MacLeod, Alistair

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Great Canadian Read
Ridiculously Overrated
Rubbish
I appreciated how well written this book was, however, my attention did keep wandering throughout.
Absolutely lovely

No Great Mischief: A Novel
Alistair Macleod
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Island
Running in the Family
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Bear (Nonpareil books)
Alistair MacLeod: Essays on His Works (Writers series)

ASIN: 0375726659
Release Date: 2001-04-03

Amazon.com

For the MacDonalds, the past is not a foreign country. This Cape Breton clan may have lived in the New World since 1779, when Calum Ruadh ("the red Calum") and his wife, 12 children, and dog landed. Scotland, however, remains their true home. So profound is their connection to their lost land that on brief visits they find themselves welcomed by strangers. When one descendent tells a Scotswoman that she's from Canada, she is offered a gentle rejoinder: "That may be.... But you are really from here. You have just been away for a while." In some ways this is unsurprising, since the MacDonalds either have deep black hair or their ancestor's coloring. And those with the latter have "eyes that were so dark as to be beyond brown and almost in the region of glowing black. Such individuals would manifest themselves as strikingly unfamiliar to some, and as eerily familiar to others." Another sport of nature? Many are fraternal twins, including Alistair MacLeod's narrator, Alexander, and his sister.

But No Great Mischief is far more than the straightforward saga of one family over the generations. Instead the author has created a painfully beautiful myth in which the long-ago is in many ways more present than modern existence. Even in the last decades of the 20th century, the MacDonalds fall into Gaelic--its inflections, rhythms, and song--with deep nostalgia. This is a family that is used to composing itself in the face of disaster. They often assure one another, "My hope is constant in thee," and in the light of their many losses, the clan must cling to its motto.

No Great Mischief begins with Alexander's visit to Toronto, where his eldest brother now subsists on a diet of drink and memories. The narrator, a successful orthodontist, doesn't have much to do with the former but is unable (or unwilling) to escape the latter. As the novel proceeds, Alexander fills in his family history, including such key episodes as his great-great-grandfather's self-exile from Scotland. Though Calum Ruadh had intended to leave his dog behind, it broke away and tried to catch up with him. MacLeod piercingly captures the animal's struggle as her master first tries to make her head for shore and then--realizing she won't desert him--spurs her on. Throughout No Great Mischief various people recall this incident, an emblem of intensity, hope, and dependence. A descendant of the bitch is also on hand when Alexander's parents and one of his brothers disappear under the ice on a cold spring night. She persists in searching for her people and tries to protect their lighthouse from the new keeper, receiving in return "four bullets into her loyal waiting heart." When Alexander's grandfather hears of her death, he uses a phrase that becomes one of the book's litanies, "It was in those dogs to care too much and to try too hard."

This is a MacDonald characteristic as well. A good deal of No Great Mischief's strength stems from scenes of longing and despair--for those who die for a lost cause, whether in 1692 when one leader is killed ("the redness of his hair dyed forever brighter by the crimson of his blood") or in an Ontario uranium mine where one brother is decapitated. MacLeod evokes his clan, and the elemental beauty of their landscape, in quiet, precise language that gains power with each repetition. (A sentence such as "All of us are better when we're loved" comes to acquire a near proverbial ring.) If he occasionally tips his hand too much, pressing home his point that present-day prosperity isn't all it's cracked up to be, no matter. I doubt that this inspired and elegiac novel will ever leave those who are lucky enough to read it--proving after all the persistence of the clann Chalum Ruaidh. --Kerry Fried

Book Description

Alistair MacLeod musters all of the skill and grace that have won him an international following to give us No Great Mischief, the story of a fiercely loyal family and the tradition that drives it.

Generations after their forebears went into exile, the MacDonalds still face seemingly unmitigated hardships and cruelties of life. Alexander, orphaned as a child by a horrific tragedy, has nevertheless gained some success in the world. Even his older brother, Calum, a nearly destitute alcoholic living on Toronto's skid row, has been scarred by another tragedy. But, like all his clansman, Alexander is sustained by a family history that seems to run through his veins. And through these lovingly recounted stories-wildly comic or heartbreakingly tragic-we discover the hope against hope upon which every family must sometimes rely.

