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  • Sir Charles G.D. Roberts ~ January 10, 1860 – November 26, 1943
  • Coming this week… Charles (God Damn) Roberts & his animal stories
  • Book 6: The Clockmaker ~ Alexis’s Review
  • Book 6: The Clockmaker ~ Melanie’s Review
  • Thomas Chandler Haliburton ~ December 17, 1796 – August 27, 1865

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Raise your hands if you read Charles God Damn Roberts when you see his name in print? Well, I know it isn’t just me because there is a biography out called Sir Charles God Damn by John Coldwell Adams. Apparently he thought using his middle initials would make people take him seriously - but even his friends laughed at the G.D. Of course, chances are you have never heard of Sir Charles even though he is credited with being THE father of Confederation poetry.

Roberts was born in Douglas, New Brunswick, in 1860 and was raised in Westcock, near the Tantramar marshes. The beautiful landscape of his childhood was to dominate and inspire his work for a lifetime. He graduated from the University of New Brunswick in 1879, and the following year, at the age of 20, he published his first book of poems, Orion, and Other Poems (1880). Roberts’s example inspired Archibald Lampman to begin his writing career, and contemporary critics hailed Orion as the beginning of a new epoch in Canadian letters.

via

Not knowing anything about Roberts I started reading his biography but didn’t get very far (too many books on my to-be-read pile). Interesting things I did note however: he was a bit of a womanizer and he wanted to be more bohemian than his proper Anglican upbringing would comfortably allow. Someday, when I get a chance, I will try and finish the biography because Sir God Damn sounds like he was a real old rascal. He did, afterall, remarry at the age of 83 to a woman much much younger than him.

Sources: Collections Canada, Wikipedia

For selected poetry click here.

~Melanie

I reserved The Clockmaker from the catalogue at the fabulous Edmonton Public Library. The copy I received was not a New Canadian Library version, but a yellow hardcover from a series titled “The American Humorists.” I was confused and was not sure why a Canadian writer was included in such a series.

It turns out Thomas C. Haliburton, author of The Clockmaker, was believed to have a profound influence on many American satirical writers including Mark Twain (LOVE) and Harriet Beecher Stowe (never read, but intend to one day). Haliburton, who I had never heard of before embarking on this reading project, was called “the father of the American school of humour” and was born in Windsor, Nova Scotia in 1796. (Oh, irony, how I love you.) Read more

Dear Mr. Haliburton,

I know that at one time you were dubbed “The Father of American Humour” (as Canada wasn’t a country yet) and that you influenced other famous humourists like Mark Twain. I know that Sam Slick of Slickville is supposed to be the shit as far as literary characters go but I think the world of humour has changed since 1835 even if “human natur” (sic) hasn’t. Or maybe not; maybe it’s just me but I didn’t get your humour and couldn’t be bothered to read past page 50. Maybe it’s because I don’t understand all your dated political references (Bluenoses?), maybe it is because I grew up on the prairies (although I did do a stint at Acadia University close to where you were a judge oh-so-many years ago and know the province well). Obviously there are people who still think you are funny, and you have at least one festival dedicated to your unbelievably annoying famous character, but you’ll get no soft sawder from me. Thankfully this is the only book of yours on the NCL list and so we part.

Love, Melanie

Death toll: my desire to ever read anything by Haliburton again.

Where does one begin talking about Haliburton? Thought of as one of Canada’s first writers, he gained fame both at home and internationally for his satirical writing and it is hard to do justice to his biography within the limited confines of a blog post.

Here are the basics: Read more

(This is late & out of order due to Canada Reads but better late than never. Alexis’s review is here.)

Wow. No, really - WOW. I can see why this novel was celebrated around the world. My review is this: go out and buy/borrow/steal this book right now and read it. Everything about it is great: the descriptive language, the characters, the setting, the ability to have me on the edge of my seat wondering (a) what was going to happen and, of course, (b) who was going to die. Read more

I’ve kept relatively quiet during the discussion, just submitting notes in the comments section. There’s no particular reason, really, but I’ve enjoyed listening to everyone else speak. However, when it comes to the matter of what book I would champion, I can’t stay quiet any longer.

All week, I’ve been picturing myself as a panelist, the same way that aspiring actresses picture themselves winning an Oscar. Well, to steal a line from Kate Winslet, I’m still thanking the shampoo bottle, only now I’m doing it in a public forum. Read more

I decided to change the prize-winning criteria a bit. One of the reasons for this is because McLelland & Stewart (publishers of the New Canadian Library) were kind enough to donate five books as prizes for the Canada Reads Challenge. Also, due to the number of people who didn’t manage to finish all of the books or sign up in time but still wanted to participate I thought the best way to award the prizes would be to have a draw. What I did was write down the names of all the people who actively participated in Canada Reads week on this blog - whether you finished the books or not (because some people finished but didn’t vote on who they thought would win which was the original criteria). Maybe I’m breaking all kinds of Canadian contest laws with this but I think they only apply if you are making money off of your contest (and I can assure you I’m not ).

These people were entered in the draw: Read more

If I had to pick one book (which is very hard to do) off the top of my head without doing any research right now I would choose Thomas Trofimuk’s Doubting Yourself to the Bone. I read it years ago and yet I still think about it and keep meaning to read it again. I also lend/recommend it to anyone who asks for a recommendation (which happens a lot since I started reviewing books).

What the book is about:

From the Publisher:

Doubting Yourself to the Bone is a story about the nature of grief, about what it means to be a parent in the face of great sorrow, the idea of re-invented love and hope. Set in Paris and a small town in the Canadian Rockies, the novel is propelled forward by a horrific car crash that reverberates for the victim’s husband and daughters. From a scotch-swilling Tibetan monk to a titillating, imagined waif named Katya, whose uninvited visits are always intriguing, this story serpentines through the labyrinth of grief and pain as the victim’s husband wrestles with the question, was the car crash an accident or intentional? It is a bumpy and strange journey, peopled with a capricious mother, an aging alcoholic uncle, five Buddhist monks in a broken van, and a nudist lesbian, that leads its main character and the reader on the road to salvation.

Reasons I would champion this book:

• In spite of the heavy topic I laughed a lot.
• I was afraid of the “Buddhist monks” bit initially fearing it would get new-agey on me but it really doesn’t take itself too seriously.
• I felt very attached to the main character and his daughters early on.
• The author is an Albertan and I want to represent my province.
• Although it isn’t mention in the publisher’s blurb, the novel is also set in Edmonton and I find that few novels are set in Alberta.
• Did you think I would pick an NCL book? Well, it was tempting but they are already “classics” and don’t need anymore press. I would rather pick someone who is still writing (and by default still alive) and could benefit from the press.
• I don’t know anyone else who has read this book (unless I have lent it to them).

~Melanie

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