See the Child: A Novel

by David Bergen

Several years after the tragic death of his son Stephen, Paul Unger discovers that the boy's ex-girlfriend may have given birth to a child that could be his grandson and hopes that the child could represent a link with his lost son. By the author of A Year of Lesser. 17,500 first printing.

Genres: Canada, Fiction

240 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1999

About the author

Born in Port Edward, British Columbia, author David Bergen worked as a writer and high school English teacher in Winnipeg, Manitoba, before gaining a great deal of recognition in Canada when his novel The Time In Between won the 2005 Scotiabank Giller Prize, one of Canada's most prestigious literary awards. The novel also received a starred review in Kirkus Reviews and was longlisted for the 2007 IMPAC Award.

Bergen's debut novel, A Year of Lesser, was a New York Times Notable Book, and a winner of the McNally Robinson Book of the Year award in 1997. His 2002 novel The Case of Lena S. was a finalist for the Governor General's Award for English language fiction, and won the Carol Shields Winnipeg Book Award. It was also a finalist for the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Additionally, Bergen has received the 1993 John Hirsch Award for Most Promising Manitoba Writer, and the 2000 Canadian Literary Award for Short Story.

In 2008, he published his fifth novel, The Retreat, which was longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, and which won the McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award and the Margaret Laurence Award for Fiction.

Bergen currently resides in Winnipeg, Manitoba with his family.

Reviews

[sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is one of those books that you buy for a dollar at an open air book fair and sits in your to-read pile for 18 months and then you actually read it and kick yourself for not having read it sooner.

joins ondaatje in my canadian all-stars troupe.

[Pat · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an exquisitely sad, haunting book by a talented Canadian author. When Paul and Lise Unger's adolescent son, Stephen, dies, they are understandably bereft and consumed by their grief and guilt. Stephen's strange girlfriend, Nicole, is pregnant with a son who later becomes the center of Paul's world. This novel is dark and will stay with me for quite awhile. Although I found none of the characters likable, they were convincingly portrayed. I am impressed by David Bergen's ability to convey the depths and levels of grief when a child predeceases his parents.

[Chris Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bergen is one of those authors that always seems to get it right. Maybe it's a prairie sensibility that rises out of his writing, some sparse quality to the language, the more of less that expands from simple dialogue. But whatever it is, I find some solace in it.

There's grief in this story, which focuses on the protagonist Paul, a deceptively straightforward character who wrestles through the unexpected loss of his son. Throughout, Paul internally staggers through his grief while conducting his life of solitude with relative confidence. (In some ways, I think I would like to have the kind of maturity and confidence that Bergen's characters so often do - saying simple things with a lot of weight, not bothering to clear up confusions or possible miscommunications, just accepting the infidelity or carelessness of lovers & friends - but I'm not that way, which is probably why I enjoy reading about people who are. Despite devastating circumstances and disillusionment, life inexplicably goes on.)

All in all, it's a sad and lonely book, but arresting in its mature treatment of grief, loss, cruel familiarity, the brutal comforts of nature.

[Miriam · Rating 2 out of 5]

An odd book with inconsistencies in the story line. Its major strength is that it doesn't offer any recovery from grief. Both parents struggle with it until the very end of the book.

[Heartz · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book could have been a lot better than it was. It wasn't until I realized that I was probably more than three-quarters through that I hadn't yet realized the point of the story. Sure the father lost his son, causing his whole life to change. Sure the son's girlfriend returns with his supposed grandson, but what's the point? It's only when you reach the end that you realize there wasn't really any point to it at all. There is no real resolution at the end of the novel, nor has the character grown or changed that much. He just continues to be taken advantage of by the women around him - that never changes. Maybe I was hoping for some happy ending that never came, but I still can't shake the feeling that this book could have been a lot better. The idea was a good idea, but so much time was spent on pointless details and drab everyday farm life. There were only a few moments that kept me on "edge" if you can call it that - and even then - the mini climaxes only ended in disappointment. It's like I was constantly hoping that the main character would finally do something with his life - stand up for himself, speak up, ANYTHING!!! - but it never came.
Read it if you want, but you'll probably end up wondering the same thing I did: Is the point of this story ever coming??

[Mary Ripley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good exploration into what motivates us to be involved with people and relationships. A bit unrealistic portrayal of the super competent father who can are for himself so easily yet has no active thoughts revealing what he really thinks of his adult son. He loves the child but does he love the son who is becoming an adult. Also a bit suspect in the father generosity, which is at his whim, not your need. Thought provoking

[Jane Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really a depressing book overall, but he writes well.

[Christopher Sword · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a beautiful tale about the ways in which we handle grief.

[Nancy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't too sure about this novel but over all I have to say that I did enjoy it.

[Jeannie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Abandoned after 40 pages or so. Not my cup of tea

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a bad story but not as good as I thought it was going to be.

From dust jacket:

"What is more devastating than the death of a child? When Harry, the local cop, knocks on Paul Unger's door early one morning to give him the grim news-that his son, Stephen, has been found drowned-Paul descends into a grief that carries him to a dark and unfamiliar place.

See the Child is an extraordinary exploration of love and loss: between parent and child, man and woman, grandfather and grandchild. Paul Unger has a comfortable life, but it starts to unravel when his son becomes involved with a provocative young woman, Nicole. Soon his world is overturned, Stephen is gone, and he is left to question his own role in the death. When, several years later, Nicole returns to town with a child who might be Paul's grandson, Paul imagines in both of them a path back to his son.

Set in small-town Manitoba and reaching to Montana and back, See the Child is a haunting and beautifully rendered observation of sorrow. Acclaimed Canadian novelist David Bergen brings to his landscapes a series of indelible portraits: Paul's wife, Lise, who tries to understand why he must leave her; Harry, who desires Lise but knows he cannot keep her; Sky, the child who seems to bear the imprint of the dead Stephen; Wyatt, the gun-toting lumberjack who wants Nicole and Sky; Paul, a man who must first forgive himself before he can go forward with his life."

[Maggie the Muskoka Library Mouse · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing of Bergen was highly sexualized, and surprised me a few times with his words. It was a relatively easy book to read, though the ending did not provide any real resolution.

Favourite Quotes:
"He wanted to tell her that knowing everything would not make her any happier."

"Love is like an onion. Layered and complex and you have to pull away the layers to get at the heart...I hope you take all your lives to pull away the layers. Take your time. Be patient. Enjoy the moment."

"He believed he could give the child a good life, better than Nicole."

"...he would take him, like a precious parcel that required years to unwrap, always fearing the return of Nicole who could sink back into their lives and ask for her son back."

"...it was easier to forgive the disconsolate."

"Believed that not acting was the worst possible sin."

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Easy read, although contains some inconsistencies: Sometimes it's difficult to understand who does/says what. But then again, this might be because of my poor brain. oh well ....

In any case, had bought this book thinking of the Giller prize Bergen won ... Am now curious to read the book that won him that Prize, maybe I'll find that one better.

PS: I actually read another edition, Harper Perennial, soft cover, ISBN 978-0-00-648510-0.

[June · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read about a family in Manitoba. Teenage sun dies one night after drinking at a party but his girlfriend was pregnant at the time. Story concentrates on father's reaction to son's death and his interaction with the grandchild. I'm still thinking about some of the story a day after I finished it, so it must have been interesting.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

A short read about a father in the aftermath of the death of his teenage son.

[Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

A touching sensitive novel about a man and the son he lost, about coping with death and staying tuned into life. Uplifting and positive.