Late Nights on Air

I have very little patience for novels that decide to use dreams and memories to flesh out their characters instead of bothering with proper characterization, and this is one of the most heinous offenders I’ve ever seen. Nor does it help that I don’t care about any of the characters enough to want to know anything more about them, and that the drudgery of those characters is surrounded by the drudgery of the Yukon landscape, which this book tries—and fails—to make interesting.

1.5/5

Funny Boy

I’m always interested in a view of Sri Lanka after falling in love with Michael Ondaatje, and this does offer that, if not much else to distinguish itself from other coming of age queer stories, just another set of being different and realization of what that interest is, and veiled sexualities of supporting characters.

3/5

Oryx and Crake

I’m so impressed by Atwood’s ability to create this dysfunctional, screwed up world, where sex and violence (both transgressive and genuine) are just another thing to fill the time, and counting all the extinct species and destroyed indications of human growth turn into games. The aftermath, I’m less in love with, but there is nothing in here that isn’t well-done.

4/5

Cereus Blooms at Night

Taylor, you say, seriously, what’s with all the incest you’re reading? I know, young comrades, I know, I’m curious about the link between queer fiction and incestuous subplots myself. But luckily, this moves out of the “queerqueerqueerINCEST” trope it has fallen into, if only because its written beautifully, if, perhaps, the subject matter isn’t exactly to my taste. Again.

3/5

What We All Long For

I’m going to admit I’m biased here, because this book takes place in Toronto, and everyone loves to see their city laid out on the page. But this is lovely, focusing on truly human characters with human problems, on the never dwindling issues of race in a multi-cultural city, on the implications of family and how abandoning those implications is just about impossible.

4.5/5

Elle

This is yet another new take on Robinson Crusoe, but a woman and in Canada! Hooray! The only thing that keeps this from only being yet another take on Crusoe is the fact there is a nice, sharp sense of humour to this that separates it from the others.

3/5

Obasan

Obasan was read in a straight rush before class, a three hour drag at the library. I actually don't remember much of it, but I can't think I was missing much, as the lectures rang of making something out of nothing, pulling posttraumatic stress and histiographic metafiction out of a very simple narrative of the mistreated. Yes, Kogawa was the first to address the treatment of Japanese Canadians during World War II, and Obasan wrought change in policy, which is impressive, but as a novel, as a piece of artwork, Obasan adds little to the genre it has fallen into.

2/5

The Far Side of the Moon

This was a joy to watch, written by, directed by, and starring Robert Lepage, who I am now in love with, unfortunately, since it seems like it’s going to be difficult to get my hands on his works. It’s a fairly typical story of failure and fraught family relations, but Lepage imbues it with such humour and such a deft hand that there is something in it that always strikes the viewer as absolutely original.

5/5

One Good Story, That One

I really, really enjoyed Green Grass, Running Water, and I always have a soft spot for short stories, so I picked this up. The good news is that it reminds me of his novel. The bad news is that it reminds me of his novel a lot. There are stories that are practically recycled, they’re so close, and while I did enjoy it, I wasn’t quite sure why King decided it was a good idea to plagiarize himself.

3/5

Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing

I can’t even begin to say what I hate about this play, other than everything. I hate that there is rape involving a crucifix, I don’t care that it’s a physical manifestation of symbolic woes. I hate that Tomson Highway seems to think that girls farting while looking coy is something that should be utilized more than once. I hate that half the time the only female roles are to wear absolutely nothing. I’m glad I just read this, because if I had seen this, there is absolutely no doubt I would have walked right out, and I never do that.

1/5

Crash

This certanly isn't the generic, shallow 2005 Haggis "Racism is bad" film. Cronenberg has always been absolutely obsessed with technology, and this manifests itself not in the sexiness of ars, or sex in cars, which is generally accepted, especially in Hollywood, but in the fetishization of car crashes. This leads to a lot of gratuitious imagery, particularly involving scars and wounds. I had a lot of strong reactions to the imagery (primarily disgust and repulsion, particularly because I'm squeamish), however, I was mostly bored. Cronenberg created a lot of controversy over his imagery, but thematically, this isn't all that interesting.

1/5

The Hanging Garden

This is a prime example of over the top Canadian melodrama, where you can hardly hear dialogue over overlapping shouting. The supernatural elements are fairly confusing and add little to what is a pretty typical Irish--specifically Cape Breton Irish--family drama. The characters are not particularly believable, nor are any motivations particularly believable themselves. This film adds little to a very common Canadian genre.

1/5

Mole

This is an amateur work in every way. From clumsy popcorn related metaphors in an ode to Nicole Kidman, to cliche-ridden poems on subjects that have endlessly been tread, this was an awkward slog. The only interesting thing about this collection is the cover.

1/5

Running in the Family

Ondaatje's memoir of his family history s rich with the amount of detail you find in his novels, and because he has an extremely fascinating family, feels like a novel about an exceedingly eccentric family. He breaks the prose with some poetry, including the famous "Cinnamon Peeler's Wife", and, in bits and pieces, creates a vivid portrait of a time and place where happening--snake shooting, a magnificant drowning, the hold up of a train--are so crazy that they're true.

4/5

The Telling of Lies

I feel like every book Timothy Findley writes is a disappointment after I saw what he was capable of with The Wars. This is no exception. It's a neat little murder mystery that does keep you reading, with interesting moments in flashbacks to World War II, but the mystery wasn't satisfying in the way it would be in the hands of a mystery writer, and the tidbits of a compelling history did not sustain the otherwise lacklustre story. Yet again, I am waiting for a novel it seems Findley could only write once.

2.5/5

Designs From the Interior

While this is an interesting artifact as a collection of queer poetry in the midst of the AIDS crisis, it does not stand up well as simply a collection of poetry. The writing is a little pedestrian, and no poem stands alone as a gem. I was, unfortunately, rather bored by it.

1.5/5

Mercy Among the Children

It's hard to give a good rating to a book you desperately want to end another way, any other way. This is one of the most depressing stories I have ever read, with a look at hopeless poverty, the futility of honour, and desperate people doing horrible things to other desperate people. There are no happy endings here, and I didn't expect one, but oh, I wanted one so badly. Regardless, this is a trainwreck of a book, and I mean that in the best way: you want to shield your eyes, but you can't bear to stop watching.

4/5

Who Do You Think You Are?

A well-woven collection of short stories, loosely chronological, with the same protagonist. Early, the stories have a brutal quality, with devastating moments thrown in almost casually. Unfortunately, as the protagonist grows, there are fewer and fewer of these moments. Regardless, it is worth reading for the picture of frustrated poverty it paints in te beginning, even if the picture fades later.

3/5

As For Me and My House

You certainly couldn’t say As For Me and My House is uplifting, but it is beautifully written, skilfully plotted, and immensely satisfying. I have never seen the journal format work to better effect than it does in this novel. I can see why this was considered one of this first likely Great Canadian Novels.

4/5

Flowers For Hitler

Leonard Cohen is one of my personal heroes, and while the quality of both his music and his poetry has declined significantly in the past twenty-five years, Flowers for Hitler reminds me why he has such a place in my heart. This is not a smooth read by any means; there are certainly a fair number of duds. However, the pearls, of which there are many, are luminescent, and that is why I’ve still never quite given up hope that Cohen will return to form.

4/5