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53rd out of 71 books
—
36 voters
Girls Fall Down
Selected as the 2012 Title for One Book Toronto
A girl faints in the Toronto subway. Her friends are taken to the hospital with unexplained rashes; they complain about a funny smell in the subway. Swarms of police arrive, and then the hazmat team. Panic ripples through the city, and words like poisoning and terrorism become airborne. Soon, people are collapsing all over the...more
A girl faints in the Toronto subway. Her friends are taken to the hospital with unexplained rashes; they complain about a funny smell in the subway. Swarms of police arrive, and then the hazmat team. Panic ripples through the city, and words like poisoning and terrorism become airborne. Soon, people are collapsing all over the...more
Paperback, 300 pages
Published
April 14th 2004
by Coach House Books
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Good lord, I enjoyed this book INTENSELY. It's sour and dark, a swirl of hot and cold.
It's about the city of Toronto, sort of, kind of. It's actually about two old flames who meet again after being long apart, and about the existentially frightening problems they're each dealing with. But the city is the POV for a large chunk of the story, and the city functions as a character, as a third old flame dealing with existentially frightening problems of its own (including the titular mass psychogenic...more
It's about the city of Toronto, sort of, kind of. It's actually about two old flames who meet again after being long apart, and about the existentially frightening problems they're each dealing with. But the city is the POV for a large chunk of the story, and the city functions as a character, as a third old flame dealing with existentially frightening problems of its own (including the titular mass psychogenic...more
Like Robert Altman's films Nashville and Short Cuts and Paul Thomas Anderson's less impressive Magnolia, this novel is structured around an event which affects a large number of people, all of whom are connected to each other, sometimes without realizing it. This sort of story tends to be a social critique of the ways in which society is messed up, while the structure itself makes the point that we are all connected (and ought to behave with that in mind.)
I particularly enjoy this sort of story....more
I particularly enjoy this sort of story....more
The novel takes place in Toronto, with a girl collapsing on a subway train. The cause for her collapse, and the subsequent collapse of other people, is unknown. People's fears are aroused and their thoughts turn to terrorism, or disease, or both. This is the background to an unusual love story . . . that of Alex, a photographer whose eyesight is failing because of his diabetes, and Susie, with whom Alex had (in the past) had a brief affair and who has re-appeared in his life.
There aspects of the...more
There aspects of the...more
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There are two to three, even four, kernels of hard truths set down in Maggie Helwig's Girls Fall Down, a novel that takes place in the figurative underside of town. It is Toronto under the pavement, under the railway bridge, under the skin, beneath the ordinary kindnesses, a coming blindness, seeking beyond the inscrutability of tentative relationships coursing through its veins. The book takes the reader along for a hard look at "girls falling down", which becomes this idea of a subliminal real...more
The subtlelty of Helwig's writing makes this a beautiful read, with seamless transitions from the paranoia of the aftermath of 9-11, to the fear of upcoming health crises, to the complicated love between two scarred individuals.
Helwig's poetic expertise was an essential element of this novel; her well-chosen words paint vivid scenes and depict the nuances of her characters, making the setting and people real and intriguing.
"Even the homeless and the outcasts travel downwards when they can, into...more
Helwig's poetic expertise was an essential element of this novel; her well-chosen words paint vivid scenes and depict the nuances of her characters, making the setting and people real and intriguing.
"Even the homeless and the outcasts travel downwards when they can, into...more
2 likes · like · see review
This was Toronto's "one book" for 2012. It was definitely a book about Toronto. The author loved to identify exactly where the characters were at every point. They didn't walk somewhere -- they walked to a specific, named corner. I didn't really see the point of that -- it might have helped evoke a sense of place for those familiar with Toronto, but it just read strangely IMO. Was she just trying really, really hard to make this a "Toronto novel"?
When the book started, I was afraid that she coul...more
When the book started, I was afraid that she coul...more
The infrastructure is good - this could have been a compelling story. Unfortunately, the authorial voice is completely intrusive and overbearing. I didn't forget for a second that there was a writer behind the words. The actual prose isn't bad, but there are attempts at poetry (Helwig is a poet, after all) which are so forced and obvious that I cringed (ie. 'she was his person crack-cocaine').
