We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night

by Joel Thomas Hynes

A blackly comic and heart-rending odyssey by the inimitable author of Down to the Dirt

Scrappy tough guy and three-time loser Johnny Keough is going a little stir-crazy awaiting trial for an alleged assault charge involving his girlfriend, Madonna, and a teapot. Facing three to five years in a maximum-security prison, Johnny knows this might just be the end of the road. But when Madonna doesn’t show up for court due to a fatal accident, shell-shocked Johnny seizes his unexpected “clean slate” as a sign from above and embarks on an epic hitchhiking journey across Canada to deliver her ashes to a fabled beach on the outskirts of Vancouver.

Johnny’s wanderings see him propelled in and out of the driver’s seat of stolen cars, knocking heads with cagey cops, nearly decapitated by a moose, coming face-to-face with his incarcerated biological father in a Kingston jail, and finding surprising connections with strangers on the lonely road west. But most of all, he revisits the choices and mistakes of his past—his relationships with his adoptive father and a cousin who meant the world to him, and his first real chance at love with the woman who is now lost to him.

We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night is the story of one man’s kicking-and-screaming attempt to recuperate from a life of petty crime and shattered relationships, and somehow accept and maybe even like the new man emerging from within, the one he so desperately needs to become.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Book Club, Crime, Contemporary, Canadian Literature, Literature

Unknown Binding

First published April 4, 2017

About the author

JOEL THOMAS HYNES was born and raised in Calvert, Newfoundland. His book, Down to the Dirt, won the Percy Janes First Novel Award, was shortlisted for the Atlantic Book Awards and the Winterset Award, and was nominated for the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award. It has also been staged to widespread acclaim and was recently adapted for the big screen. A celebrated author of novels, short stories and stage plays, Hynes is also a professional actor who has performed numerous leading roles for film, television and stage.

Reviews

[Shaghayegh · Rating 4 out of 5]

وقتی این کتاب رو انتخاب کردم تردید داشتم. مدت‌ها بود که بدون تحقیق قبلی و صرفا بخاطر اسم و خلاصه‌‌ چیزی نمی‌خریدم. یه ذوق عجیبی داشتم که مگو و مپرس. مخصوصا یه بخشی از قلبم برای این خوشحال بود که ریسک کردم و گذاشتم که بی هیچ ایده‌ای، من رو تو دنيای خودش غرق کنه.
باید سریع می‌خوندمش چون چیزی به تولدش باقی نمونده بود و برای همین، دنبال نایاب‌ترین عناوینی بودم که به ذهنش خطور نکرده باشه؛ چون گوشم از این پر بود که هر بار تا دهن باز می‌کردم بگه این رو خوندم و دیدم و شنیدم. این بار می‌خواستم این جمله‌ی تکراری‌ای که باعث احترام و شیفتگی بیشترم بهش میشه رو نشنوم.
صفحات رو ورق زدم و سعی کردم زیر جملات خط نکشم. یادداشت و هایلایت نکنم و هر کاری که در حالت عادی انجام میدم رو انجام ندم. هر بار که می‌بستمش زیر لب می‌گفتم همین‌قدر خوب پیش برو و نذار از انتخابم پشیمون شم. و اینطور شد که تمومش کردم.

