Days 1 & 2 of Canada Reads 2011

Believe it or not this is the first year that I have listened (watched actually) the Canada Reads competition live. I have listened to all of the past years at nausea but never as they happened. A lot has happened in first two days and here are a few of my thoughts about things so far:

• Essex County, the first book voted off, was not given a fair shake whatsoever. As everyone knows, I was not a fan of a graphic novel being included in the competition, and I still haven’t warmed up to the idea, but that does not excuse how it was treated by most of the panelists. Since it was included, I would have like to seen some debate on the content of the book (themes, characters, development, quality), instead we had them jumping all over the book because of its genre. I think it was a good book, I do not think it should have won, but I feel like it was really sold short. Lorne was the only one I felt, other than Sara, who was at least somewhat fair towards the book. I was introduced to graphic novels for the first time because of its inclusion and was surprised how much I enjoyed it.
• The Bone Cage was booted off today with 3 votes. I am bitter as this was my pick to win and favorite of the five. I didn’t hear any compelling arguments as to why people voted it off, but alas, it is gone. Georges Laraque was honest and courteous in defeat (and he had an awesome shirt on too).
• Ali Velshi and Debbie Travis are really grating on my nerves. Travis admitted to not finishing (from what I understand, I was on the phone during this part) The Best Laid Plans. Neither panelist seems at all willing to point out any positive merits other contenders may have. Velshi seems arrogant and conceded in his defense of his book. While both have been focusing almost exclusively on their own books, they haven’t really been hitting on any points that would convince the casual reader to pick up their titles. We need panelists like we had in previous years, like Jim Cuddy, Steven Page, and Denise Bombardier, who strongly defend their titles but are also happy to discuss how good the other books are as well.
• Lorne Cardinal is doing a great job defending Unless, which I would have bet money on being gone the first day. He is also very generous in his comments about the other contenders, acknowledging (unlike Travis and Velshi) that all of the books are in fact great books. He also gets my vote as best dressed panelist.
• I am not sure why the format was switched this year to three 1 hour shows instead of five 30 minute shows. I much preferred the old format; I find by the end of the hour I am mentally exhausted and “booked-out”.
• I do not like the audience in the studio. I find it takes away from the intimacy of the conversations.
• I like how many of the authors have been active on social media. I have had the pleasure of speaking to a few of them quite often and this given me some great insight into their novels. I think this is a good thing for literature and a great way for writers to get more word out about their books

That’s my two cents. I am officially throwing my support being The Best Laid Plans now that my first pick has been voted off in a venerable orgy of poor judgement.

 

The Birth House by Ami McKay

Winner of the 2007 Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Fiction Book of the Year

Winner of the 2007 Evergreen Award

Winner of the 2007 Atlantic Book Awards Bookseller’s Choice Award

Longlisted for the 2008 IMPAC Dublin Literary Award

Selected for Canada Reads 2011

I managed to finish the last Canada Reads 2011 book just in time to get a review up before the show starts on Monday. I left The Birth House to the end of my reading simply because it was the only book which I had not formed a pre-reading opinion on yet (although 2 of these opinions ended up being very wrong). Ami McKay’s book, which is carrying the banner for us proud Atlantic Canadians this year, is  a historical novel about a young woman and her journey from a young midwife’s apprentice to a mature woman rights advocate. I had no idea what to think of this book as I opened it up, my one fear was that, like Unless, it would be a overwritten diatribe on women’s issues and the feminist fight. The Birth House was nothing of the sort. The story looks at a time in society where, for women especially, everyone’s lives were on the precipice of monumental change. Issues of reproductive and birthing rights are examined, modern medicine, at least what was considered modern at the time, was at odds with tradition holistic and faith-based healing, the dawn of electricity in rural Nova Scotia opened up a whole new world to people, The Great War and it’s effect on the wifes left behind, and the effects of other historical events like the Halifax Explosion and the Spanish Influenza pandemic. This book is a gift to the world and was much better than what I expected. I have already recommended this to most of my friends and co-workers.

One thing that made this a great book, instead of just a good piece of historical fiction, was the style in which it was written. The story is told with a combination of first-person narration, journal entries, newspaper clippings, visual additions, and correspondence between characters. With a lot of historical fiction, even the really good pieces, it often feels like you are slogging through it as the research and details become more important that the characters or forward movement. This was not the case in Ami McKay’s novel; she has weaved the historical accuracies seamlessly into the lives of Dora and her inner circle.

