Canadian Short Stories, Second Series

by Robert Weaver (Editor)

This groundbreaking book remains one of the finest anthologies of Canadian short fiction ever published, its selections as readable and relevant as they were back in 1960 when first chosen by editor Robert Weaver. Among the 27 stories included here are enduring classics by such early giants of Canadian literature as Frederick Philip Grove, Morley Callaghan, and Sinclair Ross; works by writers like Alice Munro, Mordecai Richler, and Mavis Gallant, then viewed as relative newcomers, now firmly ensconced in the pantheon of Canadian letters; and stories by Ethel Wilson, Hugh Garner, Joyce Marshall, and others less well-known to twenty-first century readers but whose stories still grip the imagination and tell us something about our country and ourselves.

Robert Weaver: Introduction
E.W. Thompson (1849-1924): The Privilege of the Limits
Sir Charles G.D.Roberts (1860-1943): Strayed
Duncan Campbell Scott (1862-1947): Paul Farlotte
Stephen Leacock (1869-1944): The Marine Excursion of the Knights of Pythias
Frederick Philip Gove (1871-1948): Snow
Ethel Wilson (b. 1890): Mrs. Golightly and the First Convention
Ringuet (b. 1895): The Heritage
Raymond Knister (1900-32): Mist-Green Oats
Thomas H. Raddall (b. 1903): Blind MacNair
Morley Callaghan (b. 1903): Last Spring They Came Over
Morley Callaghan (b. 1903): A Sick Call
Leo Kennedy (b. 1907): A Priest in the Family
Sinclair Ross (b. 1908): The Painted Door
Ralph Gustafson (b. 1909): The Pigeon
Malcolm Lowry (1909-57): The Bravest Boat
Irving Layton (b. 1912): Vacation in La Voiselle
Hugh Garner (b. 1913): One, Two, Three Little Indians
Joyce Marshall (b. 1913): The Old Woman
W.O. Mitchell (b. 1914): The Owl and the Bens
P.K. Page (b. 1916): The Green Bird
Anne Hébert (b. 1916): The House on the Esplanade
Roger Lemelin (b. 1919): The Stations of the Cross
Mavis Gallant (b. 1922): The Legacy
James Reaney (b. 1926): The Bully
Douglas Spettigue (b. 1930): The Haying
Alice Munro (b. 1931): The Time of Death
Mordecai Richler (b. 1931): Benny, the War in Europe, and Myerson's Daughter Bella

378 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

About the author

Robert Weaver worked as a program organizer and producer for CBC radio from 1948 to 1985, and in that role helped bring to notice such writers as Alice Munro and Mordecai Richler. A prolific editor of anthologies, he was also a driving force behind the well-known literary magazine The Tamarack Review.

He was also the editor of several anthologies including the Canadian Short Stories editions (1952, 1960, 1968, 1978, 1985) and The Anthology Anthology: A Selection from Thirty Years of CBC Radio's "Anthology".

Reviews

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the first of several volumes published over the next several decades, of stories selected by ‘the godfather of CanLit’, Robert Weaver. When he died at the age of 87 in 2008, it was said of him that he was the best friend that the Canadian short story ever had.

I picked up the book at a library book sale for $1. It is a small little hardcover, a lovely size to hold in one hand. I have to push my glasses off to read it, holding it myopically close to my face. The font is small and closely packed, the pages thin. Paper must have been more expensive back in 1960. The binding has pulled away from the spine, but the pages are still holding together tightly.

Most of these stories were written in the first half of the last century, so struggles against nature, poverty, rigid societal conventions and the Church are prominent. "Freezing to death in a blizzard" happens in two stories -- I can't imagine that plot device appearing in a contemporary Canadian short story. But Sinclair Ross's The Painted Door did have a good twist right at the end.

My favourite was Ethel Wilson's story of Mrs Golightly . Set in the 50s, the story starts in Vancouver. An introverted and shy wife dreads accompanying her extroverted husband to a convention. The social pressures of conformity were so intense. Just what is the right type of feather and style of a woman’s hat, that won’t provoke the disdain of other wives?

Published in 1960, the youngest authors are still up-and-coming -- Alice Munro, Mavis Gallant, Mordecai Richler. It's like looking at old photographs; you can't help but think of all that has come afterward since that picture was taken, and oh how things have changed.

It is a historical artifact of another era.

[Al · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent grouping. Read 90%, thus skipping one or two which had little appeal. Particularly enjoyed the Richlers and Faessler.