Kilborn bike lanes

Inspired by my last blog post, I decided that I will put what I hope is a simple yes/no question to all Alta Vista City Council candidates and see how they respond. I have emailed each of them and will add their responses as they are received.

Question: If elected, will you do your best as Councillor to ensure that the current Kilborn Avenue bike lanes are maintained?

YES/NO

Cloutier: YES (full response below)

Cowan: YES (full response below)

Kit: YES (full response below)

Lang-Dion: Response below

McHarg:

Redins:

Full Responses (verbatim):

Cloutier:

I support cycling infrastructure and the lanes on Kilborn considering I was the one who ensured that they were implemented as part of the resurfacing work.

I began consultation with residents of Kilborn Avenue in September 2017 before the resurfacing began. I notified residents of my intent to install cycling lanes to improve connectivity through Alta Vista. Some residents were not pleased that cycling lanes necessitated the elimination of on-street parking, so I’ve spent the last year working with them to find a solution. 

I’m happy to say that we were able to proceed with dedicated cycling lanes on Kilborn Avenue. I will continue to work to improve our cycling infrastructure. We have some great opportunities coming up, which I will make sure to keep the community informed about.

Cowan:

My support of healthy and active transportion options for our city is longstanding. During my campaign in 2014 my commitment was to add 40km of bikelanes and pathways in our ward, with a special focus on our lack of East - West connections such as Kilborn, Pleasant Park, and the widowmaker Heron road. I stand by this commitment in this election.

Also, to prioritize the hill sections of roads like Smyth to support riders during the long climb with additional temporary material too, like flex stakes. Think Bronson over the canal.

Bike lanes help provide riders safer passage and work to reduce vehicle speeds by reducing the lane widths, playing a part in serving two of our areas ongoing challenges.  For me maintaining them means more than just paint, but the overall up keep of the roadway surfaces as well. 

To support this, while President of our Alta Vista Community Association, I moved to move forward with an Adopt a Road plan for Kilborn Ave once the current phase of repairs are done. This commitment will provide our residents an opportunity help collectively audit the state of Kilborn twice year and identify any parts that need tlc, plus help keep our neighborhood clean while making new friends.

Please let me know if you enjoy the new lanes and where we should connect to next!

Kit:

As a community association president, I sit at Alta Vista Planning Group Committee (AVPG).  At AVPG community association president’s (or their alternates) meet to discuss namely planning issues within the ward.  I remember discussing this issue and making the point that the bike lanes along Kilborn made sense but that we should ensure that signage is clear - so that cars did not stop and park in the dedicated bike lanes.  Just today along Kilborn I saw two cars parked in the dedicated bike lane where no stopping is allowed. This concerns me because cyclists need to then move outside and around into the road in order to avoid the cars.  This is dangerous and puts cyclists in a potentially compromising position. 

One of the traits that I have been told would make me an effective Councillor (and incidentally has made me an effective community association president in the ward) is that I actively listen to people and then deliver results. 

In this light, I will do my best to ensure the bike lanes are maintained because I fundamentally believe and support multi modes of transportation in line with Ecology Ottawa’s principles of an active city.  Further to this, I will take it a step further and state that as Alta Vista Councillor I would be open to discussing how we can continue to make improvements along Kilborn - with the caveat that the bike lanes remain in place.

Lang-Dion:

It is a challenge to give you a yes/no answer about the cycling lanes after speaking with residents on Kilborn.
I am all for cycling and making it easier to get around the city, but I am also respectful of seniors concerns that have been voiced and the real need for parking for those playing sports at Grasshopper Hill Park, so I would suggest the issue needs to be revisited.
You ask 'will you do your best...' and for me that means hearing the needs of many and reaching a compromise that works for all yet in a practical way.

