book data
94 ratings, 3.55 average rating, 7 reviews
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published
January 1st 1996
(first published 1976)
by Penguin (Non-Classics)
binding
Paperback, 194 pages
setting
Unknown
isbn
0140251456
(isbn13: 9780140251456)
description
The superb first novel from the author of The Stone Diaries, winner of the Governor General's Award, a National Book Critics Circle Award and t...more
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 125)
Read in February, 2008
Wonderfully written. The perfect novel for any writer who is also a mother with family and friends. Also deals with the nature of fiction and the struggle of where writers get their ideas from, and how those ideas change and can become unrecognizable from what they started off as. 4 and 1/2 stars.
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Read in November, 2008
Articulate, I think, for its time (early 1970's). The neat twist to the plot is appreciated, but at some point, one sees it all coming and I sense a bit of predictability in the slightly over-idealized settings. Nonetheless, somewhat enjoyable, and it had its moments. Favourite quotes: "Sometimes I think he has not quite caught up to his age, that he is hanging back a little on purpose out of some mysterious current in his disposition which hungers for miracles: (155-6). Also, very CANA...more
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this was also not bad, but not particularly engaging, either. it didn't help that about 50 pages in (after finding the quote i mentioned here) i discovered i'd read at least part of the book before. trying to figure out whether or not i'd read the whole thing, and if so, why i still had no clue about the ending, captured my thoughts more than the actual book. i have on numerous occasions read half a book before realising i'd read the whole thing before, but i'm still not sure why only the middle...more
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Read in August, 2008
A Canadian novel, Small Ceremonies has a plot that's rather ordinary, people who aren't particularly unusual, no big finish or revelation. Its quality therefore must be from the excellent writing and Shields' ability to examine her characters, their place on the planet, their lives with wit, understanding, and a distance appropriate to empathetic observation without overwrought emotion.
I was gently amused by the "small ceremonies" of misunderstandings that gave the story its framew...more
I was gently amused by the "small ceremonies" of misunderstandings that gave the story its framew...more
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Read in April, 2008
This wasn't a bad book, but it's not something I'm going to remember next month. This book is about the life of a Canadian author in the span of one year. In this year it seems she comes to know her family a little bit better. Her son has a female pen pal who's letters he never talks about. Her daughter is completely infatuated with another author. And her husband is mysteriously keeping a stash of wool yarn, but she never asks him about it.
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One of my favourite books of all time (in addition to Shields' other works). It merits a yearly read.
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quotes from this book
"It's the arrangement of events which makes the stories. It's throwing away, compressing, underlining. Hindsight can give structure to anything, but you have to be able to see it. Breathing, waking and sleeping: our lives are steamed and shaped into stories. Knowing that is what keeps me from going insane, and though I don't like to admit it, sometimes it's the only thing."
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