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Reviewed by Bernadette Longu for Readers' Favorite
In Far on the Ringing Plains (Island) by Patrick E. Craig and Murray Pura, the authors have taken a very sensitive topic and written a story about forgotten soldiers. These are ones that no one wants to remember that died on the island of Guadalcanal, Florida, Tugali, Gavutu, Tonambogo, and Tonga or how many Marines it took to keep the Henderson Air Strip from falling into the hands of the Japanese Army. War demanded from the men fighting on these islands the ultimate in faith, courage, honor, and sacrifice from each and every one of them.
The main characters are three Mennonite boys, Johnny Strange, Billy Martens, and Philo Parmalee, and their lives. These gentle boys take the reader by the hand on a journey that is at times funny but most times sad, dispirited, unfathomable, and downright cruel. The three main characters hide nothing and tell it like it is as they slowly grow into men in the most horrific arena of war. There are other characters introduced from time to time like Corporal Navarro, Bar Gunner, Hernandez, Hotchkiss, McKeaver, Kramer, Malena, Sharples, Levy, and Garowski. Some bring hope and love, some bring despair and discontent, and some even bring peace and acceptance.
Far on the Ringing Plains shows the reader how war can affect those that are actually in the midst of the fighting and what they have to cope with, how they cope, and how a part of them dies slowly the longer they have to fight. Patrick E. Craig and Murray Pura throw a spotlight on PTSD and how it can actually come back and haunt someone long after the fact. The reader finds themselves reading this book from cover to cover to find out what happens and the twist in the tail at the end is something unexpected. This book has made me think about the people I have met and who I know have fought in a war, one way or another. I can now understand their mood swings much better. It is beautifully written; an eye-opening book that I will read again.