There are so many memorable scenes in this novel: one of the best descriptions of the Halifax Explosion I have read since Barometer Rising, the journal entries of Dora’s new medical device to help with her hysteria, and, one of my favorite parts, her explorations of the “big-city” of Boston. In her notes at the end of the book, Ami McKay says “[...]I wanted to arrange my words[...]by making a literary scrapbook out of Dora’s days”; that is exactly what she has done. Any of the scenes I just mentioned would easily stand alone as an engaging piece of writing; put them together and tie in such important themes, you get a piece of fiction that will be read by the general public for years and no doubt make it’s way onto High School and University reading lists.

Historical fiction has become a staple in Canadian literature, but I think that it has become a somewhat stale genre. We need more books like The Birth House taking this traditional type of book and injecting it with some new and creative style. I think Ami McKay is lucky to have Debbie Travis championing her book. This is someone who is very comfortable in front of a camera and is respected by literally millions of people. Even if it doesn’t result in a win for the author I am sure Ms. Travis’ support will at least result in lots of new exposure (and therefore a few more digits on the next royalty cheque.) As the Canada Reads show gets rolling tomorrow I wish Ms. McKay and all of her fellow authors the best of luck.

 

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

Winner of the 2008 Stephen Leacock Award for Humour

Winner of Canada Reads 2011

The story behind The Best Laid Plans and its publication is a story in and of itself which I am sure most readers are familiar with by now. After countless rejections from publishers and agents, Terry Fallis recorded a podcast of his new novel and then self-published it through iUniverse. After winning the 2008 Stephen Leacock Award for Humour, beating out serious heavyweights Douglas Coupland and Will Ferguson, the book was published by one of Canada’s most storied houses, McClelland and Stewart. This book combines two of my favorite things, literature and politics. I have read a number of winners of the Leacock Award in the past and have been disappointed more often than not; The Best Laid Plans is, without a doubt, one of the funniest books I have ever read. A political thriller in the truest sense of the term: this novel is eyes-deep in the political machinations of Ottawa with a twist and turn around every corner. With hilarious narration and page after page of memorable comedy, The Best Laid Plans is going to be a contender that I can see making it right to the final round of Canada Reads this year.

I think the magic in this book is that it both captures the country’s cynicism towards politics and delves into the reasons behind that cynicism in a very funny way. As the plot unfolds, we see the cantankerous Angus McLintock unexpected and unwanted election to the House of Commons and his direct march against the political grain. The character development is absolutely incredible and the subplots are tied in so seamlessly that we are instantly drawn into this mosaic. Something that has to be mentioned about this book is that behind the humour, the unforgettable cast, the epic chess battles, and the harrowing hovercraft trip rests a very serious message: the future of our nation and many of the cornerstones of our society are being run by people with short-sighted and self-serving agendas. Our public servants have lost the ability the put the nations long-term interests ahead of winning the next election, ahead of their polling numbers, and ahead of their own careers. Had this novel been written in a dramatic style, it would be a complete snore, despite the importance of the central themes. This is humour at its best.

An exposé on the ridiculous behemoth that our democracy has become,  The Best Laid Plans should be required reading for all MPs and MLAs/MPPs/MHAs at the beginning of each session. Looking beyond the contents of the novel, I think the publication story behind this book should serve as a lesson on the culture of elitism that has emerged amongst many Canadian publishers. It seems that unless you are either a university English professor or a recent graduate from an MFA program (and many people know how I feel about MFA programs and the damage they are doing to the North American literary scene) the deck is stacked against you in getting that first book published. What changed about The Best Laid Plans after it won the Leacock Medal? Nothing, except the publishing community realized what a grievous error it had made.

Canadians love their arts, their sports, and their politics. I think that the final two books standing in the battle for the Canada Reads crown will be this title and The Bone Cage. Ultimately I think The Bone Cage will win because I believe it will resonate with more people and humour generally has  a rough go on this show. In terms of “which is a better book”, they both get 5 stars in my mind. As he opened his endless parade of rejection letters, I wonder what Terry Fallis would have thought if someone told him he would win one of the most prestigious literary prizes in Canada and then be on Canada Reads a few short years later with the sequel, The High Road, coming out in 2010.

