Book Review: Dual Citizens by Alix Ohlin Scotiabank Giller shortlisted book 2019

Does Lark's sister Robin inspire her or hamper her development?

Because their mother Marianne can't be tamed by motherhood, Lark must mother her sister. Because Robin is the captivating star, Lark is left in the shadows--the silent observer. Because Robin is wild, Lark is tame. The two sisters are forever linked--dual citizens in the world.

'If you juxtapose two images...no matter how different, the viewer will make meaning from the montage. The second image in the sequence will alter the meaning of the first... My sister next to me changed how I thought of myself.' (p. 260)

'the world found my sister as exceptional as I did, and myself as ordinary' (p. 83)

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Published by House of Anansi

Published in 2019

Scotiabank Giller prize finalist 

When I work-shopped my young adult novel, I was told to begin with the most compelling scene--it pulls the reader in. Dual Citizens begins this way and did pull me in. Like assembling a jigsaw puzzle, I read carefully waiting to slip the scene into where it fit in the story.

Except for the opening scene, Dual Citizens unfolds in chronological order beginning with Lark's birth to a Canadian mother and an American father. Lark narrates her life with Robin. Through school, through boyfriends, through finding their place in the world the sisters'--at times strained--relationship continues.

The book concludes with an epilogue. I'm a big fan of this additional chapter. It's like getting a peek into the characters lives after the story ends.

Interview with Author Alix Ohlin

Book Review:  Inside by Alix Ohlin

photo by ldyck

April on this blog...

We'll celebrate Easter with a short story

Be Gentle
published on this blog on April 12th

We'll celebrate Poetry month with three lists

My Poetry Collection

a collection of poems that I wrote
Yeah? Me.
Why are you so surprised?
(Just playing. I know why.)

published on this blog on April 5th

Poetry Publishers--magazines

a list of magazines that publish poems

published on this blog on April 19th

Poetry Book Publishers

a list of publishers that publish poetry books

published on my blog on April 26th

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Sharing my author journey...

Have you noticed what a positive place the Internet has become?
Musicians and authors and photographers and...--we've all come

Book Review: Something for Everyone by Lisa Moore (short story collection)

Something for Everyone by Lisa Moore is tailor-made for a creative writing course. The collection could be used for exploring form, structure (What is the difference between form and structure?), and genre. Most of the stories are contemporary. The exceptions are “Marconi” (historical fiction) and “Light Up the Dark” (magical realism). “Light Up the Dark” is my pick of the litter with its positive message. As told by a mysterious (and legendary) hero, “Light Up the Dark” is a tender story about the love a grandson has for his grandmother. Some of the stories explore the same themes as Atwood's Bluebeard's Egg—especially “Skywalk”. I think Atwood would be impressed by Moore's powerful language—especially pages 264 to 267. Though diverse in form, structure, and genre the stories have a commonality—Newfoundland. Most stories are set in that province and those that don't have a protagonist from Newfoundland—for example, “The Viper's Revenge” (set in Orlando, Florida).

photo by ldyck

Buy this book

Published in 2018

Published by House of Anansi

longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize, in 2018

In her author acknowledgements, Lisa Moore thanks her students and colleagues—Lisa Moore is an Assistant Professor at Memorial University in Newfoundland.

Reviewing Something for Everyone for the Toronto Star, Stephen Finucan writes:  'Moore's great gift is her ability to make common the uncommon and extraordinary the mundane...Without question, Moore is a great conscience and compassion.'

More...

Lisa Moore's 5 tips for writing a great short story

Meeting Author Lisa Moore

Book Review:  February

Book Review: Caught

Scotiabank Giller interview with Lisa Moore

Next post...

Sunday, April 28 (at approximately 5 PM PST)

Huldufolk (short story)
Who is your mother? Where did you come from? These are easy questions for most--but not all.

Book Review: Cockroach by Rawi Hage

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In Montreal's restless immigrant community, our unnamed narrator is living in despair. Forced to visit a therapist after a suicide attempt, he brings us back to his childhood in a war-torn country, forward into his current life in the smoky emigre cafes where everyone has a tale, and out into the frozen nighttime streets of Montreal, where he imagines himself to be a cockroach invading the lives of the privileged, but willfully blind, citizens who surround him. Cockroach is a carnivalesque, philosophical novel that weaves dark humour with an accusatory, satirical voice, spawning form the subsurface to challenge humanity and its downfall.

