Come Back

by Rudy Wiebe

From a 2-time winner of the Governor General's Literary Award, an intense novel of loss, memory and the limitless nature of family love.

Hal Wiens, a retired professor, is mourning the sudden death of his loving wife, Yo. To get through each day, he relies on the bare comfort of routine and regular phone calls to his children Dennis and Miriam, who live in distant cities with their families. One snowy April morning, while drinking coffee with his Dené friend Owl in south-side Edmonton, he sees a tall man in an orange downfill jacket walk past on the sidewalk. The jacket, the posture, the head and hair are it's his beloved oldest son, Gabriel. But it can't be—Gabriel killed himself 25 years ago.

The sighting throws Hal's inert life into tumult. While trying to track down the man, he is irresistibly compelled to revisit the diaries, journals and pictures Gabe left behind, to unfold the mystery of his son's death. Through Gabe's own eyes we begin to understand the covert sensibilities that corroded the hope and light his family knew in him. As he becomes absorbed in his son's life, lost on a tide of "relentless memory," Hal's grief—and guilt—is portrayed with a stunning immediacy, drawing us into a powerful emotional and spiritual journey.

Come Back is a rare and beautiful novel about the humanity of living and dying, a lyrical masterwork from one of our most treasured writers.

Genres: Fiction, Canadian Literature

288 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2014

About the author

Wiebe was born at Speedwell, near Fairholme, Saskatchewan in what would later become his family’s chicken barn. For thirteen years he lived in an isolated Mennonite community of about 250 people. He did not speak English until age six since Mennonites at that time customarily spoke Low German at home and standard German at Church. He attended the small school three miles from his farm and the Speedwell Mennonite Brethren Church.

He received his B.A. in 1956 from the University of Alberta and then studied at the University of Tübingen in West Germany. In 1958 he married Tena Isaak, with whom he had two children.

He is deeply committed to the literary culture of Canada and has shown a particular interest in the traditions and struggles of people in the Prairie provinces, both whites and Aboriginals.

Wiebe won the Governor General's Award for Fiction twice, for The Temptations of Big Bear (1973) and A Discovery of Strangers (1994). He was awarded the Royal Society of Canada's Lorne Pierce Medal in 1986. In 2000 he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Reviews

[Sara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free as a Goodreads First Read.

I found this book to be challenging, in both the writing style and the content. At first I was really struggling with the disjointed, run-on writing and it took me awhile to find the rhythm of Hal's thoughts. I haven't read any other works by Rudy Wiebe, so I'm not sure if this is a common theme in his writing or not.

Once I got into the story, I did very much enjoy learning more about Gabe and Hal, despite the fact that it was quite heavy. Definitely not a beach-read, but I don't imagine for a second that this was what was intended with this book. What it did achieve is to force me to think about relationships in my own life and reminded me that we can never really know what is happening underneath the surface; even (or maybe especially) with those we love most.

[Cathi Gorham-Mol · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is devastating but so poetic and honestly written that every page is a humbling and thoughtful experience.

[Karna · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Michael Hohner · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite possibly a quintessential Canadian novel (which is intended to suggest that it will need to read again and studied further to know for sure). The main character, Hal (Helmut) Wiens, struggles with the loss of a son. He tries to reconcile this tragedy that happened many years ago by going through boxes of documents (journals, notebooks) that were kept and organized by Hal's recently departed wife (Yo) and Gabriel's mother. I found this book a real struggle to make all the connections that were possibly being made to explain Gabriel's death by reviewing all these old documents throughout the novel. In chapter 1, Hal is having coffee with his good friend Owl. Owl sees a raven fly around the intersection and comments that she'll fly the circle. Hal comments that "she's flying the square." To which Owl retorts "Whiteman's circle." The raven doesn't make it to all the lampposts on the square before moving on, and Hal says "It didn't complete your Whiteman's circle.", to which Owl responds "Come and gone. Good sign." I think this sets the tone and is a possible trope early on for much of how the rest of the novel unfolds; never quite going full circle and certainly with some rough corners to what otherwise seems like a great novel with a really good start. I also very much enjoyed Chapter 2, as it felt like a story straight from the CBC Vinyl Cafe and I couldn't help but read it as if Stuart McLean was reading it. Again, this is a novel with a quintessential Canadian feel, but a struggle to get through as it does not seem to drive toward any sort of finite conclusion or a sense of clearly coming full circle.

[Kathryn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I feel bad giving this book a 1 star rating, 2 would be ok, but I didn't like it.

