What do you think?
Rate this book
The Letter Bearer
The Rider has no memory of who he is, or how he came to be lying – dying – in the brutal heat of the North African desert. Rescued by a band of deserters, the Rider begins to piece together his identity, based on shards of recollection and the letters in his post bag. The Letter Bearer is unlike any other novel of World War Two. It asks profound questions about trauma, warfare and the experience of desertion. This gripping story asks us to consider how men build hope when they have nothing left – not even a name.
Paperback
First published March 6, 2014
14 people are currently reading
411 people want to read
About the author
Robert Allison
1 book2 followersBorn in Yorkshire in 1963, Robert Allison graduated from university with a 1st class combined honours degree in Drama, History and English, and went on to work as a theatre director and film music reviewer before taking up duties as a copy editor in educational publishing.
He has over twenty short fiction credits in various online and print publications in the UK, the USA and Australia. He is the author of a children’s book for The O‘Brien Press. His debut novel The Letter Bearer was published by Granta in 2014. It was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and went on to win the 2015 McKitterick Prize.
He has over twenty short fiction credits in various online and print publications in the UK, the USA and Australia. He is the author of a children’s book for The O‘Brien Press. His debut novel The Letter Bearer was published by Granta in 2014. It was shortlisted for the Desmond Elliott Prize and the Authors' Club Best First Novel Award, and went on to win the 2015 McKitterick Prize.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
March 2, 2016
i loved this novel of struggle in the north african desert against the elements, and struggle of the men to simultaneously justify their desertion from wwii british army and to 'keep order'.
April 22, 2016
For as long as there have been wars, soldiers have suffered serious memory issues. These are usually characterized by repeatedly reliving traumatic events accompanied by a cluster of attendant symptoms known today as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Allison explores the relationship between the brutality of war and memory in THE LETTER BEARER by having his protagonist suffer profound amnesia, a condition that seems considerably more rare than PTSD. With his characters, setting and plot, Allison admirably evokes the important relevant issues, including loss of and efforts to recover identity, and a sense of isolation and displacement that accompanies memory loss.
A man, known only as “the rider,” is rescued by a group of British Army deserters following his motorcycle accident in the North African desert during the early stages of World War II. His insignias are missing, as is his memory. He believes that he might be a dispatch rider since he carried a postbag filled with letters written by soldiers from a British tank regiment. To him, these letters represent a link to the more benevolent world he left behind. He sees himself as one of the letter writers, but the reader may well be justified in doubting that.
There are no heroes in this band of deserters. Instead, Allison gives us a group of desperate men without a leader, with only vague goals and little honor. Not unlike “the rider” they also have lost their identities, those that come with military rank and hierarchy, replacing them with casual brutality and pragmatism. With the exception of “the rider,” Allison fails to develop much nuance or depth in these characters. Each can be described with simple descriptors: Brinkhurst, competent administrator; Lance Corporal Swann, the consummate soldier; Mawdsley, the medic; Coates, the Canadian; and Lucchi, the compassionate Italian POW.
The narrative shifts between simply recounting a series of events that the group faces while wandering in the desert and “the rider’s” musings about his supposed past that the letters may represent, and his slowly returning recollection of the events that occurred in his tank and lead to his motorcycle accident. The novel’s strength comes from the detail that Allison provides primarily about the letters and their authors, but also the fascinating, but bleak, desert environment. These serve as wonderful counterpoints to emphasize the senselessness and brutality of the war. Unfortunately, the mood Allison succeeds in creating occasionally is broken by excessively lyrical prose, and the questionable ability of this small group of men to lug around all of things required to move the plot forward—water, food, cooking implements, multiple weapons, ammunition, tents, a seemingly endless supply of fuel for the recovered tank, etc. This is especially jarring when one considers that much of the journey is on foot over mountains and “the rider” is recovering from an accident that almost took his life. Was it really necessary to have Lucchi lug those chickens all over the desert?