Customer Reviews:

Great Canadian Read.......2006-12-09

Canadian fiction usually has at least one of two themes--harsh conditions of some kind, and family. This has both. This book takes harsh conditions to mean a few things: the terrain, the sadness of true life, and the things we must face everyday. It is an interesting story about a family who has not had the easiest life, and it continues to be difficult for everyone. It is a story about how a tragedy can bring a family together and tear them apart. It is full of courage, hope, and love for your family. It makes you think what you would do if this happened to you. This is a story that dates back to the narrator's ancestors and how the events and tragedies that happened to the ancestors and the actions of distant relatives affect the narrator and his family today. It is a deep and interesting tale, good for anyone to read.

Ridiculously Overrated.......2006-07-13

I've had this book on my radar for quite a long time. Ever since it won the IMPAC award really. I've never been much for Canadian literature, to be honest, and recently I've started to feel that was a shame so I've been making an effort to find some good Canuck authors. This book, unfortunately, was a misstep.

The story revolves around an Orthodontist called Alexander MacDonald. While on a trip to visit his decaying, alcoholic brother in Toronto, MacDonald recalls the story of the first half of his life in Cape Breton, and the story of how his family came to Canada in the 19th century.

There actually is some good writing in here, but you have to wade through a great sea of mediocrity to get to it. The narrator's grandfathers are probably the best developed characters, and the description of his parents' death and visits to his older brothers' house are highlights, but I don't think they alone are enough to recommend it.

One of the first things you'll notice is that MacLeod has a tin ear for dialogue. The only way the dialogue between the narrator and his twin sister could have actually been delivered is if they were both stoned and one had nodded off while the other prattled on, or possibly if there was a hypnotist in the room, mesmerizing each in turn. The parts of the book that stuck most in my craw, however, were the descriptions of trips to Scotland.

These descriptions, given by the sister and by the narrator, really come across as the pathetic wet dreams of an ex-pat. Just try not to roll your eyes as misty-eyed locals, seemingly equally as mesmerized as the main characters, approach any visiting foreign MacDonalds they happen across (recognizing them, apparently, because they have black or red hair and dark eyes), and instantly "know" them and accept them back into the fold. Welcoming them "home." This book really should come with an Enya CD.

Anyway, if you like that sort of mystical clan nonsense, and can look past the dialogue, you might get something out of it. I am still stunned that this won the world's richest literary prize. Perhaps all of the judges had red hair, dark eyes, and haunted, far off stares?

Rubbish.......2006-06-19

I agree entirely with B. Walsh of San Francisco. The dialogue in this novel is wretched. The only reason we're given to care about the characters is their omnipresent Cape Bretonness -- and that's just not enough. How the book managed to pick up the Impac Dublin award is beyond me.

I appreciated how well written this book was, however, my attention did keep wandering throughout........2006-02-15

I appreciated how well written this book was, however, my attention did keep wandering throughout. I think this book deserves someone who can sit down for a half hour to an hour at a time. Repeatedly picking up the book made it hard for me to tell where I was in the story at times. I would try another book by this author.

Absolutely lovely.......2006-01-11

This isn't a book that should be read with expectations--just let it wash over you. Scenes and images will come back to you at odd moments--a child in a new parka fished out of the ice; a father finding his dead daughter's purse on the beach; three brothers laughing on a cliff as they sing to pod of whales; a dog waiting for a family that will never come home. There is a lovely cadence to the language that would be especially appreciated by those who enjoy reading aloud (and if you have a Gaelic-speaking Cape Bretoner to do it, I envy you!) .

I am completely baffled by reviewers who lament lack of plot or depth of character in this book. I suppose we have become used to the all-pervasive Hollywood story arc. It is true that some characters are focussed on more than others, but the author is too methodical to have done this accidentally. It is more interesting to wonder why he has left things out. Why does he focus so much on Calum, his brawling but tender older brother, but not even bother to give his other two brothers names? Questions like this give the book more depth than the Hollywood story arc ever could.