Even the paperback adds to the reading experience. It has a slimy feel.

As always, I took notes as I read...

The narrator has a compelling, captivating voice. His story weaves around and through me. I read on...

Defiance. Resilience. He has started with and continues with nothing and I have faith that he can overcome it all.

For me, exploring Canada through this unnamed, foreign narrator is a rare treat. He makes the familiar seem exotic.

My mind is full of so many questions...
How did he escape his war torn country and immigrate to Canada?
Will he remain here?
Why?
How?
What does he truly think of us, of Canadians?

I have known immigrants. They where polite, respectful. And now I wonder why they conducted themselves that way. I hope it was genuine. I hope it wasn't out of a need to survive.

The unnamed immigrant is told by a giant cockroach that he is part cockroach and part human. Part cockroach because he participants in the seedy side of life. Part human because he aspires to be more, to be 'worshipped by women' (p. 203)

The narrator believes that people remain safe only if he remains ineffectual, if he robs himself of all his power. This type of thinking is a product of poor self-esteem.

Rawi Hage, the author, chosen not to use any quotation marks.
Why?
Well, perhaps he wished to underline the fact that the narrator, being is unnamed and lost, has no voice. That no one really cares about him.

We think the ugly side of life is hidden in the lives of the desperately poor. This is only partially true. The wealthy, the powerful, they too hide an ugly side.
'Montreal, this happy romantic city, has an ugly side... One of the largest military-industrial complexes in North America is right here in this town.' (p. 281)

I think the final scene means that the unnamed narrator realizes that he has sunk too low. He has become a cockroach. And any chance he had at being human has been lost to him. What do you think it means?

More...

Youtube: 
book tailer
Rawi Hage reads from his book -- Cockroach

Shelf Monkey blog:
A review originally published in the Winnipeg Free Press

Gulf Islands Arts Council song writing challenge...

The Gulf Islands Arts Council has issued a challenge to all writers and musicians...

to compose a song about any part of this theme:  "To promote and celebrate the natural beauty and wildlife of the Active Pass Region of the Salish Sea, the unique communities within it and the art it inspires

They want you to record your song and send it to them (song@festivalactivepass) by February 28th. 


Sharing my author journey...

Book review: Annabel by Kathleen Winter

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Back cover blurb:  In 1968, into the beautiful, spare, environment of remote coastal Labrador, a mysterious child is born:  a baby who appears to be neither fully boy nor girl, but both at once.

I jotted down notes as I read. They read as a traveler's journey through the book--Annabel.

Kathleen Winter knows Labrador. Her words paint a vibrant picture not only of the land but also of the people who live there. 
'Anyone from Labrador called vegetables by their name. Cabbage. Turnip. Carrot. No matter how many individual specimens, you spoke of them as one entity. He realized Treadway thought about people in the same way. Men, to him, were all one man.' (p. 121-122)

***

' "We will love this baby of yours and Treadway's exactly as it was born."
"Will other people love it?"
"That baby is all right the way it is. There's enough room in this world."
This was how Thomasina saw it, and it was what Jacinta needed to hear.' (p. 26)

'It never once occurred to Treadway to do the thing that lay in the hearts of Jacinta and Thomasina:  to let his baby live the way it had been born. That, in his mind, would not have been a decision. It would have been indecision, and it would have caused harm.' (p. 27)

And between what Thomasina said and in what Treadway thought, there lies the story's conflict. Need one conform to society or can one be uniquely themselves?

***

Kathleen Winter has a lot of talent but I think the most striking are her vivid descriptions.

***

Kathleen Winter has a lot to say about how males and females differ in eastern, rural Canada--their roles and their underlying believes. 

***

In acting to protect his son, Treadway may have lost him preeminently. But he did discover that his biggest fear is a reality--Wayne does dream of being a girl.

***

I'm reminded of something I heard many years ago: to grow to be a man, a son must grow away from his mother.

***

Male--female. It's a toss of a coin, a 50/50 choice. Had the doctor guessed wrong, those many years ago? And if, he had, what now? I've studied group dynamics--formally and informally.  I know that if the group identifies a person as a member, it can overlook variations that wouldn't be tolerated if seen in an outsider. Could this happen to Wayne? Will his community accept him?

