The Vanishing Point

by W.O. Mitchell

W.O. Mitchell worked for many years on this book, polishing what was to be his big, serious, and very controversial novel about white-native relations. The book is set in the Paradise Reserve in the Alberta foothills – but the Reserve is far from perfect. Carlyle Sinclair, a widower who comes to teach in the one-room schoolhouse, is full of optimism, but he is frustrated in and out of the classroom by the passivity of the people he is determined to help. When Victoria, his prize pupil, goes missing in the backstreets of the city, he goes in search of her, and of the truth about his own life.

Genres: Fiction, Canadian Literature, Canada

408 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1973

About the author

William Ormond Mitchell was an author of novels, short stories, and plays. He is best known for his 1947 novel Who Has Seen the Wind, which has sold close to a million copies in North America, and a collection of short stories, Jake and the Kid, which subsequently won the Stephen Leacock Award. Both of these portray life on the Canadian prairies where he grew up in the early part of the 20th century. He has often been called the Mark Twain of Canada for his vivid tales of young boys' adventures.

In 1973, Mitchell was made an officer of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dive into the mind of Carlyle Sinclair as he takes you on a journey through a different time of life, before the fast paced tech times of present day. The stream of consciousness writing style in a slow paced, nature based environment is an adjustment when used to fast paced action packed style novels. The backdrop storyline of finding the missing young woman Victoria does not seem to be the focal point of the novel but rather the trigger to finding a purpose to Carlyle's life. In his search we are exposed to a view of life at the reserve, the Stoney community, the surrounding nature, and the story of his childhood, from his perspective.

If you are reading this book, I recommend reading it at a time of life where you are able to read more than small chunks at a time so that you can immerse in the writing style and allow your mind to be slowed down to the pace of the novel (this is not the space I was in when I read it, and I feel like I didn't give it the time it needed to fully appreciate it).

Quote: "Man lifted bridges between himself and other men so that he could walk from his own heart and into other hearts." P.374

[Marlene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not knowing what is being said. Paragraphs full of half sentences. Highly annoying, but Mitchell captures what it's like dealing with the natives on the reserve. That is not so much his style as it is the way they converse. Infuriating I know, but I did some volunteering in rural Alberta in the 90's. I was very frustrated by the interactions or lack of. I got some coaching from one of the teachers, this helped immensely and gave me some insight. This book brought back the disconnected conversations. Mitchell nailed it!

[J.E. Friend · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this for my book club. I wasn’t particularly fond of the writing style of WO Mitchell, and neither did I care for the language that was used in the writing. I found the writing confusing, the story disjointed and I found that I was never sure exactly where he was going with the story it jumped around quite a bit without a good flow to it.

[Kristin Haynes · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was somewhat interested in the story but I could not continue despite a pretty valiant effort. It was the stream-of-consciousness main character's voice that I found irritating. Life's too short.

[Lezreads · Rating 3 out of 5]

I couldn't continue but i gave it a chance.

[Carol · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. It is about a Carlyle Sinclair, a teacher on a prairie Indian reserve. He is very attached to one of his former students, Victoria, but has difficulty in understanding the indian way of life. This is because he is unable to think as an Indian.
Carlyle believes that no one can really understand another human being as it is impossible to get entirely into another's soul.
He studied the vanishing point in art class. The parallel lines never actually meet but they come very close at the horizon.
All people are different like the lines that never meet. All have handicaps or flaws, something that causes pain. As the Indians, whose culture was taken from them.
Carlyle cannot connect to other people but he finally learns the lesson of the vanishing point once he discovers pain.
Everyone has something to overcome, some pain to release. By releasing and overcoming it, the self becomes less important. As in the vanishing point, the further you get from the "self", the closer you get to the other "selfs", almost merging. Each is a mirror to another and by seeing yourself and the other, both learn.

[UnusualChild{beppy} · Rating 3 out of 5]

synopsis:
takes place in the big city, and on a reserve in northern alberta. a school teacher comes on to the reserve with big plans to educate the natives. he finds resistence from the children and the parents. there is one bright spot, victoria, who is very bright, and he pins all his hopes on her. when he finds out that victoria has gone missing from the nursing school, he sets out to find her over the course of a few months, as he goes back and forth between the reserve and the big city.

what i liked: i feel as though the native way of life was acurately portrayed. they weren't lazy, they just had different priorities from the white people. i liked the relationships that were built between the teacher and a couple of the guys on the reserve, and how they came to respect each other, even if they didn't understand one another.

what i didn't like: there was no real deliniation between the past and the present, so it was sometimes difficult to tell when certain events were happening.

[Sheila · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like the lines which never meet in Carlyle Sinclair's art lesson, the white and Stony Indian culture don't ever seem to meet either. Teaching on the Stony reserve Paradise(what an ironic name!) Carlyle seems unable to bring about any lasting change in the people except for one bright student Victoria Ryder who he has guided towards a nursing career. When Victoria leaves the hospital mid-term, Carlyle is frantic to find her, searching both in the city and the reserve. As a reader I found Victoria not a clearly drawn character, especially compared to the unforgettable Archie Nicotine and faith healer Heally Richards who is counting on reviving Victoria's terminally ill grandfather as the grand finale to his televised faith healing crusades.

[Paula Dembeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

Carlyle Sinclair is a teacher and later an Indian agent at a remote Stony Indian Reserve near the Rockies. His commitment to them is total as he watches their lives, which include disease, hunger and drunkenness, with despair and sadness. He tries in particular to help an Indian girl Victoria Rider escape the limitations of reserve life. There are other colorful characters including Old Esau, always on the point of death, Archie Nicotine, who is exasperating but ingenious, and Ezra, the appointed clergy. The "vanishing point" refers to the point on the horizon Carlyle learned to draw in school, and the feeling he has through his life that he is just disappearing and losing himself.

[Caryn Leah-Dyke · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't finish it....ugh, too boring.