0 Reactions

War Horse (novel)

War Horse AuthorMichael MorpurgoCountryUnited KingdomLanguageEnglishGenrewar novelPublisherKaye & Ward1982Media typePrint (hardback & paperback)ISBN978-0-439-79664-4OCLC70630557Preceded byThe White Horse of Zennor: And Other Stories from below the Eagle's Nest Followed byFarm Boy
War Horse is a British war novel by Michael Morpurgo. It was first published in Great Britain by Kaye & Ward in 1982. The story recounts the experiences of Joey, a horse bought by the Army for service in World War I in France and the attempts of 15-year-old Albert, his previous owner, to bring him safely home. It formed the basis of both an award-winning play (2007) and an acclaimed film adaptation (2011) by Steven Spielberg. The novel is often considered one of Morpurgo's best works, and its success spawned a sequel titled Farm Boy, which was published in October 1997.

Plot
One day, a man named Ted Narracott buys a young horse for 30 guineas when he was supposed to buy a horse for plough at an auction. Ted's son, Albert, names the horse Joey and grows to love him, protecting the young horse from Ted when he is drunk. While with the Narracotts, Joey also meets a horse named Zoey, who was a source of comfort to Joey, and whose name partially inspired his.

Soon, Ted sells Joey to the army in return for money, before Albert can stop him. Albert tries to sign up for the army, but he is too young but promises to come back for Joey. Joey is trained for the army by Corporal Perkins, and Captain James Nicholls is his original rider, leading a unit of mounted infantry. Joey soon befriends Topthorn, a horse ridden by Captain Jamie Stewart. However, during a charge against a group of Germans, Nicholls is killed. Stewart assigns Trooper Warren, a nervous young man who rides heavier but is quite kind, to ride Joey.

During another charge, Topthorn and Joey carry Warren and Stewart into the enemy lines, and are the only two of many, but they are captured by the Germans. They use Joey and Topthorn to pull an ambulance cart for the hospital, where the two horses are famous and respected for saving the lives of many. The Germans allow Emilie and her grandfather, who live in a farm near the front lines, to care for Joey and Topthorn. Emilie grows to love Joey and Topthorn like Albert loved Joey, caring for their every injury and feeding them every night. Soon, the Germans move their hospital somewhere else because there was a battle, and Emilie and her grandfather are allowed to keep Joey and Topthorn, who they use for their farm. Topthorn was not bred to plow, but learns quickly from Joey, who has experience from the Narracott farm.

Soon, however, a group of German artillerymen pass by their farm, and they take away Joey and Topthorn to pull their artillery wagon. The two horses meet Friedrich, who befriends them and tries to care for them as much as he can, growing to love Topthorn and telling them that he didn't want to be a soldier. Joey and Topthorn are two of the last few survivors of the artillery-pulling team. One day, after drinking water with Joey, Topthorn dies from heart failure. The Allied artillery starts shelling right after the Germans and Friedrich is killed. After seeing an Allied tank for the first time, Joey runs in terror and is wounded by barbed wire before breaking free. Both the Allied soldiers and Central Power soldiers see the wounded Joey in no-man's-land, and an Allied soldier wins possession of Joey by flipping a coin with a Central Power soldier and winning. However, their few minutes of friendly peace create a bond between the two before they separate, and both wondered together what could have been if not for the war.

While being cared for by the Allies' veterinary hospital, Joey happens to be cared for by Albert, who is working for the hospital and has a friend named David. Albert realizes that Joey is his old horse only after cleaning all the mud off him, and seeing how he responds to his whistle. Albert starts caring for Joey again like he used to. Near the end of the war, David and two horses from the veterinary hospital are killed by a stray shell, putting Albert in a state of depression, as David had cared for him like a brother. At the end of the war, Major Martin announces that they are going to auction off all the horses, despite the protests of Sergeant Thunder and the rest of the soldiers. During the auction, Sergeant Thunder loses to a butcher for Joey, but an old man outbids the butcher and reveals that he is Emilie's grandfather, who was looking for Joey. Emilie's grandfather tells Albert about how Joey and Topthorn came to their farm, and that Emilie had lost the will to live after Joey and Topthorn were taken from their farm, with Emilie fading away and dying at just 15 years old. Emilie's grandfather sells Joey to Albert for a cheap price, in return for telling people about Emilie, or else "she will just be a name on a gravestone nobody will read". Albert and Joey return to England, where they live in peace and Joey meets Albert's girlfriend, Maisie, with whom he doesn't get along very well.

Free books android app tbrJar TBR JAR Read Free books online gutenberg

Load Full (0)