War Horse (Book Review 3)

War Horse (Book Review 3)

Michael Morpurgo

“War horse”, a proud and original title. Plainly, it’s a book about a horse, and his journeys, but it’s so much more than that. This book includes moments of anger, happiness, and quite a bit of sadness. It’s also a book of adventure, betrayal, and friendship. It’s also a book about keeping your old friends in your memory, while making new memories with new friends.

            The book starts off with the horse, who doesn’t actually have a name yet, about six months old, and at an auction. A horse in front of him was quickly auctioned off, and it was his turn to be auctioned, so he and his owner stepped forward. Bids didn’t fly, but he was sold pretty quickly. Just after the auction he got hauled off to a farm, and a little while later, he was thrown into a stable while being called vulgar names. Next thing this horse new, he was accompanied by a young boy, and an older woman. “Mother,” the boy said. “That will be a wonderful and brave horse. Look at how he holds his head.” Then, after a brief moment of silence, he says, “Look at him, Mother. He’s wet through to the skin. I’ll have to rub him down.”

            “But your father said to leave him be, Albert,” said the boy’s mother. “Said it’ll do him good to be left alone. He told you not to touch him.” Then the boy, Albert, says something incredibly intelligent, even for his age of thirteen, “Mother, when Father’s drunk, he doesn’t know what he’s saying or what he’s doing. He’s always drunk on market days. You’ve told me often enough not to pay him any account when he’s like that.” Then after an0other mement, “You feed old Zoey, Mother, while I see to him. Oh, isn’t he grand Mother? He’s red almost, red bay you’d call him, wouldn’t you say? And that cross down his nose is perfect. Have you ever seen such a thing? I will ride this horse when he’s ready. I will ride him everywhere, and there won’t be a horse to touch him, not in the whole parish, not in this whole country.”

            A little while later, Albert’s mother left and Albert starts rubbing his new steed down. He then, begins talking to him. “We’ll get along you and I. I will call you Joey only because it rhymes with Zoey, and then maybe – yes, maybe – because it suits you,” and so starts a glorious friendship. Over the next long winters and hot summers, Albert and Joey grew up together.

            Finally, after growing up a bit, Joey starts working around the farm with old Zoey and Albert, but Joey starts hearing rumors of a war. Then it hit, a war had actually broke out! Next, about a week after Joey heard about the war, men in khaki uniforms came to the farm. The captain jumped down from his steed and approached both Albert and his father. They were talking about a price for something, and that something… was Joey.  After, a long argument on a price, Albert says he wants to join the army, but alas, the captain said he was too young. After a little more arguing, they sell Joey for forty pounds and a promise that Joey will not come to any sort of harm. Now Joey is preparing to become a war horse, but what he doesn’t know is, he will go through many different families, and even fight for different sides in this war.

            “War Horse” is a thrill ride that takes place during the First World War and, just to be honest, it doesn’t seem like a great book at first, but once I reached the start of the actual war, it got quite interesting. However, this book isn’t for everyone. I’d only recommend this book to people who like war books or those who like “exciting adventure” books.