New Canadian Library and other Canadian Lit Challenge discussion

Nothing chosen so far but this is for August 2017-July 2018.

Aug 2017: The Innocent Traveller READ
The first third of the book I really loved. The remaining chapters, Topaz and family in Canada, were ok with a few exceptions where they were good again. This book was a series of stories rather than a novel and it showed after the first third. Still worth reading for the funny and interesting first part of Topaz and her growing up years in England.

Sept 2017: A Fine Balance READ
An exceptional book. If you think you are poor think again

Oct 2017: Emily Climbs READ
This is the second book in the trilogy. I didn't enjoy this book as much as the first mainly because some of the chapters were a little choppy being Emily's diary entries. It jarred on the flow of the story somewhat. Otherwise a charming story.

Emily moves forward with her education and spends 3 years in a nearby town called Shrewsbury attending college there. Through her experiences, she gets hurt and her self-esteem is diminished at times, but overall she learns to listen to her inner voice and trust it despite the naysayers.

He ne’er is crown’d
With immortality, who fears to follow
Where airy voices lead.
John Keats

The set of books mentioned in this book as a prize for the poetry competition was written by Francis Parkman and was a 7 volume set which can now be obtained in two volumes:

Francis Parkman : France and England in North America : Vol. 1 of 2: Pioneers of France in the New World, The Jesuits in North America in the Seventeenth Century, La Salle and the Discovery of the Great West, The Old Regime in Canada

Francis Parkman : France and England in North America : Vol. 2 of 2: Count Frontenac and New France under Louis XIV, A Half-Century of Conflict, Montcalm and Wolfe

Nov 2017:The Regiment READ
'These men- these comrades-to whom I owe so much'. And don't we all.

With what great love and respect Mowat relates the men that served this regiment both before and during the war.

'Peace is a good thing, and yet it is a bitter truth that peace does not live long in our times. During the decades after the Armistice of 1918, there were few men who recognised this truth. Hating war with a depth of understanding born of a bloody experience, these men alone were not deluded. Knowing was for what it was-foresaw the day when they, their sons and grandsons too perhaps, must need do out again to battle that unborn generations might survive.'

I am not surprised that this book is required reading on military reading lists. Military books are not my usual genre and this slowed me down but Mowat's obvious love and respect of those he served with and his eloquence as a writer shone through.

This is not a book I would read in entirety again but portions of it at least should be reading material in school to remind us all of those who bravely gave for those of us who came after.

Dec 2017: No Love Lost READ
Bardon Bus:
This story when it delivered, it packed a punch. I was knocked back 30 years to the breakup of my first love and the madness that was my existence at the time. I would give this one 4/5.

Carried Away:
I had read previously in another compilation. I really liked this story and gave it 5/5

Mischief:
My least favourite. The 3 main characters all seemed immature. Only 2/5.

The Love of a Good Woman:
Enid seemed a strange character. Whilst on the one hand wanting to care for others, on the other seemingly unable to connect to others enough to have a relationship. Only through sickness and death does she seem to connect until it comes to the Quinn family. But then the connection stems back to her school days.
I was often teased and even tormented by a boy during my school years who I later recognized probably had a thing for me and this was the only way he knew to get noticed by me. Enid seemed to do the same with Rupert and it is not surprising then that she could never feel sympathy for Mrs. Quinn. Whether the thing really happened as Mrs Quinn relates or not, Rupert probably believed it was so. And Enid got what she wanted, unknown to her all along, by keeping quiet. Interesting point was the two notebooks she kept; the side she showed the world and her hidden self/reality.
The story was very much about Enid and the lies she told herself.
I would give this one 3.5/5

Simon’s Luck:
Was this about Simon's luck or Rose's?
The story seems to suggest that love stops one being involved in reality. But is it love or the idea or being in love? If love is contentment then no, but if love is possession, a kind of madness, then yes. It takes over everything else. If this is the only kind of love Rose can engage in then she is better without it.
I think she may have learnt a different sort of love if she had not run away and found out where Simon was. I think if she had faced her fear, which was fear of facing the loneliness inside herself, then Simon could have shown her love is more than possession; love is about sharing our individual journeys, for even a short time. 3/5

Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage:
Loved this one. I loved the character Johanna and the story to do with her I would give 5 stars. I find that Munro does introduce sexual items more than I am comfortable with but Johanna is such a wonderful character and this is an interesting story so overall, despite some sexual content that I felt was unnecessary, I would give this story 5/5.

