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Up to Low by Brian Doyle
A cast of motley characters helps Young Tommy and Baby Bridget discover that there are many ways to love and heal and die.
- GenresCanadaFictionYoung Adult
Paperback
First published July 1, 1989
2 people are currently reading
56 people want to read
About the author
Brian Doyle
72 books3 followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
My very first piece of writing I published myself. I wrote in block letters, on the playground of Angelesca Square after a fresh snow fall, huge letters that airplanes could see, these words: MY BEST FRIEND GERALD IS A BASTARD.
For some reason (it was 1942) I wanted the Germans, who were coming any minute now to drop bombs on us, to know about Gerald. I'd overheard my parents talking sadly about Gerald being illegitimate and how sorry they felt. I thought if the Germans knew about Gerald and his problem and that he was my best friend they'd turn around and go home and not drop their bombs on us, here in Lowertown, Ottawa, Canada.
Of course, they never arrived (such was the power of radio those days) but they were the intended audience of my first sentence. First published sentence.
To communicate in clear, written sentences has been my vocation ever since.
In the middle of a teaching career I began dabbling in the genre of youthful narration in the tradition of Twain's Huck Finn. At the same time, I met the flower of the flock, the estimable, the eximious, the nonpareil editor and publisher, Patsy Aldana of Groundwood Books.
Together we have produced a dozen books and we're still cooking. The books are set in the Gatineau river valley and Ottawa. They are funny and sad! They are read by people of all ages though the narrators are young. The narrators are the age of the child who saw the Emperor's nakedness. They are clear eyed, candid, smart, unsophisticated and inexperienced.
The books have multiple layers, resulting in reluctant readers discovering them while elsewhere they are studied in university courses.
They have been translated in seven different languages and have been awarded national and international prizes too numerous to list here. They have been adapted to radio, stage and film. I have appeared in twenty performances of our book Angel Square on the stage of the National Arts Centre.
There has also been an opera and there's talk of a ballet. I have rinsed out my long-sleeved leotard and am waiting by the phone for the audition call.
I spend a lot of time at my cabin in the Gatineau Hills, sometimes with my four grandchildren and their parents, keeping in touch with the trees and the river and the rocks and keeping my ears and eyes open for those Luftwaffe bombers.
My very first piece of writing I published myself. I wrote in block letters, on the playground of Angelesca Square after a fresh snow fall, huge letters that airplanes could see, these words: MY BEST FRIEND GERALD IS A BASTARD.
For some reason (it was 1942) I wanted the Germans, who were coming any minute now to drop bombs on us, to know about Gerald. I'd overheard my parents talking sadly about Gerald being illegitimate and how sorry they felt. I thought if the Germans knew about Gerald and his problem and that he was my best friend they'd turn around and go home and not drop their bombs on us, here in Lowertown, Ottawa, Canada.
Of course, they never arrived (such was the power of radio those days) but they were the intended audience of my first sentence. First published sentence.
To communicate in clear, written sentences has been my vocation ever since.
In the middle of a teaching career I began dabbling in the genre of youthful narration in the tradition of Twain's Huck Finn. At the same time, I met the flower of the flock, the estimable, the eximious, the nonpareil editor and publisher, Patsy Aldana of Groundwood Books.
Together we have produced a dozen books and we're still cooking. The books are set in the Gatineau river valley and Ottawa. They are funny and sad! They are read by people of all ages though the narrators are young. The narrators are the age of the child who saw the Emperor's nakedness. They are clear eyed, candid, smart, unsophisticated and inexperienced.
The books have multiple layers, resulting in reluctant readers discovering them while elsewhere they are studied in university courses.
They have been translated in seven different languages and have been awarded national and international prizes too numerous to list here. They have been adapted to radio, stage and film. I have appeared in twenty performances of our book Angel Square on the stage of the National Arts Centre.
There has also been an opera and there's talk of a ballet. I have rinsed out my long-sleeved leotard and am waiting by the phone for the audition call.
I spend a lot of time at my cabin in the Gatineau Hills, sometimes with my four grandchildren and their parents, keeping in touch with the trees and the river and the rocks and keeping my ears and eyes open for those Luftwaffe bombers.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
March 29, 2019
This was a well-written novella. Wish I'd picked it up in school, guess I'll read it to my son when he gets old enough to understand it, or have him read it as one of his first solo reads.
Been trying to read books set in places I know lately, to better understand that place. This Ottawa / Gatineau cottage book really brought me back to my childhood. Though I don't have a drunken uncle Frank.
That's the most telling "times have changed" sign from the whole story. A child drunk driving cross-country with his dad and his alcoholic buddy was considered funny and wacky, not crazy illegal child endangerment.
Been trying to read books set in places I know lately, to better understand that place. This Ottawa / Gatineau cottage book really brought me back to my childhood. Though I don't have a drunken uncle Frank.
