Once I finished his snakey, I moved on to the three snakes I’ve committed to knit for the Vancouver Fibre League’s charity challenge. They’re due on Thursday, May 27 but Sara (aka wenchlette) is already winning with 15 blankets for the SPCA. I’ve already committed to donating a prize (a pair of earrings designed by Monnibo Designs) and so I checked with Sara what colour she wanted.

I have to admit, yes it was a somber story, but it is quite brilliant writing. I enjoyed the characters, how honest they were, and how real they were. At times I felt the book dragged on, but by the end, I was fully satisfied. My favourite character is Mercedes because I think that she is an unsung hero of the family. I was also constantly in awe of how she maintains faith while questioning the ways of her God.

At the start of the 20th century, James Piper sets fire to his dead mother’s piano and heads out across Cape Breton Island to find a new place to live, eventually eloping with 13-year-old Materia Mahmoud, the daughter of wealthy, traditional Lebanese parents. And so, from early on, Ann-Marie MacDonald establishes some major themes: racial tension, isolation, passion and forbidden love, which will gradually lead to incest, death in childbirth, and even murder.

At the centre of this epic story is the nature of family love, beginning with the Piper sister who depend on one another for survival. Their development as characters — beautiful Kathleen, the promising diva; saintly Mercedes; Frances, the mischievous bad girl, who tries to bear the family’s burden; and disabled Lily, everyone’s favourite — forms the heart of the novel. And then there is James, their flawed father.

[From the publisher, Random House]

At our book club discussion we basically agreed that it was well written, depressing, and wasn’t going to win Canada Reads 2010. I know this sounds pessimistic, but honestly, Fall On Your Knees‘ somber subject matter is not for everyone. Ann-Marie MacDonald deals with incest, faith, murder, pregnancy, and racism. The book really crosses a number of terrains and comes out the other side.

I think my favourite thing about the book was the inscription; I picked the book up at a local secondhand bookstore (MacLeod’s in downtown Vancouver) and the following was written on the title page inside:

To Sean of:
Generation X

From Mom & Dad
of Generation Grey Hairs Remember

Easter 1995

At book club yesterday, there were a couple people who read and enjoyed it when it first came out. So I asked “why did you enjoy it so much?” One person said that it was probably something to do with feeling misunderstood, and Coupland, in talking to and about that generation, really identified with their feelings. Another common frustration was the side notes in the margins. The only time they seriously bothered me was when they didn’t relate back to the novel at all. Sometimes I could reread the asides and see how the witty definitions related to the story… but when it didn’t it annoyed me to a degree.

I think the main problem is that I’m from a whole different generation, not that unlike generation X-ers, but just different enough to not “click” with the book. I am now curious to read Generation A, Douglas Coupland’s latest novel (published September 2009 by Random House). Right now, we are living in a very digital and connected society and I’d be curious to read Coupland’s Generation A to see if I connect with the sentiments in a way that generation X-ers did with Generation X.

P.S. If you haven’t vote for your predicted win and your favourite book for Canada Reads at the Canada Reads Challenge, go vote! CBC also has a poll on their website. Make sure to subscribe to the podcast, or the videos, or listen live! The debates begin tomorrow, Monday, March 8th!

CANADA READS INDEPENDENTLY

When I first heard about Canada Reads Independently 2010, I thought it was a list of books from independent presses. Wrong. It turns out that Kerry Clare of Pickle Me This launched Canada Reads 2010: Independently for a different reason. Kerry says, “I’m not going to knock [Canada Reads] because I love the spirit behind the whole thing… but it just wasn’t the reading list for me. What I wanted was what I found from (most of) the 2009 lineup– book recommendations out of nowhere, books I’d never pick up otherwise, that challenge my sensibilities, and that I might just fall in love with.”

