review of "Strong Heart" by Charlie Sheldon.]
3 out of 4 stars
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Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is a very interesting nonfiction novel that centred on adventure and research on the origin of human and animals. The adventure that went through the novel held my imagination which I kept on replaying in my mind even when I was not reading. And the questions that came popping up in order to understand the origin of human and other things in the novel, though some assertions and findings seemed unreal and unimaginable were expository.
The major characters in the novel; Tom, Williams, Sarah, and Myra set out for an adventure to visit Tom’s grand father’s grave to get answers to some questions and dress the man’s grave. Initially, their intention was not to go with Sarah, Tom’s grand daughter which he never knew he had, not until Ruth his ex wife turned up at his doorstep with Sarah and left her in his care.
Their journey to the forest was not an easy one as they were exposed to harsh weather conditions and risk of been attacked by wild animals. When they finally found the spot, Tom’s grand father was buried, Tom found one of his grand father’s properties at his grave and burnt it and they succeded in dressing his grand father’s grave with stones.
Sarah who was an artist in one of her time outs, encountered a large bear that ever existed in the river and she drew it. She later narrated her experience with the bear to Tom, Williams and Myra, while Williams and Myra were considering the possibility, Tom disbelieved Sarah’s story outrightly and in one of their arguments, Sarah strode out angrily with the atlatl and was missing for eight days. Even with the help of the surveyors which Tom radioed for help to find Sarah, she was not found until that fateful day amidst thunderstorm and rain, Sarah appeared before Tom and Williams who were still in search of her looking very dirty and injured.
After she was cleaned up and her injuries dressed, she was able to rest, then when she gained consciousness, she narrated her story of how she got trapped and found herself with strange people; skin boat people and other captives like her. They were all captured to be sold as wives to the razor stone people. On getting to the agreed place of meeting to transact the business, the razor stone people overthrew the skin boat people and killed some while others escaped and they made away with the captives.
Their journey with the razor stone people to the land was not a smooth or safe one as they went through the sea with their canoes paddling which Sarah showed a lot of strength and they were also exposed to wild animals as some of them were killed by the animals. Sarah learnt how to throw darts in this journey, she was thought by Thrower, one of the people and she practiced repeatedly to perfect in her throwing. Sarah narrated her story as much as she could.
When Tom, Sarah, Williams and Myra left the forest for their home, Tom lost his job, and Sarah returned to her grand mother and her husband Fletcher who took custody of her because they felt that Tom was not mentally stable to take care of her having learnt that he took her to the forest and she was lost for some days. Sarah used this opportunity to practise more in her throwing and she constructed her own thrower which she used to attack Fletcher who came to molest her and she fled to Myra’s house.
Tom wanted the fossil he had to be dated and this was to be carried out by Alec, William’s friend who later died before the dating could be concluded but passed down the duty to his scientist son Sergei. Sarah’s hide out in Myra’s place could put all of them into trouble if found out by Fletcher, so they decided to return to the forest in search of the thrower which Sarah lost when she was trapped, and giving them the assurance that she knew where it fell, they all made the journey in the company of Sergei who agreed to join them in quest for research and data. The thrower was found by Sarah but was destroyed and burnt by one of the Buckhorn surveyors; Roger who didn’t want any evidence that the mine in the forest had something to do with Tom’s grandfather but the Buckhorns in favour of Fletcher and they threatened to shoot Tom, Myra and Sergei but they were saved by Sarah’s darts who was not in the scene but aimed from her location and nailed Rogers and Raymond to a tree. Though lost in the forest when they wanted to return home but found their way through the map Myra had and the directions Sarah got from the bear she once encountered.
The novel Strong heart was easy to understand, the diction was clear and simple but the problem I had with it is that, in the beginning of the novel, the author made it very difficult for us to understand the relationship between Tom, Williams and Myra, I was assuming that Myra could be someone Tom wanted to marry since he was divorced though Williams daughter, it was at the long run that I discovered that Myra was a young lady and had no such relationship with tom but she was just part of the journey to see to the welfare of her dad and Tom.
Another issue I had with the novel is that I found it difficult to know who was speaking at some points in the novel because most of the times, the author didn’t specify the person talking, I would always trace back to know the person who could be talking or wait for his or her name to be mentioned by the next speaker.
Finally, I think the novel was not conclusive, may be the author wishes to write a part two but I was thinking it would capture how they left the forest to their homes, how they faced Fletcher, and the incidence that occurred in the forest and probably if Sergei and Myra ended together. But all the same, I enjoyed the novel, Sarah was a great character.
I rate this novel 3 out of 4 stars because of its inconclusive nature and the difficulties I had in understanding some lines in the novel and tracing some speakers at some points.