اول چند تا مورد رو میگم که قبل از خوندنش نیاز هست بدونین:
این کتاب یک‌جور تک‌گویی شخصیت اصلی هست که مدام با خودش حرف می‌زنه و از اول شخص به سوم شخص در حال جابجایی هست. انگار شخصیت دوپاره شده و یه آدم دیگه تو سرش هست که باهاش هم‌صحبت میشه.
سیر داستانی به صورت پس و پیش کردن زمان یا جریان سیال ذهن پیش میره. گاهی فکر می‌کردم در زمان حال اتفاق میفته اما با خط بعدی متوجه می‌شدم که داره خاطره‌ای از گذشته‌ش رو توصیف می‌کنه. به خاطر معتاد و الکلی بودن شخصیت اصلی، شاید این ذهنیت به وجود بیاد که توهم زده و زمان رو گم کرده که البته جاهایی به همین صورت هست ولی در کل این تکنیک در اثر وجود داره که برای من مبتدی‌خوان، نیازمند تمرکز بوده و هست.
ناملموس بودن شخصیت اصلی رو باید در نظر داشته باشین. به خصوص اگر در هر کتابی به دنبال یه دلیلی برای همذات‌پنداری هستین. شخصیت جانی مرتکب اعمالی میشه که می‌تونه آزاردهنده، چندش، به دور از تصور و غیرقابل توجیه تلقی بشه. مثل شخصیت‌های هولدن کتاب ناتوردشت، هامبرت کتاب لولیتا، هیتکلیف کتاب بلندی‌های بادگیر و یا بوکوفسکی‌ای که هم میشه دوستش داشت و هم میشه ازش متنفر شد.
این اثر روی کثیف و چرک زندگی رو نشون میده که می‌تونه برای خوانندگان حساس، انتخاب مناسبی نباشه. شامل تعرض، تجاوز، خودکشی، خشونت و چیزهایی هست که می‌تونن قلب رو شرحه شرحه کنن، البته اگر قلبی در سینه باقی مونده باشه.

حالا سراغ کتاب بدون خطر لو رفتن میرم:
جانی محکوم به حمله‌ای هست که با قوری به سر دوست‌دخترش زده و یا از نظر خودش، دوست‌دخترش به قوری تو دست جانی هجوم آورده. اون جامعه‌گریز، سابقه‌دار و معتاد هست با گذشته‌ای که تعریف چندانی هم نداره.
مدام در حال فکر و خیال هست و ذهنیاتش تا انتهای کتاب تمومی ندارن. مدام گذشته رو شخم می‌زنه و به حال برمی‌گرده و گاهی ترکیبشون می‌کنه و اگه تمرکز درست و حسابی‌ای نداشته باشی، حساب پرچانگی‌هاش از دستت در میره و نمیدونی کجای ماجرایی و چه اتفاقی افتاده.
اون خودش رو توجیه می‌کنه، خاطراتش رو بازسازی می‌کنه، فریبت میده، دروغ میبافه، واقعیت رو تحریف می‌کنه و گاهی که از توانش خارج میشه سفره‌ی دل گه‌گرفته‌ش رو پهن می‌کنه. اونجاست که می‌بینی جانی اونقدرا هم از خود تو به دور نیست. اونجاست که میتونی بهش حق بدی و پای حرفاش بشینی.
جانی مثل هامبرت با کلمات بازی می‌کنه. مثل هیتکلیف کینه‌ای هست و خشمش میتونه ویرانگر باشه. مثل هولدن دلش از عالم و آدم پر هست و مثل بوکوفسکی میتونه یه تنه به هیکل خودش برینه. اون یه همچین شخصیتی هست و نیمه‌ی تاریکش رو مخفی نمی‌کنه.
کتاب برخلاف حجمش، بخاطر شیوه‌ی روایتی که نویسنده در نظر گرفته نیازمند وقت و حوصله‌ی بیشتری هست. چون تکنیک سیال ذهن، لااقل برای من جوری پیش نمیره که مثل بقیه‌ی کتاب‌ها بتونم باهاش برخورد کنم.
اگر بخاطر اسم کتاب کنجکاو شدین باید بگم که لااقل تلخیش به اندازه‌ی اسمش هست. و راجع به ترجمه احساس کردم که به خوبی این کار رو انجام داده. گرچه بعضی از واژه‌ها رو ترجیح می‌دادم مثل باقی چیزها ایرانیزه نکنه ولی در کل اون لحنی که باید رو انتقال میده و تا جایی که امکان داشت سانسوری نداره. با متن اصلی چک نکردم که بدونم ویراستاریش به چه صورت هست؛ چون سر دیالوگ‌ها هیچ نشانه‌ای وجود نداره و اطلاعی ندارم بخاطر سبک هست یا ویراستاری.
در کل کتابی نیست که بتونم به هر کسی پیشنهادش کنم. به کسایی معرفیش می‌کنم که اولا با این سبک آشنا باشن و بی‌اطلاع نفرت‌پراکنی نکنن. دوما از تاریکی ابعاد آدمی هراسان نباشن و سوما طاقت سیر داستانی آروم اما عمیق و تأمل‌برانگیز رو داشته باشن چون بعضی از کتاب‌ها رو باید آهسته و پیوسته خوند و انتظار نداشت که پشت سر هم اتفاقات هیجان‌انگیز پیش بیاد.
این کتاب از دسته‌ای بود که دلم لک می‌زد تا توش بنویسم و هایلایتش کنم از بس که جانی یه جاهایی حق می‌گفت و حرف دلم رو می‌زد. به گمونم بار بعد که سراغش بیام امتیاز بیشتری هم میتونه ازم بگیره. (نه حتما اما شاید)

