Struggling...

Still working on The Winter Vault. It is slow going because there is no pull through this book. Not really enjoying it and hoping it will be done soon. Maybe tonight. It is a good one to get me to sleep...

If I'd Been the Only Judge...

of the Giller Prize, then The Golden Mean would've won. Okay, I still have 2 of the books to read, but I am 30-40 pages into The Winter Vault and let me just say, it's no Fugitive Pieces! I have no idea what this book is going to be about. I have to invest in the characters before I invest in the book and so far it reads like a history book... save that for a little later, when I am committed. At this rate I am going to be putting it down without finishing.

The Golden Mean was really good, and it broke the previous feeling I had about The Canadian Novel after reading The Bishop's Man and The Disappeared. Perhaps it was because the story was more linear and concrete, but whatever the reason, it was very engaging and interesting and even though my concept of what the golden mean was very different and never even brought up int he book, that's okay. It was an interesting take on Aristotle and Alexander the Great and that period of time. Interesting note: I was prepared not to like it because I saw this TV interview of all 5 nominees and Annabel Lyon seemed defensive and a bit abrasive, but perhaps she was just nervous (or maybe she is abrasive, but a very good writer!).

Why Wasn't that one a Giller Nominee?

I just finished Waiting for Columbus by Thomas Trofmiuk and I HIGHLY RECOMMEND. It took me a bit to get into it but I think that had more to do with the fact that I was so busy when I started it. I finished it this morning. Very, very, very good. It was waaaaaaaaay better than The Disappeared! Hmmmmm.... Who makes those decisions?

I got 2 more of the Giller nominees and have started The Golden Mean by Annabel Lyon. I'll let you know how that goes. So far so good.

The Disappeared - Giller Nom #2

So I whipped through Kim Echlin's The Disappeared in one day/evening. It was a small book that could have been even smaller since so much of it was aching love for the disappeared. I was not disappointed with it, but not thrilled either. I get it, I get it... he was wrongly ripped from you and you love him with the aching love of a 16 year old even though you are 27ish and also 50ish looking back. Not sure if I would have read it if it hadn't been on the Giller List. I also noticed a similarity in the 'Canadian Literature' style of writing between this one and The Bishop's Man. Tangled memories, emotive writing, a mystery, blah, blah, blah... Okay. So I wouldn't say either was bad, I thought The Bishop's Man was better, but I am curious to see if I notice the same 'tricks' in the other 3 nominees...

I think my real challenge with The Disappeared was that I really didn't like the main character. I think it is stupid and selfish what she did in the book and I didn't think that an adolescent love affair should be the basis for the extremity of her choices. If I knew that person I would slap them and say 'get over it', 'do something productive, like Will or even like Serey!'. She was just a whiner who put herself and others at risk.