On the responsiveness of municipal candidates on Twitter

**Update**
Lang-Dion has responded, please see below.

So, this post is inspired, by a perhaps seemingly innocuous tweet from a Raylene Lang-Dion, a candidate for councillor of my local ward, Alta Vista in Ottawa:

https://twitter.com/RLangDion/status/1028757948129062917

As someone who lives very close to Kilborn, and regularly commutes on the 48, which goes along Kilborn, I had been following the repaving work being done this summer. It's a fairly quiet, residential street largely with single family homes along it. It has been designed a "bike route" for years, which in Ottawa means that they've added green signs indicating that. So, I was pleasantly surprised to see that the city had apparently decided to (shockingly) add bike lanes to this "bike route." The lines hadn't been painted in the image above, but signage had begun to go up. And on-street parking had, apparently, been removed.

I should add that there is a North-South bike path that goes up to Smyth Road, which is where The Ottawa Hospital's General Campus is located. The path is the thin green line on the Google Maps image below:

Please also note the community centre (Brian Kilrea Arena) and schools. There's actually a third school at Arch and Canterbury. So, it seemed to me, that these new Kilborn bike lanes would be a nice link to the north-south path, the schools in the east, and Bank Street/Rideau River on the western end. It's not a perfectly smooth ride the whole way (which is typical for Ottawa cycling), but a vast improvement.

So, I was mystified by Lang-Dion's tweet, and responded:

https://twitter.com/jjasonf/status/1028992618519097345

She never responded. So, I figured I would tweet at the other municipal candidates with Twitter listed on their campaign websites (apologies to Clinton Cowan and Mike McHarg):

https://twitter.com/jjasonf/status/1031192848983420929

To his immense credit, John Redins responded quickly via Twitter:

https://twitter.com/john4AltaVista/status/1031257279742586881

I later pressed him a bit about the Kilborn bike lane specifically, and he admitted he didn't know enough to comment on that one in particular, which is FINE. I don't expect candidates to know everything about the ward especially early in the campaign.

Kevin Kit responded by DM, asking me to email him to explain what I meant. He then replied via email that:

"I actually met with a number of residents at grasshopper hill park earlier this week where we discussed this and a number of other issues.
I was wondering if you’d like to meet in person to discuss or chat over the phone about this? I find it more personal than email."

I have replied that I thought that it was a relatively simple issue, but have offered to call him. This blog will be updated if/when I get a response.

Cloutier and Lang-Dion have not responded.

I might have let it end there, but then I came across a very interesting candidate survey from Ecology Ottawa, which Cloutier has not responded to: https://ecologyottawa.ca/2018/06/25/simplified-survey-answers/#Ward18

The first and third questions in orange seem to address this issue directly, so let's look at those responses in detail for Kit and Lang-Dion https://ecologyottawa.ca/2018/08/16/municipal-election-2018-candidates-complete-responses/#Ward18:

Kit:
"...improving connectivity and prioritizing pedestrian, cycling and public transit infrastructure is something that is very important to me."

"I believe that successful cities are those that have neighborhoods where residents are able to walk and bike easily to local parks, transit stations and to access shopping."

Lang-Dion:
"As councillor I will champion safe cycling and pedestrian routes..."

"pedestrian and cycling needs are an integral and foundational part of those projects. In Alta Vista Ward, a lot of basic infrastructure is either missing or is incomplete, such as sidewalks that end unexpectedly or cycling lanes that are unconnected to a coherent and/or existing network."

As mentioned above, Cloutier declined to answer the survey at all.

I'm always hesitant to call people out on Twitter, but Cloutier, Kit, and Lang-Dion all use Twitter as a campaign tool. Is it too much to ask that if you put Twitter on your campaign website that you respond via that medium?

I'm not trying to be too personal here. I am sure these are all hard-working people, doing their best. Municipal politics is a hard slog. I get that. But if it's just a one way stream, don't ask people to use your hashtag, or conduct a poll, or publicly thank your supporters, but respond to your critics in private. If you want engagement on Twitter, then engage!

And can I please get a straight answer on the Kilborn bike lanes?!

2018-08-24: Update! This morning Lang-Dion responded via Twitter. Here is the exchange so far:

https://twitter.com/RLangDion/status/1032966638885191680

L'Avalée des avalés

So, obviously, I haven't continued to write reviews of Governor-General winners, but I have continued to read them. Some have been quite good, some have been less so, but I guess none have particularly struck me like Réjean Ducharme's L'Avalée des avalés, which won in 1966. I think this novel is one of the best and most challenging that I've ever read.