I also doubt that anyone outside the city of Toronto has a hope of getting past the first five pages. H...more
I also doubt that anyone outside the city of Toronto has a hope of getting past the first five pages. H...more
Toronto One Book 2012
Notable quotes:
pg. 89 "He did remember waking up, not knowing why he was in that bed but knowing he had gone somehow way too far. That whatever he had done, it had been partly because she was there, because she was all sugar and danger to him, and he pushed every limit when he was near her."
pg. 91 " He felt the whole shape of the past trembling in his mind, like a picture turning animated, in jerky stop-motion."
pg. 101 "... that dangerous maze of emotion and memory."
pg. 10...more
Notable quotes:
pg. 89 "He did remember waking up, not knowing why he was in that bed but knowing he had gone somehow way too far. That whatever he had done, it had been partly because she was there, because she was all sugar and danger to him, and he pushed every limit when he was near her."
pg. 91 " He felt the whole shape of the past trembling in his mind, like a picture turning animated, in jerky stop-motion."
pg. 101 "... that dangerous maze of emotion and memory."
pg. 10...more
An interesting concept and an interesting story that fails in a way to come together in the end.
The story is clear and the writing concise, but in the end the author turns it into a more abstract finish, where one is left to pick out the pieces that can be understood and guess at the others - to assign your own level of meaning with the clues given.
I could see if the writing had been clouded with mystery and symbolism before the end, but it really wasn't. So I'm left with the pieces I can unders...more
The story is clear and the writing concise, but in the end the author turns it into a more abstract finish, where one is left to pick out the pieces that can be understood and guess at the others - to assign your own level of meaning with the clues given.
I could see if the writing had been clouded with mystery and symbolism before the end, but it really wasn't. So I'm left with the pieces I can unders...more
Mar 08, 2012
Kathy Mcdonald
added it
This is definitely not the kind of book I would usually read. But it's the "One Book Community Read for 2012" and my librarian recommended it so I thought I'd give it a try. It's beautifully written and is set in Toronto which is described intimately and so well that I kept going. I wanted to know what was going to happen - there was some resolution to the mystery of why the Girls Fall Down, but mostly it's left to the reader to figure out what happened. Maybe the main point is that there are no...more
More like a 3 1/2 stars. The book is beautifully written -- you can tell the writer is a poet -- but it sprawls. The connection between the main characters and the interesting premise is tenuous and only revealed at the end. It is unclear to me what Alex sees in Suzie. She's unpleasant. He is supposed to be a reserved character, but she is prickly for no obvious reason. Yes, she has a brother with mental illness, but it's not an excuse for crapping on all your relationships. Somehow the book mak...more
A group of young girls ride the train, having just left the park. They were having a conversation: "No, but I think monkeys are more morally superior than people, because monkeys don't use landmines and stuff, do they?" Zoe was saying, when they see the man; dirty, skinny sitting on the bench and talking to himself. Later, on the subway, they fall. And this is followed by a series of falling across town. Parents showing up at hospitals with sick kids. Middle-aged men with cases of cardiac episo...more
Review originally posted to http://20somethingbooks.tumblr.com
A girl smells roses and gets sick on the Toronto subway. Initially, people assume she has some underlying medical condition. But as more people fall, accusations of bioterrorism, poison gas, and pandemics start to fly. Against this backdrop, Alex, a hospital photographer, reunites with the girl he loved in his 20s.
Okay, I’m going to get this out of the way now in the hopes that I’ll prevent myself from gushing too much: the prose is g...more
A girl smells roses and gets sick on the Toronto subway. Initially, people assume she has some underlying medical condition. But as more people fall, accusations of bioterrorism, poison gas, and pandemics start to fly. Against this backdrop, Alex, a hospital photographer, reunites with the girl he loved in his 20s.
Okay, I’m going to get this out of the way now in the hopes that I’ll prevent myself from gushing too much: the prose is g...more
This book seeped into me, as if through skin and under fingernails, and sunk a deep, heavy mood in me. In the days I read it, I felt sadder, dirtier, depressed.
The author has published poetry, which goes a long way to explain the fluidity and perceptiveness of the language in the book. I took care to read each sentence slowly, to make sure I got the full impact of an unusual but *right* adjective. Sometimes I'd look up just to soak up a reaction. The structure too is excellent.
The story is a......more
The author has published poetry, which goes a long way to explain the fluidity and perceptiveness of the language in the book. I took care to read each sentence slowly, to make sure I got the full impact of an unusual but *right* adjective. Sometimes I'd look up just to soak up a reaction. The structure too is excellent.
