This novel was the winner of the Governor General's Literary Award, which always catches my eye. The jacket is a table in a diner with Heinz ketchup, a sugar container, salt and pepper neatly lined up, with a packet of letters and postcards in the foreground. That too caught my eye and I'm glad it did.
The characterization is in depth in this novel and reveals each person by small acts in their everyday lives, by what they say, or don't say. Like Carol Shields, this author has a full cast of "...unassuming characters who are in truth, generously complicated." - David Bergen.
The locale is Juliet, Saskatchewan, a dusty oasis on the edge of the Little Snake sand hills. There are a lot of people in this story who seem to go about their everyday business as usual. But it is "...the human reality of mis-communications, fumbled dreams, unexpected detours and unmarked victories where they discover moments of grace, compassion and beauty..." that makes this novel worth reading.
As much as I try to live in the moment, I know that all our lives are similar. We miss the opportunity to compliment, to bring a smile, to take pleasure in the sunrise, to enjoy a warm shower or a glass of "Cool Water."
Fred Stenson writes"...this is a novel about the isolation that we hold secret within ourselves, that makes us envy the true hearts of horses and dogs."
This novel does not wrap up neatly at the end with everyone happy and in his place. People's lives are messy and complicated and writing about them does not lessen that.
- A Reckless Moon
- Serpent in the Night Sky (a play)
The Englishman's Boy ~ Guy Vanderhaeghe
The settlement of the American and Canadian west has given rise to many myths. Who hasn't wanted to be a cowboy?
This novel has two narratives - one set in 1873, the other from the perspective of 50 years later, set in 1923 Hollywood. Both history and myth play a role in shaping nations.
The theft, by Indians, of twenty horses is the opening scene and Vanderhaeghe, a native of Saskatchewan, is a master of describing cold landscapes and the still of the night.
The Englishman's Boy- a young man who has found service in the pay of an English big game hunter, joins a party of men tracking the horse thieves. Generally I enjoy books with two time lines, but as this one alternated chapters, I found I wanted more history and less Hollywood. We all know that western movies did create a myth in the minds and dreams of American youth, but I preferred the parts of this novel in "Whoop-Up Country", in Canada. However, Canada didn't have a Hollywood and "...immigrants can't read English...But everyone goes to the movies."
We know the expedition is not going to end well. The 1873 massacre of Assiniboine Indians in the Cypress Hills is part of history. However, Vanderhaeghe is very good at lending us the feel for the collision of truth and dreams and the bloody consequences.
- The Last Crossing
- Man Descending - selected short stories
- A Good Man (the last of the Saskatchewan trilogy is just out)
Who Knew?
Fort Whoop Up, at Lethbridge, was built by Americans on Canadian soil, to be off limits for American laws, Army and peacekeepers. It was the largest and most profitable of all the "whiskey forts."
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