A man, known only as “the rider,” is rescued by a group of British Army deserters following his motorcycle accident in the North African desert during the early stages of World War II. His insignias are missing, as is his memory. He believes that he might be a dispatch rider since he carried a postbag filled with letters written by soldiers from a British tank regiment. To him, these letters represent a link to the more benevolent world he left behind. He sees himself as one of the letter writers, but the reader may well be justified in doubting that.
There are no heroes in this band of deserters. Instead, Allison gives us a group of desperate men without a leader, with only vague goals and little honor. Not unlike “the rider” they also have lost their identities, those that come with military rank and hierarchy, replacing them with casual brutality and pragmatism. With the exception of “the rider,” Allison fails to develop much nuance or depth in these characters. Each can be described with simple descriptors: Brinkhurst, competent administrator; Lance Corporal Swann, the consummate soldier; Mawdsley, the medic; Coates, the Canadian; and Lucchi, the compassionate Italian POW.
The narrative shifts between simply recounting a series of events that the group faces while wandering in the desert and “the rider’s” musings about his supposed past that the letters may represent, and his slowly returning recollection of the events that occurred in his tank and lead to his motorcycle accident. The novel’s strength comes from the detail that Allison provides primarily about the letters and their authors, but also the fascinating, but bleak, desert environment. These serve as wonderful counterpoints to emphasize the senselessness and brutality of the war. Unfortunately, the mood Allison succeeds in creating occasionally is broken by excessively lyrical prose, and the questionable ability of this small group of men to lug around all of things required to move the plot forward—water, food, cooking implements, multiple weapons, ammunition, tents, a seemingly endless supply of fuel for the recovered tank, etc. This is especially jarring when one considers that much of the journey is on foot over mountains and “the rider” is recovering from an accident that almost took his life. Was it really necessary to have Lucchi lug those chickens all over the desert?
July 1, 2014
A bit of a different 'take' on the war theme, set during the North Africa campaign in WW2. This is the story of a British motorcycle dispatch rider whose name is never revealed - he has hit a mine and is lying seriously injured, is robbed of his papers and personal possessions by passing Germans and local tribesmen and left to die. The only thing he still has is his pouch of letters that he was delivering (or was he?). He is rescued by a small band of British soldiers who he learns are deserters - they are holed up in an isolated location. The story is essentially that of the various tensions within the group and of the rider trying to remember who he is and coming to terms with this. Wonderfully told and very absorbing and well-written for a first novel. This is on the shortlist of three for the Desmond Elliott Prize, to be announced shortly. 8.5/10
August 10, 2015
I'm a sucker for a war story, and I absolutely loved this book. I particularly loved the writing - the desert crackles off the page from the very beginning:
"Heat boils him back to the moment. The shadows of rock pylons newly canted, lazy clock hands across the desert floor. No perpendiculars, only inclinations, a parchment of obliques."
It's a really good story, full of interesting characters and a distinct sense of place - totally different to anything else I've read for a long while.
"Heat boils him back to the moment. The shadows of rock pylons newly canted, lazy clock hands across the desert floor. No perpendiculars, only inclinations, a parchment of obliques."
It's a really good story, full of interesting characters and a distinct sense of place - totally different to anything else I've read for a long while.
April 19, 2016
Grabbed this off the Good Reads shelf at the library on my way out of town. A quick, easy read, but didn't hold my attention well. You're introduced to the rider who has been in an accident and lost his memory (or has he?) and you follow his journey through Northern Africa as he searches for memories and a discovery of his former life.
May 31, 2019
*2.5
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, The Letter Bearer wasn't what I'd expected based on the blurb, and I experienced it as a bit tedious at times. However, on the other hand the representation and narration of James Tuck was exactly what it had to be.
His feelings of isolation and loneliness were besides the obvious and literal desolation beautifully portrayed due to his amnesia. In the search of his own identity, he holds on to the only things he knew were there when they found him: his letters. I believe what I missed in the nameless protagonist were reasons to understand him better and for something to hold on to. The narration felt empty and hollow. Yet, this is exactly the struggle that he is dealing with himself and thus in that case wonderfully portrayed.
