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Light Lifting. Alexander Macleod. In the Argo Catalog.

Alexander has some pretty big shoes to fill. Him writing is like the Trudeau boy going into politics, it seems like a good idea, it seems like his childhood likely to have prepared him somewhat for the lifestyle. And yet, it is not such a good idea because the expectations are rather high. I mean, it is not like Eli and Peyton Manning whose father was a mediocre NFL quarterback on a less than average team. We are talking about Peyton’s son trying to be an NFL QB. It is asking for trouble. As I read the book I tried to ignore the hype and just consider the book for what it is. I think it is a book that demonstrates his youth as a writer and shows a lot of promise.

The stories that make up the book are very uneven. The first and last are far superior to the others. Light Lifting itself is sort of a let-down of a story, I am not sure why it was deemed the title story. The stories, even the better ones, tend to ramble on much longer than was needed or necessary. I suspect every one of them would benefit from a 25% culling in size. There are blissfully profound lines but they are simply to few and far between, an experienced writer would have recognized the strengths and played off them better.

There are several stories in the book that are very boring, exactly the sort of pedestrian stuff that CanLit haters love to mock. I am not sure why this is on the Giller list. Maybe one day he will win one but not with this set of stories (I hope). I have read superior collections of short stories that are more interesting, more exciting, demonstrating a greater grasp of literary writing, a clearer vision of the world and offering better/deeper insights into human nature by young Canadian writers. Macleod hints towards this but gets stuck in a conservative CanLit format/feeling. He is like a caterpillar that has partly left the cocoon, I hope he makes it the rest of the way with his next book, which I will certainly read.

City of Tranquil Light. Bo Caldwell. In the Argo Catalog.

This book caught my attention because I found the title to be haunting. My grandfather passed away recently and I have a 6 month old son that does not feel the need to sleep at night and so I was attracted to a book that had the word tranquil in the title. At times I feel like George Costanza’s father yelling to the sky “Serenity now!” That is an emotion the characters of Caldwell’s novel know well. The book is about two German-Americans who leave their Mennonite homes in America for the unknown lands of China where they will spread the word of the Lord. Caldwell’s grandparents were such a couple and the story was triggered by reading their diaries from the time.

Caldwell did plenty of research reading many memoirs by missionaries and leafing through many histories of China to make sure he got things right. The novel however is at heart a love story.  Will and Katherine love their god, that is why they have met in China. They quickly fall in love with each other and the land and wind up spending most of their adult lives in China. The book follows their love through the trials of living a very dangerous land. China at the turn of the century was home to many war lords, revolutions and anti-foreign sentiments. Regardless of the hardships they managed to build a life there.

Caldwell weaves a good story full of characters that are enjoyable. This is not great literature, the characters are pretty standardized; there are good ones, bad ones and bad ones turned good. The characters are part of amazing moments in history and adventures that seem far-fetched and yet we suspect are true. The book is a reminder of the power of love and the power of living by ones beliefs. It is a book I think my grandmother would enjoy reading at the moment. Hauntingly sad but loving and purposeful this novel is for you if you like historical fiction or tender love stories.

The Ninth. Beethoven and the world in 1824. Harvey Sachs. In the Argo Catalog.

If you read this blog regularly you will be aware that I like books on music. While I have not been educated in music and would be reluctant to call myself anything but the lowest read amateur of music appreciation as I read this book I wondered what it could possibly be adding to the discussion. Sachs sets out to give a history of Beethoven’s majestic Ninth Symphony twinned with a history of 1824 Europe, the year the Symphony was first heard. Read the rest of this entry »

Every Man Dies Alone. Hans Fallada. Reviewed. In the Argo catalog.

Hans Fallada. HANS FALLADA. HANS FREAKING FALLADA. That is me yelling his name from the literary rooftops. Where has this guy been all my life? Have you ever wondered what Dostoevsky would have written about the Third Reich? Well now I think we know. Fallada knew that on our deathbeds the only judge that really counts is ourselves, and we will know better than anyone else whether our lives have been largely in the name of good or wasted in the name of evil, an especially important topic for someone living through the Early to Mid-Twentieth Century in Europe. Every Man Dies Alone is a story of German resistance to the Nazis. It is a tale of the banality of good in the face of real evil. It questions right and wrong from a staggering array of perspectives and leaves the reader dizzy. There are huge crimes and lesser ones, some straight forward others convoluted, sometimes it is difficult to know who the victim of a crime really is.