It's not a perfect book: long passages of dialogue between the narrator and his sister, though beautiful, are too polished to be believable. No one speaks like that. At times the repition of family myths becomes a bit oppressive. But this also underscores how unwilling the family is to break from the past. By reading them over and over, they become so well-known that you feel they are part of your own history.

And you don't have to be Scottish or even Canadian to appreciate this history. MacLeod ties his characters' story and ancestry to the constant, ever-evolving movement and displacement of people everywhere. And all in fewer than 300 pages! A highly recommended read.

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Lost Salt Gift of Blood, The
Alistair MacLeod
Manufacturer: McClelland & Stewart/Tundra Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000KXJDYG

As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories (New Canadian Library)

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As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories (New Canadian Library)
Alistair Macleod
Manufacturer: New Canadian Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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No Great Mischief: A Novel
Island
Alistair MacLeod: Essays on His Works (Writers series)

ASIN: 0771098820
Release Date: 1992-06-01

Book Description

The superbly crafted stories collected in Alistair MacLeod’s As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories depict men and women acting out their “own peculiar mortality” against the haunting landscape of Cape Breton Island. In a voice at once elegiac and life-affirming, MacLeod describes a vital present inhabited by the unquiet spirits of a Highland past, invoking memory and myth to celebrate the continuity of the generations even in the midst of unremitting change.

His second collection, As Birds Bring Forth the Sun and Other Stories confirms MacLeod’s international reputation as a storyteller of rare talent and inspiration.

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Island - The Complete Stories by Alistair MacLeod
Finest writing I've read in ages
A Bittersweet Look Back Home
An English Assignment Gone Well...
Amazing!

Island: The Complete Stories
Alistair Macleod
Manufacturer: Vintage
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Binding: Paperback

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No Great Mischief: A Novel
Alistair MacLeod: Essays on His Works (Writers series)
The Colony of Unrequited Dreams: A Novel
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An Innocent in Newfoundland: Even More Curious Rambles and Singular Encounters

ASIN: 0375713042
Release Date: 2002-03-12

Amazon.com

"Once there was a family with a Highland name who lived beside the sea." So begins "As Birds Bring Forth the Sun," a 1985 entry from Island. The story continues, "And the man had a dog of which he was very fond." And there you have the basic elements of an Alistair MacLeod story: dog, family, and sea. The author--whose 2000 novel No Great Mischief won him a measure of long-overdue acclaim--shuffles these elements into a surprisingly infinite variety of configurations, always with the same precise, confident, quiet language.

His big theme is the abandonment of the rural. Though his characters live in the fishing communities of Newfoundland and Nova Scotia, the seaside isn't a place where they dwell contentedly. In half the stories, young men and boys feel a pull toward academe and the center of the country. In the other half, academically successful middle-aged men return to the wild eastern coast of Canada to try to reclaim the life they left behind. Both dilemmas are impossible to resolve--no one can be both a city mouse and a country mouse--and MacLeod wisely doesn't offer easy solutions.

What makes the writing sing, though, is the specificity of his descriptions of rural life. He tells you exactly how things work: "The sheep move in and out of their lean-to shelter, restlessly stamping their feet or huddling together in tightly packed groups. A conspiracy of wool against the cold." The people here are ultimately defined by the physical world, and MacLeod has a farmer's visceral feel for geography. As he writes in "The Lost Salt Gift of Blood": "Even farther out, somewhere beyond Cape Spear lies Dublin and the Irish coast; far away but still the nearest land, and closer now than is Toronto or Detroit, to say nothing of North America's more western cities; seeming almost hazily visible now in imagination's mist." This is regional fiction in the best sense: it belongs to one perfectly evoked place. --Claire Dederer

Book Description

The sixteen exquisitely crafted stories in Island prove Alistair MacLeod to be a master. Quietly, precisely,
He has created a body of work that is among the greatest to appear in English in the last fifty years.