First, a note on language, I consider myself proficient, but notably not fluent in French. I can converse fairly comfortably. I can read generally fairly well, but I find it convenient to have a dictionary handy. That said, I am much more inclined to go with the flow rather than look up every word. So, everything I am writing should be taken within that context

This is an incredible novel and I still can't quite get my head around it. It tells the story via first person narrative of Bérénice Einberg, a young girl growing up in an abbey on an island. She hates both her parents (she believes that they hate her too, but that part is more open to interpretation) and feels alone. Her loneliness is one of the themes that underpin the novel. The narrative often veers from the philosophical to the fantastical to the mundane, which is part of what makes it so challenging. There is generally no segue either, so one has to read carefully, and it leads to questioning what has really happened within the context of the novel and what hasn't.

She reads classics and feels isolated from her peers. She is, to put it mildly, precocious, more accurately, a smart ass. When the police pick her and her brother up and ask for their address, she replies:

"Notre adresse, messieurs, c'est : Monsieur et Madame Homme, Planète Terre, Système solaire, Infini. Otez donc vos chapeaux, goujats !" (p. 159)

Likewise, when her father asks her accusingly what love is, she replies:

"Tu ne le sais donc pas, vieux comme tu es? C'est comme toi et ta maîtresse." (p. 177)

In between her witty retorts, she often expresses her loneliness and isolation from the world and society. Ducharme's prose expressed by Bérénice is magnificently rich and vivid. She often expresses how she's feeling or what she's thinking through deep, extended metaphors.

There are some fairly obvious parallels between L'avalée des avalés and Catcher in the Rye. Both Berénice Einberg and Holden Caulfield are rebellious, young protagonists who feel estranged from the world and are resentful towards adults. They are both written from a first person perspective with unreliable narrators. And to extend the similarities further, both Ducharme and Salinger were recluses. That said, although I have a soft spot in my heart for Cather in the Rye from my teenage years, I find L'avalée des avalés stands above through its rich literary style.

The novel was apparently originally refused publication in Québec (https://www.ledevoir.com/lire/329205/portrait-de-rejean-ducharme-a-70-ans) and has taken on something of a cult status (http://www.lapresse.ca/arts/livres/201608/25/01-5013921-livre-culte-lavalee-des-avales-de-rejean-ducharme.php). I can certainly see how it was controversial: the theme of rebelliousness, frank discussion of masturbation, criticism of religion, and some borderline incest: Bérénice is in love with her brother. While I wouldn't say that it ever takes on a serious, sexual dimension, there is certainly a lot of romantic language used (which Bérénice uses at least in part to make others uncomfortable and to get herself in trouble/isolate herself).

I've barely mentioned the plot, and that is intentional. First, I think this novel is more about feeling than events. Secondly, I think it's best experienced for yourself. Third, there is a degree of uncertainty in determining what actually happens and what Bérénice perceives to have happened. Most importantly, when I reflect back on what I enjoyed most about this novel, it's Bérénice as a character.

So, all of this is to say that I greatly enjoyed reading L'avalée des avalés and I highly recommend it.

The Precipice by Hugh MacLennan

The Precipice, the fiction winner of the Governor-General's Award in 1948 is a tremendous novel. The Precipice is an extremely dense novel with well-developed characters that discusses: relationships, marriage, Canada and the U.S., small town Ontario, religion, and war. MacLennan manages to fit all of this in organically and without becoming preachy.

The Precipice tells the story of Lucy Cameron, a thoughtful woman well on the way to becoming an old maid in small town Ontario with her older sister, until she encounters an American, Stephen Lassiter, who sees her as a desirable woman (in stark contrast to the townspeople). Before long, Lucy falls in love with Stephen, who eventually whisks her away to New York. while this may seem stereotypical, the plot becomes more complicated and the characters often comment on and work against the clichés that they knowingly fall into.

As the story develops, the characters come to grips with the harshness of war as well as the consequences of modern capitalism.

A Brief Note on The Government of Canada by R. MacGregor Dawson

The Government of Canada by R. MacGregor Dawson, which won The Governor-General's Award in 1947 is exactly what one would expect: a solid explanation of the workings of the Canadian government with some historical context. There's not really much to elaborate on. The style is effective and the content is thorough. If you want to learn about the Canadian government in the 1940s, it's a good book.

Review of Bonheur d'Occasion (The Tin Flute)

Technically, as with Ringuet's Trente Arpents, the English translation of Bonheur d'Occasion won the 1947 Governor General's Award for fiction. However, as I am reasonably competent in French, I chose to read the original.

Bonheur d'Occasion tells the story of a working class family in the Saint-Henri neighbourhood of Montreal. In particular, the narrative focuses on the eldest daughter Florentine, and to a lesser extent her mother with other family members playing less significant, but sometimes important roles. The story centres on Florentine and her romantic interest in Jean Lévesque and her later relationship with Emmanuel Létourneau.

While the characters are certainly important, Gabrielle Roy's novel speaks to larger issues including urban poverty in Montreal, social class, language issues, and the Second World War. Roy has created a novel full of local colour and larger social, political, and cultural issues.

Beyond the strong narrative and social issues, Roy's use of language is tremendous. She describes scenes eloquently with precision, while not bogging the reader down in endless detail.

Overall, this is a very impressive novel. It works on every level and I am at a loss for any serious criticism. It succeeds as a period piece and as great literature.

How Nintendo pulled me back in and then pushed me back away

First off, if you're not familiar with Project Rainfall, you may want to check out http://oprainfall.blogspot.com/ .

From the late 80s to the mid 90s, I was a big video game player, well as much as a kid in school can be. I had an NES and an SNES, and while I don't remember how many games I bought or played, I do remember spending many hours playing games from Super Mario Bros. 3 to Final Fantasy 6 (or 3 as it was known at the time). I actually had a poster of a Moogle in my bedroom.

However, in the late 90s, video games began to take up less of my time. There were probably a lot of reasons. Mostly, real life seemed to take up more of my time, but additionally, two trends contributed to my increasing indifference: the increasing popularity of first person shooters and increasingly complex controllers. For many video game players, Goldeneye for the Nintendo 64 represents one of the great first person shooters. For me, it was totally uninteresting. This might not have mattered, except that I found it and games like it were becoming increasingly popular among my friends. I should point out that this is NOT a criticism of first person shooters. I don't find them appealing, but I have no issue with other people liking them. It just became slightly discouraging that the type of game that most people wanted to play had no interest for me.

Probably, the larger issue was the increasing complexity of controllers. The Nintendo 64 controller was daunting and the Gamecube controller only more so. Undoubtedly, for people who owned the system, these controllers became very familiar, but for someone who largely played over a friend's house, competency was challenging.

Years passed, and I found myself busy doing other things. Going out drinking was certainly an important leisure activity at the time.

In any case, I didn't think much about video games until I began doing a lot of traveling. In 2005, I got a Nintendo DS with Mario Kart DS. The DS appealed to me because its buttons were similar to those of the SNES and the touchscreen seemed very intuitive. Plus, Super Mario Kart was one my favourite games as a kid and I had continued to enjoy subsequent versions. The DS hit the proverbial sport. Mario Kart DS was more fun than the original and the DS controls were easy to master. Over the years I bought numerous DS games from popular titles like New Super Mario Bros. to more obscure ones like Avalon Code.

In short, the DS rekindled my enjoyment of gaming. When Nintendo began showing off the Wii, it seemed like the perfect console for me. The motion controller was exactly what I was looking for. Also, it was inexpensive and I didn't have an HDTV. The Wii seemed to be about having fun, which was exactly what I was looking for. I bought one shortly after it came out and I loved Wii Sports and Rayman Raving Rabbids. As with the DS, some of the games I bought were popular hits like Mario Kart Wii, while others were more niche such as Fragile and Zack & Wiki.

However, as time passed, I began to seek something more. There seemed to be fewer and fewer games that appealed released for Wii. I became more interested in HD games and some of the advanced features of the other consoles. I wanted to play Final Fantasy XIII. Eventually, I purchased a PS3 (the reasons why I chose a PS3 over an Xbox 360 aren't important at the moment). While I continued to play both the PS3 and the Wii. I found myself playing more of the PS3.