In an interview with Julie Wilson (aka BookMadam) at CBC Book Club, Kerry said, “I’m going to be reading the five books over the next two months, posting reviews as I go, and rating the books against one another. I’ll be inviting other readers to comment on my reactions to the books, perhaps have some guest posts and coverage of other readers’ reviews, and then I’ll choose my own favourite of the bunch, and we’ll have a vote to come up with a readers’ choice champion as well. And I’m hoping my “celebrity panelists” will be able to weigh in from time to time in their book’s defence, which should be fun.”

The books:

• Moody Food by Ray Robertson
  (championed by Steven W. Beattie of the Quill & Quire)
• How Happy to Be by Katrina Onstad
  (championed by author Rona Maynard)
• Wild Geese by Martha Ostenso
  (championed by Melanie Owen of Roughing it in the Books)
• Hair Hat by Carrie Snyder
  (championed by illustrator Patricia Storms)
• Century by Ray Smith
  (championed by publisher/bookseller/editor Dan Wells of Biblioasis)

CANADA ALSO READS

The National Post’s book blog The Afterword has released a selection of titles called Canada Also Reads 2010. When the Canada Reads list was released, they agreed with “many of the 140-character-or-less comments that appeared in the moments after this year’s crop was unveiled: these are great books, but haven’t they already been read?” And so Canada Also Reads was born. They are “a fan of what Canada Reads has done to promote CanLit, we figured this would be a great opportunity to help shine a light on some of the books sitting in the shadows. What books should Canada also read, we asked? We were immediately inundated with hundreds and hundreds of submissions from readers across the country.”

The books:

• My White Planet by Mark Anthony Jarman
  (defended by writer and critic Steven Beattie)
• The Day The Falls Stood Still by Cathy Marie Buchanan
  (defended by author Tish Cohen)
• Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis
  (defended by singer/songwriter Andy Maize)
• The Last Shot by Leon Rooke
  (defended by poet Jacob McArthur Mooney)
• Yellowknife by Steve Zipp
  (defended by blogger John Mutford)
• You And The Pirates by Jocelyne Allen
  (defended by author Lisa Pasold)
• Come Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant
  (defended by author Neil Smith)
• Fear of Fighting by Stacey May Fowles, pictures by Marlena Zuber
  (defended by author Zoe Whittall)

The story itself is more of a character journey than a standard plot-based story (as many of these Canada Reads books seem to be). I loved all the little details that would crop up later as well as the decisions of these unique and surprising young characters.

In the spring of 1989, three young people, born thousands of miles apart, each cut themselves adrift from their birthplaces and set out to discover what — or who — might anchor them in their lives. They each leave almost everything behind, carrying with them only a few artefacts of their lives so far — possessions that have proven so formative that they can’t imagine surviving without them — but also the accumulated memories of their own lives and family histories.

Noah, who was taught to read using road maps during a life of nomadic travels with his mother — their home being a 1966 Bonneville station wagon with a silver trailer — decides to leave the prairies for university in Montreal. But putting down roots there turns out to be a more transitory experience than he expected. Joyce, stifled by life in a remote village on Quebec’s Lower North Shore, and her overbearing relatives, hitches a ride into Montreal, spurred on by a news story about a modern-day cyber-pirate and the spirit of her own buccaneer ancestors. While her daily existence remains surprisingly routine —working at a fish shop in Jean-Talon market, dumpster-diving at night for necessities — it’s her Internet piracy career that takes off. And then there’s the unnamed narrator, who we first meet clearing out his deceased mother’s house on Montreal’s South Shore, and who decides to move into the city to start a new life. There he finds his true home among books, content to spend his days working in a used bookstore and journeying though the many worlds books open up for him.