 

Unless by Carol Shields

Winner of the 2003 Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

Shortlisted for the 2003 Orange Prize

Shortlisted for the 2002 Man Booker Prize

Shortlisted for the 2002 Giller Prize

Shortlisted for the 2002 Governor-General’s Award for Fiction

Selected for Canada Reads 2011

I have had a few Carol Shields’ books on the shelves for a while now, but I am fairly unfamiliar with her work. Best known for her 1993 novel The Stone Diaries, winner of the Governor-General’s Award and the Pulitzer Prize, the only book to win both national prizes, Unless was Shields’ last novel, released less then a year before her death. Her style of writing is from the more old-style modernist CanLit style, a throwback to 60s and 70s literary traditions. This is a novel about feminism, not in a “hear-me-roar” sense, but an eye opening look at the trials and tribulations that go along with being a mother and wife. Unless is not a book for everyone. The first-person narration gets almost unbearable at parts and the overly used metaphors of the novel Reta is working on can grate on the nerves. The novel is well written but it just wasn’t my cup of tea; I struggled to get through it and had it not been chosen for Canada Reads this year I likely would not have finished it.

Perhaps because it was written at the tail-end of Carol Shields’ life, Unless has a very reflective, almost elegiac tone to it. I think this is what put me off. When you have this elegiac tone, which I generally do not like, combined with a narrator that I find to be self-righteous and have a chip on her shoulder, you get a very slow read and a very sluggish book. There is very little forward momentum. We are occasionally given bits of story, mostly centered on Reta’s writing or her panhandling daughter, but we are also given long indulgent diatribes about things like shopping for a scarf that goes on for what feels like 20 pages. The language is very poetic, and had the novel had a bit more forward movement I would say that it was a beautiful piece.  Unlike the other Canada Reads 2011 books I have read this year, the characters were very unmemorable; I finished this book less than 24 hours ago and I had trouble recalling the cast members’ names for this review.

This novel must have it fans, otherwise it wouldn’t have made it on the top 40 and top 10 lists, then eventually being chosen for the Canada Reads competition. I am pleased though that Shields finally made it into this competition. Her inclusion is a posthumous addition to an almost perfect resume: winner of the Canadian Authors’ Association Award for the Best Novel, the Arthur Ellis Award for Best Canadian Mystery, the Governor-General’s Award, the National Book Critics Award, the Pulitzer, the Orange Prize, the Charles Taylor Prize, a pair of Giller nominations, and a pair of Booker nominations; this Canada Reads nod is a much deserved honour. I have a feeling that a Carol Shields novel could be an experience to be remembered and Unless simply wasn’t the one to provide it. I plan on reading Larry’s Party in the near future since I’ve heard this is one of her best. I think that this will be the first book voted off the show this year, not because it is a “bad” book, simply because it is not a book that I think everyone in Canada will enjoy.

 

The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou

Selected for Canada Reads 2011

Angie Abdou’s second book, her first novel, The Bone Cage, is an intimate look at two Olympians preparing for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. There have been countless books written about the “major” sports, but in this novel Abdou takes a chance and focuses on two relatively lesser known sports, wrestling and distance swimming. The two central characters, Digger and Sadie, were an absolute pleasure to spend this journey with. The characters develop so well, the supporting cast is just as memorable as the mains, the sports jargon is kept to a layman’s level, and the story takes you on lots of twists and turns while blending the humour of life and heart-wrenching dramatics that pull you back to reality. I am very happy that this book survived the Canada Reads cut from the top 40 to the top 5. The Bone Cage is a sports story that can be enjoyed by the least sporty among us.

The first half or so of the novel consists of chapters with alternating third person points-of-view, either from Sadie’s or Digger’s perspective. Eventually, through an innocent meeting at the University of Calgary weight room, their paths intersect and their lives forever altered. The chapters still alternate perspective but many of them contain both characters. The author times their meeting perfectly. I find a lot of times in novels with this narrative technique it takes too long for the central characters to meet. Abdou’s narrative is flawless; the pacing is absolutely brilliant and there is a perfect amount of detail.

As I mentioned before, the supporting cast is amazing. You have the coaches, the families, and the competitors; my favorite character in the book is Fly. A hyperactive wrestler who has appointed himself to the position of Digger’s assistant once his own Olympic dreams are shattered, Fly has the ability to bring levity and sanity to the most tense or out-of-control situation.  The wrestling coach, Saul, also has a number of classic one-liners, my favorite being his trademark “eargasm” motion.

