I have a friend. Surprising, I know. He is a fine chap, intelligent as they come--well-read, insightful. Funny as hell, too. But he has a hang-up when it comes to books written by Canadians. He dislikes with a passion any and all things associated with them.
I presume this stems from the myriad of lousy reading choices proffered by various professors over his academic career. You know those kinds of books: long-winded, introspective, condescending, and void of any overt narrative. Great for waxing eloquent about but shite for sitting down on a Sunday afternoon and pouring over.
But not all Canadian Literature is like that, dear Sam. You just have to trust a reliable source--such as myself: an unassuming, mild-mannered, sedentary fellow with a holistic approach to all things qualified as art. cough cough...
Yes, that's the best I've got for a transition.
There's more. As I start a significant writing project, under the critical eye of a great author, I've had to compile a reading list to use for close examination while I write. At first I just grabbed several novels from my bookshelf that I'd been dying to read--thinking it would be a great excuse. Vetoed. Harshly. Note to self--never mention Forsters Passage to India when trying to break down contemporary fiction.
The list I finally came up with, encouraged by my mentor, looks promising. And some are CANADIAN.
As follows:
1) Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden - I've been dying for a chance to read this a second time. A story of two Cree brothers who wind up being snipers in the First World War. Still on my top ten of all-time reads.
2) The Good Body by Bill Gaston - I haven't read this yet, but if his short-stories are any indication, this won't disappoint. His writing is on another level.
3) Amongst Women by John McGahern - Nothing really to say here. I'd never heard of the guy until a few days ago.
4) Down to the Dirt by Joel Hynes - The excerpts I've read are impressive. Raw, filthy, violent characters and the prose to reflect them.
5) Mercy Among the Children by David Adams Richards - Another one I know very little about.
Okay, so this doesn't exactly present a knock-out rebuttal of Sam's concerns. In a perfect world, I would have added Guy Vanderhaeghe's The Englishman's Boy or The Last Crossing. Those would have helped.
But someone's gotta get this guy to enjoy a book from his mother-land.
6 comments:
I thought the same thing, my wife handed me this book by Wil Ferguson and it was amazing.
http://www.amazon.ca/Happiness-Will-Ferguson/dp/0143056964/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1262844133&sr=8-2
...I wasn't much for all the non-fiction he wrote before, but this book changed my opinion of him, and Canadian writers. At least in front of my wife.
Harry, I will read any of those books you want. All you have to do is read a book called Crime and Punishment by Dostoevsky and then tell me which of these five is more philosophically dense or more attuned to the vicissitudes of the human condition. If any of them fit the bill, I'm there...
...As long as they're not about Irish patriarchs, ancient Cree women, evil teenagers who turn out to be not so evil, or Ancient Cree patriarchical teenagers who turn out to be not so Irish.
The hockey player one sounds funny.
Paul, I read Happiness years ago. Totally forgot about it until your mentioning. I remember laughing a lot.
Samuel, all in good jest, of course, but your Dostoevsky argument does not logically follow.
It's not a matter of which book is more insightful. I would imagine there are very few books that hold up to Crime and Punishment when dealing with similar themes. But that doesn't mean they are not worth reading.
I mean, you'll read Lehane, even though Ellroy may be better? Or maybe you'll read both of them even though Dickens created similar characters decades before?
I must confess tackling C and P twice and never getting past half-way. Wore me out. Perhaps that makes me a lesser-read man.
I'm certain there has to be a few good Canadian books you'd enjoy. Three Day Road could be one of them.
I don't know anyone who's better read in Contemporary Canadian fiction than you, Harry.
I remember Ross Laird saying that the biggest problem he had with beginning students was their overfamiliarity with contemporary writers at the sake of anyone born prior to, say, 1950. I'm not lumping you in with them, since those kids probably began their reading life with Fight Club and ended it with American Psycho.
But let me play devil's advocate: the list you posted last week included McCarthy, Steinbeck, Murakami and Kundera, all of whom you've posted about before. Something in their writing obviously speaks to you--so why aren't they the ones you'd model yourself on?
A good question, as my original list contained McCarthy, Eugene O'neil, and Flannery O'Connor.
I don't consider myself a beginner but I reckon I'll always be a student. And I love older works, you are most correct. And much of my leisure reading is spent nosed in them.
From a writing perspective, I think understanding contemporaries is a distinct advantage--at least in the context of trying to get a manuscript published. So, when tackling certain themes in my own writing, I lean towards more recent writers--some Canadian--for accurate examples of how it's done.
Another point, which I am loathe to concede at times, is that I don't fully understand, at times, what Kundera or McCarthy are doing. I get a sense of it and a longing to continue reading, but I don't see myself at a place where I can glean from them specifics. At least not yet. Maybe use of language.
Hopefully it's not mimicry on my part, but I suppose that's always a risk regardless of who you read. We are thieves, after all.
Good points all. Best of luck dude.
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