Over the course of the next ten years, Noah, Joyce and the unnamed bookseller will sometimes cross paths, and sometimes narrowly miss each other, as they all pass through one vibrant neighbourhood on Montreal’s Plateau. Their journeys seem remarkably unformed, more often guided by the prevailing winds than personal will, yet their stories weave in and out of other wondrous tales — stories about such things as fearsome female pirates, urban archaeologists, unexpected floods, fish of all kinds, a mysterious book without a cover and a dysfunctional compass whose needle obstinately points to the remote Aleutian village of Nikolski. And it is in the magical accumulation of those details around the edges of their lives that we begin to know these individuals as part of a greater whole, and ultimately realize that anchors aren’t at all permanent, really; rather, they’re made to be hoisted up and held in reserve until their strength is needed again.

[from the publisher, Random House Canada]

**SPOILER ALERT** I’m not going to go into details but some might consider me discussing Point Of View (POV) to spoil the plot.

Nikolski had such a charm that it often made me wish I could read French well enough to read the original. The characters were unique and engaging, and all of them were interconnected. The only thing I didn’t care for was the switch in narrative. The first character we meet (whose name we never learn) tells his story in First Person. The other two characters, Noah and Joyce, are both told in Third Person Omniscient. The issue I have is that the narrators are obviously different; the Unnamed Man obviously isn’t the second narrator. (According to Wikipedia, this is a rare POV called First Person Omniscient.) The main reason this bothered me is because the characters never fully discover the connections between them, Unnamed Man would never have had the chance to learn Noah and Joyce’s stories.

We met yesterday to discuss Nikolski as part of our Canada Reads book club. Beentsy and MrsQuimby both loved the book and expressed a desire to reread (which made yarnpiggy want to finish it all the more quickly). All of us agreed that being a translation would have initially been off-putting for us. Some people mentioned that having fish on the cover was also not something that would initially entice us. I mentioned that the Governor General’s sticker would have been a pro for me (although not always entirely reliable). My main issue was that I had trouble finding the book in the bookstore (checked my local independents) and ended up going to Chapters/Indigo. Beentsy ordered hers online and both MrsQuimby and Janellum ordered the Canada Reads Book Bag Pack.

To be honest, I don’t think I’d reread it. 1. I already have enough books I haven’t read, and 2. I didn’t care for the open-ended finish. Don’t get me wrong, it was a great book, the characters were fantastic, and the writing was beautifully crafted. However it left me wanting more — to know the details, to learn what actually happened to the minor characters. If you don’t mind open endings, this is a fantastic book and a brilliant translation by Lazer Lederhendler.

Last year when I posted about Canada’s Freedom to Read Week, I was trying to read The Handmaiden’s Tale by Margaret Atwood and/or Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov as part of the challenge. Unfortunately, I haven’t read either book as I got distracted by my huge TBR Pile. However, this year, I’ve got more exciting news: my friend Diane has begun a challenge on BookCrossing to Release Challenged Books as part of Freedom to Read Week 2010. The challenge to release banned/challenged books, or books by persecuted/jailed authors (especially Canadian) during the month of February.

Freedom to Read Week is from February 21-27, 2010 and lots of Canadian libraries celebrate with special events and challenges. Make sure to check out the Calendar of Events on the Freedom to Read website to see if your local library is planning anything. If they aren’t, why not ask if they will!?

Can’t think of any banned or challenged books or authors? You’ll be surprised by some of the names on these lists.

• Freedom to Read Week has a list of Challenged Books & Magazines
• Wikipedia list of books banned by governments around the world
• Amnesty International USA has updates on Banned Books each year
• PEN Canada helps to protect and aide persecuted writers

Please release your Canadian banned or challenged books and authors via BookCrossing and help spread the freedom to read.

I finished this book several weeks ago but wanted to wait until after I met with our book club to discuss it. I missed the last discussion for Good to a Fault, so I was very excited to join in on The Jade Peony gathering. I’ve just returned from our discussion, but I will do my best to convey my before, during, and after feelings. It’s amazing how much your ideas can change once discussing a book!

