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12th out of 72 books
—
95 voters
Come, Thou Tortoise
A delightfully offbeat story that features an opinionated tortoise and an IQ-challenged narrator who find themselves in the middle of a life-changing mystery.
Audrey (a.k.a. Oddly) Flowers is living quietly in Oregon with Winnifred, her tortoise, when she finds out her dear father has been knocked into a coma back in Newfoundland. Despite her fear of flying, she goes to him...more
Audrey (a.k.a. Oddly) Flowers is living quietly in Oregon with Winnifred, her tortoise, when she finds out her dear father has been knocked into a coma back in Newfoundland. Despite her fear of flying, she goes to him...more
Hardcover, 412 pages
Published
March 10th 2009
by Knopf Canada
(first published January 1st 2009)
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I am giving this book 4.25 stars out of 5 and rounding up. I thoroughly enjoyed the snappy, word warping dialogue told from the point of view of a person and a tortoise. The story and main character was like a semi-androgynous, ageless, Canadian version of Oscar Schell in Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close. There was a lot of nice themes to consider throughout the book like air travel, bottomless ponds, affinity with nine volt batteries, and mice. I didn't feel like the mystery unraveled at the...more
I really, really loved and enjoyed this book. What a delightful, adorable read with wonderful characters be they human, tortoise or mouse! I was hooked right from the start and fell in love with Audrey (Oddly) Flowers and her father Walter and Uncle Thoby. I especially loved the author's unique writing style. A poignant story full of humour and wit that I found hard to put down. I got this from the library but I would not say no to owning this book and reading it again and again. ;)
This book became one of my favourites of 2010, and if there's one book I would recommend to you right now, it would be this one. Quirky, clever, hilarious, original, poignant, touching, flat-out brilliant all comes to mind in describing Come, Thou Tortoise. It was a random purchase for me, bought on a whim - I didn't know anything about it but I've always loved tortoises and it sounded interesting. Only goes to show how spontaneous book buying, with no research, can reap great rewards!
Such a bri...more
Such a bri...more
8 likes · like · see review
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I love this book! The narrators (Audrey and Winnifred) are hilarious, sweet, and real. They fear things that I fear, but more importantly, they rejoice in things I love - word play and puns :)
Although the subject matter is actually quite dark (all the more realistic for the majority of us), this book is full of mirth and had me laughing out loud in bed. Audrey's trials, though sometimes heart-wrenching, often end up with hilarious results. The case of the missing mouse (cheeky souris) and the ne...more
Although the subject matter is actually quite dark (all the more realistic for the majority of us), this book is full of mirth and had me laughing out loud in bed. Audrey's trials, though sometimes heart-wrenching, often end up with hilarious results. The case of the missing mouse (cheeky souris) and the ne...more
Honestly, I don't know if I have the words to do this novel justice. As I said a few short weeks ago, I bought this book because I just couldn't resist. Essentially, it just sidled up to me and said, "Take me home with you." So, I did.
My partner, who was with me when I bought the book, asked me what it was that I found so appealing and I couldn't explain other than to say, I just know I'll like it. He was skeptical. I guess it doesn't look like other books I just *had* to buy. Nor is it by an au...more
My partner, who was with me when I bought the book, asked me what it was that I found so appealing and I couldn't explain other than to say, I just know I'll like it. He was skeptical. I guess it doesn't look like other books I just *had* to buy. Nor is it by an au...more
5 likes · like · see review
There are things that I love about this book and things that I do not like so much. I love the way that it is written: wordplay, abstraction, real emotions, absurdity. I do not like that there is no dialogue punctuation or question marks. What is wrong with having a question mark? Occasionally, it can make the dialogue very difficult to follow.
I love the depiction of Audrey's grief and the way that she deals with her familial issues. She is crazy and she is strong and she is vulnerable. She is t...more
I love the depiction of Audrey's grief and the way that she deals with her familial issues. She is crazy and she is strong and she is vulnerable. She is t...more
PUB. DATE: February 2010
GENRE: Literary Fiction
PLOT SUMMARY: Audrey grew up in St. John's Newfoundland but a brief romance led her to Portland, Oregon, where she is living when she finds out that her father has had a coma. She returns home in a hurry only to find out that her father has already died. She and her uncle, who has lived with her and her father since she was young, grieve the loss and try to put their lives back together. Also, Audrey inadvertently investigates an old family mystery....more
GENRE: Literary Fiction
PLOT SUMMARY: Audrey grew up in St. John's Newfoundland but a brief romance led her to Portland, Oregon, where she is living when she finds out that her father has had a coma. She returns home in a hurry only to find out that her father has already died. She and her uncle, who has lived with her and her father since she was young, grieve the loss and try to put their lives back together. Also, Audrey inadvertently investigates an old family mystery....more
The opening pages of Newfoundlander Jessica Grant's promising debut novel are disarming. Literally.