I have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, The Letter Bearer wasn't what I'd expected based on the blurb, and I experienced it as a bit tedious at times. However, on the other hand the representation and narration of James Tuck was exactly what it had to be.
His feelings of isolation and loneliness were besides the obvious and literal desolation beautifully portrayed due to his amnesia. In the search of his own identity, he holds on to the only things he knew were there when they found him: his letters. I believe what I missed in the nameless protagonist were reasons to understand him better and for something to hold on to. The narration felt empty and hollow. Yet, this is exactly the struggle that he is dealing with himself and thus in that case wonderfully portrayed.
December 24, 2018
The Letter Bearer starts with the Rider. He lies on the brink of death in the African desert while war rages on around him. He remembers nothing. Not who he is or how he came to be there. All he knows is that he holds a postbag with nine letters in it.
So The Letter Bearer. What can I say? It’s a slow starter that’s for sure. I think by the end of chapter two I wanted to put it down and never pick it up again. But I’m so glad I did. It’s never going to be my favourite novel that’s for sure. But it’s a book that answers the questions it creates and that always wins brownie points.
And as for all those reviews saying you never find out the Rider’s name, what planet are y’all from? He clearly says in the last chapter my name was ***** **** and I was in regiment xyz! And if you’d paid attention to the book you’d have worked out his identity about two or three chapters before that!
So The Letter Bearer. What can I say? It’s a slow starter that’s for sure. I think by the end of chapter two I wanted to put it down and never pick it up again. But I’m so glad I did. It’s never going to be my favourite novel that’s for sure. But it’s a book that answers the questions it creates and that always wins brownie points.
And as for all those reviews saying you never find out the Rider’s name, what planet are y’all from? He clearly says in the last chapter my name was ***** **** and I was in regiment xyz! And if you’d paid attention to the book you’d have worked out his identity about two or three chapters before that!
September 5, 2017
I was excited to read this book - intriguing premise; A rider left for dead where he has no knowledge of who he is. I love this type of stuff. Unfortunately, I couldn't get into it. I was, quite frankly, bored with the writing style where I needed to read the page more than once. The best part of the novel was the letters and there weren't that many to read. I wasn't empathetic with any of the characters especially the people who found the rider were deserters. The only character I liked was part three - the dying man - Major Ingram. For a 259 page book, it took me longer to read this book than it should have. I'll go back to reading books where I hear authors on NPR and I know something about the book.
September 8, 2019
What a Fine Book
What first attracted me to this book was the setting, North Africa, a marvelously diverse place whether in terms of flora and fauna, especially human populations, or culture, language, religion, or how many other aspects of life there. But this is a book about man’s inner life, brought to light in the crucible of war, and made manifest through suffering and the longing that accompanies it. With his beautiful prose, the author presents the reader with a terrible mirror; and I suspect that many of those fortunate enough to read this book will leave it with a finer understanding of what it means to be human.
What first attracted me to this book was the setting, North Africa, a marvelously diverse place whether in terms of flora and fauna, especially human populations, or culture, language, religion, or how many other aspects of life there. But this is a book about man’s inner life, brought to light in the crucible of war, and made manifest through suffering and the longing that accompanies it. With his beautiful prose, the author presents the reader with a terrible mirror; and I suspect that many of those fortunate enough to read this book will leave it with a finer understanding of what it means to be human.
September 20, 2019
A guy on a motorcycle in north Africa during World War II rides over a mine and is badly hurt. He ends up with amnesia. He arrives in a camp of American deserters. The rest of the story is about how this group of soldiers attempts to get back home. The book moves way too slowly, probably replicating the long, miserable, drawn-out days of existence in the desert. What it does best is develop characters. Still, I did not like it much and wouldn't recommend it.
July 25, 2018
I really wanted to like this book. Motorcyclist, mind absenteeism, a more personal experience of the character’s involvement in their war... but it was so dry and flipped without warning to what was current and what was his mind sorting itself out. I didn’t feel any connection to the men of the encampment. Perhaps it is that they are indeed ghosts of desertion.