My initial impression of the book was general enjoyment and actually a little bit embarrassed for the way Canada treated immigrants. I enjoyed how Wayson Choy examined Vancouver’s Chinatown from the perspective of three young children, as each take their turn to narrate the novel. I thought the novel was well-written and had some valuable insights into living in Vancouver as a Chinese person in the ’30s and ’40s. We got to see how a girl-child was treated, the middle-boy, and the youngest boy.

Chinatown, Vancouver, in the late 1930s and ‘40s provides the setting for this poignant first novel, told through the vivid and intense reminiscences of the three younger children of an immigrant family. They each experience a very different childhood, depending on age and sex, as they encounter the complexities of birth and death, love and hate, kinship and otherness. Mingling with the realities of Canada and the horror of war are the magic, ghosts, paper uncles and family secrets of Poh-Poh, or Grandmother, who is the heart and pillar of the family.

Wayson Choy’s Chinatown is a community of unforgettable individuals who are “neither this nor that,” neither entirely Canadian nor Chinese. But with each other’s help, they survive hardship and heartbreak with grit and humour.

[from the publisher, Douglas & McIntyre]

At book club, we started by talking about all our favourite characters. The discussion was very organic and sometimes we strayed far from topic (which I enjoyed too). I think my favourite was Jook-Liang and Monkey King (Wong Suk) and their relationship. A lot of people really liked Poh-Poh (Grandmother) as she is a very strong character and represents “old China” as well as being part of Vancouver. I think Stepmother is a very underrated character. There was some discussion about her role and position in the family as “second wife” and even her own birth children call her “Stepmother”.

Should this book win Canada Reads 2010? My first, gut response was no. My thought-process was: The Jade Peony won the City of Vancouver Book Award in 1996 and I think this book would be a great selection for the Vancouver Public Library’s One Book One Vancouver... but I don’t think that it is something that all Canadians “need to read”. I think that this is definitely something that Vancouverites and Lower Mainland residents should read and reflect upon.

But upon discussion with the book club, it was brought up that the books that win Canada Reads don’t necessarily have anything to do with Canada, they are just written by Canadian authors. With further discussion, I came to feel that this could be a good book for all Canadians to read… because really, who is Canadian? It is one of the points brought up by the children: “Am I Chinese or am I Canadian?” One of the great things about Canada is that we are a mosaic, you can be Canadian as well as something else — Chinese, Japanese, Ukranian, Croatian, Korean, etc.

The Jade Peony is all about characters and their environment. You would have a very different story if you took the book to Eastern Canada and tried to make it work there. Because it is a story of immigration and being from somewhere — a story of identity — you’d be hard-pressed to change the location. I think that it works and it opens your eyes to a whole different side of Canada and the government’s treatment of immigrants during this era. It is a story that would touch many Canadian people, whether they were born here or not, or their parents immigrated here or not.

The question of identity is never really answered by Wayson Choy in the novel, and I think that is okay. It is a continuing struggle to find out “who am I”, not just as an immigrant, or a Canadian, but as a person. At book club, one person teaches ESL and she related a story where her students were talking about a Canadian person they saw on the bus. She asked the students, “what made the person Canadian?” and they couldn’t really answer. To open their eyes to the lesson, she brought in several other teachers with different heritage and backgrounds and asked if they were Canadian or not.

I don’t really have an answer for “what is Canadian” or which book should win Canada Reads (I haven’t even finished all the books yet)… but I will say that The Jade Peony certainly opened my eyes to a part of Canadian history that I had forgotten. I was reminded about what I learned about the Cariboo Goldrush and the building of the CPR, and the Chinese Head Tax, and the Japanese Canadian internment… but it really is a different fact when you read a novel from the point of view of child experiencing these things within their own family. It’s an honest, yet confused portrayal of the time and the experiences of the people. I really enjoyed The Jade Peony for those reasons.

In addition to our “real life” book club, I’ve also joined the online Canada Reads Challenge! [Fun fact: another person from "real life" book club also joined the online challenge!]