A book-besotted patriarch releases his only son from the obligations of the sea. A father provokes his young son to violence when he reluctantly sells the family horse. A passionate girl who grows up on a nearly deserted island turns into an ever-wistful woman when her one true love is felled by a logging accident. A dying young man listens to his grandmother play the old Gaelic songs on her ancient violin as they both fend off the inevitable. The events that propel MacLeod's stories convince us of the importance of tradition, the beauty of the landscape, and the necessity of memory.

Customer Reviews:

Island - The Complete Stories by Alistair MacLeod.......2007-02-28

It is a rare treat to read sentimental material authored by a man who writes so poignantly. Without analyzing each "vignette" contained in this compiled work of MacLeod's, it is enough to say that each created a vivid picture of the life and times MacLeod was writing about. If you aren't homesick for any town you've come from, then you are after you read these stories.

Finest writing I've read in ages.......2007-02-22

This collection is, without doubt, the most beautifully written prose I've had the privilege to read in a very long time. MacLeod's writing is both subtle and harrowing, harking back to a more literate age, and filled with such simple, in-the-bone truths that it brings tears -- real tears, not cheap tears -- to my eyes. I can't recommend this book highly enough -- this is a writer whose work is imbued with the integrity and polish that is so sadly lacking in so much of today's literature. MacLeod has obviously taken his time writing these stories, and each one is a gem. He made me care deeply about the characters, their lives, and their losses. Read this book at once!

A Bittersweet Look Back Home.......2004-03-27

I read this book over two years ago and parts of it continue to haunt me. It tells of life in Cape Breton in the province, I believe, of Nova Scotia. It is written by a man who grew up there. This is a part of the nearby world that I have always wanted to visit. I may yet get to do that but I'm not sure whether MacLeod's book has made me more anxious or less anxious to do so. His Breton is a place where life is not at all like the pretty postcard that many of us imagine. In his collection of short stories and sketches, we come away with an appreciation of the hard times and sturdy people but we don't necessarily want them moving next door. There are a number of stories and scenes that really bring people to life in a very down to earth manner. The story of the loneliness of the girl in the title story was overwelming. I recall a number of references to sex that were made throughout the book in a sort of agrarian manner; taking the cow to be "serviced" by the neighbor's bull was almost as emotional as some of the human intercourses. Things had their purpose and occassionally there was a purpose for fun but much of the imagry I took away from this book was that of a very stoic people. I gave it a rating of "5" because I rounded up this time from a 4.5. This book definitely will have an impact on its' reader. Not a joyful or inspiring impact but an impact nonetheless,

An English Assignment Gone Well..........2004-01-28

When I first picked up my copy of Island I had two thoughts. Wow this cover is pretty, and Wow this book is (relatively) big, at least to read in a week or so. However once I started reading the first few lines of "The Boat" (a story I'd coincidentally read the year before and didn't even realize till the end) I found myself liking MacLeod's simple yet descriptive style. Written in a way such that a reader can picture the story being told out loud, much like traditional maritimes tales are done through oral speakings, these 16 stories each encapsulate the reader leaving you wanting to know what will happen to the characters within the story and beyond.

Many of the stories are written from the perspective of an older male looking back on a particular snapshot of atime period in their youth, usually a moment of clarity in coming of age (although sometimes its only just starting, as some stories are set with main characters as young as 8 or 9. There are variations of lessons of love, death, learning from your parents, upholding traditions, starting afresh, surviving in extreme conditions, and just general lessons of life.

I'd recommend this book to people who enjoy short stories, and while they are not my fave genre of writing, these particular stories, although sometimes overly simplistic and almost annoying in terms of some stylistic aspects, will engage a reader to continue reading each story from start to finish. A triumph in Alistair MacLeod's life is that his collected works can create a whole that is quite powerful.

