The Sojurn by Andrew Krivak is a strange book.

A work of near-fiction based on a life of fact or perhaps a book about a life based on near-truths. The author researched the life of his grandfather a sniper in World War I and follows him from birth to his life not long after the war. Some of the story is based on real events and known facts, and the facts are universal in the experience of those who followed the same path as his grandfather: The grisly realities related by soldiers that have killed, seen those around them killed and who have narrowly escaped death, yet how he relates them makes the story so much more than that. It is not a complicated story the plot runs fairly straight and true with only a few completely unexpected twists. Perhaps half the book is a soldiers tale but, beyond that, it is about experience, human frailties, courage and coming to grips with answers to questions not asked whose answers shape ones soul. It starts with being nearly killed as an infant in America, being taken back to Hungary, and then how he progresses through childhood into manhood through the many trials that tumble through his life. His adopted brother, Zlee, is a larger-than-life figure with whom he experiences much. Zlee is both protector and friend, and they enlist together, serve together and see the world through the similar eyes. Yet it is our ersatz hero who, as narrator and main subject, reveals the layers of each character and gives them vibrancy. It is not just the experiences, but how he relates to those with whom he has them. This is not a happy book, yet it is gripping and well worth reading. The author is a wonderful story teller who has an odd fascination with sentences that rival city streets for their length. At roughly 135 pages, it is short enough to move quickly yet deep enough to offer curious, well-considered and often riveting insights.