Serena of Savvy Verse & Wit and Anna of Diary of an Eccentric are going into their second year of the War Through the Generations Reading Challenges. The theme for 2009 was WWII and the theme for 2010 is Vietnam. Be sure to check out their War Through the Generations blog.

Ruth is hosting the Hot Tea Month blog-a-thon again this January. I especially enjoyed these buttons because the first one is of her teacups and the second one is a teacup I gifted to her!

In April, Jen of Jen’s Book Thoughts will be hosting a theme week: Detectives Around the World. Stay tuned to her blog for more details!

Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott

Marina Endicott’s compelling novel Good to a Fault begins with a bang — two cars collide at an intersection. As the story unfolds, the lives of all those involved are unalterably jolted, too.

The driver at fault is 43-year-old Clara Purdy, who works at a Saskatoon insurance company. Affluent but unfulfilled, she has spent years nursing her dying parents and now finds herself alone.

The other car is home to an impoverished family on its way to Fort McMurray, Alberta, in search of a new start. The mother, Lorraine, the only one who’s injured in the accident, ends up in the hospital.

Feeling that she wants to do what’s right — and also that she’s to blame for the situation — Clara chooses to help not only Lorraine but also her sullen husband, their three children and the grumpy grandmother, Mrs. Pell. Clara’s decision brings chaos and complications into her life, along with powerful new emotions, both rewarding and painful.

I flew right through the book, seamlessly jumping between the narrators and following the story eagerly. It is a quintessentially Canadian novel and I think it has a very good chance to win Canada Reads 2010. The characters feel Canadian without their stories relying on taking place in Canada. I think it has something to do with Clara’s generousity, the children’s love, or even Lorraine’s understanding. Either way, the characters were compelling and pulled me in immediately. I was a little disappointed with the end, but at the same time realize why it was ended that way.

However, the story doesn’t have to be Canadian, so I think a wide range of audiences would enjoy it (and could perhaps be an arguement to vote it off Canada Reads). My only complaint, which is very minor, is the character’s names changing through the book. Darlene became Dolly, which was fine as she said it was her nickname already. But Clara became “Clary” in both dialogue, reference, and personal thoughts. I found this odd because it started as just the kids affectionately nicknaming her.

I picked up this book as part of our Canada Reads book club but unfortunately I’ll be missing the discussion on Sunday January 9th. So I also decided to join in the online Canada Reads Challenge! Two birds with one stone.

Read an excerpt from the publisher, Freehand Books.

What we do need, in a world with precious little time to read (and think), is to know which books—new or old, fiction or nonfiction—open a window on the times we live in, whether they deal directly with the issues of today or simply help us see ourselves in new and surprising ways.

Well I think Kim by Rudyard Kipling lived up to that — Kim didn’t deal directly with the issues, but it was always an underlying point. I’m not totally up-to-date on all my world history and military information, but Rudyard Kipling definitely slipped his own commentary in there.

Kim is about an orphan boy named Kimball O’Hara living in India. He grew up on the streets of Lahore and is known by the villages as Friend of all the World. When a travelling lama comes into Lahore, he knows his life is changing. The lama is searching for a River to wash away his sins, and when Kim tells him of his father’s prophesy, the lama knows they’re meant to be together.

Sometimes I had trouble following the long, poetic prose of Kipling, but I just needed to make sure I read when I had time to immerse myself. The descriptions of India and its people certainly shows Kipling’s love for his home as well as being very informative about India’s culture, history, and religions. Once I got into it, I really enjoyed reading about Kim and his story.

I think Newsweek picked this as one of the “books for our time” because of the second plot line involving “The Great Game”. It is a historical plotline without shoving the facts at you; in fact, rarely is anything mentioned outright. As I mentioned before, I’m not up on all my world history, so I visited Wikipedia and learned about The Great Game — which is what they called the rivalry between the British and Russia in Central Asia.

Overall, I enjoyed reading Kim and would be interested in brushing up on my history and then reading it again. I think that a lot of the subtle commentary was lost on me.