From my friend, Leo Jung

Hi Andrea, I am in my first pass of the book, but have some thoughts I
would like to share.

I find Boyden's writing very sensual, and this quality drew me deeply
into the story. As I mentioned to you elsewhere, the book elicits
allusions to ethnicity in general to me, so this will be the focus of
this comment.

The windigo myth is interesting: the abhorrence of cannibalism is
almost universal. The few exceptions which come to mind are the
isolated native cultures of Borneo & Papua, New Guinea who viewed their
catch as species of pigs rather than people. The only other exception
is people driven to desperation by hunger in rare situations such as a
plane wreck in the Andes. Diseases such as kuru would have no
signifigance in primitive cultures with no written history and very low
life expectancy. So the windigo myth is interesting.

Depictions of a minority ostracized by a majority has persistent
overtones in modern society, and the treatment of the natives by the
white people in society has many parallels to how other minorities are
sometimes treated in North America.

The way in which a minority deals with ostracism ranges from self doubt
and hate, to the opposite extreme: 'transcending' to master the traits
which the majority considers desirable. And no matter how successful
the minority are at the latter path, bigots still persist, and exploit
the minorities. Thankfully, all forms of media and now the internet has
paradoxically transformed those people who are full of hate into a very
tiny minority..

One example of the former self doubt/hate theme is found in the scene
with Niska's betrayal in the church. Her reaction was to flee, and
invoke the manitou from the sweat lodge. Although the result was
desirable, it seems probable that the Frenchman died of untreated syphillis.

Elijah and his companion fought for their country, earning the
admiration of their comrades. There is a parallel to my own
chinese-canadian culture here: it is only after chinese canadians fought
in WW II, some of them sent to infiltrate enemy lines, that they were
given the right to vote in Canada in 1947, and in B.C. in 1949.

In contrast to 'Three Day Road,' Chinese integration has been wonderful;
but on occasion, we run into one of the new minority who are blinded by
hubris and greed. Instead of being on the same side of the war, they
knowingly endanger the lives of Canadians and our allies.

I look forward to reading other reactions to the book.

https://www.facebook.com/leo.jung