This novel examines a lot of complex themes. These athletes are like artists. They train and train, practice and practice, until they reach the pinnacle of their craft. Throughout the story the characters are faced with their identity: is it their sport that defines them or are they something more than this athlete? What happens to a person when all they know ends or is taken away from them? Is there life after sport?

I feel like my review might be selling this book a little bit short, but that is simply because I do not want to give away any details that could in any way spoil the read. Each and every page is filled with such mature and polished writing. Angie Abdou manages to avoid the typical tropes and pitfalls of genre fiction; I don’t look at The Bone Cage as a sports novel, this is a work of literature that just happens to have sports as its cornerstone.

I think The Bone Cage will be listed alongside other great CanLit pieces with sports at their core (Night Work, King Leary, Shoeless Joe) and will be looked at as one of the quintessential novels of last five years. The story is sharply original; it is told with passion; the dialog is extremely well written, quite a feat for a first time novelist; and the characters are memorable. The book’s panelist at Canada Reads 2011, Georges Laraque, will be a good defender. As a former NHLer and an active member of the political world he has everything that would be needed to passionately discuss this novel. This book is my pick to win Canada Reads 2011. Angie Abdou’s next novel, The Canterbury Trail, will be released in February and I can’t wait to read it.

 

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

Winner of the 2008 American Library Association’s Alex Award

Winner of the 2008 Doug Wright Award

Winner of the 2008 Joe Shuster Award

Selected for Canada Reads 2011

I have strong feelings about Essex County being included in Canada Reads 2011. On Twitter and Facebook my strong conviction that a graphic novel shouldn’t be in this competition has been misconstrued as being “against” the genre; I will admit that this type of book is something that I never reach for, but I am not against this as an artistic form. My objections to its inclusion simply stems from the fact that I do not see the graphic novel as a literary genre; graphic novels are primarily a medium for the visual arts. The cartoons are the star. Now with that out of the way I can get down to business.

As a youngster I was a huge comic book fan but the idea of a “novel” told through comics was a little strange to me. No matter what your feelings on this medium it is hard to deny that graphic novels have exploded in popularity. Many bookstores, including larger independents, have sections dedicated to them. I am not going to attempt to know anything about the big players in this world but with the little bit of research I did before I started Essex County I learned that Jeff Lemire is a very well respected man in the industry, working with DC/Vertigo Comics. Essex County is not one cohesive novel, it is a collection of three smaller books and two short comics that make up the Essex County mythology. I have to admit, I really enjoyed this book. Lemire is an incredibly talented artist.

I loved the artistic style in this book; it has a roughness to it that could be described as gritty. Even on stretches of 5 or 6 pages that do not have a single word of text, Lemire was able to display a wide range of emotions, internal torment, and family strife with a simple subtle change to an illustration. The way the author ties together the three “books” of the collection is masterful; it really does create what feels like folklore. I was amazed at how clearly complex themes came through in this type of book.

After the three main books are finished there are 2 small comics included in the collection. While these were well done I don’t feel like they added much to the overall work. I think that the essence of what Lemire was going for is best represented in the longer works. The “Bonus Materials” section really bugged me. I am one of these people that do not like DVD extras, simply because I do not want to see the wizard behind the curtain. I found seeing these bits and pieces was just that, the magician revealing his secrets. It could be argued that I didn’t have to read it, but, it was in the volume, so I felt I owed it to Mr. Lemire.

Will I be rushing out to buy more graphic novels? No. Is my opinion changed about this book being included in Canada Reads? No. Did I enjoy this book? Yes, absolutely. I was surprised by how much I liked it. This is an entirely new form of storytelling that I was completely ignorant of. With Canada Reads right around the corner I wanted to start (re)reading the titles far enough ahead of time that I would be able to get through them all before the show; Essex County being the behemoth of a book that it is was my first choice as I figured it would take me a long time to get through, I was wrong. I managed to rip through this 500+ page book in only one Sunday. I think this book will be eliminated early from the competition (I am predicting it will be the second to go); I have a feeling that the debates will be centered around the arguments I made above. With all of my prejudices aside I would like to thank Canada Reads for putting a book in my hands that I would otherwise have never even heard of.