December 2, 2017
So disappointing. The story précis was quite intriguing but the writing itself a total bore
July 24, 2018
2.25/5
April 7, 2019
I enjoyed it but I can see why others may not. It is a rather slow moving war story about a soldier with amnesia who has to depend on a band of deserters to survive in North Africa.
August 19, 2022
Solid 4-star read until part 3, which I felt didn't live up to the promise of parts 1 and 2.
March 28, 2016
The premise of this novel was more interesting and exciting than the actual novel turned out to be. The main character wakes up in a desert during WW2, with no memory of who he is or how he came to be there, with the only clues to his identity being the letters in his bag, and is rescued by a band of deserters. Sounds like a great setup, and the first chapters were indeed probably the best in this novel. But really, nothing much happened. The plot was thin on the ground, with awkwardly-placed time skips and an ending that made me feel the whole journey was a waste of time, as the Rider had literally learned nothing through his experiences. The other characters were well sketched and had interesting voices that really did remind me of squaddie/forces men, but they never developed any depth or became much more than those sketches, either. Their motives were shallowly explored, and their dynamic was predictable and formulaic.
The Rider himself was tedious to read, unemotional over his own condition and events during the novel. He made some shocking decisions himself, but there’s nothing which really explores even his own motives in doing them, or his lack of care afterwards, despite the novel being written from his POV. The letters as a plot device also might have been more interesting, but they were barely touched upon. Memory-wise, this novel was a bit of an inconsistent mess because of the timeskips. There are no processes to the Rider’s remembering. At the start, I could be confident he knew nothing about himself, but after a couple timeskips it feels as though chunks of the Rider’s development had been taken out in editing. There’s an odd scene where the Rider (the reader, still believing he doesn’t know who he is) withholds his name from one of the deserters, despite him never being shown to have remembered it/figured it out in the first place. I couldn’t figure out for ages if he’d just lied or remembered off-page (turned out to be the latter, way too frequently).
I never found much empathy for the Rider and didn’t care much about his future. He just never came alive, never felt real. I just couldn’t be invested in anyone at all in this novel except for one of the writers of a letter (which kind of shows you how shallowly these characters were explored, if a two-page letter means more to me than their entire story). It feels like a very ‘manly’ novel. I can understand how this approach can represent the logical and cool demeanour of soldiers, but I struggle to believe that the front goes deeper. War is an incredibly traumatic experience, but there was no real sense of any of the characters really being affected by it, despite all of them choosing to desert.
The one thing I really did appreciate in this novel, though, which stopped it dropping down to two stars, was the historical and military detail. Also, the sense of place was strong, with plain but detailed descriptions of the various rugged landscapes. Allison did his research in those areas, if nothing else. I just wish there had been more substance to this book overall, in both character and plot.
The Rider himself was tedious to read, unemotional over his own condition and events during the novel. He made some shocking decisions himself, but there’s nothing which really explores even his own motives in doing them, or his lack of care afterwards, despite the novel being written from his POV. The letters as a plot device also might have been more interesting, but they were barely touched upon. Memory-wise, this novel was a bit of an inconsistent mess because of the timeskips. There are no processes to the Rider’s remembering. At the start, I could be confident he knew nothing about himself, but after a couple timeskips it feels as though chunks of the Rider’s development had been taken out in editing. There’s an odd scene where the Rider (the reader, still believing he doesn’t know who he is) withholds his name from one of the deserters, despite him never being shown to have remembered it/figured it out in the first place. I couldn’t figure out for ages if he’d just lied or remembered off-page (turned out to be the latter, way too frequently).
I never found much empathy for the Rider and didn’t care much about his future. He just never came alive, never felt real. I just couldn’t be invested in anyone at all in this novel except for one of the writers of a letter (which kind of shows you how shallowly these characters were explored, if a two-page letter means more to me than their entire story). It feels like a very ‘manly’ novel. I can understand how this approach can represent the logical and cool demeanour of soldiers, but I struggle to believe that the front goes deeper. War is an incredibly traumatic experience, but there was no real sense of any of the characters really being affected by it, despite all of them choosing to desert.
