Cait's Literary Journey across Canada

I'm really looking forward to this! I read a lot of Canadian Lit, so it is my goal to finish this challenge my the end of 2010. I will start fresh as of September 1, 2009.

Newfoundland and Labrador
February - Lisa Moore

Nova Scotia

New Brunswick

Prince Edward Island
The Blythes Are Quoted - Lucy Maud Montgomery

Quebec
The Disappeared - Kim Echlin

Ontario
Too Much Happiness - Alice Munro

Manitoba

Saskatchewan

Alberta

British Columbia
Deep Hollow Creek - Sheila Watson

Yukon

Northwest Territories

Nunavut

Welcome! I look forward to seeing what you chose. Any ideas for Nunavut?

Not a clue! I checked the "Nunavut" tag on LT, and there are very few books. I'm thinking though, that since Nunavut used to be part of NWT, books set in Nunavut might be mistagged. Even Yukon and NWT might be difficult, and I've already read Late Nights on Air, so I can't count that!

So as soon as I joined this challenge I took a break from CanLit. Finally, here is my first book, set mostly in Ontario.

Too Much Happiness - Alice Munro

In "Fiction", the second story in Munro's latest collection of short stories, Too Much Happiness, the narrator finds herself figuring in a book written by someone from her past. About this book she says: "A collection of short stories, not a novel. This in itself is a disappointment. It seems to diminish the book's authority, making the author seem like somebody who is just hanging on to the gates of Literature, rather than safely settled inside" (49-50). Here, is Alice Munro, recent winner of the Man Booker International Prize, deriding her own craft? Or is this self-deprecating sentence meant merely in jest? Either way, Munro proves her own statement false. Too Much Happiness is just one more example of her skill as an author - and proof that she is not only within the gates of Literature, but actually holds a place of honour.

Munro's stories are not about grand adventures or shocking experiences. They are about normal people - a widow, a farmer, a naive university student. Sure, there is some excitement: a house is broken into by a crazed man, a wife loses her young children in a grisly way. But this is not the focus of Munro's writing. Instead, her stories portray the way in which human beings deal with life - with the general obstacles that the world throws at us. Her grasp on the human mind is incredible; her characters all think in a totally believable way, and yet they all think differently. Place one character in the story of another, and you would have a completely different outcome. Munro's ability to differentiate between an entire cast of characters is outstanding.

I cannot praise this book enough. Each story is a mini masterpiece to be savoured all on its own; together, the stories share enough threads that they become a coherent narrative.

If you think you don't like short stories, try Munro - she is in a class all her own.

My first book for Quebec is Kim Echlin's The Disappeared, which is set in Montreal for the first half, and Cambodia for the second half. It was a fantastic book, and is currently on the shortlist for the Giller Prize.

Since The Disappeared is only half set in Quebec, I'm going to try and find another novel to fill this province as well.

Yesterday I finished The Blythes Are Quoted by Lucy Maud Montgomery - set, guess where? PEI of course!

Since I am an avid L.M.M. fan, I loved this book. Check out the next issue of Belletrista (www.belletrista.com) when it comes out, for my review.

Hmm, I seem to have forgotten about this thread. I also seem to have stopped reading fiction set in Canada - still reading lots by Canadians, just not with Canadian settings. I can, however, add one book: Deep Hollow Creek by Sheila Watson, which takes place in rural British Columbia.

Newfoundland - February by Lisa Moore

Interesting choices! :) What did you think of Deep Hollow Creek Cait?

I loved Deep Hollow Creek, but then, I love Sheila Watson. It's a tiny book, but the writing is gorgeous, very sparse and difficult at times, as you really have to work when you read it, I think. Watson was a teacher in rural BC, so the book is based on her experiences. Her other novel, The Double Hook, is one of my favourite books.

Deep Hollow Creek has been on my wishlist for a bit, I think I will add The Double Hook to that. Thank you! :)