Amazing!.......2002-07-12

I went looking for a book to read; one that was smart, but not pretentious in its prose. One that would hold my interest, but that I wouldn't spend the rest of the summer reading. On a wim, I grabbed this book. And found exactly what I was looking for.
Alistair MacLeod writes with astounding sight and insight. It's difficult to describe a writer this good. He writes simply, but beautifully. He tells us just what we need to know, but often through new ways of looking at things. You're kind of riding along for a while, and then one simple sentence will knock you for a loop because it rings so true. In The Return, a story of a man who has married, moved to Vancouver and not been back to Cape Breton to visit his mother, father and brothers in nearly a decade, MacLeod perfectly shows us the anger, hurt and pain experienced by all. Even the son who is narrating the story understands the underlying tension in the house. "It is morning now and I awake to the argument of the English sparrows outside my window and the fingers of the sun upon my floor." A sentence perfectly put in the story at a time when the tension is felt, but not quite understood to what level it may rise. Everything about Cape Breton is tension in this story, even the birds.
Quite often in this book, the sentences that nail you are because of the build up. It reminds me of the movie the Wonder Boys with Michael Douglas (not in scenario or character or theme, but in prose), where it builds, and you aren't quite sure where it is all going, but you are intrigued, and then Christina Ricci says, "Do you remember how you always tell us that a writer has to make choices? It's just that you haven't made any choices." And even though she is discussing his novel, you know it means so much more than that.
That is how Alistair MacLeod writes. His sentences are simple, but they mean oh so much more than that.

The Lost Salt Gift of Blood (New Canadian Library)

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great to read on a ennuied sunday afternoon when waiting to die
Cape Breton is in Canada
Story telling at its best
A heart warming celebration of life in the face of adversity
enlightening reading

The Lost Salt Gift of Blood (New Canadian Library)
Alistair Macleod
Manufacturer: New Canadian Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Island
No Great Mischief: A Novel

ASIN: 077109969X
Release Date: 1989-07-01

Book Description

The stories of The Lost Salt Gift of Blood are remarkably simple – a family is drawn together by shared and separate losses, a child’s reality conflicts with his parents’ memories, a young man struggles to come to terms with the loss of his father.

Yet each piece of writing in this critically acclaimed collection is infused with a powerful life of its own, a precision of language and a scrupulous fidelity to the reality of time and place, of sea and Maritime farm.

Focusing on the complexities and abiding mysteries at the heart of human relationships, the seven stories of The Lost Salt Gift of Blood map the close bonds and impassable chasms that lie between man and woman, parent and child.

Customer Reviews:

great to read on a ennuied sunday afternoon when waiting to die.......2007-01-06

is this what canadian lit is about? im so darn disappointed. this macleolo guy seems so damn constipated why cant he just take a laxative, instead of purging on paper non-sense sentences where fullstops are absent. im sure a 6 year old can write better than him, and that too at least it will be readable. what kind of a great achievement is writing 11 short stories and one novel in thirty-something years. Alexandre Dumas wrote over 300 volumes in that time! Mr McLeod, I dont think writing is ur forte. Go write kids books...ull save their parents the money for sleeping pills!

Cape Breton is in Canada.......2005-03-09

Cape Breton Island is a part of the province of Nova Scotia. This PROVINCE not STATE is a part of CANADA not AMERICA.

Story telling at its best.......2000-04-06

This is a collection of wonderful stories told by a master story teller in the old tradition. Unlike most other collections of stories these live in your ear. Most others live on the page. And these are truly American stories, but unlike anything you'll find in popular anthologies of contemporary North American short stories, because they reach far back into our immigrant consciousness in an elastic, unpretentious way. I choose Alistair MacLeod over John Updike any day to describe what it means to me to be American.

A heart warming celebration of life in the face of adversity.......1998-09-28

On the surface 'The Lost Salt Gift of Blood' appears preoccupied with tragedy and death. However, read a little deeper and one finds it to be very life affirming. The themes of family, traditions, relationships, death, isolation and endurance echo throughout the short stories. The thematic parallels are skillfully woven into the fabric of the novel, highlighting that indeed, no one story can stand alone. It is worth reading!

enlightening reading.......1998-09-04

Written with great care, precision and meaning. You must read between the lines to get the most out of the book. Although all the stories revolve around death, grief, and pain, the focus on the life of the characters, rites of passage, and relationships is truly inspiring. I really enjoyed this book.