The one thing I really did appreciate in this novel, though, which stopped it dropping down to two stars, was the historical and military detail. Also, the sense of place was strong, with plain but detailed descriptions of the various rugged landscapes. Allison did his research in those areas, if nothing else. I just wish there had been more substance to this book overall, in both character and plot.
September 21, 2016
A difficult book to read because of the brutality. That said, any book about WWII and a group of deserters is bound to be fraught with images that are hard to forget. I could get past that if I felt the ending of the book had any meaning, but to me it just seemed to stop. Did the author get bored of his subject? Or did he intentionally not even suggest what could happen to the amnesiac who is the main character of the story? I don't need to have a happy ending, but when I invest time and identity with a character I like to have a hint about his/her future. There was nothing satisfying about the ending of this book.
December 1, 2014
Quand on m’a proposé ce roman, j’ai de suite pensé que j’aimerais beaucoup, le synopsis était alléchant.
J’aime beaucoup les romans historiques, et l’époque de la seconde guerre mondiale m’avait paru idéale, quant au dépaysement il semblait garanti.
Un jeune homme motocycliste est grièvement blessé en passant sur une mine, au milieu du désert du Sahara. Il est amnésique et il ne se souvient de rien. Il aurait du mourir mais il est recueilli par une bande de soldat qui le soigne. Il ne lui reste rien, même pas son nom, mis à part un sac contenant des lettres. Il choisira de s’approprier l’identité de Tuck, l’un des auteurs d’une des lettres.
Malheureusement je n’ai pas du tout aimé ce livre. Premièrement, le rythme y est très lent, et c’est une chose avec laquelle j’ai énormément de mal dans les bouquins. Je m’y suis donc vraiment ennuyée !
Je m’attendais également à suivre ce jeune motocycle sur les traces de Tuck, ou encore à découvrir les lettres, malheureusement il n’en est rien.
L’écriture est pourtant très belle, très poétique. Mais justement là encore, ça m’a posé problème, car je l’ai trouvé trop alambiquée, alourdissant encore la lecture.
Alors, je ne remets pas du tout en cause la qualité de ce roman, que j’ai d’ailleurs abandonné, je pense que je me suis tout simplement trompée en le choisissant, il n’était pas fait pour moi à mon grand regret.
Je remercie chaleureusement les Editions DENOËL pour leur confiance.
http://milleetunepages.com/2014/12/01...
J’aime beaucoup les romans historiques, et l’époque de la seconde guerre mondiale m’avait paru idéale, quant au dépaysement il semblait garanti.
Un jeune homme motocycliste est grièvement blessé en passant sur une mine, au milieu du désert du Sahara. Il est amnésique et il ne se souvient de rien. Il aurait du mourir mais il est recueilli par une bande de soldat qui le soigne. Il ne lui reste rien, même pas son nom, mis à part un sac contenant des lettres. Il choisira de s’approprier l’identité de Tuck, l’un des auteurs d’une des lettres.
Malheureusement je n’ai pas du tout aimé ce livre. Premièrement, le rythme y est très lent, et c’est une chose avec laquelle j’ai énormément de mal dans les bouquins. Je m’y suis donc vraiment ennuyée !
Je m’attendais également à suivre ce jeune motocycle sur les traces de Tuck, ou encore à découvrir les lettres, malheureusement il n’en est rien.
L’écriture est pourtant très belle, très poétique. Mais justement là encore, ça m’a posé problème, car je l’ai trouvé trop alambiquée, alourdissant encore la lecture.
Alors, je ne remets pas du tout en cause la qualité de ce roman, que j’ai d’ailleurs abandonné, je pense que je me suis tout simplement trompée en le choisissant, il n’était pas fait pour moi à mon grand regret.
Je remercie chaleureusement les Editions DENOËL pour leur confiance.
http://milleetunepages.com/2014/12/01...