In the mess that was Third Reich Berlin Otto Quangel and his wife are leaving postcards denouncing the Nazis all over Berlin. A simple and seemingly small act that will cost them their lives if Hitler has his way. What a world of fear and hate Fallada depicts! When Fallada writes about facing death he knows what he is talking about. As a youth he was part of a homosexual scandal. Entered a duel with a friend (more of a suicide pact really). He shot and killed his lover, but the lover’s fire was to as accurate. Fallada picked up his lover’s weapon and shot himself in the chest, and failed to die. He was committed to a hospital and a life of drugs and alcohol followed. He writes from somewhere deep and succeeds in taking us to the heart of evil.

He demands you understand the position people were put in under the Nazis and further demands that we do not for a second forgive them for saving their own skins. His book could not be more compelling. It is (that clichéd term) a Staggering Literary Achievement that any high art literary buff needs to read. Fallada has several other books and you will be reading about them here in the near future. This is an author that has really, truly caught my attention. I am riveted even now that the book if over. I did not want it to end but am happy that there is so much more of him to read.

Freedom. Jonathan Franzen. In the Argo catalog.

It is high time I weigh in on this ambitious novel that has been reviewed just about everywhere else. It is a novel that proves that the muses of the ancients Greeks are not dead yet. Mr. Franzen must be one of the greatest living authors we have. Freedom displays his understanding of human nature and his ability to write focused and clear prose. This book is so good that you should read this book, whoever you are.

To begin with the pacing of the book is perfect. I literally never wanted to put it down. I stopped only to sleep and eat (I hate getting mustard on books) and read the 564 pages in two and half days. This is the type of book that creates a new world, that engulfs you and does not let go until you are done. If you are worried that you are missing it by reading it too quickly, fear not, I am sure you will want to read it again.

The heart of most great books is great characters. Franzen knows that every human is capable of both good and bad and we are rarely purely good or evil. The good characters in the novel have their failings and the bad characters have their triumphs because life is complicated. You learn to cherish the characters for what they are, not what you want them to be. The people in the novel are real, I saw myself and friends that I know in some. In getting to know and understand his characters Franzen is more careful than I have seen anyone be in a long time, in fact, he reminds me of Tolstoy in his character building.

Love is a part of almost every great huge novel. Some people find it cheesy, but it is nevertheless true. Mr. Franzen does not get caught with a lame romantic comedy type of love. He does not get caught up in fake love that surpasses all all the time, instead he demonstrates a finely tuned comprehension of love and the spending of one’s life with another. Love requires a long view of life. That is about as succinct a summation I can make (I suggest you just read the book). Suffice to say the love stories are very satisfyingly real and complete.

Honestly the truth is that I cannot write well enough to explain why you should read it. Does that say enough?

Howl. A Graphic Novel. Allen Ginsberg and Eric Drooker. In the Argo Catalog.

I sit down and read “I saw the best minds of my generation…” My thoughts run wild: yes here we go, here we go again. It has been a long time since I last saw you my friend–the poem that got me into poetry–I see you have gotten a make over. That is dangerous you know. You were so good originally–the most popular poem of the century?– but I guess after 50 years you need to attract a new kind of man, of student. The world has changed a lot since 1955 and yet your messages are still important. I see that cartoons give you a weight in 2010 that in 1956 they would not have. I see what you are trying to do. I wonder if it will work. Up to now I have not yet read a graphic novel that  I liked.

If I ever meet Mr. Drooker I will thank him and give him a hug. Reading Howl with his images interspersed was like reading it for the first time all over again. If you are a fan of the poem then you know what that is like and understand why you must run out and get a copy of this to put beside your City Lights version and your Ginsberg collected works. Trust me, you will not be disappointed or disgusted with what was a very dangerous project. Drooker’s artwork reminds the reader of the raw power of the poem, the stark worldview. In short, Drooker captures Howl perfectly.

The format is compelling, even to me, a person that is ambivalent (to put it nicely) about graphic novels. As the reader of this graphic novel you turn page after page at the end of the lines, the constant page turning adds to the desperation, adds to the force of the poem and makes you quicken your pace of reading. It also isolates each and every idea and image forcing you to consider them more closely, not pass any line too quickly, in short, it forces you to read the poem as it is meant to be read, with care. The constant turning wears you down, leaves you feeling a little like what Ginsberg must have felt when he wrote it. Then you start all over again to appreciate the Eastern Island heads, the saxophones, and the horned Moloch.