The story is a......more
Aug 18, 2008
Lesliemae
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
people on the TTC
Recommended to Lesliemae by:
Andrew Lesk
Shelves:
canadian,
women-writers
Sucked me in immediately then petered out by the end. Despite descriptions of Toronto that give the impression that the author really understands and feels akin to Toronto there is definitely an undercurrent that leaves no doubt that this novel is not about "Toronto the good". That is, however, not to say that the book is flawed, it feels out those frequently overlooked, non-trendy, unpleasant cracks and gutters that are all over Toronto. Churches that double as soup kitchens, the mentally ill w...more
A photographer who is losing his vision tried to capture the city of Toronto in its many manifestations, its people, its hidden and unhidden niches, the quirks and moods of its crowds and commuters. In the process, we are made aware of the vulnerable in the city, the homeless, the mentally ill, the sick. All this is knit together into a story that highlighted the mood of a bustling metropolis that is in itself vulnerable to attack, psychological or biological, real or imagined. A fascinating rea...more
I really wanted to love this book. I liked the idea and loved that it was so Toronto focused. Unfortunately in making this book Toronto focused also saw its downfall. Writing about the city and it's landmarks and streets took over the book and seriously distracted from the actual story. You ended up just hearing about the streets they were on and not what was happening. It didn't help that I just couldn't care about the main character. I wish I could have loved it and finished it.
This book is a tricky one. It's a poetic piece for sure, and it had its moments, but I feel like the poetic quality itself slowed the plot down to the point that reading the book just wasn't desirable anymore. I literally had this book for two months because every time I put it down it would take me days to get back to it. Reading it felt like a chore after a while (although it had a strong start and an okay ending, the middle was much too slow for my liking).
Cons: slow plot, a bit too poetic, a...more
Cons: slow plot, a bit too poetic, a...more
Very interesting from the beginning but with its dreamy and dour tone/subject matter it became an effort just to finish. Concerned mainly with the issues of fear, terror, and the darkness of a city, Girls Fall Down was a strange, haunting read.
Nicely structured, compelling story, and always fun to read about good ole' Toronto back in the day. I very much recommend this book and will point out that it was chosen by TPL as the "If You Read Just One Book" book of the year ... nicely done!
This book would have benefitted from the inclusion of a map of Toronto for reference. The novel was an homage to the city and location was a central feature to the plot. The characters movements around the city (arguably a character in itself) are charted in minute detail--which bus was taken, at which street he de-boarded, and so forth. Having lived in Toronto for three years, I understood all the locational references, and they enriched my understanding of this quietly suspenseful novel. Well...more
Mar 30, 2012
Carly
marked it as to-read
Going to be reading for Book Buzz, TPL's online discussion club.
It's April's book.
I've read it before - don't think I recorded it here anywhere, so I'll count it as the first time.
It's April's book.
I've read it before - don't think I recorded it here anywhere, so I'll count it as the first time.
Aug 02, 2011
Barb
added it
not my favourite...got the theme of fear....favorite part of the book is that it took place in Toronto, and I knew where they were all the time....
I read it because the author is Canadian and I saw an ad for it in the subway. Interesting but dreary. You've got to be in the mood for a dark story.
dramatic and full of imagery; one of my favourite books of all time
This novel completely enthralled me. Author Maggie Helwig's writing is beautifully poetic, and she very brilliantly weaves a rather twisted love story across the backdrop of a Toronto-gone-wrong. Toronto itself is just as much a character in this novel as main characters Alex and Susie-Paul – but it's a Toronto that's beginning to fall apart at the hands of an unknown contagion that's spreading fear amongst its citizens. Torontonians will love this book for all its detailed local references, whi...more
Meh!
Mar 15, 2012
Martha
added it
Toronto Public Library One Community Read Book 2012
it's a discomfiting experience, always, reading the books you wanted to write.
I enjoyed this book immensely. Helwig writes beautifully, and the subject matter was unique. She manages to weave together a story about two people with a romantic past, and terrorist attacks in a Toronto subway. THe city of Toronto is lovingly described, and it becomes like a character in the book. This is an urban tale, full of shattered city characters, realistic dialogue, and a sense of urgency that moves the story along.
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ELEVEN READERS CL...: Girls Fall Down Media Project | 1 | 5 | Jun 11, 2012 06:18pm | |
| ELEVEN READERS CL...: "Girls Fall Down" -Assessment | 1 | 4 | Jun 10, 2012 03:24pm | |
| ELEVEN READERS CL...: Update #4 and #5, Girls Fall Down | 1 | 4 | Jun 10, 2012 02:06pm | |
| ELEVEN READERS CL...: Girls Fall Down Update #3 pages 101-150 | 1 | 5 | May 14, 2012 09:10pm | |
| ELEVEN READERS CL...: Girls Fall Down, update 2 pages 51-100 | 1 | 4 | May 13, 2012 08:52pm |