پ.ن۱ : با اینکه خیر و برکت هر روز داره از گودریدز میره و آپشن‌هاش کم و کمتر میشن، ولی اونقدر می نویسم تا از رو بره.
پ.ن۲ : هیچ‌وقت کادویی نخرین که بهش چشم داشته باشین!

[David]

Johnny Keough is awful. I wouldn't last 10 minutes in a room with him. But somehow, Joel Thomas Hynes makes me care about this man and wish him well. A superb narrative.

[Krista · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mumble mumble down there. Some sorta big talk to his wife or his girlfriend. An oath, a curse. Talkin about Johnny, gotta be. Big talk, nothin he'd say to Johnny's face. Role-playing. Shag this. Johnny's down the stairs and out the front hall to the door. He dont even bother to put on the sneakers cause he's not gonna be using his feet. You gotta be able to dance, dance, dance whenever the mood takes you. That's the rule, that's the law. Johnny gives the knuckles a good scrape across the panelling in the porch before he opens the door. Sting and burn, bleed, come on bleed. Clench and release, clench and release. Buddy started it, didnt he? Good night, he says. Johnny's night. Good. Johnny raps on buddy's door. It's a new door with a big patterned window to let the light in. Must be nice, letting all that light in. Must be nice to have it all lined up, new doors, taking the garbage out.

We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night started off as one of my favourite kinds of book – grittily intriguing with a sociopathic character whose present situation needs to be puzzled out (I mean, Johnny wants to have a little chat with buddy just for saying good night to him, even though Johnny isn't technically supposed to be leaving his apartment after ten p.m.) – and from there it whizzes along, moving Johnny forward through the present while he mentally revisits the events in his past that led him to where he is; how he is. This is a formula that worked so well for me in books like Trainspotting or The Glorious Heresies – that satisfying mental evolution I experienced from initially regarding the characters as trash to recognising their humanity – but in this book it all felt a bit...formulaic. Early conversations that Johnny has with others (and himself) dangle the clues – What do you know about car fires, Johnny? How did that brand new John Deere cap get up in the branches of the black spruce? Just when will we get back to the jeezly hens? – and it becomes obvious that the point is: No matter how bad you think Johnny is, his childhood was worse. Author Joel Thomas Hynes is a bit too obvious in his plotting and pacing here for my taste, but I do love a Newfie tale and enjoyed the voice of his sentences.

We're all looking for a change of scenery, at the very least. We're all lookin for our ticket. Who's not lookin to claw their way out from under what they're tangled up in? Who's not, underneath it all, desperate to let go of what they're hangin on to? And what's really worth hanging on to anymore?

Mild spoilers as I summarise the plot: We soon learn that Johnny is awaiting trial for the assault of his girlfriend, Madonna. We eventually see that she was the love of his life – the only person he ever settled down with; happy whether they were shoplifting, or cooking breakfast, or getting sober, or falling off the wagon – so why did Madonna have to ruin everything by smashing her face into the teapot Johnny was holding and then calling the cops? Because Madonna doesn't appear at the trial, Johnny is set free, and events send him on a cross-Canada road trip; running from the cops and a St. John's crime boss; hitchhiking west in increasingly filthy clothes and a deteriorating body. Although Johnny does share some of his history with the people he hitches rides from, most of the narrative occurs in his own head (where his thoughts return again and again to the same seminal moments until they're fully revealed), and by the end, we're supposed to realise that this broken, violent misanthrope couldn't have turned out any other way. Helpfully, this is spelled out a couple of times:

What do any of us ever know? That we used to be children but now we're not. That what we are now is just a collection of our blunders and our missteps, a mashed and battered accumulation of all our wrongs. Sick as our secrets. And now we mainly gotta lean into our years and hope too much of it dont splatter back into our fucken faces.