I read it once quickly loving the pacing of the lines. Then again for the images, a slow process of carefully trying to understand Drooker’s interpretation of the lines through his drawings. Drooker gets Howl that and that is why he needs to be hugged. He has rejuvenated the piece for a new generation of readers and maybe rekindled the love for it in an older one and for that he deserves our thanks. Reading the poem and searching the pictures is a great way to pass an afternoon. I suspect this fall I will be found on a bench on Mont Royal under orange leaves holding this book.

Sex Bombs and Burgers. Peter Nowak. Reviewed. In the Argo catalog.

This is a book about technology and the ways it has entered our lives. It is the sort of book that on almost every page the average person will say to themselves “wow we can do that?” This is a rollicking romp through the technology that fills our world from the everyday to the incredible. The tidbits in it make it a lot of fun (did you know the Silly Putty and the Slinky are both brought to us by the U.S. military? Or that the microwave oven is a spin-off from the Manhattan project?). This is a good bathroom read because every page has a value but read in long sittings you are overwhelmed by the amount of information that you wish you could remember. Read the rest of this entry »

The Anthologist. Nicholson Baker. Reviewed. In the Argo Catalog.

Mr. Baker has written several books and this one has ensured that I will read at least a few more of them. At the heart of this charming book is a poet named Paul Chowder. Paul has had a modicum of success getting his poems published over the years. We meet him after he has compiled an anthology of poetry that, crime of crimes, rhymes. While his own poetry does not rhyme he perceives an importance to rhyming and fears that it has been abandoned for far too long. The narrative drive of the book is that he has to compose a suitable introduction to the volume, but he just can’t. Read the rest of this entry »

This All Happened. Michael Winter reviewed. In the Argo Catalog.

The buzz around Michael Winter has been growing over the past few years. I was given a free copy of his year 2000 effort This All Happened and thought I would give it a go. Some people argue there is nothing interesting happening in the Canadian fiction and I constantly argue with them because I think there is lots happening. Reading Mr. Winter has given me a new name to add to my list of Canlit writers that are young and doing intriguing things, even if his name seems the quintessential one for a boring Canadian writer that focuses on how cold it is here.

The story follows a group of people in St. John’s Newfoundland. All the regular tropes are present. The characters drink rum and drive around, they make fun of the people in Corner Brook, they talk about each other and everyone knows everyone’s business. True to Atlantic writing they talk about fish and how much they have had to eat, they play pool at bars (there seem to only be 2 or 3 in town), and they encounter more than one moose. On the surface this is exactly what  the anti-Canlit folks despise. Without debating the value of writing about actual life, and places where we actually live (things I am for), I would like to argue that the Canlit haters ought to read this book.

Winter is a clever writer. In the book he plays with the line between fiction and non-fiction. The story is told through the diary of a writer that is working on a novel. From his view we watch relationships of a group of people in St John’s Newfoundland. You cannot help but wonder if all this happened. The writing is short, fast, to the point and moves. You piece together what is going on, but you also have to wonder if the narrators perspective on the events is fair/accurate. The probing into the psyche of the characters is deep and compelling. Why the author thinks people are doing what they are doing remains absorbing throughout the book. The blurring of lines requires all the previously mentioned clichés found in the book, it also makes the book terribly interesting.

In employing a perspective other than straight forward chronological fiction with an omniscient narrator Winter is only being a product of his times. He does it well. His times are interesting ones for readers and writers. He demonstrates that even in “backwards Canada’s backwoods” great writing can appear that deserves our attention. Winter has written several other books, including a very new one. I plan to read, I hope you will give him a chance.

Eaarth. Bill McKibben. Reviewed. In the Argo catalog.

Bill McKibben blew me away years ago with his book The End of Nature. I read several other books by him and have long thought that he is among the five people I would most like to have coffee with. His book Deep Economy gave me a hope for the future that I had lost, I gave the book to several friends, they all thanked me for it. In his most recent book Bill changes the name of the planet we live on, like Gary Snyder who offered us Turtle Island, Bill wants us to realize that the planet is very important, it is literally our number one asset. I suspect he would agree that in a sense it even trumps our health, because a healthy man can do little in the face of a hurricane. He changed the name because, as he has been saying for 20 years, we have seriously changed the planet for the worse. But as he suggested in Deep Economy all is not lost. Read the rest of this entry »