I have never read his work before and didn't realize that he was such an esteemed Canadian author, but this book did not do it for me. This is the story of Hal Wiens, a protagonist, that Wiebe has apparently written about before. Hal has Aboriginal roots (I assume) and Mennonite roots. I picked this book because of the Mennonite connection but it didn't really focus on the Mennonite aspect.

Hal was in a coffee shop with his friend when he say a glimpse of someone who looked like his dead son. Hal bolts out of the shop and runs into the streets to find him, causing much havoc and injury to the drivers etc. Hal is not aware that he has caused mayhem as he is overwhelmed by the unresolved grief about his son's suicide 25 years prior.

Hal goes back through the journals left behind by Gabe. To quote the Star newspaper (Oct 3, 2014), "What he discovers dismays him: a portrait of a young man in the throes of a depression grounded on quite disturbing self-loathing and beset by an extremely inappropriate emotional and sexual fixation on a thirteen-year-old girl named Ailsa." (Moreso, because Gabe was 23 at the time and she was 13. But we read that he has always had a fixation on young girls, starting with Nadja Comaneci, the Romanian gymnast who earned perfect 10 at the 1976 Olympics in Montreal.)

This book was just not subject matter that I would have picked had I known, this coupled with the diary entry style for writing made it hard to read.

[Donella · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggled with my rating for this novel. This is an intense and devastating novel, told from two points of view --Hal in the present day, and his memories, as well as diary entries & letters (written 25 years earlier) by his son Gabe. It portrays the devastating impact the taking of a life can have on those left behind, and also provides a window into the thoughts/feelings leading up to such an act: "once that solution becomes attractive, it's hard to get out from under it, even if you love your family + your friends". Once this happens there is no "coming back" no matter how deep the sorrow and regret, and how much the love for the one who is gone.

I liked the spiritual elements --they believably instigated the action and emotional turmoil at the start of the novel, and added depth to the intensity.

This novel was masterfully written, with the two points of view in two different styles; it is an uncomfortable book to read, however, and my ratings also reflect how likely I would be to want to reread something again in the next year. I see this as a more infrequent, thoughtful read. So 5* for the novel overall, but 3* based on this being an infrequent read.

[Susan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I skimmed through this book to finish it. I found it disjointed but perhaps that was what the author intended to convey in the struggle Hal was experiencing as he tried to understand his son's suicide after he thought he saw him walking down a street 25 years after his death. Or perhaps it was the frame of mind I was in when I read it. I didn't have patience for this novel. I won't be quick to recommend it to anyone.

[Larry Epp · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hal Wiens 70 something retired prof "sees" son who died a suicide 25 years earlier. I got about half way through -- no chapters. MUCH of Hal reading son's diaries -- obsessive about spurned love. Tiring, no progress. Hard to bring myself to pick up the book.

[Gaylejvd · Rating 1 out of 5]

I chose this book with the intentional goal of reading a Canadian author. This was a heavy, dark and disturbing read, and the rather disjointed format the author used made it difficult to follow the main character's thoughts as he delved into the reasons that led to his son's suicide.

[Elise Volkman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Heartbreaking. Exquisitely heartbreaking in every way that it should be.

[Francine Seguin · Rating 2 out of 5]

A good foundational story but difficult to read.

[Ngu · Rating 1 out of 5]

Just couldn't get this book. Flipped most pages without reading.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is perhaps the 4th of Rudy Wiebe's books that I have read and definitely the most powerful. A man, after 25 yrs, is trying to come to terms with his son's suicide. 24 yrs ago, in 1992 my sister aged 48, took her own life by intentional overdose, after a 30 yr struggle with mental and physical illness. Although I'm not Mennonite, my religious background(since left far behind me) was staunchly Calvinist and suicide was considered the ultimate, hence unforgivable sin. I felt while reading this, that the author must have had personal experience with familial suicide in order to be able to write so eloquently and sensitively about it. And sure enough, an online review of this book in the Globe and Mail revealed that his own son had died of suicide in 1985.
Although I was not my sister's parent, I could relate to a lot of the monologue/dialogue in this book. I could feel the pain, the questions, the doubt. I can't remember when I last read a book that dug so deeply into my being as this one has.
I think this book is definitely not everyone's cup of tea. It is depressing and I thought reading of the day-book entries was a bit prolonged. I enjoyed the presence of Owl, his wisdom, and insight, especially during the conversation about Hunger Animal.
All in all I thought this was an amazingly well crafted novel(?) and I was driven to keep reading it. I'm glad I accidentally stumbled upon it in my local small town library. Divine guidance? Who knows.

