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Welcome Home: Travels in Smalltown Canada
Across thousands of miles, the Canadian population clusters like loosely strung beads on the thread of the 49th parallel. This is truly Canada—a vast stretch of land and a bounty of small towns. In Welcome Home, Stuart McLean takes us on a heartwarming journey from one coast to the other to visit these small yet vibrant places and meet their remarkable citizens.
We visit Ma...more
We visit Ma...more
Paperback, Tenth Anniversary Edition
Published
September 24th 2002
by Penguin Canada
(first published September 23rd 1993)
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Welcome Home is a non-fiction book. The narrator of the story and also the author of the book is Stuart McLean. He tells the story of his travels in Canada. He goes to Maple Creek, Saskatchewan a small ranch town, where cow auctions still take place. He goes to Dresden, Ontario a small historic town of a mere 2 600 inhabitants. He stops by St-Jean-de-Matha, Quebec, which was by far my favorite town he visits. I liked it so much because he spoke about things I had heard about and also because he...more
I enjoyed this book of Stuart McLean's travels across the width of Canada, stopping in gems of small towns and staying long enough to really get to know the people and feel a true sense of the place. The towns he chose were Maple Creek in Saskatchewan, Dresden in Ontario, St-Jean-de-Matha in Quebec, Sackville in New Brunswick, Foxwarren in Manitoba, Nakusp in BC and Ferryland in Newfoundland. I particularly liked the way Mr. McLean was able to take every day lives and the simplicity of small tow...more
Twenty years later this book is still a relevant piece of Canadian literature reflecting on the lives of those individuals who live in rural communities. Working hard to survive and communities these people share with McLean what they love about living in small towns, what endures them to their community members, and the various ways in which they are attempting to survive together as urbanization increases and their rural populations decrease. From a hockey town in Manitoba, to the historic tow...more
It is awesome to see the hospitality people have in small towns. The close knit communities. The way people will give for free with the optimism and trust they will be paid back but never with expectation. Small towns seem to be safer, everyone knows everybody else. Canada truly is a vast stretch of land made up of small towns. It is in these towns that true Canadian identity and history exist. It is where we have built our character.
It seems the people in small towns, they use only what they ha...more
It seems the people in small towns, they use only what they ha...more
Welcome Home by Stuart McLean was an outstanding work of nonfiction. McLean writes in a simple, engaging, and humorous manner as he describes his experiences in several towns (the different towns were chosen to reflect different parts of Canadian society and culture). Welcome Home chronicles the people, atmosphere, setting, culture, and history of several different towns. This book was entertaining to read, but was also insightful because of its look at small town Canada.
Jun 24, 2012
Thebruce1314
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
books-i-gots,
canadian-stuffs
I've read all of McLean's books and loved them. This book was good...I'd give it a 3.5 if that were an option...but I found it really hard to make my way through. It felt more like a personal journey to me - McLean's memories of the time he spent with the people in the seven towns visited across Canada. It was a melancholy journey, at that. McLean laments the loss of innocence and the quirks that go with living in small town Canada due to modern technology and urban industry, particularly in thi...more
This is an extraordinarily eclectic collection of stories about life in a wide spread collection of small Canadian towns. Stuart McLean is a great collector of information, and most of these were quite informative and charming. Not Stuart's usual fare, but I enjoyed it quite a lot!
Welcome Home: Travels in Small-Town Canada is the book every Canadian should read. Through the differing cultures and histories of seven small towns accross the nation, Stuart McLean shows the diversity as well as the essential connectedness of Canada. As with all of Stuart McLean's books, the reader is caught by the light-hearted style, and held by the sincerity of the emotions and situations expressed through the writing, ultimately leaving the reader with a deep feeling of nostalgia, sorrow a...more
Nicely written with interesting personal stories about Canadian small towns. Has an air of nostalgia.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Someone, either my brother or my mum, gave me this book for Christmas about ten years ago although now that I am reading it in my quest to read the books I own and save money, neither has taken credit. This book makes me want to visit more of Canada. Thank you Roger or Mum.
A great read that delves into small towns in Canada with compassion and humor.
Welcome Home: Travels in Small-Town Canada is the book every Canadian should read. Through the differing cultures and histories of seven small towns accross the nation, Stuart McLean shows the diversity as well as the essential connectedness of Canada. As with all of Stuart McLean's books, the reader is caught by the light-hearted style, and held by the sincerity of the emotions and situations expressed through the writing, ultimately leaving the reader with a deep feeling of nostalgia, sorrow a...more
I've enjoyed all of Stuart McLean's "Vinyl Cafe" stories, but this is a more serious non-fiction account of seven small Canadian towns, their history, their struggles, and their attractions. It's a pleasant, quiet read probably not of much interest to non-Canadians, but it made me want to visit many of these places and spend more time in small towns.
If you're not a particular fan of McLean already or a student of Canadian history and small towns, I would probably recommend starting with a Vinyl...more
If you're not a particular fan of McLean already or a student of Canadian history and small towns, I would probably recommend starting with a Vinyl...more
lent to Kate
It was a really good read. Stuart Mclean is truly a Canadian icon, and I very much enjoyed this jaunt into non-fiction.
There were a LOT of spelling, grammar, and typographical errors though. For a book that was published in 1992, one would think these would have been ironed out by now. That was very disappointing to me.
There were a LOT of spelling, grammar, and typographical errors though. For a book that was published in 1992, one would think these would have been ironed out by now. That was very disappointing to me.
This book as a delightful read. It really makes one long for small town life in Canada (and to be honest, highlights what Canada is really about regardless of the size of city one lives in).
Interesting historical aspects of this book but othwise rather hum drum.
It is hard to find titles when a lot of books have the same or similar titles.
Jun 02, 2013
Conrad
marked it as to-read
May 22, 2013
Abigail (Abbe)
marked it as to-read
Apr 26, 2013
Benn
marked it as to-read
Apr 24, 2013
Sallyduville
marked it as to-read
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
From the Vinyl Cafe web site: Stuart McLean is a best-selling author, award-winning journalist and humorist, and host of CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe.
Stuart began his broadcasting career making radio documentaries for CBC Radio's Sunday Morning. In 1979 he won an ACTRA award for Best Radio Documentary for hi...more
More about Stuart McLean...
From the Vinyl Cafe web site: Stuart McLean is a best-selling author, award-winning journalist and humorist, and host of CBC Radio program The Vinyl Cafe.
Stuart began his broadcasting career making radio documentaries for CBC Radio's Sunday Morning. In 1979 he won an ACTRA award for Best Radio Documentary for hi...more
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