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.
Sunday, May 30, 2010
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.
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.
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
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.
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.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
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.
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.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
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).
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.
Overall, I recommend The Unguarded Frontier as a nice survey of the history of Canada/U.S. relations.
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
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.
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.
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