Audrey (aka Oddly) Flowers, terrified of flying to begin with, disarms an air marshal on a flight from her adopted Oregon back to her hometown of St. John's. She is going home because her beloved father has been bashed with a Christmas tree and is in a coma.
Next we learn that Audrey has left Winnifred, the titular tortoise that she inherited from an ex-boyfriend, back in Oregon.
But the distance bet...more
Audrey (aka Oddly) Flowers, terrified of flying to begin with, disarms an air marshal on a flight from her adopted Oregon back to her hometown of St. John's. She is going home because her beloved father has been bashed with a Christmas tree and is in a coma.
Next we learn that Audrey has left Winnifred, the titular tortoise that she inherited from an ex-boyfriend, back in Oregon.
But the distance bet...more
This lovely first novel by Canadian author Jessica Grant has two narrators: Audrey Flowers, native of St. Johns, Newfoundland and lately of Portland, Oregon; and Winnifred (aka Iris) her tortoise.
Audrey gets a call from her uncle back in Newfoundland telling her that her father has been hit by a Christmas tree protruding from a passing vehicle and is now in a coma. Audrey leaves Winnifred with friends (although she worries about her a lot) and has adventures on the way home.
Once getting home to...more
Audrey gets a call from her uncle back in Newfoundland telling her that her father has been hit by a Christmas tree protruding from a passing vehicle and is now in a coma. Audrey leaves Winnifred with friends (although she worries about her a lot) and has adventures on the way home.
Once getting home to...more
Full of eccentric characters, dreadful puns, clever wordplays and literary allusions this book is more than it seems. The title is a quote from "The Tempest" and there are plenty of parallels that can be drawn with Shakespeare's masterpiece. As in "The Tempest" the protagonists are stranded on an island , due not to a shipwreck, but to their fear of flying. The island is populated by an odd assortment of characters.
Like Miranda, Audrey is naive and adoring of her father, but she is a more fully...more
Like Miranda, Audrey is naive and adoring of her father, but she is a more fully...more
this is one odd little book.
and i mean that as a compliment.
i love that she loves corkscrews because they embrace the essence of both a ballerina and a weapon. think about it.
i love that she smells soap and runs to buy fudge.
i love that she knows snowflakes are prisms, and that she has a snowshovel that makes imprints of a flower with every load of snow she heaves from the sidewalk to the bank.
i love that the tortise gets a voice. i am slightly disconcerned that i relate more to the tortise's...more
and i mean that as a compliment.
i love that she loves corkscrews because they embrace the essence of both a ballerina and a weapon. think about it.
i love that she smells soap and runs to buy fudge.
i love that she knows snowflakes are prisms, and that she has a snowshovel that makes imprints of a flower with every load of snow she heaves from the sidewalk to the bank.
i love that the tortise gets a voice. i am slightly disconcerned that i relate more to the tortise's...more
MIRANDA
The strangeness of your story put
Heaviness in me.
PROSPERO
Shake it off. Come on;
We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never
Yields us kind answer.
MIRANDA
'Tis a villain, sir,
I do not love to look on.
PROSPERO
But, as 'tis,
We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,
Fetch in our wood and serves in offices
That profit us. What, ho! slave! Caliban!
Thou earth, thou! speak.
CALIBAN
[Within] There's wood enough within.
PROSPERO
Come forth, I say! there's other business for thee:
Come, thou tortoise! when?
In...more
The strangeness of your story put
Heaviness in me.
PROSPERO
Shake it off. Come on;
We'll visit Caliban my slave, who never
Yields us kind answer.
MIRANDA
'Tis a villain, sir,
I do not love to look on.
PROSPERO
But, as 'tis,
We cannot miss him: he does make our fire,
Fetch in our wood and serves in offices
That profit us. What, ho! slave! Caliban!
Thou earth, thou! speak.
CALIBAN
[Within] There's wood enough within.
PROSPERO
Come forth, I say! there's other business for thee:
Come, thou tortoise! when?