And speaking of what splatters back into our faces...no, you'd have to read that part to fully get it. The “road trip” might be a stock plotline, but I can't remember reading another one set in Canada. So as someone who has made this drive many times, I enjoyed the stops in Truro and Edmundston; could picture running into the woods to evade the Sûreté du Québec; winced when Johnny, heading to the west coast, left a car travelling to Timmins to make his side-trip to Kingston. On the other hand, and by coincidence, my husband and brother-in-law were talking the other night about some of their own youthful hitchhiking adventures and bemoaning the fact that those days are gone; no one in their right mind would pick up a solitary young man on the side of the road anymore. And here's Johnny: his face both sunburnt and swollen from ant bites from sleeping in the forest, wearing a stinking, filthy poncho to disguise the disintegrating suit he ran away in, limping from decaying boots, unable to do much more than grunt and scowl at people, and getting enough rides to move himself (and the plot) along. That made me wonder what time period this is actually supposed to be and that's confusing: Johnny mentions having had a DVD player with Madonna, but no one – not even his drug dealer pal, Shiner – seems to have a cell phone, and while a cop is able to run a (stolen) driver's license through his in-car computer, the law doesn't seem interested in tracking down the van he eventually steals. And another quibble: Diane Schoemperlen, in This Is Not My Life, made it sound a bit more complicated to visit an inmate, even in minimum security.

I wish I couldn't see the man behind the curtain of this book – Hynes doesn't quite pull off art here – but that's not to say I didn't like it quite a bit. I'm waffling on a rating, so will feel like it's generous to round up to four stars.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Goodreads Giveaway. The first few pages (or even chapters) might put you off, but stick with it. Behind all that anger and profanity is a powerfully told story.

[Trudy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are there more than five stars?

[Joe Beaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joel Thomas Hynes does a fantastic job portraying Johnny Keough as a low life miserable prick. By all outward appearances there’s been nothing on the protagonist’s mind but swilling, drugging and fornicating since he was twelve years old. The lifestyle has resulted in violence both by and against him, stints in prison, and even being hailed as an unlikely hero for helping an elderly couple escape a house fire. All this before he hightails it from Newfoundland with an urn of his dead girlfriend’s ashes under his arm. Does the cross-Canada journey change him? Not a bit. He’s still a thief and a thug constantly on the lookout for a score without regard for the consequences. I don’t imagine there are too many readers who like Johnny any more when he finally arrives in Vancouver then when he began the trek, but they do understand him. The author’s stream of consciousness writing style brings a fractured yet articulate voice to Johnny’s every thought, and in doing so, incrementally brings the reader to a place where they reluctantly empathize with the three-time loser.
Somehow it doesn’t seem right to say I enjoyed this novel, so instead I’ll say ‘We’ll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night’ is a brilliantly told raw and savage story that I couldn’t put down.

[Djj · Rating 5 out of 5]

Full disclosure, the author is a friend of a friend and I bought the book at a book signing. I always worry with art made by people I know. Will I have to complement the font to find something nice to say?

Happily, Mr. Hynes has given us a superbly written story about Johnny, a down and out Newfoundlander who travels across Canada to, let's say (to avoid spoilers), help a friend and deal with some family issues. Johnny narrates the story in an inner monologue. His thoughts are both profane and lyrical. The book can be difficult to read at times as Hynes demands that you immerse yourself in Johnny's thoughts and rhythm, and Johnny is in constant pain. He may be the most tragic hero I've come across in years. His life has been difficult and filled with tragedy. But give yourself over and you won't be disappointed.

[Sue Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lordy, this was depressing.

