Mailbox Monday is a weekly meme that is hosted by Marcia at The Printed Page. Essentially, people share what books that they got in their mailboxes over the past week. I think it’s much more exciting to talk about all the books I purchased, gifted, or received. Unfortunately I can’t find an exact description of Mailbox Monday, but I think it’s okay for me to show you all the books I got last week!
Underground by June Hutton covers the adulthood of Albert Fraser, a young man from BC. As Al grows and changes, the book follows his story, thoughts, and confusion in life. Sometimes I felt like the book lacked direction, but it is a difficult task to write a book following a character’s entire life. The writing was poetic at times and often led to insights for Al that I never would have anticipated. It was an enjoyable book and I would be interested to read more of June Hutton’s work, but I’m not crazyexcited about Underground. I think the reason I’m not crazyexcited about the novel is because Al Fraser’s life is almost unbelieveable. Sixteen-year-old Albert Fraser believes that enlisting in the First World War will make him a man. But a shell blast that buries him alive in a trench shatters his identity, instead. Al emerges from the war with a driving need to act. Back home in Vancouver — with rising shrapnel in his flesh and nightmare images in his head — he works to keep busy. When the Great Depression hits, he rides the rails and scrabbles for jobs. After an accidental act of violence, he hides below the streets of Chinatown, and then heads north. With no place to call home he seems destined to wander aimlessly. But when the Spanish Civil War erupts, he seeks out Picasso’s Guernica and sees in the painting a reflection of what had been done to him, and what his life [...]
I’m honoured and excited to be a part of Serena’s National Poetry Month Blog Tour 2010. Hopefully this will be the first of many successful literary blog tours! I applied to take part to showcase Canada’s (particularly BC and Vancouver’s) poetry scene. This post is basically a Canadian/BC/Vancouver poetry linkfest!
It’s hard to describe and/or summarize the chaos going on here. Everyone is wearing Canada gear and I can’t tell who is a tourist unless they’re wearing a different country’s gear. Here are some photos and links I like. For all my photos, view my Vancouver Olympics 2010 collection on Flickr. Countdown to the Olympics — 8 Days to go (taken February 4, 2010) Lantern Trees at LunarFest on Granville Street Vancouver Biennale art installation “Cabeza Vainilla, Cabeza ordoba, Cabeza Chiapas” by Mexican artist Javier Marin The Olympic Cauldron! ….. wait a minute….. what’s that fence? Let’s try that again (with some zoom)…. The Olympic Flame! Inside the Four Host First Nations Aboriginal Pavilion. Photo taken (with permission) during screening of “We Are Here”. Inside Canada’s Northern Pavilion highlighting the Yukon Territories, Northwest Territories, and Nunavut.
The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy will be defended by Samantha Nutt during Canada Reads 2010. 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, [...]
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