In...more
There is a simplicity about the story that I fell in love with almost immediately, and then found that it grew on me as I continued reading. And I loved all the characters, especially Miss Oddly who was ‘chalant’ and had the capacity to utter ‘the richness of life blows my mind’. There were many parts where I’d laugh – and I don’t think it’s because the book is funny per se, or is trying to be, but that sometimes gentle people living their gentle and relatively unobtrusive but slightly idiosyncr...more
What an adorable story. And adorable not in the sense ‘Awe how cute that she has a tortoise and the tortoise is also a narrator (only about 5% of the book but still), But cute in a way that she is a 24 year old woman (but kind like a 6 year old who since she was born on a leap year and also has a below average IQ she is not dissimilar to that of a child) but we don’t really know that until the middle and at that point it was just encased in a memory Audrey has of her and her father.
The innocenc...more
The innocenc...more
A tortoise who tells the story? Get real! But, it's true. This book is a wonderfully entertaining diversion from the norm. One definition of quirky is "ability to put forth many amazing smiles from people" and it so describes Audrey Flowers. I love Audrey with her quirky ways - her methods to conquer her fear of flying; her love of the game, Clue, and how it applies to her life; her devotion to Winnifred, the tortoise, who shares the narration of this book; and her lively imagination that takes...more
I wish I could give this 4.5 stars. I can't give it 5 stars because I can't rank it amongst my all-time favourite books, but I really enjoyed it. It took me a few chapters to get into it, because it's hard for me to get used to books that don't use quotations in conversations. But once I got used to that, I realized the author's use of this tool really helped to get into the head of the protagonist. One of the main reasons I enjoyed this book so much is because the characters are all so lovable,...more
This is a quirky and offbeat novel about Audrey (Oddly) Flowers, a young woman in her early twenties (although only five or so counting by her leap day birthdays) who has a low IQ but is pretty sharp in some ways. She has been living in Oregon with her tortoise Winnifred, abandoned by her boyfriend Cliff, when she is summoned back to her St. John’s Newfoundland home because her father has been in an accident and is in a “comma” (coma). By the time she arrives her Uncle Thoby greets her with the...more
One of the highlights of my summer reading so far, this book recounts the experiences of a young woman, Audrey, called back from the west coast (US) to Newfoundland when her father falls into a coma. She has to leave her tortoise, Winnifred, with friends and good chunks of the book revolve around her checking in with her friends about the tortoise, and her longing to be reunited with Winnifred. The remainder of the book involves Audrey's discoveries about her family in some very humorous ways.
Th...more
Th...more
OK. I really loved the writing style; gave loads of depth to the characters who were quirky and adorable. BUT I am one of those people who needs things spelled out and likes to know specifics..it kind of drove me crazy that I had so many QUESTIONS after reading the book! I don't belong to a book club, but I was dying to discuss with people. What happened to Audrey/Oddly's mother? What exactly was Audrey/Oddly's mental developmental issue? And, maybe I am obtuse, but the ending really really thre...more
Aug 26, 2012
Lorraine
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
quirky Canadians
Recommended to Lorraine by:
Goodreads Recommends
Hooked by the first 8 pages! And loved it the whole way through.
Audrey, the narrator, knows her IQ is lower, but that doesn't stop her. It makes her quirky and lovable. She keeps a pet tortoise, who interjects her own narrative every so often. Their style is short staccato sentences, sans quotation marks, but it's not too difficult to pick up the dialogue once you figure out how it works. In fact, it's this direct style that contributes to the book.
If you like Curious Incident of the Dog in the...more
Audrey, the narrator, knows her IQ is lower, but that doesn't stop her. It makes her quirky and lovable. She keeps a pet tortoise, who interjects her own narrative every so often. Their style is short staccato sentences, sans quotation marks, but it's not too difficult to pick up the dialogue once you figure out how it works. In fact, it's this direct style that contributes to the book.
If you like Curious Incident of the Dog in the...more
This is a quirky Canadian novel that takes place in St. John's, NFLD. Audrey (aka Oddly) finds out that her father has fallen into a coma and comes home only to find out that he has passed away. As she struggles with her grief in her unique way, we learn about her past and her father's past. Her tortoise, whom she left behind in the States in her hurry to go back to Canada, also offers perspective on Audrey's in a more organized and thoughtful way. Audrey is quite eccentric, and the book is writ...more
There is a lot to love about Come, Thou Tortoise. The plot, for one, unfolds so sweetly, so sensitively and with such care for the first person narrator, Audrey. Audrey herself is a bit much. In fact my only complaint about the novel is her narrative voice. Much like The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime, Audrey’s narrative voice is at first engaging and certainly memorable, but soon comes to be irksome - far too many short sentences, far too many. Her playful musings (and puns) do at...more
Was in der Inhaltsbeschreibung noch nach einer schräg-süßen Geschichte klingt, entwickelt sich leider bald zu einem belangenlosen Dahinplätschern reiner Nicht-Handlung. Audrey Flowers verliert ihren Vater und redet sich ein, er wäre ermordert worden. Während sie versucht den Mordfall aufzuklären, gibt sie Rückblicke ins gemeinsame Familienleben. Weiterhin geht sie ihrem Onkel gehörig auf den Senkel. Eine super anstrengende Protagonistin, sehr auf sich bezogen, verquer, unsympathisch. Sie trampel...more
Dana bought me this book as a gift when he came to Toronto. I got so excited when I saw it on my night table because Dana has awesome taste in books. And CDs. I should buy him a book one of these days. Yes.