The Bear Came Over the Mountain:
Again a master craftswoman at work.
Having worked with patients and their families with dementia and with friends going through this with aging parents, this story rang so true. I really loved Fiona. Again, in her best works, Alice does a great job of making strong female characters that one can like and to a degree relate to.
I thought Grant, the husband, finally came into his role with the demands of this disease on his relationship. Another 5/5.

The Albanian Virgin:
I found this story more disjointed than previous ones. It seemed to be several stories all jumbled together and left me unsatisfied at the end with no clear answers on any of them.
What happened to Charlotte?
What happened with the priest?
What happened with Nelson?
The most interesting part was the story in the mountains of Albania and really I wished this had been Alice's main focus.
3/5.

Meneseteung:
The title is taken from the name of a river mentioned in a poem by the main character, Almeda Roth, and reminds the reader of menses, the word that describes the ebb and flood of women’s menstrual cycles. It describes a modern day woman trying to find out more about Almeda who was alive between 1840 until 1903. All she has to go on are the poems by Almeda and some newspaper articles of her earlier life. At this time women were treated with contempt and either medicated, isolated or victimized in some way.
Almeda is a sensitive thoughtful soul but who can stand against the norms of our time? Not woman with her being linked to the ebb and flow of the natural world within and without. 4/5

The Children Stay:
What madness is love? This thing that would cause a woman to walk away from her children? It appears the images we have of life that we can live when first in love are not what we can really endure. 3/5

Jan 2018: The Jade Peony READ
A story told through the eyes of 3 children of a family in Vancouver's Chinatown in the 1930's-1940's. Through their voices, family life and traditions are shown as well as the struggles the family have during a time when the Canadian Government passed a law known as the Chinese Exclusion Act, July 1st 1923, a painful day in Canadian history. The children struggle to identify themselves in a country in which they were born but are considered alien residents.

Feb 2018: The Imperialist READ
Born in Ontario, Canada, Duncan spent most of her life between India and England. She was a journalist and author. The Imperialist is her best known work and was the only one set in Canada.

Part romance, part politics, this novel speaks of a time when Canada was emerging as a new country but still with strong ties to Britain.
Lorne Murchison, of Presbyterian, Scottish stock, makes a bid for office with his ideals of a rejuvenated British Empire. His sister, Advena, who reminds me very much of Anne Shirley, has high flown ideals and dreams of her own. I liked this character the most although others were interesting too.

I got very lost in the politics of the book and maybe would have to read it again to understand more. I would have liked the book more if it had focused more on the stories of the different characters.

Mar 2018: Black Robe by Brian Moore READ
2.5 rounded up. I have very mixed feelings about this one. Somethings I really liked and some I did not like at all. The story was a very interesting one set in early 17th century French Canada. A Jesuit priest leaves the Quebec of Champlain's time to travel to a mission among the Huron peoples. The fact that all the indigenous people were referred to as 'Savages' did not bother me as that was the term used by the French at that time. What bothered me was the swearing that according to historical records was used a lot by the indigenous people's as a type of joshing but in the story there was an expletive in about every sentence they spoke. The other was the too explicit sexual scenes.
What was shown very clearly in the story was how the two groups of people, white Europeans and Indigenous peoples, misunderstood each others beliefs and thereby caused a lot of grief for both sides. This reminded me of The Poison wood Bible where the African people did not want their children baptised. The river where this would be done was full of crocodiles and therefore allowing their children to be baptised meant being fed to them.

Apr 2018: My Remarkable Uncle
A series of sketches on a variety of subjects. Some I really enjoyed and others were just so-so. Very interesting author who wrote many books; fiction and non fiction.

May 2018: The Temptations of Big Bear

I found Wiebe's writing style in this book heavy work. I did not find this with the others of his works I have read. I did learn a lot about the conditions of the treaties. The whole thing was quite shameful.

June 2018: As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories READ

This is one on my favourite Canadian authors. His stories are timeless and reach into the heart of a person being told from the heart of the story teller. My favourite stories:
The Closing Down of Summer is an amazing story of miners that probably spoke most to me as my father was a miner. 5 star no question.
To every thing there is a season: evocative of Dylan Thomas and A Child's Christmas in Wales. Indeed Macleod is in my mind the Canadian equivalent of Thomas.
The tuning of perfection; wonderful, lyrical, powerful.
Al the stories speak of a time of past and present blended

July 2018: Murder in the Dark: Short Fictions and Prose Poems READ
Very short stories. Some were good, others just ok.

Challenge completed.

You did that challenge quickly, Tracey. Great job.
Are you feeling any better?

Thanks Rosemarie.