 

Stanley Park by Timothy Taylor

Winner of the 2003 One Book, One Vancouver Prize

Shortlisted for the 2001 Giller Prize

Shortlisted for the 2001 Rogers Writer’s Trust Fiction Prize

Shortlisted for the 2001 City of Vancouver Book Award

Shortlisted for the 2002 BC Book Prize’s Ethel Wilson Fiction Prize

Selected for Canada Reads 2007

Stanley Park is a novel that I was surprised I hadn’t been introduced to before. I didn’t come across it until I was collecting all of the previous Canada Reads contenders. I was immediately taken by the cover, being a former cook and amateur chef in a previous career, I was instantly intrigued by the idea of the main character being a chef and a novel looking at the world of professional cooking. This is a behemoth of a book, the page count comes in at a medium-long length of 436 pages but the print is minuscule and the chapters are very long, so it feels more like a 600 or so page novel. I read this book very slowly, savored it if you will, the language and images are beautiful, the research Timothy Taylor put into the preparation of this book are indescribably well done and practically mind blowing; this book will make you hungry one moment and with the turn of a page induce gut wrenching anxiety.

Being such a big book, the story takes on a lot of themes and wide issues; I really believe that this book will be loved by anyone who reads it and each of those people will likely take away something different from the experience. What I personally took away from the book was a story of artistic vision colliding with capitalist consumerist culture. In the character of Jeremy Papier, you have a brilliant chef, dedicated to using local, homegrown ingredients, running a small independent bistro, The Monkey’s Paw, that is somewhat successful but completely floundering in debt. There is a series of credit card and cheque kites that Jeremy floats in order to keep his dream alive but ultimately it all comes crashing to Earth when he is caught pulling a fast cash scam with his Canadian Tire credit card. Being forced to sell his bistro to Dante Beale, owner of the internationally successful chain Inferno, a Starbucks-esque coffee company. This is the epicenter of this collision. Beale relentlessly researches what he believes will be successful, down to the name and the colours the food should be. This climaxes into the opening night dinner service that will never be forgotten by anyone that reads this book.

The other sub-plot of the story is Jeremy’s father, known only as “The Professor,” doing research on the murder of two children in the 40s in Stanley Park and on homelessness. Living in the park himself, The Professor has dubbed his work “participatory anthropology.” These sections of the novel are just as well written as the workplace comedy aspects and in the end are pushing the reader towards the same conclusion. Our survival depends on the Earth, whether we are literally living off of it as a homeless man in the park or simply eating the vegetables it produces, our existence and survival is pulled from the fruits of the Earth.

The characters and their development in this book are just fabulous. The supporting cast, mainly the homeless characters and kitchen staff, really help the book’s forward momentum. All of the main characters are so well described and their dialog so believable that they grow and develop without the reader consciously knowing it. In this type of novel it would be very easy, in the hands of  a writer of lesser skill, for the characters to fall into the troupes of archetypal patterns and speech; Taylor is without a doubt a very talented man.

I absolutely loved this book. I find it very hard to believe that this one flew under my radar for so long. This is the type of book that everyone will enjoy, not just the literary readers. I have only scratched the surface of what could be talked about; Stanley Park has a little something for everyone. Its pacing is beautiful, there are no superfluous scenes or characters, everything is neatly arranged, much like a chef placing the pieces of asparagus into their exact position on the plate where they are destined to be.

 

Not Wanted on the Voyage by Timothy Findley

Shortlisted for the 1984 Governor-General’s Award for Fiction

Selected for Canada Reads 2008

Not Wanted on the Voyage, much like Timothy Findley’s writing in general, tends to be a love-it-or-hate-it thing. Before I started reading this book I read some reviews online, most of which were from 2008 when the book was on Canada Reads, and many were not overly positive. I really enjoy Findley, Pilgrim being one of my favorite books, so I was looking forward to reading this. I loved it. This novel has taken on the status of a modern classic, evidenced by the fact that the most recent publication is part of Penguin’s Modern Classics series. On a topical level Not Wanted on the Voyage is a retelling of the biblical flood tale with a feminist twist, but there is a lot more than this going on in this story. Amongst the themes that are examined are family roles and dynamics, the danger of being at the mercy of your faith, and the arbitrariness of nature. I thought this book was very funny in parts, but painfully gruesome in others.