[Vontel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have read several of Rudy Wiebe's books over the years. The last one was likely Stolen Life, which I highly recommend. Come Back is Wiebe's first novel in 10 years, and may be inspired to an extent from his own life, having had a son die by suicide years ago. It took me some time to get back to finish the last 2/3 of the book. There are many excellent reviews online of this book for a reference and excellent discussion.

I found it powerful and moving, for the presentation and exploration by a recently widowed retired professor, after a gap of 25 years, of the life and suicide of one of his adult sons in his 20's. This is triggered when he thinks he has seen him on the street outside the coffee shop where he is sitting with a friend. The novel grapples with these incredible events and themes within the context of family and community, one's own family of origin, and of the examination and re-examination of one's life as one ages. I will read his earlier memoir of growing up in the boreal forest in Sask, and then later in Alberta, as the child of Russian Mennonite refugees to Canada in the early 1900's, and then further into his life. Reviewers of this book make the links to how his life informed this novel. I think I read his memoir a number of years ago.

[Patir Hirs · Rating 3 out of 5]

I kept reading, expecting more to happen but the book continues on in an almost incomprehensible manner until the odd ending. I enjoyed the diary entries of the troubled son, but the back and forth in time was often hard to follow. I don't think there was enough character development to be able to understand any of the people, but that may have been the author's intent. I know the layout of Edmonton as city so the setting had meaning for me and that added a lot of interest. The time period of the end of the son's life was also familiar and i thought that using films as a sort of character was a good plot device.

[Samuel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard book to read. Wiebe is never easy to read at the best of times because of his style, which is unpredictable and not smooth. It forces the reader to concentrate or give up. This also was not an easy story line -- a 75 year old widower reflecting on the suicide of his son 25 years earlier. Much of the story are from reading his son's journals after thinking he saw his son through the window of a coffee shop. It moves slowly, but forces the reader to reflect on the breakdown of a young adult obsessed by a girl ten years younger. It's a sad, but very powerful story.

[Christine · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wanted to like this book, I expected to love it, but just never got to the point of feeling engaged enough with any of the characters. Torn between being creeped out by thinking of Gabe as a pedophile and having some sympathy for him as a young man with a clearly tortured mind. The writing is beautiful, though I'm not the biggest fan of Wiebe's sometimes disjointed rambling. Still not sure how I feel about it, and so many unanswered questions: what ever happened to A? Did she know? Did Joan?

[Poetreehugger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A hard hitting saga of grief, the permanence of grief, and the never ending pain of the loss of loved ones. The evocative descriptions of the rural and urban settings, the reality of the land, bush and trees of the Canadian prairies, shine through the story, and the characters are as real as the smooth chalky white bark of the ubiquitous poplar.

[Joanne]

Written in almost free verse at times, this story is about the aftermath of a suicide when the Father thinks he sees his 25 years dead son walk down the sidewalk while he's sitting having coffee with his friend, Owl, on Whyte Ave.

He begins going through Gabriel's journals and duaries to try and make sense of his death.

A very poignant and moving story.

[Lori Bamber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can understand why this book isn't more popular - it is as much poetry as it is a novel, perhaps more so. And the subject matter - an adult's obsession with a young girl and his suicide - is very challenging.

But this is a beautiful book, bravely crafted. I felt enriched by it, both as a reader and as a writer.

[Viviana · Rating 3 out of 5]

From the book's description, I expected there to be more plot. This novel is mainly the reflections of a father as he reads the journals of his deceased son. It was well-written despite it not being what I expected.

[Donald · Rating 1 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book because I like Rudy Wiebe's other books but it was so difficult to read that I had to give up one-third of the way through. I received this book in a Goodreads giveaway.

[Julienne]

Look for my review in The Globe & Mail this fall.

[Daniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This isn't Wiebe's best novel, but it is a powerful one nonetheless, good enough that I finished it in the space of an afternoon.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rudy Wiebe has magical writing, and the subject matter of suicide is important to address. There are no answers in the book, only more questions.

[M. · Rating 1 out of 5]

I couldn't read much of it; confusing and hard to follow writing style.

[Melanie Springer Mock · Rating 4 out of 5]

Powerful, sad, hard to read. Wiebe captures the obsessive mind especially well.

[Laura Frey (Reading in Bed) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Prose poetry? Narrative poetry? I feel like I didn't get to know the narrator and I would have liked to. Loved the unapologetic Edmonton setting. A strong 3.5.

[Margaret · Rating 2 out of 5]

A tough, sad read. I liked the relationship between Hal and Owl but the diaries and stuck obsessions of Gabe were too much.

[Danielle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Engrossing yet troubling in terms of the very obvious and serious subject matter that's skirted and avoided at all costs, not only by the characters but also by the author.

More to come.