The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers
2005
First Published
3.37
Average Rating
144
Number of Pages
Georgia, 1898: On what may be the last day of his life, Captain Frederick Benteen—the man who saved Custer’s Seventh Cavalry from almost certain death at Little Bighorn—receives a letter from an ambitious boy offering to “restore” his reputation. For over 23 years Benteen has silently watched Custer’s legend grow. His General has been dead for more than 20 years, killed in action, considered a hero, while the public has never forgiven Benteen for surviving. Now, at last, he begins to put down some account of those two horrific days pinned down on a ridge. What follows is an exquisite eulogy for his fellow soldiers, both alive and dead. Funny, moving, rich in character and incident, this acclaimed novel avoids the bloody battle scenes and maudlin romance that characterize much Civil War-based fiction in favor of an unsparing and poetic story that explores what it means to be a soldier—then and now.
Avg Rating
3.37
Number of Ratings
92
5 STARS
15%
4 STARS
34%
3 STARS
30%
2 STARS
14%
1 STARS
7%
goodreads
Author
Delia Falconer
Author · 6 books
Delia Falconer is the author of two novels, The Service of Clouds and The Lost Thoughts of Soldiers and Selected Stories and the memoir Sydney. Her fiction and non-fiction have been widely anthologised, including in the Macquarie PEN Anthology of Australian Literature. She is a senior lecturer in creative writing at the University of Technology, Sydney.
