The recent death of Ms. Munro prompted me to (re)read this amazing book, consisting of 8 single-word-titled stories. Her literary gift is to write about everyday people ( mostly women) in both common and extraordinary circumstances. There is an unparalleled purity of language – she a national treasure.
Category: Book themes
Prophet Song – Paul Lynch
Trigger warning: this is a tough read, bad things progress to worse things. Contemporary Ireland is becoming dystopian with national emergency legislation and suspension of constitutional rights. Eilish is an approximate 40 year old mother of 4. Her life is upended when her trade unionist husband is abducted by the state. How can she protect her children and her mildly-demented father from the political chaos that descends into civil war. Does she stay or attempt to flee? The writing is dense with run-on dialog that is consistent with the intensity of emotions (desperation, despair). What will a mother do to hold her family together in the face of societal collapse.
Thanks Mike, for giving me this important book.
The Relatives – Camilla Gibb
A relatively short but insightful book about family and motherhood. There are three separate storylines. Lila is contemplating motherhood. Tess is the mother of an 8-year-old whose relationship with Emily is ending. And Adam is the enigmatic sperm donor. What are our responsibilities to each other in order to create a family? This is a remarkable book – highly recommended.
The Covenant of Water – Abraham Verghese
Be advised that this is a long book, more than 700 pages, but the writing is exquisite. The setting is South India from 1900-1977, with a focus on three generations in a single family. The story begins with a 12-year-old bride meeting her much older widowed husband. Being India, some tragedy is inevitable ranging from an inherited propensity for drowning to leprosy. Verghese’s writing is exceptional; some examples are describing Madras evening breezes to rail journeys, plus medical information. Family secrets abound, of course, and historical India provides an indelible backdrop to lives full of joy and triumph as well as hardship and loss. A must read book – highly recommended.
Nineteen Eighty Four – George Orwell
In this current era of ever-increasing mis-information and dis-information, a re-read of Orwell’s classic dystopian book is very worthwhile. His last book, published in 1949, describes totalitarianism, mass surveillance, and manipulations of truth and facts. A cautionary tale, to be sure.
Dandelion Daughter – Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay
A heart-breaking story of a childhood in the remote Charlevoix region of Quebec that features isolation and alienation, resulting in profound gender dysphoria and eventually a trans-feminine transition. The story provides insight into the realization that one can be assigned the wrong gender at birth. As a consequence, a childhood and adolescence become particularly turbulent as the protagonist searches for a path of self-discovery.
Black River Orchard – Chuck Wendig
An effective horror trope is to assign malevolence to an inanimate object like a doll or car. Mr. Wendig’s story involves magical apples with obsessive consumption. Can an apple provide a parasite of the soul? Can an orchard be evil? And what’s not to love about a character named Edward Naberius, a restorer of lost dignities. A genuinely creepy and frightening story!
Denison Avenue – Christina Wong
A haunting portrayal of the gentrification of Toronto’s Chinatown-Kensington Market, told from the viewpoint of an elderly Chinese-Canadian woman, Wang Cho Sum. After the heartbreaking death of her husband in a hit-and-run accident, Cho Sum copes with grief by collecting recyclables. Loss is everywhere: shops closing, loss of the Toisan dialect. How can you build a new life when elders are dismissed and discarded? The moving prose is accompanied by beautifully-rendered black-and-white drawings by David Innes. This book should be a powerful contender for Canada Reads, championed by Naheed Nenshi.
Roaming – Jillian and Mariko Tamaki
The Tamaki cousins have created a brilliant graphic novel about 5 days in New York city in 2009, experienced by three 19-year-old Canadian women. Initial euphoria is tempered by reality as friendships are tested. Overall, an immersive slice-of-life, in part a love letter to a great city. This book was a chance discovery at the October Word Fest, a true find.
What David Read 