I recommend this novel to researchers on the origin of man and some animals and the lovers of adventures.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
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3 out of 4 stars
Share This Review
Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon is a very interesting nonfiction novel that centred on adventure and research on the origin of human and animals. The adventure that went through the novel held my imagination which I kept on replaying in my mind even when I was not reading. And the questions that came popping up in order to understand the origin of human and other things in the novel, though some assertions and findings seemed unreal and unimaginable were expository.
The major characters in the novel; Tom, Williams, Sarah, and Myra set out for an adventure to visit Tom’s grand father’s grave to get answers to some questions and dress the man’s grave. Initially, their intention was not to go with Sarah, Tom’s grand daughter which he never knew he had, not until Ruth his ex wife turned up at his doorstep with Sarah and left her in his care.
Their journey to the forest was not an easy one as they were exposed to harsh weather conditions and risk of been attacked by wild animals. When they finally found the spot, Tom’s grand father was buried, Tom found one of his grand father’s properties at his grave and burnt it and they succeded in dressing his grand father’s grave with stones.
Sarah who was an artist in one of her time outs, encountered a large bear that ever existed in the river and she drew it. She later narrated her experience with the bear to Tom, Williams and Myra, while Williams and Myra were considering the possibility, Tom disbelieved Sarah’s story outrightly and in one of their arguments, Sarah strode out angrily with the atlatl and was missing for eight days. Even with the help of the surveyors which Tom radioed for help to find Sarah, she was not found until that fateful day amidst thunderstorm and rain, Sarah appeared before Tom and Williams who were still in search of her looking very dirty and injured.
After she was cleaned up and her injuries dressed, she was able to rest, then when she gained consciousness, she narrated her story of how she got trapped and found herself with strange people; skin boat people and other captives like her. They were all captured to be sold as wives to the razor stone people. On getting to the agreed place of meeting to transact the business, the razor stone people overthrew the skin boat people and killed some while others escaped and they made away with the captives.
Their journey with the razor stone people to the land was not a smooth or safe one as they went through the sea with their canoes paddling which Sarah showed a lot of strength and they were also exposed to wild animals as some of them were killed by the animals. Sarah learnt how to throw darts in this journey, she was thought by Thrower, one of the people and she practiced repeatedly to perfect in her throwing. Sarah narrated her story as much as she could.
When Tom, Sarah, Williams and Myra left the forest for their home, Tom lost his job, and Sarah returned to her grand mother and her husband Fletcher who took custody of her because they felt that Tom was not mentally stable to take care of her having learnt that he took her to the forest and she was lost for some days. Sarah used this opportunity to practise more in her throwing and she constructed her own thrower which she used to attack Fletcher who came to molest her and she fled to Myra’s house.
Tom wanted the fossil he had to be dated and this was to be carried out by Alec, William’s friend who later died before the dating could be concluded but passed down the duty to his scientist son Sergei. Sarah’s hide out in Myra’s place could put all of them into trouble if found out by Fletcher, so they decided to return to the forest in search of the thrower which Sarah lost when she was trapped, and giving them the assurance that she knew where it fell, they all made the journey in the company of Sergei who agreed to join them in quest for research and data. The thrower was found by Sarah but was destroyed and burnt by one of the Buckhorn surveyors; Roger who didn’t want any evidence that the mine in the forest had something to do with Tom’s grandfather but the Buckhorns in favour of Fletcher and they threatened to shoot Tom, Myra and Sergei but they were saved by Sarah’s darts who was not in the scene but aimed from her location and nailed Rogers and Raymond to a tree. Though lost in the forest when they wanted to return home but found their way through the map Myra had and the directions Sarah got from the bear she once encountered.
The novel Strong heart was easy to understand, the diction was clear and simple but the problem I had with it is that, in the beginning of the novel, the author made it very difficult for us to understand the relationship between Tom, Williams and Myra, I was assuming that Myra could be someone Tom wanted to marry since he was divorced though Williams daughter, it was at the long run that I discovered that Myra was a young lady and had no such relationship with tom but she was just part of the journey to see to the welfare of her dad and Tom.
Another issue I had with the novel is that I found it difficult to know who was speaking at some points in the novel because most of the times, the author didn’t specify the person talking, I would always trace back to know the person who could be talking or wait for his or her name to be mentioned by the next speaker.
Finally, I think the novel was not conclusive, may be the author wishes to write a part two but I was thinking it would capture how they left the forest to their homes, how they faced Fletcher, and the incidence that occurred in the forest and probably if Sergei and Myra ended together. But all the same, I enjoyed the novel, Sarah was a great character.
I rate this novel 3 out of 4 stars because of its inconclusive nature and the difficulties I had in understanding some lines in the novel and tracing some speakers at some points.
I recommend this novel to researchers on the origin of man and some animals and the lovers of adventures.
******
Strong Heart
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Like Okoro Chinasa's review? Post a comment saying so!
Latest Review: Strong Heart by Charlie Sheldon