July 2, 2016
"The Letter Bearer" is a story set in 1940 in North Africa during the early part of WWII. It involves a wounded soldier with no memory of who he is or how he came to his present circumstances. His only clue is a bag of letters from other soldiers that he was carrying to...somewhere. It is an excellently written book, well paced, exquisite prose, lush descriptive passages, engaging secondary characters and an imaginative and well conceived story line. But, and you know there had to be a but, or I would have given it more than 3 stars, it lacks a certain grittiness that I would associate with the tenor and feel of this particular tale. Sometimes, Allison uses words that would be better suited to a more genteel story. Granted, at some points, the words create amazing, evocative passages that fit extremely well into an introspective scene or an emotional turning point. At other times, though, the use of poetic and flowery metaphors and similes, tends to distract from the feeling the scene may have been intended to achieve. For example, in describing a stain on the side of a tent, he uses the words, Rorschachian smear, sudarium, sanguine, phlegmatic, humours, defiles, and cartography. Perhaps, too much? Nonetheless, a very good read, could have used a more definitive conclusion, but well the worth the time for the reader. As an aside, it did make me desire a revisit to Michael Ondaatje's "The English Patient". Will be looking forward to Allison's next book.
December 25, 2016
This intriguing book about World War II is so much more than a war novel. It is dangerous to be a deserter – contact with the enemy, your own army, the peoples inhabiting the lands in the war zone. It looks at humanity in the throes of the worst kinds of inhumanities, but shows strengths and weaknesses of those involved. “…commitment to self-interest, a willingness to throw others aside. Not a deficiency of will, but the distillation of it.” Toward the end there is a concern that this is another book that just stops and leaves you, hands out, expecting more. It does have somewhat of a conclusion that satisfies.
This author has a great gift with words – one of my main requisites. The first pages draw in the reader to suffer alongside “the rider.” The description of a sandstorm is well crafted. I learned new vocabulary which always makes me feel the time to read is worth it – “sudarium,” “helve,” “tellurian,” “craquelured,”
Some quotes:
“Fool, to presume certainty in so nascent a universe, all acts of creation probationary.”
About the rustic native population … “no one pauses to offer any greeting, a conflict between foreign powers likely no more comprehensible to them than a war in Heaven.”
About someone slowly dying… “That moment of abject helplessness stretched pitilessly out.”
“…he wants to answer, to reassure. But he can only ever feel his voice tumbling back down his throat.”
This author has a great gift with words – one of my main requisites. The first pages draw in the reader to suffer alongside “the rider.” The description of a sandstorm is well crafted. I learned new vocabulary which always makes me feel the time to read is worth it – “sudarium,” “helve,” “tellurian,” “craquelured,”
Some quotes:
“Fool, to presume certainty in so nascent a universe, all acts of creation probationary.”
About the rustic native population … “no one pauses to offer any greeting, a conflict between foreign powers likely no more comprehensible to them than a war in Heaven.”
About someone slowly dying… “That moment of abject helplessness stretched pitilessly out.”
“…he wants to answer, to reassure. But he can only ever feel his voice tumbling back down his throat.”
September 1, 2016
This book is different from a traditional war book. The characters aren't on the front lines and they all question the meaning of war. No one is a hero, and everyone has very real flaws.
What I enjoyed about this book were the characters, the rider bringing the most intrigue. It was interesting to see how he coped without a memory - by assuming ideas and identities from the people and letters around him he is able to determine what kind of man and soldier he thinks he us supposed to be. I think the other soldiers were allegories to the rider's own character, but I could be mistaken.
Another thing I enjoyed was the lack of fanfare. Everything simply happened, if it was good, it was good, and if it was bad then it's simply how it was in war. It leaves you to feel a bit hollow, but that disappointed feeling is true to life.
Overall a good read that made me think a lot.
What I enjoyed about this book were the characters, the rider bringing the most intrigue. It was interesting to see how he coped without a memory - by assuming ideas and identities from the people and letters around him he is able to determine what kind of man and soldier he thinks he us supposed to be. I think the other soldiers were allegories to the rider's own character, but I could be mistaken.