To Every Thing There Is a Season: A Cape Breton Christmas Story

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To Every Thing There Is a Season: A Cape Breton Christmas Story
Alistair Macleod
Manufacturer: McClelland & Stewart
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Island
No Great Mischief: A Novel

ASIN: 077105565X
Release Date: 2004-11-02

Book Description

The story is simple, seen through the eyes of an 11-year-old boy. As an adult he remembers the way things were back home on the farm on the west coast of Cape Breton. The time was the 1940s, but the hens and the cows and the pigs and the sheep and the horse made it seem ancient. The family of six children excitedly waits for Christmas and two-year-old Kenneth, who liked Halloween a lot, asks, “Who are you going to dress up as at Christmas? I think I’ll be a snowman.” They wait especially for their oldest brother, Neil, working on “the Lake boats” in Ontario, who sends intriguing packages of “clothes” back for Christmas. On Christmas Eve he arrives, to the delight of his young siblings, and shoes the horse before taking them by sleigh through the woods to the nearby church. The adults, including the narrator for the first time, sit up late to play the gift-wrapping role of Santa Claus.

The story is simple, short and sweet, but with a foretaste of sorrow. Not a word is out of place. Matching and enhancingthe text are black and white illustrations by Peter Rankin, making this book a perfect little gift.

For readers from nine to ninety-nine, our classic Christmas story by one of our greatest writers.

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Emperor's clothes
Extraordinary.

No Great Mischief
Alistair MacLeod
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Customer Reviews:

Emperor's clothes.......2005-11-20

Have any of the reviewers who have heaped praise on this book actually read it? No Great Mischief is a grossly padded short story. Riddled with cliche, it is a superb example of how not to write. MacLeod's prose is rife with redundancies. His bodies lie "silently" in their graves, a beached pilot whale has a "huge, gigantic" head. His symbols have the subtlety of a train wreck. The future alcoholic brother, as a small boy, sees his reflection in a beer bottle and remarks " I am in the bottle, it really is me in there". Apart from being a puerile symbol, it is impossible. Just try finding your reflection in a beer bottle. Ghosts wander in and out adding nothing to the narrative. MacLeod's hackneyed theme seems to be racial memory, ties of blood that transcend generations. There is nothing new here. What we have is a tedious catalogue of the minutiae of the author's life told in a laboured style that bears no resemblance to reality. Try reading one of MacLeod's conversations aloud. Nobody since the Brontes has gotten away with such stilted and contrived verbiage.
I read that the book was thirteen years in the writing. It feels like it.

Extraordinary........2005-07-03

Alexander MacDonald, the narrator of this warm and ennobling family saga, comments to his brother that "Talking about history is not like living it...Some people have more choice than others." And there, in a nutshell, is the essence of this tender generational novel. The MacDonalds are, in many ways, an "ordinary" family on Cape Breton, but MacLeod creates a history for them so alive that the reader experiences it, too, feeling their sorrow and joy, admiring their pluck and independence, and celebrating their loyalty and bravery as they make the hard choices their lives require. They become heroes to us not because they have performed unusual feats but because they have achieved nobility within the collective memory of their own family.

Alexander MacDonald, the speaker, no longer lives on Cape Breton. An orthodontist, he travels weekly to Toronto to visit his alcoholic brother Calum, named for the family patriarch who came to the island in 1779 from Scotland. As he travels back and forth and reminisces, sometimes in Gaelic, with his much less fortunate brother, many generations of MacDonalds come to life, and we see how these forbears have shaped the two brothers and influenced their different, but shared, destinies.

MacLeod is very lyrical. Like a musician, he repeats certain themes. Gaelic phrases echo throughout, almost like a refrain. First names continue in different generations to remind the reader of historical resemblances and differences. And always, in every generation, he celebrates the dominance of the original Calum MacDonald and of Cape Breton in shaping their lives.

MacLeod never stoops to sentimentality, however. His main characters are all macho males living macho lives, and he includes no romantic love story to soften the harshness of life. Still, he has created one of the warmest, most loving, and enduring family stories anyone will ever find. The book pulses with heart, an unforgettable novel by a writer who is so precise in his structure and word choice that in his entire career he has produced only this one novel and fourteen short stories published in two extraordinary collections. Reading MacLeod is a great, rewarding pleasure for anyone interested in beautiful prose and careful execution. Mary Whipple

Lives of Short Duration (New Canadian Library)

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Lives of Short Duration (New Canadian Library)
David Adams Richards
Manufacturer: New Canadian Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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ASIN: 0771098863
Release Date: 1993-04-01

Book Description

The Terris are engaging people, but they are a family in collapse. Alcoholism, drugs, and loveless sex have reduced them to a petty and wasted bunch. Worse, they typify aspects of the larger community besieged by financial woes and by creeping economic and cultural Americanization.