Don't get me wrong - it was an very interesting look at the inner workings of a young man that has had very little going for him from the get go, (and I mean very little -zero- zippo - zilch- nadda) and yet his heart is rock solid when it's in the right place, even though it seems beyond comprehension that he could ever have a good heart. Johnny Keough is one messed up young man with a world of hurt on his shoulders (seemingly self-induced) and an extra load waiting down the road (also self induced). A full-time punk with little prospects for rosy future, drug addled, booze swilling, match stick fire quick temper - all adding up to assault and battery charges from the woman he loves that will equal 3 to 5 in the big house. Yes, things don't look good for Johnny.

But it's funny how life can change in the blink of an eye - how you can be on one path, only to all of a sudden be on another - and we get to go along for the ride with our hero Johnny.

Strap in too, for what a hell of a ride this is. All along the way we get Johnny's inner diatribe as he makes his way from Newfoundland to the far west coast and the wonderful city of Vancouver and we discover little by little what made Johnny the man he is today. How each memory is dredged up and shared and we get a little bit more of the picture of what makes Johnny tick. And every footfall he makes, every time you hear another piece of his story you'll find yourself going from really detesting this guy to realizing that life utterly failed him and despite all of it, you start to root for him. You want him to see it through - to reach that finish line before the finish line reaches him.

Go Johnny go!

This book is well worth the read. It won't be pretty and there are times you will probably think -'why did I start this book?' But trust me, it's worth it - every gritty word. Plus this book is an awesome introduction into the world of Newfoundland-speak for those of you who have never been exposed to such a treat of a language! (I personally have never been to Newfoundland but know lots of people that hail from the rock and have heard tales the would probably curl your nose hairs. But that's neither here nor there).

[Zoom · Rating 5 out of 5]

Brilliant book. If you can get past all the things you don't like about Johnny, you'll be rewarded by the kindling of your empathy. Johnny's the epitome of the underdog. He's like the stubborn little weed that grows in the town dump. You know how some people are born on 3rd base and think they hit a triple? Johnny struck out before he was even born, and things went downhill from there. Just when you think he's hit rock bottom, someone digs a hole and he stumbles in. Even when he gets lucky, it all turns to shit. Literally.

I loved this book. It reminds me of the novel Martin John, in that it coaxes a wee bit of light to illuminate the life of an unlovable man. Johnny's got just enough human decency to keep him from being pathetic. And there's just enough humour in this book to keep it from being depressing.

[Daniel Kukwa · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hung in until the very end...although it nearly reduced my consciousness to mush. There's a great story in here...but it's all but smothered by a rambling vernacular writing style so dense and impenetrable that it stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Faulkner's "The Sound and the Fury" as a book that exists to torment me. At least I fathomed what was occurring throughout this story...which is a step up from Faulkner.

[MargaretDH · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do love Canadian road trip books, and I love books about charming rogues, and this is that. I'm not sure this is the most original work, though. Hynes sets out to show us the consequences of inflicting abuse and withholding love from a child in a serious of flashbacks, and as the main plot unfolds, the shaping of the man is slowly revealed. You've probably read that story before, and I'd say this version is a solid example of the type.

What I loved, though, was the voice. Johnny is charming, funny, and excellent liar - to himself and others. He's also just a little scary. I thought Hynes did an excellent job building a voice with Newfoundland speech patterns without resorting to a clumsy written dialect. I'd recommend this mostly on the strength of the voice and the black humour, with the plot coming second.

[Doug Lewars · Rating 1 out of 5]

*** Possible Spoilers ***

They say that the first five pages of a book are the most important. I don't entirely agree with that but this book was 247 pages; so say 20% - which in this case would be 49 pages should be sufficient to obtain a pretty fair assessment. I should have stopped reading then. Frankly, I should have stopped at page one because in this case, the very first page defines the story nicely. Nevertheless, I read the reviews and they suggested that if one keeps reading, the book gets better. There's some truth to that. It did get better - marginally. The thing is, the protagonist was so unlikable that there was no way the author could make him - and by extension, the story - appealing.

The concept of the rebellious young person finding some sort of redemption - in this case through a road trip - has been done to death. In the nineteen-fifties there was the movie 'Rebel Without a Cause'. In the late sixties it was 'Easy Rider'. Now we have this novel by Joel Hynes. At least in Easy Rider the protagonists got shot in the end - and they were fairly sympathetic characters. In this case Johnny is probably more dead than alive but there still seems to be a pulse. Frankly, by the time I was approaching page 100, the best ending would have been for Johnny to have had a fatal accident and the remaining 147 pages left blank but such was not to be.

