Spring Tides

by Jacques Poulin

In 1950, a devastating fire breaks out in Rimouski. Thomas survives the blaze, but loses his memory and is institutionalized. A shell of his former self, he pieces together a makeshift existence by becoming a gardener. Upon his release five years later, two childhood friends, Marie and Romain, hire Thomas to do their landscaping. Little do they know that they are also inviting him into their marriage, a union characterized by male dominance and female subservience. As time passes, Marie begins to see Thomas as her escape from the unendurable. In 2002, Romain and Marie_s youngest daughter, Lou, returns home for the first time since running away to Chicago thirty years before. She brings along her husband Joe, who has recently suffered a brain aneurysm that has imprisoned him in his own body. Their presence reminds Marie of her own past, of the connections she never asked for and the ties she can never break.

Genres: Fiction, France, Canada, 20th Century, School, Read For School, Canadian Literature

Paperback

First published January 1, 1978

Reviews

[Paul Weiss · Rating 4 out of 5]

Le bonheur est impossible quand on est seul

Dans la société moderne d'aujourd'hui, il y en a qui n'ont pas encore trouvé leur bonheur, d'autres qui le chercheront pendant toute leur vie sans jamais le trouver et encore ceux qui se sont dit que ce que leur manque pourrait se trouver dans la paix de solitude. Sans doute, il y en a qui sont convaincus que la paix, le silence, le contentement, la tranquillité d'esprit et l'auto-détermination qu'on y trouve sont pareils au bonheur. Évidemment, Jacques Poulin n'y croit pas. Dans LES GRANDES MARÉES, il nous montre, avec une prose à la fois drôle, douce, mélodieuse et avare, que le bonheur doit être partagé. Bien que le bonheur puisse n'avoir qu'une vie courte, il ne reste aucune doute qu'il a besoin, pas seulement d' être partagé, mais aussi du souci, de la communication, de la compassion et d'un vrai sens de communauté.

Paul Weiss

[Sarah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Bon au début, avait du potentiel, mais très long pour pas grand chose. Je ne le recommande pas.

EDIT: J'y ai pensé. J'aime vraiment pas ce livre. Il est la cause de ma mauvaise note en français!!!!

[سلطان · Rating 2 out of 5]

بدَأت الرواية بفكرة جيدة، لكن أحداثها أخذت تسير ببطء شديد وكادت أن تتجه إلى مستوى الروايات الهابطة، وتسرب الملل إلي، لولا الخاتمة المفاجئة التي كسرت رتم الأحداث.
بشكل عام الرواية متوسطة المستوى.

[Kevin Adams · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a perfect way to spend the weekend. Absolutely stunning.

[Adrian Alvarez · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful cross between Richard Brautigan and, say, David Lynch. Spring Tides is a novel that insists you read sitting down. From it's allegorical setting to the way in which one of its characters touts decelerated reading, this is a difficult novel to discuss analytically because, like Lynch, it writes outwardly with its own critical theory. The effect on the reader is immediate. Short chapters ebb and flow with hypnotic rhythm lulling the reader into passivity.

I found myself fighting against an instinct to let the prose simply wash over me without a second thought. This is not only appropriate, it accounts for the scattered single star reviews from discouraged students assigned this text in a classroom who wanted more things to happen. If you try and lance this novel's story to excoriate its meaning it will be like poking a cotton ball.

For me, meaning came from an active attendance to myself as a reader as each new chapter was announced. Indeed I even practiced decelerated reading myself. I bet I could have stretched this out far longer than a week but I'm still prodded by the procreant urge of the world and still learning how to slow down.

Recommended reading for a lazy spot in the sun.

[Czarny Pies · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les Grandes marees published in 1978 is a quintessential book of its era in Quebecois literature. It tells the fable of a translator of comic strips who moves to a small abandoned island in the middle of the St. Lawrence River because he cannot feel at home in his society. His supportive employer who wants him to be happy alters his paper's work procedures to accommodate the distressed comic strip translator.

After a short period, the employer concludes that the author is unhappy in his solitude and sends a woman to the island. The protagoniste communicates well with the woman. Unfortunately, employer thinks he is still unhappy and continues to send more people to the island until they band together and expel the author.

Les Grande marees thus asks the great question that dominated Quebecois society during the last twenty-five years of the twentieth century: "Comment est-ce que l'on peut sentir bien dans sa peau: a l'ecart de la societe ou bien engage dans la societe? (How and where can one feel good in one's skin: inside or outside of society?")

[Jaclyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ceci était beaucoup de rien. Ce livre était vraiement pas mon goût. Teddy Bear n'a rien intéressant à dire et fait rien d'intéressant. Je m'excuse M. Poulin mais ton livre est un peu bizarre.

[LICE ALERT · Rating 1 out of 5]

To this day, je sais toujours pas le but de ce livre. Zero star

[Sarah · Rating 2 out of 5]

J'ai eu beaucoup de mal à comprendre le sens de ce livre. C'est même en rédigeant cette critique que j'ai fini par comprendre certains aspects. J'ai beaucoup aimé les jeux de langage dans ce livre avec ces personnages qui portent un surnom qui les résume. Tous sauf deux, Teddy et Marie, qui sont les personnages les plus intéressants du roman à mon avis. Ce sont les âmes pures de cette aventure qui refusent de se faire corrompre. Ce livre parle de l'éphémérité du paradis terrestre, paradis terrestre compromis par l'obsession du bonheur de chacun. Notre pauvre Teddy qui ne demandait rien finit par se faire marginaliser par ceux qui devait contribuer à son bonheur. Le roman se termine par une fin sordide et énigmatique.

[Martina Sušilović · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kao lektira

[leonore · Rating 4 out of 5]

quoi de eff j’ai aimé ça mais aussi il n’y a aucun schéma narratif on dirait que je viens juste de regarder un montage de courtes séquences pour l’ésthetique… rêve de fièvre

[Tonymess · Rating 4 out of 5]

Earlier this month I celebrated my birthday and my family knowing me quite well (you’d hope they would!!) delivered a number of gifts that were all neatly wrapped and rectangular in shape. They’d been online shopping choosing a raft of Archipelago Books that weren’t already on my shelf. Jacques Poulin featured with three gifts so straight into his work I delved. No logic with the one I chose first, just the one that happened to be closest to my hand when selecting.

Our protagonist is Teddy, he lives on a deserted island, alone with his work as a translator of comic strips, his only company a battle scarred alley cat called Matousalem. Once a week his “boss” from the newspaper arrives via helicopter with supplies, more comic strips to translate and then departs with that week’s work. But one week the boss drops off a surprise, a barefoot girl Marie, “from the back she looked like a boy, because her shoulders were a little too broad” as well as her cat Moustache.

Teddy divided his time among translation, keeping an eye on the island and such occupations as building maintenance and repainting the tennis court. He gave priority, obviously, to his main job, and he worked to a very precise schedule.
Now, on some days the words simply didn’t come….He would give up waiting for them; then as he was getting ready for bed, they would appear, like guests who have forgotten the time. They kept him awake a good part of the night.
The words whirled around in his head.
There was a full moon.

This is a novel of simple language and style, reminiscent in a way of Rodrigo Rey Rosa, where more is said with less.

For my full review go to http://messybooker.blogspot.com.au/

[Camille · Rating 1 out of 5]

Les Grandes Marées by Jacques Poulin is exactly what one would expect from a Canadian book; almost too kind, blend, and frankly not that interesting. Had to read that book for a class and I despised it. The characters are boring and self-centered, and the author is trying too hard to make it like a society's critique. The individualism of the characters, mainly Teddy and Marie get tasteless after a few chapters. I would not recommend this to anyone. The end is like the entire book, unclear and philosophical-wannabe; briefly, this book is boring and so cliché to almost all of the ''litérature québécoise'' that I struggled not to fall asleep while reading it.

[Sandra Miksa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This seriously had the potential of receiving five stars but I'll settle for four.

I like, borderline love, stories with no plots but the ending to this story was so abrupt ... not even anti-climatic ... but leading to nowhere (literally).

I also liked that the characters are characterized by their traits.

Another aspect I liked was the references to modern day objects, comics, dictionaries, etc contrasted to an old fashioned world like the Island its set in. I wish was on the Île Madame Island but that's besides the point.

Overall, this book was a still fast pace and an eccentric read.

[Alain Gaboriault · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un de ces roman bizarre, déconcertant...tel qu'il est difficile d'en voir le but. Il est question d'un homme bonasse à l'extrême qui se laisse manger la laine sur le dos, et qui par conséquent, perd tout. J'ai quand-même adoré ce roman... Il est bon d'être gentil, mais il faut se méfier des personnes qui prennent la gentillesse pour une faiblesse.

[Evan Hutchinson · Rating 1 out of 5]

I had to read this for a class in college. I could literally skip some paragraphs and it wouldn't even make a difference. I found it really boring to read, as it feels like nothing truly interesting is happening.