What David Adams Richards accomplishes is no mean feat: his characters are at times vicious, sleazy, and even outright dim, yet he manages to entitle them to the interest and sympathy of the reader.

Even more now than at its first publication in 1981, Lives of Short Duration’s sharp, essential insights have significance for readers seeking to understand the modern Canadian predicament.

Island: The Collected Short Stories of Alistair MacLeod

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Island: The Collected Short Stories of Alistair MacLeod
Alistair MacLeod
Manufacturer: McClelland & Stewart Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H50M2O

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Brilliantly Conceived, Flawlessly Executed
barometer rising
Introspectors trapped in a web of suspense
Great book!
Novel with an explosive subject

Barometer Rising (New Canadian Library)
Hugh Maclennan
Manufacturer: New Canadian Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Burden of Desire (Harvest Book)
While Canada Slept: How We Lost Our Place in the World
A Brief History of Canada (Brief History)
Maria Chapdelaine (French)
Curse of the Narrows

ASIN: 0771099916
Release Date: 1989-11-01

Book Description

Penelope Wain believes that her lover, Neil Macrae, has been killed while serving overseas under her father. That he died apparently in disgrace does not alter her love for him, even though her father is insistent on his guilt. What neither Penelope or her father knows is that Neil is not dead, but has returned to Halifax to clear his name.

Hugh MacLennan’s first novel is a compelling romance set against the horrors of wartime and the catastrophic Halifax Explosion of December 6, 1917.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliantly Conceived, Flawlessly Executed.......2003-04-14

Another entry from the Canadian New Library Series, another homerun for Canadian literature. That must necessarily be the ruling on this immensely engaging 1941 freshman effort from Hugh MacLennan, for "Barometer Rising" is a taut, intensely character driven novel from one of Canada's great essayists. MacLennan went on to write several other novels, more essays, and even some travelogues, history, and poetry. He is nothing if not versatile. If only more people knew about the wealth of literary gems from the Great White North awaiting their pleasure in the libraries and bookstores. For those interested in exploring the brilliance of Canadian literature, Hugh MacLennan is a great place to start. Hugh MacLennan died in 1990.

"Barometer Rising" takes place in Halifax, Nova Scotia during 1917. The war in Europe continues to grind away, chewing up young men from around the world in its trenches and no man's lands. Nearly every passing day sees troopships exiting Halifax harbor bound for the bloodbath, and nearly every day they pass supply and munitions ships entering the port on their way to and from Europe. The city is full of foreign sailors and soldiers from every point of the compass. The war is a big deal, and since Canada serves as Britain's whipping boy, Halifax provides a safe harbor beyond the reach of German U-boats. But disaster lurks in the waters off Halifax: a munitions ship loaded with 500,000 pounds of trinitrotoluol sails into the harbor and collides with another ship. The resulting explosion is nearly nuclear in its destructiveness. Thousands die as major sections of the city explode and burn. The author shrewdly sets up his novel in countdown form, beginning on the Sunday before the explosion and ending the tale the following Monday, a few days after the disaster. MacLennan makes this Nova Scotian city the major character in his book, showing the reader the wartime changes while allowing us to take an occasional glimpse behind the curtain to see the way the city was before the war.

A cast of characters parades through the streets of Halifax for our perusal. The Wain family is central to the story. There is Penelope "Penny" Wain, a brilliant woman who designs boats for the war effort while withstanding the barbs from jealous male co-workers. Her father, Colonel Wain, is an old pro-English patriarch who cannot stand the fact that he remains in Halifax while the war rages in Europe. He wishes to return to battle and seek some glory, but his first tour of duty ended in disaster. For this disgrace, Wain blames his nephew Neil Macrae. Now Neil roams the streets of Halifax, seeking redemption for a tragedy on the fields of Europe. The reemergence of Neil places Major Angus Murray in a moral quandary; he realizes the return of Wain's nephew will upset his plans for the future. The reader must decide for themselves if the choices the characters make are the correct ones.

