Giller-a-Thon

Okay, so 'Booker-a-thon' sounds better, but I am more interested in the Giller list than I was in the Bookers. I still plan to read the Booker short-list, though, I notice that the two books I could not find before are now available on Amazon.ca.

Anyways, I always like the Giller Winners, so this year I thought I would try and read as much of the long-list as possible. I have already read Helpless by Barbara Gowdy. That was a must-read because I love The Romantic, one of her earlier books. It was a good book, but I think I would be very surprised if it won. The second book I am reading off the Giller list is Michael Ondaatje's book, Divisadero. I have read one Ondaatje before, In the Skin of the Lion, but I own his other books. Reading so far, though, I am not enraptured, so I don't know if it is good enough to win. I am still newly into it, though, so my thoughts can change.

After finishing Ondaatje I am going to move on to October by Richard Wright. I am worried. I really really liked Clara Callan by him, but then anything I have read since I have not really liked at all. I have been humming and hawing over whether I want to try again, but I have heard good things about October, so I am going to give it a try. Plus, October is one of my favourite months of the year, so why not read a book with it as the title. (October is my birthday month, the time of the leaves changing that we are sort of famous for, and Halloween.)

After that, we will have to see. I really want to read Lawrence Hill's The Book of Negroes. Then, some of the others I have either heard good things about or never even heard of before. Some of the authors I have been meaning to try for years, so this gives me an added push. Anyways, back to Ondaatje. Remember, two days until my reading challenge officially kicks off!

Helpless by Barbara Gowdy

Books Completed: 54
Completion Date: April 4, 2007
Publication Year: 2007
Pages: 320
Receieved from Harper Collins in 2007
Counts as both Spring Reading Thing and O'Canada Challenge Read

Helpless is Barbara Gowdy's brilliant new novel, a provocative, gripping story of an unthinkable act and a mother's heroic love for her child.

Rachel is an uncommonly beautiful young girl. With her tawny skin, pale blue eyes and chromium-blond hair, she is a cherished gift to her mother, Celia. Celia is a single parent holding down two jobs. All too aware of her own precarious equilibrium, she worries about Rachel's innocent longing for her unknown father.

When a blackout plunges the city into darkness and confusion, Rachel is snatched away. Celia, numb with terror and guilt about the choices she has made, confronts the reality of every mother's worst nightmare. The media coverage is tremendous. Closely monitoring it is Ron, a small-appliance repairman with a rare collection of vintage vacuums in his basement. Though Rachel is a stranger to him, he feels oddly connected to her, as though she is his responsibility. His feelings for her are, at once, tender, misguided and chillingly possessive.

Tapping into the fear and tension just below the surface of contemporary city life, Gowdy's clear-eyed prose artfully urges us to consider what we dare not look at too closely. With her uncanny ability to lay bare our common soul and to fearlessly explore the intricate complexities of love, Gowdy has created a masterful novel.

This is one of my favourite Canadian authors, so I always try and get her new books when they come out. The first time I read her was a couple years ago when I saw The White Bone in a second hand bookstore. I thought it was interesting that it was about an elephant, with her thoughts and impressions. Not the sort of novel that I usually see, so I thought I would read it for something different. My favourite book by her, though, is The Romantic. I really must reread it one of these days.

Anyways, this book was typical Gowdy writing, but it still did not beat The Romantic for me. It is about a very serious topic, child molestors and pedophiles. This is a topic that is seen in the news again and again, so it was a very real subject matter. Gowdy often writes very realistic child characters in her books, so this was not an exception. It was interesting to see things from the pedophiles point of view, from the childs point of view, and from the mother's point of view. It was very plausible that how the man talked himself into things is how it is done in real society. He made excuses for what he was doing the whole time that he was doing it.

It was nice to see a new novel by Gowdy, and while it was a very quick read, it was very interesting. Ron is creepy, but at the same time I feel a little bad for him. You can feel both disgust and sympathy at the same time. Rachel is a cute kid, and it was interesting to see how she justified everything that was happening to her. Overall, a good new novel from Barbara Gowdy. I look forward to a new one, but I am sure that will be a while yet.

4/5

My thanks to Harper Collins for this wonderful new book.

The Romantic - Barbara Gowdy (November/05)

The best book I have read by her so far! It is about a small family living in a small town. The main character is the child of the family. One day, her mother up and leaves with just a note saying that her daughter knows how to work the washing machine. Which she doesn't. This leaves a daughter behind with her father while her mother is gone, her mother also never comes back. Her father is not fully present in her life, so the only female that the daughter really gets to know is the housekeeper her father hires. She also becomes best friends with the boy that lives across the street, such good friends that at one point in the novel she is pregnant with his child. He is not present, though, so with the help of the housekeeper she aborts the baby. She never forgets about the boy, though, and there are many times throughout the novel where they meet up again. He is her reason for most things, it would seem. She is also a lot like her mother, not being able to stay in one spot for long. The neighbour became an alcoholic, so there are lots of times where this causes problems in their friendship and relationship. The important thing, though, is that while her mother is absent she always has a friend, even if he appears and disappears quite freely until the end of the novel. He is an interesting character, and for that she becomes more interesting. You really feel for both of them by the end of the novel.

5/5

Other books I have read by Barbara Gowdy are:
The White Bone (April/05) - 4/5
Mister Sandman (August/05) - 4.5/5