Is there anyone who might enjoy this book? Possibly. I think it might appeal to individuals under the age of twenty-five who are convinced that society is stacked against them and that laws were made exclusively to oppress whatever underclass they identify with. I would recommend that if anyone is thinking about reading this book, read page one and then decide. If you like the first page there's a good chance you'll like the book. If you don't, then despite other reviews, such improvement as may be detected is so small that you might as well save your time and go onto something else.

[Heather Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I spied Johnny Keough coming toward me along a dark street, I'd probably be tempted to cross to the other side. He's had a tough life and isn't about to take crap from anyone. As I was reading the opening chapters of this book, I questioned whether I would finish. It's not the type of story I generally read. I decided that I would push myself out of my comfort zone and keep reading. I needed to know why this book was awarded the Governor General's prize in 2017.

Johnny is hard to like. He talks tough and acts tough. Inside, he does have a soft spot which is why he rescued an elderly couple from their burning home. I kept reading and looking for him to change his life around. He just couldn't do it for long. It seemed that every time he was doing well, that life would extract a very stiff price, almost as a penalty.

Author Joel Thomas Hynes slowly reveals nuggets of information regarding Johnny's past. Most were events with fairly grim outcomes. His best days always involved his dear cousin Mikey. Unfortunately for Johnny, Mikey committed suicide weeks before the start of this novel.

As Johnny continued on his quest that was taking him across the country, his luck seemed on a downward spiral. As he sunk lower, an assortment of well meaning people tried to help him, but he wouldn't/couldn't let them. His past lead him to know that he couldn't trust people. As unlikeable as Johnny was, I found that by the last few chapters, the tears were pouring down my cheeks and I felt an over whelming need to mourn for the lost possibilities of the life that Johnny could have lived if only some one had loved and cared for him. I am so glad that I did continue reading. It has made me question the lives of others and how little control they could have on the events that control their life.

[Heather Semotiuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a tough read, both from content (abuse, violence, rape, and swearing) and style (narrated by the main character in a third-person monologue with no quotations or apostrophes). And I struggled through it. I would often re-read sections, just to make sure I could pick up exactly what was happening. Ultimately at the end, I was pretty impressed with Joel Hynes' construction.

The book does a lot at once: you're reading about Johnny sobering up, and in the process revisiting and seeing their past differently. You watch Johnny deal (poorly) with grief, abuse, horror, and violence, but yet you can empathize (some of the time) regarding how and why he makes the choices he does. And there are big themes: life after prison, childhood abuse and effects later on, the stories and interpretations of events that we tell ourselves and how other people experience the same thing differently. And then stylistically, Johnny's narration is indeed tough to follow, but I felt that it did justice to the character's incoherence and mental state. The narration also changes over time into more first person, as Johnny grows.

I wasn't sure how to capture Johnny's character; I found him equal parts wild, heartbreaking, pitying, and horrifying. A review on the back says, "a character so compelling you'll root for him even though you'd hide in the back room if he ever came knocking." And really, that sums it up. The book is really just about him, so you've got to find him interesting to make this book work.

Lastly, this book delivered once of the most outrageous, gross, improbable, funny scenes in fiction I've ever read. So good on you, Joel Thomas Hynes, -- I really will never forget this book.

[Shannon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was a tough read for a variety of reasons but I'm glad I stuck it through. It took me a long time to figure out what this book was even about, who we were following (including if it was only one person), and what was going on. This is mostly due to the protagonist, Johnny, referring to himself in the third person. Also, no quotation marks are used, so understanding the dialogue was challenging. At some point I found the rhythm of things, and was able to understand Johnny, but it took a long time to find that rhythm.

Although I don't normally note things like warnings, I would like to note that there is a hella lot of swearing in this one. So much so that I kept on wanting to find a quote to share the cadence of Johnny, but I couldn't .. which says a lot about Johnny. There is also a lot of harsh stuff that happens in the book, so for more sensitive readers it might be looking into those specifics before taking the plunge.