Nevertheless, I was still waiting for certain Wii games, which I knew for certain that I would want to play: The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, The Last Story, and Xenoblade. Skyward Sword was discussed as early as 2008, but has yet to be released. Meanwhile, despite an announcement at E3 2009, release in Japan, and impending release in Europe, Xenoblade still remains in limbo in North America. While The Last Story was never announced for North America, it too has been released in Japan and will be released in Europe. Tonight, Nintendo of America announced via Twitter that there continued to be no plans to release these games in North America, in spite of a large fan campaign (http://oprainfall.blogspot.com/).

So, to summarize, despite the fact that these two games are completed and available in English (and French and Spanish), Nintendo has chosen not to release them in North America. Moreover, because European and North American video systems are incompatible and Wii games are tied to the regions in which they are released, there is no reasonable way to play these games.

It's probably needless to say at this point, but I am very disappointed. I don't expect a capitalist enterprise to demonstrate loyalty, but I at least hope that it is willing to act in its own self-interest. While I'm not an expert in such matters, I find it difficult to believe that investment in a minimal North American release could be a significant expenditure for a large multinational entertainment company. Moreover, Nintendo could always license the game to another company to be published in North America.

And so I find myself disinterested in Nintendo's current and future projects. Although I was planning to buy both the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, I have lost interest. Why invest in a company that is unwilling to make a minor and likely profitable investment in what a significant number of its customers desire?

Maybe my attitude will change. Skyward Sword should be coming this holiday season. It could reignite my interest in Nintendo, its platforms, and its products. But, most likely, I think it will be the final swan song of my time as a Nintendo customer.

Review of Colony to Nation

Arthur Lower's Colony to Nation: A History of Canada stands out as an excellent history of Canada. Lower incorporates a variety of material and approaches. He describes Canadian history at length from initial European incursions to North America to the present day (for him). There's no overarching narrative, but Lower includes a large variety of subjects including political, social, and cultural history.

Most interesting, at least personally, Lower pays close attention to both francophone and anglophone perspectives. Significantly, he concludes with criticism of both, but with far more directed at anglophone Canadians.

Overall, while one could criticize Lower's top-down approach to history, Colony to Nation works well as a national history of Canada.

The long delayed review of In Search of Myself

I must apologize for taking so long to write this short review of In Search of Myself by Frederick Philip Grove. The overly simple reason is that this book is awful. If you want to read hundreds of pages of an author describing how brilliant and unappreciated he is, then this book is for you. If you feel that artistic ability should never be compromised by accessibility, then this book is for you.

If, on the other hand, like me, you find an arrogant artist complaining constantly to be insufferable, then I recommend that you read almost anything else.

Stylistically, Grove is quite talented, but the content of this book is nearly nauseating. The book is an autobiographical account of Grove's life and work. It mostly consists of evidence of his genius, followed by his complaints that it goes unrecognized. Interestingly, Grove is unwilling to write more accessible books for a mass audience; instead he seems to prefer his role as the unappreciated artist, which would be fine if he accepted it. Instead, he seems to feel that the fault lies with the public for not buying his work.

Overall, unless you too are an unappreciated genius, I recommend that you give this book a pass.

Review of "Continental Revue" by Winifred Bambrick

Continental Revue, by Winifred Bambrick won the Governor-General's Award for Literary Merit in fiction for 1946. The novel depicts a circus revue that travels around Europe (mostly Britain and Germany) in 1938-1939. As Bambrick's biography in the Canadian Encyclopedia indicates, the author herself traveled in similar circumstances, so there is undoubtedly a biographical element to this novel.

Continental Revue is one of the more unique novels that I have read. Bambrick begins, appropriately, with a cavalcade of chracters. There are well over 20 characters of significance, but Bambrick mentions virtually every member of the revue. These brief character introductions are made within the context of the show, and it gives the reader a sense of the immense variety of the revue, even if it is unwieldy.

Fortunately, after the first third of the novel, Bambrick focuses more tightly on a small number of central characters and the love triangle the forms between Peter (an English artist), Kathi (an Austrian ballerina), and Tania (a Hungarian dancer/performer). Peter is captivated by Kathi's beauty and falls in love with her immediately and Kathi falls in love with him, at least in her own way. Throughout the novel, Bambrick emphasizes Kathi's otherworldliness and simplicity. It is never clear exactly how Kathi experiences love. In contrast to other characters, Kathi's thoughts and emotions are rarely revealed to the reader. Tania is a cunning, resourceful, beautiful woman who constantly seeks to position herself strategically in her career. She often serves simultaneously as the intermediary between and third wheel to Kathi and Peter. She falls in love with Peter, and tries to convince him to be with her instead. Indeed, Peter does seem to connect better with Tania, though he is wary (and at times fearful) of her power and manipulation. While Kathi is ethereal, Tania is immensely passionate, and Peter seems to vascillate between reason and passion. It makes for a compelling dynamic.

The coming war dominates the novel, and geopolitical tensions take centre stage near the end. Bambrick is at pains to show how the happy multiethnic, multinational revue is destroyed both due to internal and external tensions. Personal rivalries and international conflicts force splits in the company. Nazi policies cause problems for the non-German members of the revue, while at the same time, the large number of German members causes other countries to shun them.

Continental Revue is a very good novel. While the first third is disorienting, once it hits its stride, the novel really flies. It has compelling characters and weaves in the tension of coming war.

Review of "From Gauntlet to Overlord" by Ross Munro

In 1945, Ross Munro's war memoir "From Gauntlet to Overlord" won the Governor-General's Award for Literary Merit in nonfiction. Munro served as the Candian Press's war correspondent in Europe and North Africa. "From Gauntlet to Overlord" details Munro's time with the Canadian Army, with a specific focus on the Normandy invasion and the development of the distinctly Canadian army.

As one might expect, Munro writes in a clear, concise style and includes a nice amount of details. Munro has a more balanced style than I expect from war correspondents, as they generally establish close relationships with the soldiers they come to know, which influences their writing. While it is clear that Munro had some close friendships with certain Canadian soldiers (which he is transparent about), he also manages to write a very balanced account. He humanizes all of his subjects including enemy soldiers. In addition, he does not shy away from the destructivness of war.He also provides nice insight into the unique position of the war correspondent, entirely dependent on the military, and yet clearly separate. Munro relies on the army completely for access, information, and even the ability to transmit his articles, yet he strives to maintain a level of objectivity.

Overall, Munro depicts the war honestly and with humour and humility. He makes his surroundings, motivations, and interests very clear, and he writes without artifice. Anyone who is interested in a first person perspective on the Second World War, and the Canadian Army in particular would be well-served by Munro's book as would anyone interested in the reality of the war correspondent.

Review of "We Keep a Light"

The next book I am reviewing is "We Keep a Light" by Evelyn M. Richardson. I skipped "The War: Fourth Year" as it is the 4th volume in a series (which I would eventually like to read), so I hope to come back to it at a later point. The fiction winner for 1945, "Two Solitudes" by Hugh MacLennan is a Canadian classic, which for once, I have already read. I highly recommend it as both an excellent novel and as an important piece of Canadian culture. References to "two solitudes" are still very common in contemporary commentary.

"We Keep a Light" was one of two nonfiction winners in 1945. The book depicts family life at a small island lighthouse in Nova Scotia. For those interested in such a subject, "We Keep a Light" is ideal. However, for the general reader, I think that this book is wanting. First off, Richardson's perspective is very family-focused. She spends a lot of time talking about her children and husband and she includes a plethora of minute (and I would add inane and irrelevant) details. Secondly, there is no clear structure. While the book is roughly chronological, Richardson often goes back and forth in time, which can be disorienting.

One gets the impression with this book that it is simply a very proud mother extolling her family's superiority by surviving and thriving in a difficult situation.

Some may find such a work appealing, but I did not.

Review of Partner in Three Worlds

"Partner in Three Worlds" by Dorothy Duncan is an interesting choice for nonfiction winner. It is written in the 1st person from the perspective of Jan, a Czech who fights in the Canadian army to liberate his homeland in the Second World War. The bulk of the book describes Jan's life in then Czechoslovakia, where he is born, rises to prominence at a bank, and his subsequent fall due to an impetuous and ill-suited marriage. However, he manages to re-establish himself eventually as an artistic glass salesman, and eventually his move to North America. Duncan drew on an intimage knowledge of Jan through multiple conversations and one gets the impression that she is recounting Jan's stories verbatim as she often describes his thoughts and feelings (from a first person perspective).

One imagines that Jan must have been a great storyteller, as the book is very entertaining. It is difficult at times to remember that it's a work of non fiction rather than a novel. The book does do an excellent job of depicting Prague society in the early 20th century and additionally, the tensions that emerged in the lead up to the Second World War. There are also some excellent scenes near the end where Jan compares North Americans and Europeans.

Despite its unique narrative style (or perhaps beacause of it), the book works very well at both entertaining and informing.

Review of Earth and High Heaven

Gwethalyn Graham won a second Governor-General's Award for Earth and High Heaven. Earth and High Heaven is very much a novel of its time as it focuses on the rising global anti-semitism of the 1940s with particular focus on Montreal and its (oversimplified) tripartite division between Anglophones, Francophones, and Jews. While Graham's novel explores the social divisions, misconceptions, and bigotry among all three groups, she focuses particular attention on anti-semitism.

In the novel, Erica Drake, a wealthy young woman living in Westmount (an upper class anglophone section of Montreal) falls in love with Marc Reiser, a Jewish lawyer, originally from Northern Ontario. In the beginning of the novel, Erica must confront her own prejducies when she first meets Marc. However, these prejudices pale in comparison to those of her father and mother who refuse to have any interactions with Marc.

Graham excels at depicting the social milieu of Montreal and, in particular, the discrimination felt by Jews in this era, though it should be noted that she also pays attention to conflict between anglophones and francophones.

While the plot itself isn't particularly novel or interesting, Graham's excellent prose, witty dialogue, and detailed characters make it a very entertaining novel. Plus, it is hard to be too critical of a novel written in order to combat bigotry. Overall, it functions better as a historical work than high literature, but it is a very enjoyable book nonetheless.

Review of The Incomplete Anglers

The Incomplete Anglers by John D. Robins won the Governor-General's Award for Literary Merit for Nonfiction in 1943. The book tells the story of a fishing trip Robins and a friend took in Algonquin Park in Ontario. As the title implies, the book is not a heroic tale of man overcoming nature, but rather the misadventures of two inexperienced fishermen, which Robins makes very clear at the beginning. Throughout the book, Robins unfolds his narrative with humourous self-deprecation.

On the whole, it is a very entertaining read, and a worthy winner of the award. In fact, Robins' prose is so excellent that the book reads more like fiction. Of course, it also has the benefit of truth.

I know that I'm not putting many details here, and I have to admit that I'm writing this review a few weeks after finishing the book, but I do highly recommend it.

Review of The Pied Piper of Dipper Creek

Thomas H. Raddall's collection of short stories, entitled The Pied Piper of Dipper Creek won the Governor General's Award for Literary merit in fiction in 1943. The short stories could best be termed local colour. They are generally set in rural Nova Scotia and portray the Scottish heritage, seafaring tradition, and the first nations. Within that context, there is a large variety here: everything from a fishing story to one that takes place on the day of the Halifax explosion.

Raddall's stories are lush with details and they paint a vivid mental picture of local life. However, as strong literary works, they are a mixed bag. Nevertheless, they are generally quite entertaining. I particularly enjoyed "Champeen Liar," "The Taming of Moredcai Mimms," and Lady Lands Leviathan. They are all light and fun.

However, one story stands apart, both as darker in tone and more interesting from a literary perspective. "Winter's Tale," as alluded to above, is set during the day of the Halifax Explosion of 1917 through the perspective of a boy, James. Initially, James is unaware of why his school's windows are blown out. As the story progresses, he begins to realize the level of devastation that the city has suffered and comes face to face with some of the casualites. It is a powerful story, very well told, and I believe it to be the highlight of the collection.

To summarize, on the whole, The Pied Piper of Dipper Creek is a good collection of entertaining Nova Scotian local colour short stories. While it may not be high literature, it is nevertheless very successful on its own terms.