Anyway, this book completely endearing, as Dana said, and I'm glad I didn't figure out the ending before it happened. As I read it, I would inadvertently start thinking in jerky, awkward, discrete movements like Audrey does which was...interesting and had me blinking a lot. I'm happy she kept...more
Anyway, this book completely endearing, as Dana said, and I'm glad I didn't figure out the ending before it happened. As I read it, I would inadvertently start thinking in jerky, awkward, discrete movements like Audrey does which was...interesting and had me blinking a lot. I'm happy she kept...more
You know when you come across a book at just the right moment, and the stars are aligned for your reading of it? This is what happened to me with this book. I was tired of being bogged down by sad or overly complicated or pretentious books. I was looking for something honest, and loveable and true. And I found all of that in this book.
Narrated half the time by a quirky heartbroken girl name Oddly Flowers, and the other half by her opinionated tortoise, the story tells of a girl come home to her...more
Narrated half the time by a quirky heartbroken girl name Oddly Flowers, and the other half by her opinionated tortoise, the story tells of a girl come home to her...more
I admit that I didn't actually finish this properly - I got halfway through, and then skim-read the rest. That's not because it wasn't brilliant, but because I was finding it too sad, I guess? I just wasn't really in the mood. BUT this is a totally lovely, really unusual, funny, bittersweet book. The voices and characters are great. It's hard to describe what it is, really - it's about grief and love and home through the voice of a really vivid, imaginative and weird protagonist. It does the sam...more
It's basically the story of a young woman (twenties?) who loses her father and has to come home to deal with it. It's told in flashbacks but also in the present. It's told from both her perspective and the perspective of her tortoise who she's left with friends while she goes and takes care of her father.
I really enjoyed this from the quirkiness (and it's very quirky) to the sort of strangely meandering plot to the characters who I sort of fell in love with. There were a few tense issues - flipp...more
I really enjoyed this from the quirkiness (and it's very quirky) to the sort of strangely meandering plot to the characters who I sort of fell in love with. There were a few tense issues - flipp...more
A wonderful read. I was engaged, from the start, by the characters - both real and imagined. Well, some more imagined than others I suppose. I found Jessica Grant's writing came from an interesting place usually left to the subconscious. She is aware of the minute details of the passage of time and the wild threads that play through our minds most often unchecked. These thoughts decorate the halls of our mind and impact our views, yet it takes sensitivity to look and see them. Idiosycracies, co...more
When I first bought this I actually really bought it cuz it was on sale and it had a turtle on the cover, but the book ended up being alot more complicated and deep then it looks! This book was told in more tan one perspective. Firstly it was told in the perspective of Audrey Flowers. However there were a few chapters where her pet turtle had some insight. Despite how funny that sounds and all the humour thrown in the book you can go from laughing to having a tear in your eye. Audrey herself is...more
3 likes · like · see review
I'm in love with this book. It was so unique and such a good story. I've read some reviews where they felt that Audrey's narration was annoying...but I thought it was great. I felt that I really knew the character through the quirky narration. It seemed to me that her quirkyness might have evolved out of some learning disability she has, but I loved the play on words and this kind of secret language that she had with her father and Uncle Thoby. I loved how the two of them encouraged Audrey's way...more
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Jessica Grant is a Canadian writer, whose debut novel Come, Thou Tortoise won the 2009 Winterset Award and the 2009 Books in Canada First Novel Award.
She lives in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Jessica Grant is a member of Newfoundland's Burning Rock Collective (members include Michael Winter and Lisa Moore). Her first collection of short stories, Making Light of Tragedy, includes a story t...more
More about Jessica Grant...
She lives in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador.
Jessica Grant is a member of Newfoundland's Burning Rock Collective (members include Michael Winter and Lisa Moore). Her first collection of short stories, Making Light of Tragedy, includes a story t...more
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