A big thank you to anyone who has reviewed this one GoodReads, reading your reviews helped me decided to stick with it (I almost put it down after the hot tub scene) , and even though it didn't get easier per se, it was really worth it in the end. Like so many Canadian books, it sneaks up on you somewhere in the middle, grabs hold, and won't let go.

A compelling, and challenging, read.

[Shauna Leigh · Rating 5 out of 5]

We have all seen them. People down on their luck, career criminals, born into a life where nothing much was expected but to be a mess. Johnny Keough is a stereotypical “skeet” on a hilarious, quirky and bone breaking journey across the country to fulfill his dead girlfriends last will and testament. In real life you would walk across the street to avoid a character like Johnny but Joel Thomas Hynes makes him a likeable if not pitiful character. The Rowdyman for the truly shameless.

[Stephanie Fleming · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read everything Joel Thomas Hynes has published and this book is one of my favourites. His characters are unforgettable. His dark humour soothes me and his take on Newfoundland culture makes me homesick like no other author.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

In Joel Thomas Hynes’s novel We’ll All Be Burnt in our Beds Some Night, former convict, occasional criminal, part-time drug user and full-time loser Johnny Keough has run out of options. In the novel’s opening chapters, he is nervously awaiting trial on assault charges for injuries inflicted on his girlfriend Madonna: his previous record means that conviction will land him a stretch in federal maximum-security. Instead, Madonna’s convenient death by overdose the night before the trial is to start sets him free. But the freedom Johnny gains is bittersweet since Madonna is the only person on earth with whom he has ever shared a genuine and loving connection. Hynes’s novel is written in the form of a monologue. In an expletive-laced high-octane Newfoundland vernacular, Johnny describes his current exploits and misadventures, and delves frequently into a hard-luck past to fill us in on his twisted family history and explain how a violent and emotionally deprived childhood set him up to become the man he is. Madonna’s death not only sets Johnny free, it gives him a mission, and at about one third of the way through the novel he embarks on a cross-Canada road trip to British Columbia where he will scatter Madonna’s ashes on a beach she used to enjoy visiting with her family (Almost as important: he is also running from the police who are after him for armed robbery). Along the way, he wants to stop off in Kingston to visit his biological father, a man he has never met, who is serving hard time for a crime that Johnny is convinced he didn’t commit. But Johnny’s departure from St. John’s is rushed and thoughtless, and once he hits the road almost nothing goes according to plan. The end of the book finds Johnny wandering the streets of Vancouver, hobbled by a vicious assault, disoriented, hungry, penniless, filthy and with a warrant out for his arrest. We’ll All Be Burnt in our Beds Some Night takes place in a sort of moral no-man’s-land. Johnny Keough, never one for schooling, has been taught by life one thing for certain: the only person he can trust is himself. He takes pride in his self-sufficiency, but lives by deceit, thievery and off the proceeds of petty crime. And yet, he is not so hardened that he does not regret the suffering he causes others. He accepts responsibility for his predicament as a wanted criminal, readily admitting his shortcomings and failures, and takes full blame for his problems. But he also makes clear that young Johnny was victimized by the adults in his life, lied to and brutalized by the very people whose duty it was to protect him. Johnny is not a complainer, but it’s still very hard for the reader to ignore the note of grievance that runs through his narration. For all the suffering that takes place in its pages, the book is often uproariously entertaining, by turns horrifyingly violent and hilarious. It is also tragic, the outcome inevitable. Johnny’s life has led him down the path to disaster, and the poor decisions he has made and continues to make tell us that his story could not have turned out any other way.

[Friederike Knabe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actually, I gave up on the reading, couldn't get into the writing style nor the story. The book won last year's Governor General Award for Literature. But, it was not my kind of book at this time.

[Alex O'Brien · Rating 5 out of 5]

The tragic and captivating story of a young hoodlum who travels from Newfoundland to British Columbia to spread his deceased girlfriend's ashes on a beach. The author, Joel Thomas Hynes, has Johnny Keough tell his own tale in the third person vernacular, creating a violent and volatile character who is surprisingly empathetic due to his abusive and difficult childhood. Johnny has a mesmerizing voice and the book is dark but often very funny.

[Beth Richmond · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a writer! So talented! This was one of those books where you can't stop reading but you're afraid to look. It was heart wrenching, funny, thought-provoking and illuminating. I both loved and feared the hero and was left with a deeper awareness that we never know what path another has had to walk. I look forward to reading more from this talented and fearless writer.

[Anna-Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a book unlike any others I've read... it took a bit to get used to the writing style and the somewhat frenetic nature of the character and his voice. I think it would be interesting to re-read this in one sitting... I read it over many sittings.

[J. Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

How Joel Thomas Hynes makes me care about an antihero like Johnny Keough is what made this novel so satisfying. An original and addictive read. “Prolly” be on my mind for a while!

[Linda · Rating 5 out of 5]

Gritty as cremains, this novel takes you to places you've never been. As a hostage.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

raw true Newfoundlander story-telling...

[Devon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Newfoundland fugitive trying to make his way across the country to do something good. Took me a few tries to get into it. One needs to be familiar with a Newfoundland accent to "hear" the story.

In parts I laughed so hard I had to put the book down to catch my breath. At other moments I had to put the book down to breathe through something awful happening to the main character. Felt every bit of it.

We've all seen "that guy" somewhere along the roads of our travels. You would not pick him up, but you feel for him all the same.

"...Johnny...wonders at how softly and quickly we're all here on this small ball of spinning dirt, and how some of us has it all fall from the sky the moment they comes into existence and how the rest of us are sitting here, hands gripped to the lip of this greasy edge, waiting for the bottom to rise up to meet us." p. 47

[peg · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read this Giller Prize winner with a group of Canadian friends (I am from US) and their comments were so helpful in understanding some of the local terms and history. At first I enjoyed the rough realistic descriptions of Johnny and his life story, but by the end the unending violence and injury became a bit too much for my (admittedly sheltered) taste!

[Penny Deanne · Rating 5 out of 5]

Raw and real. I hope non-Newfoundlanders can appreciate the colloquial language. So well-written.

[Cathy Regular · Rating 5 out of 5]

5.0/5.0

Sure I'm after tellin that many lies I don't know my own self what's true and what's not.

Fucken hell. I don't feel the same. I feels, I don't know, less dead. Not as dead. But deader, all the same. It's complicated.

I mean, I wants to kill the pain and maybe get a little buzz, but I hardly wants to fucken paralyze myself, not unless I got a good safe place to lie down for a while.

And it's one thing knowing nothing, but it's another thing altogether when you don't know that you don't know nothing

I don't know where I'm headed or how to get where I'm going or even where the fuck I am in the world.

All this won't last, you know.

How we takes it all for granted. You don't think about breathing until you breaks your goddamn ribs. Same thing with walkin, the foot is gone and fucked and I never thought about how useful it was before now, or how useless I am without it. My fucken foot. Or you hardly thinks about all the ways you can use your mouth until you loses the use of it. I wouldn't even be able to eat pussy right about now. Truth. But don't get me wrong, I mean I'd try. I'd give it a good fucken go.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reading "We'll All Be Burnt in Our Beds Some Night" is like being tethered (wanted or not) to an out of control roller coaster. This is Johnny Keough's life told in his own words although Johnny manages to set himself outside of the events of his life by recreating himself as a third person narrator. It's almost as if he has to separate himself from his own misbegotten actions in order to understand why he continues to do them. In an almost stream of consciousness prose, Johnny takes us into the whole underbelly of his luckless life and why he must carry out a quest to deliver his dead girlfriend's ashes to a beach in BC after he escapes a jail term in St. John's NF. We join join Johnny at breakneck speed on his picaresque journey across Canada and despite every unfortunate rotten situation Johnny encounters, the reader begins to empathize with him despite the fact that there's almost nothing that would endear him to anyone. Hynes has a rare skill for dark humor and the absurdities of the human condition - thankfully so, or there would be no leavening at all in this truly bleak story which remains faithful to itself right to the final word. More accurately 3.5 stars.