***

Thomasina to Wayne
' "I wouldn't call what you have a disorder. I'd call it a different order. A different order means a whole new way of being. It could be fantastic. It could be overwhelmingly beautiful, if people weren't scared." ' (p.208 - 209)

***

Treadway
'If only the world could live in here, deep in the forest, where there were no stores, roads, windows, and doors, no straight lines. The straight lines were the problem. Rules and measurements and lines and no one to help you if you crossed them.' (p. 216)

***

(Page 238 to 242) This is such a heartwarming scene between Wayne and his mother. Wayne seems so understanding about his body--so philosophically together. I hope this continues. 

***

Did Wayne graduate from High School? Is he going to live at home for the rest of his life? If he doesn't marry Gracie, who will he marry? Will he marry? Will he marry Wally? Will he ever see Wally again? Will he tell Gracie or Wally his secret? And what about what Thomasina has just told him... Will his parents ever straighten out their differences? Will they get the help they so desperately need?  

***

I'm of two minds over Wayne's decision to leave.  I want him to stay were others can protect him. Yet, in order to grown, Wayne must leave. And I know he is ready. But is the world?

***

The courage and strength Wayne shows in advocating for himself on page 370 is admirable.

***

Chapter 27 was a very difficult chapter for me to read. I wanted so badly for Wayne to be protected from this type of treatment but if he had been the authenticity of the story would have been lost.

***

Chapter 29
All it took for Treadway and Jacinta to get back together was Jacinta to be practical and Treadway to remember. They got back together over a pair of men's gardening gloves.

***

Chapter 30 seems like a high wire act. Wayne is up there, high in the sky, on his way from male to female. Will he make it without falling? The wire is so very long and the other end too far away for him to see. How will he know when he has arrived? Will he know? He won't arrive because he will always be drawn to two realities--male, female. Is he stuck or free?

Why is Annabel my Canada Reads choice?

Well, I believe that when we learn to embrace our similarities while respecting each other's differences, Canada will be a much better place.

***
Sharing my author journey...

Book Review February by Lisa Moore

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'In 1982, the oil rig Ocean Ranger sank off the coast of Newfoundland during the Valentine's night storm. All 84 men aboard died. February is the story of Helen O'Mara, one of those left behind when her husband, Cal, drowns.' (From the back cover)

Lisa Moore talks about her book February.

Why did I choose to read February?

-It was chosen as the book all Canada should read by Canada reads.
Learn more about that here: Lisa Moore and Trent McClellan talk about February and Canada Reads

-It's set on Newfoundland. 
Newfoundland is a special place for both my dad and I.
My dad was stationed in Newfoundland during the Second World War.
Newfoundland was one of the provinces I worked in as a Katimavik participant.

-To learn from a master
At the time, I was attempting to develop a character whose circumstances were similar to Helen's.

My favourite quotes...

John (Helen's son) has dysgraphia.
It 'made him see all numbers and letters backwards and sometimes upside down. John had overcome this, compensated, faked his way through... He'd gained from his mild disability an unshakable certainty that things were not always what they appeared to be.' (p. 26 - 27)

Although there is no doubt that Helen is the central figure in February, John is a important minor character.  

'I'm ready [the instructor] said. Are you?
Helen put on the indicator like [the instructor] said. She put the car in gear. [The instructor] turned and looked behind and sat forward and rolled his shoulders, and then he said she could go, and she put her foot on the accelerator, but she hit it too hard and she'd had the car in reverse not drive, and they slammed backwards, burning rubber, and lurched to a stop, and she bounced against the seat belt hard, and so, she saw did [the instructor].
Mrs. O'Mara, he said. Can I call you Helen?
Yes, she said.
Helen, we have to go forward.' ([p. 213 - 214)

And Helen has to go forward. She has to leave what happened in 1982 and continue with the rest of her life. But something--a memory, something--always brings her back to Cal.

'The dead are not individuals, she thought. They are all the same. That's what made it so very hard to stay in love with them... Nothing ever happened to them, they did not change or grow, but they didn't stay the same either...
The act of being dead, if you could call it an act, made them very hard to love. They'd lost the capacity to surprise. You needed a strong memory to love the dead.' (p. 246 - 247)

Lisa Moore taught me how to develop a character--outside and in. I know Helen--her thoughts, dreams, longings, fears--her inner life. Like a friend, I remained with her right up until the final, tenderly hopeful last page.

I know my writing has benefited (and will continue to benefit) from reading such a deeply written book.