Litsy

Chrysalis | Anuja Varghese

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This landed on my radar thanks to @Singout ‘s #AuldLangSpine list and how thankful I am! I normally avoid short stories (because “give me more!” or “what was that?”). BUT! These stories are fully realized and effective in storytelling. Haunting and often full of magical realism heightening everyday emotions: sibling jealousy, a teen being bullied, neglected stepdaughter (Cinderella!), divorce. Centers women & lgbtq+ experiences. Excellent!

monalyisha

Singout Wasn‘t it cool! The story behind it was that my IRL book group somehow found itself with nothing to read for a month: I suggested that rather than coming up with a bunch of ideas and a big debate, we pick the most recent winner of a significant award that had available library copies. This one got the prestigious Canadian Governor General‘s award for fiction in 2023. We all really liked it and it was good to have an Indian member‘s perspective. 8h

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Mattsbookaday

Elizabeth Rex | Timothy Findley, Paul Thompson

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Elizabeth Rex, by Timothy Findley (2000 🇨🇦)
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Premise: On the night before her lover is put to death on her orders, a restless Queen Elizabeth I spends time with William Shakespeare‘s troupe and gets into a battle of wits about the performance of gender with a man who has spent his whole career in drag.

Review: This is probably my favourite play-as-literature thus far. Cont.

Mattsbookaday The premise is great, the dialogue sharp (and often funny), and the exploration of power, gender, and love utterly fascinating. The scenes among the two ‘queens‘ and Shakespeare are absolutely where this shines; the rest felt mostly inconsequential, but was far from dragging the play down. 5d

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Mattsbookaday

Street of Riches | Gabrielle Roy

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Street of Riches, by Gabrielle Roy (1955, trans. 1957 🇨🇦)

Premise: A series of stories about the author‘s childhood in Manitoba‘s francophone community.

Review: This was a marvelous surprise. These stories — seventy years old themselves, but recounting events of thirty years earlier — strike a perfect balance: You feel the foreignness of this version of Canada from a century ago, while also seeing the seeds for the country we‘ve become. Cont.

Mattsbookaday But it‘s the little common touches of universal humanity that I‘ll remember most about this tender and beautiful, deserved Canadian classic.

Bookish Pair:This would be an interesting pairing with a more contemporary collection, such as Bernardine Evaristo‘s Girl Woman Other (2019).

Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 3mo

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merelybookish

A Fairly Good Time: with Green Water, Green Sky | Mavis Gallant

Quite the epigraph!

sarahbarnes Love this! 2mo

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merelybookish

A Fairly Good Time: with Green Water, Green Sky | Mavis Gallant

Reminds me of The Dud Avocado but with a married protagonist. Its chaotic and messy and, at times, quite dry and witty. The letters from her mother are priceless.
First time reading Gallant who is known more for short stories so not sure where this novel ranks.
My plough through #Canlit continues. But chose this for the Ben's Read Good challenge: a book with 15 letters in the title.

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merelybookish

Street of Riches | Gabrielle Roy

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Loved!
Roy was a successful mid-century 🇨🇦 writer. Her novel Tin Flute still gets assigned in Canlit classes but otherwise her reputation has dimmed. Which, it turns out, is a shame because this is wonderful! A semi-autobiographical collection of linked stories told from the perspective of a young girl growing up in a large French family in Manitoba. Nothing flashy. Just lovely, rich insights into the complexity of people through innocent eyes.

merelybookish I pulled this off my shelf for the #192025 challenge. So glad I did!! @Librarybelle 3mo

Sace I just ordered a copy from ThriftBooks. When I googled the author, I saw that some consider her “the Canadian Willa Cather”. I generally dislike comparisons like this, but I am a fan of Cather. 3mo

Librarybelle This sounds good! 3mo

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merelybookish @Sace Interesting! She's from the prairies so I guess that fits. Also her style is unadorned like Cather's so it's not totally inaccurate. I will be excited to hear what you think!! Also, be forewarned that it does contain some ideas about race (the first story is called The Two Negros) that are not okay. 3mo

Sace That comes with the territory when reading older books. 3mo

Suet624 Sounds like one I would enjoy. Stacked! 3mo

merelybookish @Suet624 I think you'd enjoy it too!! 3mo

kwmg40 Another fan of Gabrielle Roy here. I've not read Street of Riches but I really liked Where Nests the Water Hen, also set in Manitoba. 3mo

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merelybookish

Street of Riches | Gabrielle Roy

Nice to see the river open again. And a duck!
More 🇨🇦 #Canlit 🇨🇦 for my #weekendreads.
Print: Streets of Riches (1957) by Gabrielle Roy
Audio: Beautiful Losers (1966) by Leonard Cohen. (This one is challenging. 😬)
@rachelsbrittain

eclectic-reader Hi, Margot 👋 I hope you are doing well 3mo

merelybookish @eclectic-reader Hey Scott!! I'm doing okay. How are you? 3mo

eclectic-reader @merelybookish I'm okay; it's been a strange winter: political turmoil, waylaid by covid & blizzards & then had to move in February. Settling into spring now. Def enjoying the calm. 3mo

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eclectic-reader Also, I'm curious why you say the Cohen is challenging. Is it the format or the content? I love him as a singer, but I haven't read any of his novels. I can see how some of his novels might not work so well, though... 3mo

merelybookish @eclectic-reader Agree it has not been an easy winter for lots of reasons! Hope you like your new place. Is it still in NKC? As for the Cohen....well ... It's postmodern and so difficult to follow (allusive, plot-less, meandering, etc.) AND sexually explicit to the extreme. Every sexual act, organ,and conquest is described at length. Repeatedly. It's A LOT!! 🤣 3mo

eclectic-reader I hope that your family is doing okay. I'm still in the same area, I moved only a few minutes away from my old place. The Cohen does sound like a lot. I think I had one of his novels on my shelves, don't think I'll bother.
Although the following isn't really explicit, it was certainly a very unusual and intense novel by a singer