Another thing I enjoyed was the lack of fanfare. Everything simply happened, if it was good, it was good, and if it was bad then it's simply how it was in war. It leaves you to feel a bit hollow, but that disappointed feeling is true to life.
Overall a good read that made me think a lot.
July 5, 2016
I picked this book up because I found the synopsis interesting and I was looking forward to reading about how the 'Rider' pieced his life back together following his involvement in a blast on the battlefield that took much of his memory. However this story was not as hopeful or as satisfying as I would have liked I found the characters in the book hard to sympathise with, even the main protagonist, who looked upon the people around him with a fair amount of bitterness. It felt as if the whole novel was a kind of torture or punishment for those who had not been seen to fulfil their duty in war. A story that left me feeling quite flat although I cannot deny that the poetry of the description, particularly that if the setting, did give me a reason to read on to the novel's conclusion.
March 1, 2016
Robert Allison is a new and interesting voice. If you liked The Yellow Birds, you might enjoy this. I want to be careful not to spoil the plot but the set-up is fascinating. Imagine you wake up to a deserted battlefield and you have no idea who you are or where you are or when you are or how you got there. All you know is that you are hurt -- pretty badly, but even that takes time to assess. Now that is an interesting premise. More importantly, the premise is used to its fullest. The narrator, therefore, is almost omniscient in his nature and perspective, although not in a removed way. This is an interesting experiment with the voice of a novel and the author pulls it off well.
August 1, 2024
Perhaps the worst thing that ever happened to the protagonist of Robert Allison’s Homeric novel, The Letter Bearer, is that he wasn’t killed outright when he rode over a mine somewhere in the Libyan desert. Death is everywhere in this tale. The rider’s wounds might kill him. If they don’t, then the Afrika Korps, the Italians, or the Senussi might get him. If he manages to evade the Axis or the locals, the desert has a good chance of killing him through heat and dehydration...
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
Read the rest of my review at A Bookish Type.
May 31, 2014
Again a great idea behind the story- an injured soldier in the desert, with no memory of who he is except for the bag of letters he is carrying with him, rescued by a motley group of deserters. The adventure that follows traces his attempt to escape the desert while simultaneously trying to reconstruct his identity. Should have been a gripping tale but the execution of this idea did not excite me. I found the writing style very tedious and verbose. Despite the lackluster writing, the characterization was good, even though a tad cynical for me.
July 29, 2015
Not knowing really anything about the North Africa theatre of WWII, nor the army's role there, I picked up this book from the library, as it sounded rather interesting. A motorcycle despatch rider, left for dead is rescued by a group of British and Canadian deserters who have an Italian POW with them. Who is the 'rider' as he is called? What are the stories of the other men? And what is the connection to the letters the rider has in his satchel? I found this book an excellent read leaving me wondering just who they really all were.
May 23, 2016
When I first started to read this book I thought it would not interest me. However, the more I read the more I was drawn into these exciting characters lives. War brings out the best and worst of soldiers. At times they seem like little kittens and then sometimes they act like lions. There is not much humor in this book, but instead the reality of war. Dead bodies, injured soldiers, and mentally destroyed soldiers. The Letter Bearer by Robert Allison is a book you won't forget or maybe you will want to.
July 7, 2016
This book is about a man waking up during WWII and not knowing who he is. He has been injured and is not expected to survive, but somehow holds on. The only possession not stolen from him is the bag of letters he is carrying that were to be sent to loved ones if their soldiers died in the war. He tries to figure out if one of the letters is his or not while staying alive the best he can. A look inside the desperation and inhumanity of war.
May 3, 2014
I loved the writing style it made me feel as though I was in the desert with the rider. An interesting look at war from another perspective. The rider is left to die in the desert with no recollection of who he is or how he came to be there he is rescued by a band of army deserters. The characters are interesting and realistic. Good read
June 12, 2014
A fascinating story of a wounded British soldier in the North African desert, 1942, terribly injured but keeping up just enough to stay with a band of British deserters as they trek through the desert, hiding from enemies and countrymen alike. The writing is poetic, the action is slow but relentless. Beautifully written. Slow moving but always interesting.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews