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Gently Down the Stream
Hank Roberts can't buy a thrill.
His wife, Mary, his best friend, Phil, Phil's annoying new girlfriend and Canada's hottest new female novelist, Rebecca ― everyone but Hank, it seems ― has either become what they set out to be or are well on their way to getting there. Hank isn't old, but he's not young anymore, either; is bright, but by no means brilliant; is undeniably restless, but not by any stretch ambitious. He loves his wife, his dog, and rock and roll, but lately that just doesn't seem to be enough.
Doomed, apparently, to be just another overeducated and underachieving Toronto thirty-something, Hank gets jarred out of his itchy complacency by a chance musical encounter at a Friday-night karaoke bar and his realization of the increasing gentrification of his west-end neighbourhood and, by extension, of the mind-numbing homogenization of the world around him.
Aided by just the right amount of chemical self-medication and armed with only a karaoke microphone and a midnight vandal's sack of eco-warriorism goodies, Hank sets out to reenergize his life and save the planet, or least his little part of it. The question of whether or not his marriage, his sanity, or that very world itself can survive his determined efforts makes Gently Down the Stream Ray Robertson's most engaging, searching, and mature novel yet.
His wife, Mary, his best friend, Phil, Phil's annoying new girlfriend and Canada's hottest new female novelist, Rebecca ― everyone but Hank, it seems ― has either become what they set out to be or are well on their way to getting there. Hank isn't old, but he's not young anymore, either; is bright, but by no means brilliant; is undeniably restless, but not by any stretch ambitious. He loves his wife, his dog, and rock and roll, but lately that just doesn't seem to be enough.
Doomed, apparently, to be just another overeducated and underachieving Toronto thirty-something, Hank gets jarred out of his itchy complacency by a chance musical encounter at a Friday-night karaoke bar and his realization of the increasing gentrification of his west-end neighbourhood and, by extension, of the mind-numbing homogenization of the world around him.
Aided by just the right amount of chemical self-medication and armed with only a karaoke microphone and a midnight vandal's sack of eco-warriorism goodies, Hank sets out to reenergize his life and save the planet, or least his little part of it. The question of whether or not his marriage, his sanity, or that very world itself can survive his determined efforts makes Gently Down the Stream Ray Robertson's most engaging, searching, and mature novel yet.
334 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 2005
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About the author
Ray Robertson
25 books26 followersRay Robertson is the author of six novels including Moody Food and What Happened Later, a finalist for the Trillium Book Award. He has also published a collection of nonfiction, Mental Hygiene: Essays on Writers and Writing. He is a contributing book reviewer for The Globe and Mail.
Robertson lives in Toronto.
Robertson lives in Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
August 6, 2010
Not my usual cup of tea, but really good! The writing's great: funny, honest, insightful, and the characters are real enough to get very attached to. Not plot driven (my usual cup of tea) but by midway you care enough to see them through the very ordinary things in life, and through others, messier and more difficult.
March 13, 2010
A light read on the human condition. The type of characters you'd find in a dive/pub in some mid-sized town. The author is quite delightful to meet and has a biting sense of humor. Attending a reading of his is well worth the trip and the price of his book.
August 11, 2016
Did not finish it. I need a book with a plot.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews