Bone & Bread by Saleema Nawaz

#amreading #CanLit #hellohemlock

A photo posted by CaroGomez (@carolikesbooks) on May 11, 2015 at 3:49pm PDT

Format: Paperback

Pages: 445

Source: Library

Genres: Fiction, CanLit

Publisher: House of Anansi Press

Publication date: March 30th, 2013

Thoughts: This was one of the 2015 selections of the Hello Hemlock. I have to say, I really, really like this one. The story follows the lives of two sisters, Beena and Sadhana. The book opens with Beena dealing with the recent death of her sister, due to a sudden heart attack, and it's through her grief and memories that the author takes the story back to their childhood. Daughters of a Sikh baker and a white yoga instructor, the two girls become orphan at very early age and then end up in the care of their very strict uncle.

Nawaz builds her story around what sisterhood can be and mean, while also touching hard subjects such as death, anorexia and teenage pregnancy. How little we can now from the people that are the closest to us, and how, even after they departure they can still surprise us.

I think that, because I live in Montreal, the images described by the author, in the Plateau, walking around the city, felt so much more vivid. And yet, she also shows another side of the city that I am not familiar with, trough complex characters that have much more than one facet and even at the end are still changing.

Some reviewers have mentioned that the side story (the immigrant family) was unnecessary, but I think it showed another side of Sadhana and considering that they came from an immigrant family too, it made sense to me that it touched her so deeply. Considering it's such a thorny subject around here, I feel that Nawaz used to the advantage of the story, with characters that felt that they don't always belong, even if they were born there. 

Moving Forward Sideways like a Crab by Shani Mootoo

Format: Hardcover

Pages: 312

Series: NA

Source: Library

Genres: Canadian Literature, LGBTQ Literature

Publisher: Doubleday Canada (Penguin Random House)

Publication date: April 22, 2014

Someone who hadn’t tried to make him into who he wasn’t, but rather helped him to become who he already was

First impression

I read this book for the Hello Hemlock book club and I have to say at first I was a bit confused as to why this one fell in the CanLit category, since the author is originally from Trinidad and most of the story takes place in there. However, as I read along it made sense, at least to me. The biggest transformation for Syd takes place in Canada and the whole subject of immigration (to Canada in particular) is a constant in here. It was a beautiful story to read, full of emotion and discovery, not only by Jonathan but for me too. Dealing with being gay and being transgender and how this affect the main character and others around, particularly in a culture as conservative as Trinidad seems to be, the book also touches the subject of family and the feeling of belonging somewhere. And off course, it deals with love; love for our parents and children, love for our friends and love for ourselves.

Of course, the past is never erased, and is even always present

Final thoughts

The story stars with the voice of Sid/Sydney struggling with how to tell his son, Jonathan, all of the things that he couldn’t but wishes he had. Born Sid in Trinidad, he became Sydney with a gender reassignment surgery; as Sid she dated Jonathan’s birth mother, and loved him as her own child, but when things started falling apart in that relationship, Sid left their home. Jonathan did everything he could to find his lost second mom, and when he got a clue that brought him to Trinidad he discover that Sid was now Sydney and with this a whole path of discovery and understanding starts for both men.

This was a heart wrenching story for me; not just the part of Sydney transitioning and what he had to deal with, with his family and his past, but also because of all the very complicated dynamics taking place around him. His beloved friend Zain and the thing she had to deal with; Jonathan’s feeling of abandonment, disconnect with his mother and his girlfriend, and finally, his own experience as an outsider when he is the one outside of his country.

While I haven’t had a 100% similar journey than Sydney, the feelings Mootoo express to him, about being an immigrant, about feeling there is always something missing…about winter! Those feelings where the first ones to grab my attention, being also an immigrant. And then, captivated as I was, I was able to get into the whole story and perceive all the pain and all the joy that Sydney represented.

The pace of the story might feel a bit slow to some, but I think the rhythm is perfect for all the sorrow and transitions taking place. It is always slow to accept big changes, and it is even slower to tell people about them, for we want to add all of the shades of our feelings. Hence for me, the rhythm Mootoo uses is just ideal. She has a very beautiful, delicate and embracing style that carried me away, making me almost feel the sweet breeze in Trinidad’s shore.

I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to read a magnificent book about transitions, might it be gender or immigrant related.

As For Me and My House by Ross Sinclair

Format: Mass Market Paperback

Pages: 221

Series: NA

Source: Library

Genres: Canadian Literature

Publisher: New Canadian Library (Penguin Random House Canada)

Publication date: January 1st 1989 (first published in 1941)

First impression

On my "quest" to read more Canadian Literature I joined the Hello Hemlock book club and this was the first pick of 2015. Being the first time I read anything from the author I had no idea what to expect. What I found was a very raw, rather bleak image of Saskatchewan in the 1940s. This is not a bad thing mind you, I feel like the author managed to translate not only the coldness of the weather but the coldness of the people in his story. However, the story being told by the wife (she remains nameless all through the book) I was sad, albeit not surprised, to have it told in a submissive, almost weak voice that had let go of all desires and dreams.

It's a woman's way, I suppose, to keep on trying to subdue a man, to bind him to her, and it's a man's way to keep on just as determined to be free

Final thoughts

While I enjoyed the experience given by this story I did not enjoy the story itself, nor did I like the narrator. Our narrator was (in my opinion) the image of "her time" almost to the dot. Left her dreams of being a musician behind, bends to her husband's decisions even if she doesn't agree with them, and puts her down quite often. The book was originally published in the early 1940s, so I would think that she is a product of the woman image back then and the construction of a character that is meant to be sorrowful and heartbroken. As I mentioned, I haven't read anything else from Ross so I can't be sure if that's the way he always depicted women, but this fragile type of female character was pretty common for a long time, particularly when the author was male.

The narrator is a complex one, that I have to admit, but I just felt sad every time she would talk about herself. A couple of time she would try to take a stand, to afterwards either feel guilty, or just bend to others whims. Towards the end she sort of becomes determined, but for all the wrong reasons.

What did I enjoyed about the experience was mostly related to the landscape described by the author. It was very immersive; I could easily feel the emptiness of the landscape, the loneliness of the small town and more than the physical landscape, it is easy to understand the "feel" of the town: the lack any culture other than the one related to the Protestant church, the pettiness of some of the characters and off course, the dependence on appearances in such a small enclave as this small town is portrayed.

The part I probably liked the most is the cultural critique, namely: In the car, Paul said thoughtfully that that was the worst penalty inflicted by education, the way it separates you from the people who are really close to you, among whom you would otherwise belong. I chose this quote because it is something that, as any grad student has probably felt, the more specialized you become on one subject, the highest the risk to isolate yourself of other people whom, in other situation, you would enjoy immensely.

I guess I can see why this is one of the mandatory reads for many schools here in Canada. I can also see why so many readers found it heavy to read and ultimately not engaging, or boring even. I am not sure who I would recommend this book, other than to others like me that would like to learn a bit more of Canadian Literature.