I think only Timothy Findley could pull off a biblical revisionist novel from the narrative point-of-view of a blind 20 year old cat. This cat, Mottyl, makes the book. The first 20-30 pages were very difficult to get into but once the ancient and decrepit Yaweh finally arrives for his visit with the devoted Dr. Noah Noyes the forward motion of the story really picks up. There are so many memorable scenes on both sides of the scale. Some of the funniest moments include Mrs. Noyes conducting her chorus of singing sheep, the Noyes’s son Japeth being marinated by barbarians in preparation to be eaten before he escapes their capture, resulting in his skin having a permanent blue hue, and the countless incidents of Mottyl narrating the everyday life of an old house cat. But there are other scenes that are as disturbing as the previous mentions are funny: the surplus animals on the Noyes homestead being burned in a giant pyre, Lotte’s throat being slit and birds pecking out her eyes, and the famous scene which is always associated with this book where Noah rapes his 11 year old daughter-in-law with a unicorn’s horn, killing the unicorn in the process, in order to prepare her for her husband. Between the violence and blasphemy there is something to offend almost everyone; it is definitely not for the pious Sunday church going crowd.

The animals are very memorable in this book. There are dog-sized unicorns, one- and two-headed demons that emit fire, and talking critters of every variety. Findley does a masterful job of the imagery and painting a picture of times long past. He gets down to the most minute details using beautiful metaphors. My one criticism of the book is his use of one particular character: Lucy. I will issue a spoiler alert here. Lucy, we find out early in the book after Michael Archangelis (clever right?) does battle with a dragon, turns out to be Lucifer in a human guise. He has taken this form and married one of the Noyes children in order to gain passage on the ark and avoid certain death. Very little was done with this character, but yet, (s)he is still an intriguing and essential part of the story.

This book constantly challenges the reader’s sense of good and evil; forcing the reader to realize that not all is black and white and there is often times ambiguity in doing something that is ultimately good. Not Wanted on the Voyage is a very rewarding book. Now to be honest, it is a fairly slow read, it is dense, there are points where there is not a lot of forward motion, and if you are reading the Penguin Classics printing it suffers from the usual problems of this line: very small print, a lot of text on the page, and page breaks are at a minimum. To enjoy this book you need to allow the humour to reach you and realize that this really is a foolish idea for a novel; therein again lies the ambiguity. This story joins a long list of other Canadian novelists reworking biblical stories, such as A Time for Judas or Testament. If you are still having doubts, this novel is worth reading for the the simple reason that it will explain what is going on behind your cats creepy and shiny eyes.

 

Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards

Co-Winner of the 2000 Giller Prize

Shortlisted for the 2000 Governor-General’s Award for Fiction

Shortlisted for the 2000 Trillium Book Award

Selected for Canada Reads 2009

A Globe and Mail Best Book – 2000

An Ottawa Citizen Best Book – 2000

I have two things to say to start out: first, this was an incredible book; second, there will be spoilers in this review. I feel that I cannot express what I want to express without giving away key plot points and the ending of the book; I do not feel bad about this as this novel is ten years old, a multiple award winner, a former Canada Reads selection, and a national bestseller during its time. So that being said, let’s get down to it. I am a big fan of David Adams Richards. I like the gritty and detailed style he uses to really dig into the hearts and souls of his characters. Mercy Among the Children is Richards’ masterpiece. Epic in proportion but local in narrative, this story would crack even the stoniest reader. Set in the rural Miramichi area of New Brunswick, this novel explores the bondages that people are born into and suffer through: namely family circumstances and reputations, poverty, low standing in regards to societal class, faith, and general surroundings.

This novel looks at three generations of the Henderson family: grandfather and patriarch Roy Henderson, Sydney Henderson – central character through most of the novel, and his son, Lyle Henderson. Richards weaves a rich tapestry of characters that are truly representative of rural Maritime life: the mill workers, the rich businessman with little education, the self-educated outcast, and many many others. Having grown up and spent most of my life in the Maritimes, with much of this time being spent in rural areas of Nova Scotia and PEI, I believe this is a novel that only someone from this part of the country could write this well. I have met someone almost identical to all of these characters at some point; Mercy Among the Children is a novel that because of its locality, is universal in message and theme.

Ninety-five percent of the novel is told from the first person point-of-view of third generation Lyle Henderson; the narration is his relation of the events to a police officer in Saint John that he feels needs to hear his story. As the novel progresses the innocence that is so admiral about the members of the Henderson family erodes away. From almost the first chapter we see how the sins of the father transfer to the son. Roy Henderson, wrongfully accused of setting Leo McVicar’s mill ablaze, goes to prison and seals his family’s fate. His father, a self-educated amateur philosopher, is a pariah in the community because of both his family lineage and relentless pacifistic existence; as a result of this he is consistently taken advantage of by people in his community and used as a scapegoat for their own personal illicit gains, resulting in the untimely death of many innocent people, including Sydney himself.

