Volé

by Annette LaPointe

Paresseux et apparemment solitaire, Rowan Friesen est un trafiquant de drogue et un voleur à la petite semaine qui vit dans une banlieue éloignée de Saskatoon, où il revend son butin sur Internet et deale du crystal meth à des collégiens désoeuvrés. À première vue, sa vie semble insignifiante, mais la réalité est plus complexe, Friesen étant victime d'une mère égocentrique, d'un père atteint de maladie mentale et d'une histoire d'amitié aux conséquences incendiaires. Il n'est peut-être pas la personne la plus sympathique au monde, mais son récit est passionnant. Volé est une histoire de vol, d'amour et de folie au coeur des prairies canadiennes et au rythme de mix musicaux déchainés au volant d'un pick-up roulant à fond de train sur les chemins de terre cahoteux.

Genres: Fiction, Canada, Contemporary

Paperback

First published January 1, 2006

Reviews

[Rachel (TheShadesofOrange) · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.0 Stars
While not my usual kind of read, I was immediately sucked into this gritty, slice of life narrative. The character and setting work were just incredibly rich and well done. The fact that I have a lot of nostalgia for the Western Canada setting probably helped. I thought the protagonist was a particularly well crafted morally gray man.

[1.1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is certainly evocative, features a compelling cast of characters, and has more darkness lurking in the edges than most other fiction that ever gets nominated for Gillers. On the flip side, despite being well-written, there is that colloquial country-loner motif wherein sentences have to start without definite articles. Gets really old after the first couple of chapters, even if it does reflect the character's speech and/or mental processes. Super annoying, borderline 'edgy' stuff here and there. Other stumbles as well – but it's a solid read.

There is some mystery, some obligatory queer erotica, some crime. The main character is a borderline narcissist from a mentally ill home, so none of his antisocial behavior is, like, objectively bad or disruptive or anything. This novel's got everything your average progressive reader will crow about, and conservatives and squares will probably be confused by conflicting themes of tough country loner and vulnerable gay criminal (another good book there) but where the book really shone was in its greying descriptions of the Northern Midwest, also known as the Canadian prairies - also its characters and their troubles. Such spare descriptions are pretty well outnumbered by flashbacks (some of which are among the finest parts of this book) and the protagonist's reflections about other characters, which are also generally insightful and sharp. One of my favorite characters in this book is a bad-tempered horse, and one of my favorite scenes involves a cruel river and a foolish guy who thinks he's a cowboy.

It's a good book, but it's also very much 'in-your-face product of Edgy 2006 and LGBT studies pre-2010', so watch your step. Fortunately the mix tape angle wasn't overplayed but it was, if you'll pardon the expression, stillborn. If anyone had warned me I would have probably been able to formulate a warmer response.

As it stands I will never know if this book was recommended to me in earnest or out of spite. Well, I'll read anything, and enjoy it unless it's worthless, so the joke's on them. This was a pretty good send-up of the 90's and the people who went through highschool in that tumultuous goth/grunge era on the other side of the cultural divide.

[Gloria · Rating 2 out of 5]

I could not finish this book. I rated it as okay because there are people who have liked it (or it wouldn't have made it to the Canada Reads lists. The writing was even and flowed well, and you came to know the main Character, Rowan, a little bit. I kept expecting more. After one third of the book, when I finally gave up, Rowan had not displayed any depth at all that I could see. I imagine there are people in real life like that, but I cannot understand that and cannnot identify at all. I hope there are not too many whose lives are seemingly directionless like this.

[Rayna · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read this as part of a reading challenge (it's set where I'm from) and had to force myself to finish it. It is just meh on so many levels.

[chottogem · Rating 3 out of 5]

This wasn’t what I expected it to be. The plot was very character driven. There was much more explicit scenes than I was expecting. I didn’t really find any of the characters to be likeable or relatable. That said, I didn’t hate the way it was written, I think it just wasn’t for me.

[Ebb · Rating 5 out of 5]

Something tells me that a big chunk of the reading public will probably not enjoy this book.

The protagonist is a drug-dealing thief. He steals goods, partly to cover the cost of living, but mostly because he can. He's someone on the fringe of everything. No stranger to violence. No fan of propriety. His story is told in pieces, forward and backward. Slices of the present cut with the unforgettable past.

The things he does. The way he acts. It should be repellent. I'm sure that for some folks it is. But for me? I loved it. Every gritty scene. Every wrenching moment. Every poetic description of Saskatchewan's rural no man's land.

Annette Lapointe crawled inside this character's skin and as you read you are pulled under, too. Her words feel authentic. Her framing of scenes is acutely astute. Her dialogue conjures up real voices. The pace of the story is slow but relentless. The juxtaposition of cold action and achingly deep emotion. It tore my heart out.

I never keep books. I never re-read books. Ever. So the fact that this book still sits on my physical bookshelf is a testament to the impact it had on me. I can't bear to give it away because I'm 100% certain I will want to read it again.

Eventually - when I can bear to part with it - I'll be donating this one to the library. I want everyone to taste the richness of Lapointe's prose.

[Elizabeth · Rating 2 out of 5]

For someone who doesn't live where the book takes place, it is an interesting read and eye opening look at urban-rural sask. Lapointe is a talented writer, however, is still relatively "new", so some structural problems, but nothing terribly annoying.
If you are like me and live where the book takes place, you get tired of the same themes and sometimes even the same stories in local media. At least I am, and in the end, that's pretty much why I gave it a low score. Maybe not the fairest rating.

[Siobhanbr · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was well written and the characters and setting were amazingly complex, in a great way. But there was not enough plot for me. I needed something more.

[Cambria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mental illness, theft and gay sex-what's not to like??

[Adam McPhee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bleak prairie crime in Saskatchewan. I feel like the cold and the flat landscape must drive people insane, or at least make them mean. The book is harsh and unsentimental and a great read.