That Just Happened!

Maclennan, Hugh.  Two Solitudes.  McClelland and Stewart.  (2008, originally 1945). 

Two Solitudes, by Hugh MACLENNAN(Toronto, New York and Des Moines, 1945), is a novel whose title has become emblematic of Canada’s most troubling legacy: the relations between English and French Canadians. Using historical settings within a mythological framework, MacLennan explores the tensions in these relations from WWI to 1939. The French Canadian realities are set in the parish of Saint-Marc-des-Érables, which is dominated by its priest, Father Beaubien, and by Athanase Tallard, a powerful but tragic figure ostracized by his church for trying to industrialize the village. Montréal, on the other hand, is dominated by characters such as Huntley McQueen, a Presbyterian businessman from Ontario. Tallard’s son Paul, at home in both languages but alienated from both cultures, embarks on an Odyssean quest for his own identity and for a vision of Canada as he struggles to write a novel which will define his own Canadian experience. It has been translated into French, as Deux solitudes (Paris, 1963), and Spanish, Swedish, Czech, Dutch and Estonian.

The Canadian Encyclopedia Online

This book is provides deep insight into the French/English divide that has occurred in Canada, and still continues to affect relations today.  The Conscription Crisis further divided the country by “race” and we are still seeing the scars.  For those who are not from Canada, there has been a lot of talk over the years about some nationalists wanting to separate Quebec from the rest of Canada.  There is just too much politics to go into here (I don’t have the energy to tackle it), but you can go here   and here  if you are interested in reading more about what it means to be French or English Canadian and here  if you want to read more about the Parti Québécois. 

What I really appreciated about this novel is the ability of Maclennanto write from both sides of the debate, although I must say the English-Canadians were presented in a more disapproving light.  The book itself is written in 4 parts and follows a family over 2 generations, WWI and the beginning of WWII.  The prejudices of the characters are definitely accurate and continue even today (by some, but not a majority).  There was also a strong human element to the characters.  Not everyone is defined by one characteristic and the ability to make connections with others is representative of that, especially in the younger generation.  Canada is a very large country and there is difficulty uniting the population for a common cause because it is so vast and there are so many cultural influences.  Paul, half French and half English, represents this divide as he has difficulty reconciling it in himself.

I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who would like to learn more about Canadian history from a people’s point of view.  Although it is a piece of fiction, the underlying themes and causes are real.  I would also recommend this to anyone who likes books with a strong male perspective, well-developed characters and books that span generations.

I read this as part of my personal Governor General Award for Fiction Challenge and I am giving it

I liked it, but it was a bit dry in parts.  Overall, an excellent choice for GG winner.

Shields, Carol.  The Stone Diaries.  Vintage Canada (2008).  Originally 1993.

 The Stone Diaries is the story of one woman’s life; a truly sensuous novel that reflects and illuminates the unsettled decades of our century.

Born in 1905, Daisy Goodwill drifts through the chapters of childhood, marriage, widowhood, remarriage, motherhood and old age. Bewildered by her inability to understand her own role, Daisy attempts to find a way to tell her own story within a novel that is itself about the limitations of autobiography.

From The Publisher

I enjoyed this book, Daisy was slightly reminiscent of the kind of woman Betty Friedan would disdain.  However, I think there are a lot of women who can relate to this.  Daisy is trying to figure out what makes her happy while, at the same time, trying to fulfill her role as mother, wife, daughter, friend, etc.  You can see her struggle with this her whole life and even at the end she is wondering if it was enough.  If she  was enough to everyone.  I liked how the book was divided into the major events most women go through.  I also liked how there were a few pages of pictures in the middle of the book.  It really added to the illusion that you were reading a diary or scrapbook. 

I am writing this review a little bit later than I had planned, but the fact that I had to reference the book a few times means it was not very memorable.

Themes include self-discovery, relationships, and family.

Beherns, Peter. The Law of Dreams.  House of Anansi Press. (2006)

Driven from the only home he has known during Ireland’s Great Hunger of 1847, Fergus O’Brien makes the harrowing journey from County Clare to Canada, travelling with bold girls, pearl boys, navvies, and highwaymen.  Full of vivid, unforgettable characters, The Law of Dreams is lyrical, emotional, and thoroughly extraordinary.

From the Back Cover

I really wanted Fergus to succeed. Really. There was something about him that made me want to help him any way I could.  To say I empathized would be accurate.  At times, I found the book a bit graphic, but I imagine it is pale in comparison to some of the horrific realities people in that time faced.   The women he took up with along the way did not get my sympathies as much, which is suprising because I am a woman.  I just thought that they were all a little too dependent, or whiny.  They seemed dishonest (although some of them were supposed to be, by profession), which I don’t think gives them a fair shake.

All in all, a pretty decent book and deserving of the GG Award for Fiction.  It is evident that a lot of research and thought went into developing this book.

The themes are class, finding oneself and survival.

I read this as part of my Governor General Literary Award Challenge.