An afterword (the Canadians are polite; they do not put spoilers at the beginning of the book as we do in the United States) written by Alistair MacLeod provides some personal anecdotes about the explosion, followed by a critique of the story. To MacLeod, the story deftly reveals the big town/small town differences between some of the characters, between those born and raised in Halifax versus those who hail from Cape Breton. For me, the most interesting theme of the book was MacLennan's political views about Canada and its relationship to the United States and England. To the author, Canada will emerge from the war as the keystone of the world, a bridge between barbaric Europe lost in its destructive wars and the emerging power of the United States. He deplores the second-class status of Canada, its relegation as second fiddle to the United Kingdom. Several times throughout the story, the characters step back from their activities and wax philosophic about the position of Canada and Nova Scotia in relation to the rest of the world. To call MacLennan a Canadian nationalist would not be too extreme of a statement.

I did not know what to expect from this book when I opened its covers. I do like Canadian literature, so that is never a problem. "Barometer Rising" is only 219 pages long, so it is necessary that the author grabs you fast and makes you care about his creation. He succeeds in spades because he brings his characters to life through carefully crafted scenes of introspection, clinical descriptions of the city, and the dramatic countdown to the explosion. The reader cares about what happens to these people, and hopes that the author will bring everything to a tidy resolution in the end. For a quick read that is hugely entertaining and leaves you hungry for more, seek out this book.

barometer rising.......2003-01-13

I found this book very hard to get into. Our grade 12 english teacher picked it for a comprehensive novel study.I think that things just moved way too slow for my liking. It had a good story line but because of the nature it was writen in I would not recomend it to anyone.

Introspectors trapped in a web of suspense.......2002-03-19

A very interesting and unusual novel, and MacLennan's first (--which seems astounding, given its stylistic sophistication). The plot is intricate and suspenseful, and three of the four main characters are portrayed as fully conscious, focused beings, who are either aware of their own motives and values, or keenly interested in identifying them; the fourth character, Geoffrey Wain, exhibits a distinctly opposite mentality, and proves--therefore--to be a villainous threat to each of the others. Nautical engineer Penny Wain, Geoffrey's daughter, is a true rarity in modern literature: an intelligent, introspective, rational heroine. MacLennan's descriptive passages are typically colorful and dramatic, and often warrant immediate (and subsequent) re-reading (even though some do seem a bit drawn-out, on first reading). The much-heralded explosion is not, for my money, quite as interesting or dramatic as other parts of the plot, so the reader shouldn't "wait for" that: the first three-quarters of the book is the main course; and the last quarter, a light dessert. Overall, MacLennan has given us a banquet to savor.

Great book!.......2000-06-16

I had to read this book for english class... and I love it. Ithink that this is the the most amzaging book ever. I think thatColonel Wain kicked ( ). I thank my teacher for making me read it.

Novel with an explosive subject.......1999-10-29

BAROMETER RISING is above all a novel of place and that place is Halifax, Nova Scotia in December 1917. MacLennan is very good at evoking the sights, colors, smells, and sounds of the city and its environs. If you have ever visited that small, but charming city, you would probably enjoy reading this novel just for nostalgia's sake. A competent, but not great writer, MacLennan portrays pleasingly rounded characters who are not stiff or one dimensional and weaves a plot that resolves itself in various ways on the occasion of the huge explosion that destroyed most of Halifax on Dec. 6, 1917, the biggest man-made explosion in history before the nuclear age. The story is rather too neat and a little banal in the way ends are tied up. If five stars are for the greatest novels you've ever read, and four for those that don't quite get up to that level, then three are for an average, competent job that can give you a couple nights' pleasure when the branches are scraping at the window in the winter wind. Try it, you might like it, but if disasters are not your bag, then avoid this book because the main character is an explosion.

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