One character I love in the book is the antagonist, Matthew Pit. A seemingly psychopathic monster, he will stop at nothing to influence and control those around him and free himself from his own bondage at the expense of anyone, especially Sydney. As the book progresses Matthew manipulates everyone around him, including Lyle after his father’s death. At the end of the novel, in a very symbolic moment, the Pit and Henderson families are eternally united through death and a life-giving gift.

Sydney Henderson has three children, Lyle, Autumn – an albino, and Percy. These three children represent the three options that people who are born into this type of situation usually have: First: death, as is the case of young Percy; second: you break free of these shackles and live your own life, as Autumn does with her successful novel and family; or third, you live your life exactly like the parents you so despised, as Lyle does. What really interests me is the fact that Lyle, as the novel comes to a close, ends up being a multimillionaire through an interesting turn of events with Leo McVicar’s family ties, yet he is still as miserable and angry as he was when he was an alcoholic young adult who committed physical acts of contrition to punish himself. Lyle never breaks free from the sins of his father or grandfather, even after everyone, including McVicar and Matthew Pit forgive them.

Mercy Among the Children is not a happy novel. It does not have a happy ending and everything isn’t tied up in a nice little package. In this way it is very realistic, when is life ever wrapped up neatly? This is a book that will haunt you. Despite being a very long book, 420 pages in my edition, I could read no more than 20 pages in a sitting simply because of the emotional toll the story has on you. A co-winner of the Giller Prize in 2000, the only year the prize was split, this novel will definitely endure past its authors time. The novel was perfectly paced, the climaxes were subtle and effective, and the characters believable. I strongly believe that David Adams Richards should be looked at in the same light as the other great writers of his generation like Michael Ondaatje, Guy Vanderhaeghe, and Timothy Findley.

 

Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson

Winner of the 1998 Warner Aspect First Novel Contest

Winner of the 1999 Locus Award for Best First Novel

Shortlisted for the 1998 Philip K. Dick Award

Selected for Canada Reads 2008

Nalo Hopkinson is one of Canada’s most prominent science-fiction writers. She has been shortlisted for and won several prestigious international sci-fi awards. Brown Girl in the Ring is Hopkinson’s first novel, which was released through a contest where the winner received a publication agreement. The story revolves around a Toronto of the not-to-distant future that has been abandoned by government and police and overrun by gangs and drug addicts hooked on a substance called buff. This novel is a cross between a typical sci-fi and fantasy story; there are many scenes that lean heavily on Caribbean religious beliefs and spirits.

The book starts out very fast and is very intriguing. In the opening chapters the way the history of how Toronto fell into utter decay is very well done; it is given through newspaper headlines that another derelict is using for an artistic piece. Unfortunately the book slows to an almost unbearable pace after the opening 30 pages. The ensuing 120 pages or so are very richly described and detailed but the forward momentum of the novel simply grinds to a halt; once you get past this point the novel progresses at a speed which almost overwhelms the reader. The central characters, Ti-Jeanne, Mami, Rudy, Tony, and Mi-Jeanne, all weave a complex family and community steeped in the culture of their Caribbean roots. The pacing aside, Brown Girl in the Ring is an interesting book. It plays around quite a bit stereotypes, i.e. the good-for-nothing-boyfriend that the girl still loves, the wise old grandmother, and the evil crime boss out only for himself; but the characters themselves are not the memorable part of book. For me, what I will remember, is the idea of Toronto collapsed in on itself and the vivid descriptions of the city. Hopkinson uses real street names and places in the book very effectively, including the CN Tower for the final showdown.

All-in-all this was a decent read. I do not read a lot of sci-fi but it is a genre I enjoy. I have always had a lot of admiration for the writers of this type of work; it is one thing to create a story out of nothing that is of this world, but to create this universe without boundaries whether it is told through a scientific or spiritual lens is amazing to me. The imagination this would require is far beyond what I think I could muster for my own writings. One thing that should be mentioned as well in speaking about this book is the power of the CBC Canada Reads competition. Brown Girl in the Ring was a selection for the 2008 show and introduced Hopkinson, who herself was an advocate for Whylah Falls on the 2002 show, to a whole new set of readers, including myself. This being her first novel I am positive that her other works will continue to improve and I look forward to picking up one of her many other pieces.