Autobiography of Childhood

by Sina Queyras

"Queyras's novel scores the jagged incisions of childhood. How her characters escape or embrace or succumb to the damage, she manages through an exquisite prose that cannot comfort them, nor ease us. Yet we cannot help but be held by the language.
-Dionne Brand

The Combals are not unacquainted with death: they have never quite recovered from the loss of one of them in childhood. And now, on Valentine's Day, they are losing another.

Guddy races to see her sister, Jerry and Bjarne avoid the phone and its news, Jean finds himself on a beach, Annie fends off her mother's persistent questions about what's happening. And Therese tries to forgive them all before it's too late.

As each is forced to face the news of Therese's impending death, their actions weave a nuanced portrait of a family, of the devastating reach of childhood grief.

What if thinking is all we have at the end of the day? What if how we react really is all we can control? This transcendent first novel from award-winning poet Sina Queyras tells the story of childhood by illustrating six adult minds grappling with it: noticing, reaching, loving and flailing.

Genres: Fiction

200 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2011

About the author

Sina Queyras' last collection of poetry, Expressway, was nominated for a Governor General's Award and won Gold at the National Magazine Awards. Her previous collection Lemon Hound won a Lambda Award and the Pat Lowther Award, and she is the winner of the 2012 Friends of Literature Award. She is a blogger for Harriet, the Poetry Foundation's blog.

Reviews

[Jacqueline Valencia · Rating 5 out of 5]

While reading this, I received the news that another member of our family passed away. Our second major death this year. This debut novel by Sina Queyras coincidentally ended up being a guide of sorts. As a poet, it read like a stream of singing language. As someone grieving, it hit home and I had to pause to reflect a few times. The scenes in it were familiar and bravely raw.

All I can say is that it is a very good read, one that you can savor throughout your day. The impermanence of life is where love truly dwells. What are we, but lovers of life who truly love when it's all at stake?

[Aude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Je pleure pas souvent quand je lis des livres, mais dans certains passages, il m'était tout simplement impossible de garder les yeux secs.

[Roxane Nadeau · Rating 3 out of 5]

Critique tirée du site de La Recrue

D’abord publié en anglais en 2011 aux éditions Coach House Books, le premier roman de Sina Queyras a profondément marqué la critique par sa générosité : la trame narrative accorde la parole à de nombreux personnages d’une même famille qui ont tous leur parti pris quant aux thèmes de la pauvreté, de l’abandon et de la résilience. Maintenant que le livre est traduit aux éditions Hamac, la francophonie peut profiter de la plume singulière de cette auteure qui travaille d’ailleurs comme professeure à l’université Concordia de Montréal.

C’est l’histoire du décès imminent de Thérèse, qui combat un cancer depuis plusieurs années, qui est à la source de cette rencontre de subjectivités entre père, frères et sœurs. Chacun a, dans son enfance, les mêmes traumatismes : mortalité dans l’entourage proche, disparition du père, climat de violence maintenu par la mère, perte de repères causée par de nombreux déménagements. Dans Autobiographie de l’enfance, c’est majoritairement aux personnalités adultes en processus d’introspection auxquels on a accès, plutôt que la parole des enfants.

On apprend, notamment, à connaître Guddy, qui vit un peu en marge du reste de la famille, mais qui se déplace sur les lieux pour les dernières heures de Thérèse. Leur relation est houleuse. Par le passé, il y a eu plusieurs mois où elles ne se sont pas adressé la parole. Malgré tout, Thérèse admire chez Guddy cette résilience qui l’habite, elle la complimente : « Tu trouves toujours le moyen de transformer les choses en or. Pourquoi ne pourrait-il sortir de tout ça quelque chose de bon? »

Les autres personnages ont l’occasion de s’exprimer dans un monologue intérieur qui prend la forme de caléidoscope mêlant le passé et le présent, et où l’on a du mal à départager la réalité des inventions issues des peurs d’enfance ou des anxiétés d’adultes. On entend son fils Jerry qui a construit une vie confortable, mais où il semble toujours à l’écart de sa femme et de son fils, celui-ci assoiffé d’argent facile. On connaît aussi Bjarne, visiblement malade, comme le suggère son monologue, plus décousu que les autres. Le texte se conclut avec la prise de parole d’Annie qui veille sur sa mère vieillissante, source de si nombreux traumatismes d’enfance.Puis, il y a Thérèse, la colérique, qui sera finalement apaisée par sa mort prochaine.

Les thèmes abordés par Queyras sont audacieux. Par contre, on regrette le ton qui enlève aux mots des personnages leur appartenance à une classe populaire ou à une région spécifique, mais doit-on ce ton à la traduction? Le texte est écrit dans un français neutre, presque froid. Mais peut-être est-ce un contraste intéressant, puisque les thèmes sont si brûlants?

[Shannon · Rating 5 out of 5]

KSKS

[Penelope · Rating 2 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book for free through Goodreads First Reads.

2 stars

I started writing a review and then accidentally hit the back button on my keyboard and lost it aaaall (Goodreads, why don't you have autosave? seriously). Basically, I don't think this book is that great; the childhood theme seems superficially imposed; the book seems like it is supposed to be character-driven but the characters aren't well developed or interesting.

The book opens with Guddy who, to me, seemed like the main character. I would have been content to read a book that simply focused on her as the main character (or even her sister, who is dying of cancer). By instead choosing to create "vignettes" of each character, I think the author made it more complicated than it had to be. It just wasn't working for me. I wanted to know more about Guddy--or really, any ONE character. Reading about the characters from varying perspectives was kind of (not really) interesting, but if it was meant to provide some depth, I don't think it succeeded.

I think the strongest part of this book is the "feeling" of the writing. Queyras does a good job of evoking powerful feelings with her writing, but for me those feelings were dulled by the overly-simplified plot and underdeveloped characters. I might look into other things written by this author, but wasn't impressed by this book.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a goodreads free give away book for me. This is the story of a family and how they lived. It is told from the point of view of each of the children, at a time when one of them is dying. Through thie prespective, we see a family who went through some difficult times, each of which is described differently based on the member's point of view. I found it interesting to see how each member felt and reacted to the family's life. Coming from a somewhat dysfunctional family myself, I enjoyed viewing the family from different perspectives. Still, they all were loyal to each other. I enjoyed the well written way the story was presented.

[Maryann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was fortunately enough to win an advance reading copy from the Goodreads giveaway program. That said, this isn't typically a book I might choose, but it was very interesting to read about the varying perspectives of the family members and how they reacted to what was happening within their family. The prose was a bit poetic for me, but then again the author is a poet. I think that anyone who faced similar family circumstances as portrayed in this book would feel more connected to it than I did.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book about how different members of a family see events in their childhood and how it affects their relationships.

[Rocky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.