The Foreigner: A Tale of Saskatchewan

by Ralph Connor

The Foreigner (1909) tells the story of Kalman Kalmar, a young Ukrainian immigrant working in rural Saskatchewan. It addresses the themes of male maturation, cultural assimilation, and a form of “muscular Christianity” recurring in Connor’s popular Western tales. Daniel Coleman’s afterword considers the text’s departure from Connor’s established fiction formulas and provides a unique framework for understanding its depiction of difference.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Canada

289 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1909

About the author

University of Toronto educated Charles William Gordon, ordained as a Presbyterian minister in 1890. Under the pseudonym Ralph Connor, he published more than thirty novels, including The Man from Glengarry (1901) and Glengarry School Days (1902). These novels made him an internationally best-selling author.

Reviews

[Marina Garrison · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the Kalmar family, primarily the son Kalman, The father brings the two children to Canada leaving them in the custody of their stepmother who betrays him by sleeping with his arch enemy from the old country (Russia). The stepmother repents by placing the kids with another woman to civilize them. The daughter becomes a nurse and the son goes off to ranch. The son does well and ends up meeting a British/Scotch girl who he believes is too good for him. On his discovery of a seam of coal in a cave, he saves her life. The fathers' arch enemy tries to steal the mine unsuccessfully then tries to blow it up. Kalmar's father kills him but gets shot. Kalmar ends up winning his love back years later.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book had a more interesting plot, about the Galicians, who came from Poland, Russia and Austria and settled in Manitoba.The story involves a woman, who tries to raise her husband's two children by herself. An unscrupulous man,cheats her and she ends up indebted to him and he turns her house into a brothel. One evening, the husband returns and we learn, that there is a blood feud between her husband and the cheater, that started years ago in Russia. The cheater was responsible for the death of the husband's first wife, who was the mother of the children and a member of the nobility.The husband is a nihilist and swears to avenge his first wife's murder.

[Freddie the Know-it-all · Rating 1 out of 5]

Tea Rage

Pros
1. No Wise Old Indian

Cons
1. TEA-DRINKING Cowboys, Miners, Prospectors, Trappers, ....

The raptures these tough guys go into upon getting a "nice cuppa tea" is ... is ... it makes you laugh out loud. But the old crank who wrote this book was serious.

I was born and raised in such territories. The only time I ever saw anyone drink tea it was an old lady; and even then only if she was sick. These Britishers better get it round their heads: tea is just coffee for REALLY poor people. Only the 3rd World is THAT poor. No one drinks tea by choice. Myself, I'd rather drink ditchwater than that useless and girly stuff.

Tea is to Coffee what Koolaid is to Whiskey.