That's the most telling "times have changed" sign from the whole story. A child drunk driving cross-country with his dad and his alcoholic buddy was considered funny and wacky, not crazy illegal child endangerment.
January 23, 2018
Brian Doyle's novella packs a lot of emotion in 100 pages. The way he brings to life Tommy's world is truly captivating. The way Tommy looks at his father and his father's friends you can tell is on the brink of changing as Tommy grows but he still has that glimmer of admiration. His burgeoning romantic life and adult problems could be a cliché but Doyle makes it fresh and funny.
August 11, 2021
Great!
January 17, 2022
I first read this book as an early teen, so this was a reread for me. I enjoyed it just as much as the first time!
It's especially fun for anyone who is familiar with the Ottawa-Gatineau area. :)
It's especially fun for anyone who is familiar with the Ottawa-Gatineau area. :)
April 13, 2014
This story takes place in Gatineu Quebec.
Young Tommy has a interesting but challenging family too boot. The title Up To Low is referring to a place called Low where Tommy and his family go to spend summers.
Tommy's family like any others has few family members that you just shake you head at The is Uncle Hughie, who is Tommy's dads brother that has the nickname "Mean Hughie" because he just doesn't seem to like anybody. They have 2 daughters. One day Mean Hughie is farming and does't realize that his youngest daughter who is Baby Bridgett it near the binder machine, subsequently, Bridgett's arm gets cut off. As you can imagine this puts a lot of guilty and anger on Hughie, who he then takes it out on Bridgette and she never understood why.
Aunt Dottie is Tommy's aunt that looks for anything to complain about. Not too mention she is an extreme germ aphobe. Everything and everyone need to be sprayed or washed down after everything, witch Im sure makes her life hard along with her families.
Crazy Mickey and Great Grandma Minnie are in their 90's and have been together forever. Baby and Tommy seem to really like eachother and they hope that they will be around that long.
One day Mean Hughie seems to disappear, no one thinks of it at the time they just figure he wanted to be by himself for awhile. But when days turned to weeks and then a full month came around Tommy thought he'd better go see if he can find him. To make a long story short: Tommy and Bridget take a boat and go along the Gatineau River and they end up finding him in a custom made coffin. You see mean Hughie had cancer so once they put the pieces together they realized that he left so he could die on his own.
There is a lot in this story about family relationships, and it shows and proves a point that some times family life is really hard, but you just have to hang in there. At the end of the book just before Hughie dies, is able to ask Bridget for forgiveness for the blaming her for the accident and calling her names. Right then they are both able to let go of their anger towards each other and shortly have Hughie dies.
I really enjoyed this book, but it was one of those books that you really have to follow along or you with definitely get lost in all of the family dynamics.
Young Tommy has a interesting but challenging family too boot. The title Up To Low is referring to a place called Low where Tommy and his family go to spend summers.
Tommy's family like any others has few family members that you just shake you head at The is Uncle Hughie, who is Tommy's dads brother that has the nickname "Mean Hughie" because he just doesn't seem to like anybody. They have 2 daughters. One day Mean Hughie is farming and does't realize that his youngest daughter who is Baby Bridgett it near the binder machine, subsequently, Bridgett's arm gets cut off. As you can imagine this puts a lot of guilty and anger on Hughie, who he then takes it out on Bridgette and she never understood why.
Aunt Dottie is Tommy's aunt that looks for anything to complain about. Not too mention she is an extreme germ aphobe. Everything and everyone need to be sprayed or washed down after everything, witch Im sure makes her life hard along with her families.
Crazy Mickey and Great Grandma Minnie are in their 90's and have been together forever. Baby and Tommy seem to really like eachother and they hope that they will be around that long.
One day Mean Hughie seems to disappear, no one thinks of it at the time they just figure he wanted to be by himself for awhile. But when days turned to weeks and then a full month came around Tommy thought he'd better go see if he can find him. To make a long story short: Tommy and Bridget take a boat and go along the Gatineau River and they end up finding him in a custom made coffin. You see mean Hughie had cancer so once they put the pieces together they realized that he left so he could die on his own.
There is a lot in this story about family relationships, and it shows and proves a point that some times family life is really hard, but you just have to hang in there. At the end of the book just before Hughie dies, is able to ask Bridget for forgiveness for the blaming her for the accident and calling her names. Right then they are both able to let go of their anger towards each other and shortly have Hughie dies.
I really enjoyed this book, but it was one of those books that you really have to follow along or you with definitely get lost in all of the family dynamics.
June 15, 2007
Roddy Doyle's books are great, and not just for kids.
I find the description of war time/post war Ottawa pretty fascinating. If you're from Ottawa you should definitely read his stuff.
I find the description of war time/post war Ottawa pretty fascinating. If you're from Ottawa you should definitely read his stuff.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews