Review of Swiss Sonata by Gwethalyn Graham

Gwethalyn Graham's Swiss Sonata is an intriguing and well-written novel, which received the 1938 Governor-General's Award. It takes place over three days: Thursday January 10, 1935 to Saturday, January 11, 1935 in a Swiss finishing school for "girls" near Lausanne.

I put girls in quotes, because the age range is from the mid-teens to the mid 20's, although throughout the novel they are referred to as girls. To the audience of the 21st century, they are mostly young women. These women inhabit a bizarre, intermediary zone. They come from different countries and are away from their families, but for most of them, there is little inclination towards university or careers. They are adult women, and yet, they live in a girls' school. The bizarreness of this situation is emphasized during one scene in which the girls are forced to demonstrate to the teachers that they are wearing their wool underwear.

To me, the novel represents a transition to modernity. Though Graham has written her novel before the Second World War, the rampant nationalism and threat of fascism are omnipresent. Two characters in particular, Anna and Ilse are victims of the Nazis. Anna's father is trying to subvert the Nazi government, while Ilse is a Jew from the Saar. They both suffer persecution in the school at the hands of a clique of other Germans.

However, while nationalism is one theme, a nascent feminism is another. In particular, Graham focuses on the dual geographical and generational conflicts between the North American students and the European teachers. The novel is largely focused on Vicky Morrison, a young woman from Toronto with an uncanny skill for comforting others. Her best friend, Theodora Cohen, is an exaggerated spunky American Jew. While Ilse plays the role of victim, Theodora is aggressive in her behaviour. Meanwhile, Mary Ellerton, a young English women, who serves as the physical education teacher works as a bridge character between the generations and the continents. She manages to inhabit both the world of the students and the world of the teachers. Rather obviously, both in terms of age and origin, Mary Ellerton connects the traditional European teachers with Vicky and Theodora.

Mary Ellerton's important and clear role leads to one of my criticisms of the novel, namely, that Graham has a tendency to be heavy-handed. The young Torontonian up against the tradition of Europe, while simultaneously understanding that tradition, can be a bit much. Additionally, the end of the novel feels a bit rushed and unsatisfying. I feel that things are too well-resolved.

Overall, though, I would like to emphasize that this is a fine novel both in terms of literary merit and entertainment. Moreover, the prescient predictions and portrayal of a 1930s Swiss girls' boarding school make the novel very interesting in and of themselves. More importantly, Graham's depiction of the conflict between traditional and more modern views of gender roles is fascinating. Graham combines a great deal of thought with vivid characters.

Review of My Discover of the West by Stephen Leacock

The second nonfiction winner of the Governor-General's award is Stephen Leacock's My Discover of the West. Leacock, a McGill University professor, went on a Western lecture tour. In order to create this book, he pieced together his thoughts on various current events and current issues facing Canada. Additionally, he describes the West and tries to explain the country as a whole.

As a means to access interwar Canada, My Discovery works extraordinarily well. Leacock addresses many issues of the day such as economic depression, social credit, railways, regionalism, and immigration. In a sense, My Discovery is a survey of the issues of the day, explained in a very humourous manner. Indeed, Leacock is a very talented writer both in elucidating complex material and doing so in an entertaining way.

Reading My Discovery today, I couldn't help but be struck by the relvance, particularly in economics. Leacock seems relatively middle-of-the road from what I gather. This is a book that discusses economics, but it is most certainly not a treatise, and there is no theory. As a matter of fact, the only economic theory Leacock discusses in-depth is social credit, and only to criticise it. Leacock seems most concerned with practicality over theory and more about describing and explaining than persuading.

Overall, Leacock is a talented, humouous writer, and this book provides a nice window into 1930s Canada, particularly the West. Readers will be struck by how many of his observations, particularly his regional ones, still contain truth today.

Review of L. G. Salverson's The Dark Weaver

The 1937 winner of the Governor General's Award for fiction is:

The Dark Weaver by L.G. Salverson

The Dark Weaver is an epic novel that tells the story of a group of immigrants from Europe to Canada and their children. The novel touches on many themes in an elaborately woven story including generational differences, the building of Canada, immigration, the development of the West, tensiosn between European tradition and North American newness, and industrialisation. The book opens in the mid-nineteenth century and ends during the First World War.

It is a long and well-plotted story with well-developed characters. Salverson excels at communicating the emotions of her characters and provides very detailed descriptions. In this sense, stylistically, the novel is more akin to the Victorian era and the Interwar period.

In a sense, this novel is too big to simply summarize, but sufficed to say, there is an engaging alaborate story. It would be trite to call it the Canadian War and Peace, but while reading it, Tolstoy's masterpiece kept popping into my haed.

The most striking part of the novel is its conclusion. Without giving too much away, the destructive theme of the end is very interesting. Does it represent the all-consuming annihilation of modern, total war? Does it represent that Canada and North America are inexorably anchored to Europe? In a sense, the end seems to undercut the theme of a new continent and new country that the vast majority of the novel builds to. Is the ending a warning? Or pessimism?

Salverson is clearly a talented author and The Dark Weaver provides an engaging story with excellent characters and a conclusion that leaves the reader questioning everything. Needless to add, I highly recommend it.

Review of T.B.R. Newspaper Pieces by Thomas B. Roberton

The first winner of the Governor General's Award in the category of non-fiction (1936) is:

T.B.R. Newspaper Pieces by Thomas B. Roberton

This is a collection of newspaper articles written by Thomas B. Roberton, columnist for the Winnipeg Free Press from 1918-1936. The book was assembled posthumously by J.B. McGeachy. It includes a smattering of articles on a variety of subjects from the early twentieth century. Surprisingly, there are few articles relating to Winnipeg itself. Perhaps this was a conscious decision by McGeachy to reach and to appeal to a broader audience.

While the book demonstrates Roberton's significant literary talents, it's hard to gain any sort of larger sense of the work. Upon completing my reading, I was struck by Roberton's strong concern for his native Scotland and for Canada, but it is hard to see any stronger, underlying theme, other than perhaps Christianity. Obviously, since these are newspaper columns, they tend not to lend themselves to larger issues. However, I must take issue with McGeachy's selection and ordering of articles based on ''variety in reading'' (Roberton xv).

Overall, the book represents an interesting sample from a talented newspaper columnist, but as a whole, it falls short.

I would like to add that Roberton's column ''Women in Trousers'' will interest 21st century readers. Additionally, ''Poor Dying Scotland'' succeeds brilliantly as a biting, sarcastic criticism.

The Governor General's Award Project and Review of "Think of the Earth by Bertram Brooker"

As part of my efforts to learn more about my new country and to read good books, I have decided to read every Governor General's Award for Literary Merit winner. It's obviously going to be a multi-year project, but I thought it would make for some interesting reading. I'm proceeding in chronological order, and I aspire to write a review of each one in this blog. First up, the 1936 fiction winner:

Think of the Earth by Bertram Brooker

Think of the Earth takes place in a small Manitoba town in the midst of the industrial revolution. Or, perhaps, to put it more aptly, past the peak of industrialization. The novel focuses primarily on two characters: Tavistock and Laura. Tavistock is an Englishman who spends most of the novel consumed with the idea that the world can only be saved through the actions of The Comforter, who will teach people the importance of the innocence of good and evil. Intrinsic to Tavistock's conception of the world is the idea that innocence of good and evil is better than being able to judge good from evil. Tavistock believes that he will play a central role in an innocent death, which will result in the redemption of humanity. If this all seems confusing, it confused me as well. One of the open questions in the book is whether Tavistock is insane. In some ways, he is incisively rational, but in others, he is deeply spiritual.

Laura is the minister's daughter. She is dating a stereotypical, angry young man, but falls in love with Tavistock. At one point, as she tried to break up with Harry (the young man), on the lake, he becomes aggressive, and she throws herself out of the boat, causing it to tip, and Harry drowns. This seemed to be the pivotal point of the book, but I still can't quite wrap my head around it. For one thing, Harry's exact motives are somewhat ambiguous. Does he want to rape Laura? Does he want to kill her? Or does he merely want to force her to stay and listen to him? The other main question for me: is the death of Harry the innocent act that will redeem humanity? At the point she tips over the boat, according to her later recollection, Laura did not remember that Harry could not swim. Moreover, she may have leapt out of the boat in self-defence. However, to counter this interpretation, Laura claims that she leapt out to avoid having to listen to him rather than self-defence. Additionally, there does not seem to be any larger redemption of humanity. Most importantly, in the end, Tavistock renounces his earlier philosophy and, in a sense, returns to sanity.

Overall, I found this book very ambiguous. In the end, is it an affirmation of the spirit of Christianity? Or should we look deeper and see Tavistock's "Comforter" philosophy more compelling? It seems clear that Brooker has meaningful things to say, but I'm not sure what they are. Perhaps, he is simply espousing two different Christian philosophies, offering them as food for the thought for the reader. I may look into some contemporary reviews for some further insight, but I prefer to get my own reactions down before I read others.

I should also note, that stylistically, this is an excellent book. Brooker's language is clear and descriptive. Additionlly, the book is divided into 3 parts (one for each day): Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Clearly, the climax occuring on Sunday only furthers the deeply religious nature of the novel. Also, interestingly, Brooker will often have section breaks in the middle of a conversation. It's an effective way to divide up different subjects.

On the whole, Think of the Earth is a well-written, thoughtful, book. It is complex, and I'm not sure of the overall message, but it is a very enjoyable work of fiction.