[Justine Létourneau · Rating 1 out of 5]

J’ai absolument rien compris

[Ramona Cantaragiu · Rating 2 out of 5]

It is amusing to read the reviews of disgruntled students who were forced to read books because they are part of the curriculum and they did not enjoy them. In Romania, this happens a lot and there are numerous talks about the authors and works that should be studied in school. I am also not very familiar with Canadian writers so this was a first for me. However, while the book promised a fable and started off really well, by the end I was utterly tired and wanted everyone to simply be bombed off the face of the planet (maybe a bit too harsh, but you get my sense of disappointment). So what is it all about? The main character is a translator of comic books and he ends up on a deserted island because his boss wants him to be happy. Since he is an introvert, he likes having his alone time so he enjoys being on the island by himself. But the boss thinks he is not entirely happy, so he brings a female companion. The two get along well and this seems like a sort of small paradise. But soon the island gets crowded with a lot of characters including the wife of the boss. These are individuals with no clear output for society. The wife is a housewife of sorts, but since she is wealthy, she just enjoys the good life. The other is a failed author and there is also a sort of scholar interested in comic books who appears to do nothing of importance. By the end you understand that this is not paradise, but an island for failures, those who the boss doesn’t find a suitable place in society so he places all there hoping to obtain a sort of community. So is this supposed to be a critique of capitalism and the fact that you are not worthy unless you produce something of monetary value? If so, it is frail and superficial. Is it supposed to be about the fact that people who prefer to be left alone eventually are thrown out of society? That is a bit absurd and, as an introverted person, I feel that this is utterly wrong. I have no idea what this is all about, but I say that it is not worth reading.

[Melodie Barsalou · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5⭐️Dans Les Grandes Marées on suit Teddy bear qui est triste et qui désire vivre dans la plus grande des solitudes. Au fil du temps, l’île accueille de nouveaux habitants supposés d’aider Teddy à être plus heureux. Malgré cela, Teddy reste un homme renfermé qui n’a pas envie de participer à la société.

Critique de la société capitaliste, ce roman montre une série de personnages égocentriques pour qui le travail est très important. Ils ont tous de la difficulté à communiquer entre eux et surtout, ils ne s’écoutent pas.

La fin est étrange et nous reste dans la gorge. C’était plutôt triste de suivre Teddy sans jamais vraiment le comprendre et de remarquer que les autres ne le comprennent pas vraiment non plus et n’essayent pas plus que ça d’y arriver.

[Glen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really liked Volkswagen Blues but this allegory, fable, call it what you like, was a miss for me. I was really enjoying it for about the first two-thirds with the interplay between Teddy, Marie, and Featherhead (a nice comic invention), but from that point forward what had been a farcical lark started to become ponderous and heavy, freighted with symbolic intent and quasi-poetic gestures, and I felt almost betrayed and certainly let down by the end. Some great comic moments, but not a read I would strongly recommend.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

un très beau livre, philosophique, mais sans être prétentieux. J'ai beaucoup aimé le début, et tandis que les personnages s'y ajoutait je me suis trouvée de plus en plus mal-à-l'aise ce qui m'as amenée à la fin du roman, qui suivait, mais qui m'as laissée...confuse? attristée? perdue? je ne sais pas exactement ce que M. Poulin voulait nous dire par la fin, mais je suis contente de continuer à y réfléchir.

[Yavor Petkov · Rating 5 out of 5]

J’ai beaucoup aimé ce roman. C’est le premier roman de Poulin que je lis et je vais certainement continuer la découverte de son oeuvre. Un style unique, du moins pour mes connaissances, et une imagination libre et riche. Lire la suite sur mon blogue : http://puis-chap.blogspot.bg/2017/09/...

[Sébastien Tremblay · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un feel good book dans lequel il se passe pas grand-chose et c'est tant mieux, car on est dans l’interaction humaine simple et pure. Beaucoup d’amour. De la réflexion sur la vie. Une ambiance relaxante. Personne se prend la tête, ils y vont avec le flow. Merci M. Poulin.

[Cora Lang · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce livre parle de solitude et d’envahissement, de bonté et d’égoïsme. Récit touchant et créatif d’un homme en quête de tranquillité.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

Charming, but I haven't parsed the allegory to any great extent. Still, fun.

[Addicted2booksStefania · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun to analyze but I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it outside of my class. I did love the hints of romance though.

[Virginy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,75

[Jonathan Wang · Rating 2 out of 5]

Something about reading a book mandated by school just tanks whatever enjoyment I would have otherwise gotten out of it

[lauraaaaa]

id rather die than read this again

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Différent et d'une grande tristesse