Might I tell you how much better watching the Olympics is in Canada?

In the course of reading the outrage at NBC in the United States , I was reminded how happy I am that I now live in Canada. In 2008, CBC/Radio-Canada broadcast the Olympics and it was quite an improvement over the NBC coverage I was used to. They showed everything they could live, but were unfortunately basically limited to 5 channels (CBC, Bold, and TSN in English; Radio-Canada and RDS in French). In addition, they had live web streaming of almost every event.

The Vancouver Olympics are even better. Technically, they are broadcast by "Canada's Olympic Broadcast Media Consortium." As a result, the 2010 Winter Olympics (which has fewer events) is being shown on a whopping 7 channels (CTV, TSN, Rogers SportsNet, and OLN in English; V, RDS, and RIS in French). Events are generally shown live with highlights from earlier in the day and they even provide an extremly useful viewer guide on their website. They also offer live streaming on ctvolympics.ca, but with so many channel choices, I haven't even bothered to tune in. I should add that there are even more channels available in other languages.

One other pleasant note about Canadian Olympics coverage: the announcers have a tendency to be silent and let the sports speak for themselves from time to time. It is a very nice change from the inane banter I had become accustomed to on NBC.

And now for a slight detour...

Contrary to what might it appear like on my blog, I don't in fact read exclusively Governor-General's award winners. That's actually why some of these books seem to take a very long time. The G-G project is a definite long term multiyear thing.

In any case, I recently read a nice Canadian political humour novel, The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis. The book has an interesting history. Fallis, tired of rejection, recorded the whole novel as a series of podcasts on his website. Between the podcasts and self-publishing, Fallis managed to attract the attention of a commercial publisher, and in 2008 The Best Laid Plans won the Stephen Leacock Award for Humour.

The Best Laid Plans follows the improbable campaign, election, and service of Scottish-born engineering professor Angus McLintock as a federal member of parliament. McLintock is in many ways a classic "straight shooter" candidate, who is determined to do what he thinks is best for the country irrespective of polls, politics, and party. His election only comes by way of unintentional accident (I will leave the particulars unspoiled), but he comes to grow into and even revel in his new position.

The Best Laid Plans is resminiscent of other works, such as Bulworth, but it is truly Canadian through and through. It even delves into the intricacies of parliamentary procedures. The novel is very enjoyable on the whole, although the last third is too optimistic for my own tastes. Nevertheless, the Canadian political humour novel isn't exactly a bestselling, prolific genre, so if the description interests you, I highly recommend giving it a read (or at least a listen).

The Unguarded Frontier

1942 had 2 winners of the Governor-General's Award for Literary Merit in nonfiction. Edgar D. McInnis also won the award for The Unguarded Frontier : A History of American-Canadian Relations. The title really says it all with this one. McInnis describes the history of the U.S./Canada border. In particular, he does a nice job of illustrating the complex dynamic between Britain, Canada, and the United States. In this respect, he traces the development of Canada from colony to independent state (within the framework of the Commonwealth) very effectively. Additionally, McInnis delves into a variety of specific border disputes. He conveys how the border was often determined well before any exploration, which often resulted in a final, haphazard boundary based more on negotiations than geography. It is in these sections, that I find his writing and expertise the strongest and his voice at its most unique. In fact, I found myself wanting more details as to the particulars of each boundary dispute.

Overall, I recommend The Unguarded Frontier as a nice survey of the history of Canada/U.S. relations.

The Unknown Country : Canada and Her People

The Unknown Country : Canada and Her People by Bruce Hutchison is a good, but unexceptional narrative of a his trip across Canada. In each chapter, Hutchison presents a small amount of local colour and a brief history of the location. It was one of two Governor-General's Award winners for non fiction in 1942.

The book is well done, and Hutchison provides some nice local snapshots, but overall, it's more of a compendium than a unified work. Plus, Hutchison depends a lot on his own impressions and perceptions rather than trying to weave together a variety of perspectives. As such, it's closer to a travelogue.

It's hard to see why The Unknown Country was so well-regarded as to merit the Governor-General's Award. It's a decent book, but nothing extraordinary.