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Nikolski

by Nicolas Dickner, Lazer Lederhendler (Translator)

3.38 of 5 stars 3.38 · rating details · 1,420 ratings · 181 reviews

Spring 1989. Three young people leave their far-flung birthplaces to follow their own songs of migration. Each ends up in Montreal, each on a voyage of self-discovery, dealing with the mishaps of heartbreak and the twisted branches of their shared family tree.

Filled with humor, charm, and good storytelling, this novel shows the surprising links between cartography, garbag...more

Paperback, 304 pages

Published May 12th 2009 by Trumpeter (first published February 9th 2005)

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Canadian Bookish Novels

2nd out of 9 books — 6 voters

Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill

In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje

CBC Canada Reads Winners

12th out of 12 books — 32 voters

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Community Reviews

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Jul 23, 2009 residentoddball rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, own-it, fiction

I've never enjoyed being so frustrated with a book as much as I enjoyed the twists and turns of this one! I truly enjoyed reading Nikolski, but it took a lot of effort to keep the details straight.

The first few chapters jump characters and settings quite dramatically, so much so that I thought I was reading three different stories. But gradually it all comes together, and you see that it's really part of the author's style, not to mention the foundation that allows for a clever unfolding of the...more

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Oct 28, 2011 Laura rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian-literature

Much to the chagrin of my rock-music-lovin'-husband, I love talk radio. Specifically, I love CBC Radio 1. I listen to it every day. I listen to it at home, in the car, and I used to listen to it at work. I have my favourite shows: As It Happens, The Vinyl Cafe, The Current, and Q to name a few. (If anyone at CBC is reading this: Please bring back The Point. That was my absolutely favourite!)

I also, obviously, love reading. So when CBC started Canada Reads, I loved the idea. National unity consol...more Much to the chagrin of my rock-music-lovin'-husband, I love talk radio. Specifically, I love CBC Radio 1. I listen to it every day. I listen to it at home, in the car, and I used to listen to it at work. I have my favourite shows: As It Happens, The Vinyl Cafe, The Current, and Q to name a few. (If anyone at CBC is reading this: Please bring back The Point. That was my absolutely favourite!)

I also, obviously, love reading. So when CBC started Canada Reads, I loved the idea. National unity consolidated around one work of literature. I eagerly await the announcement of the finalists every year.

To be fair, I'm not a stellar Canada Reads participant. Before 2010, I had only ever read three of the eight previous winners (2002: In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje, 2006: A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews, and 2007: Lullabies for Little Criminals by Heather O'Neill) and I'm pretty sure I read two of those for school. I always planned to read the books. I even planned to read the books after the announcement but before the debate so that I could champion my own favourite. But life and school got in the way and every year I never got around to doing it.

When 2010's lineup was announced, I was determined that this year would be better. I tweeted about Canada Reads 2010. I placed holds on all the books at the library.

Here's the problem with library books. You can only read them when you get them and you have to give them back. Because I was so gung ho about placing holds on all the books at once, I got all the books at once. I had to return four unread. By that point, the holds list was so long I just had to wait for my turn to come up again.

Eventually, I read two of the five shortlisted books:
Good to a Fault by Marina Endicott and Fall on Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald. By that point, I had been gifted an ebook reader (and the remaining books weren't easy to find as an ebook) and a winner had already been crowned: Nikolski by Nicolas Dickner.

When I first picked up Nikolski, I needed to adjust my style of reading. The last book I read was much more of an entertaining read. With Nikolski, I was immediately swept into the literariness. I felt like I was back in university, scribbling all over my pages and thinking of the countless number of essays that could be written from the nuances hidden on the pages, except I'm not in school and I don't have to write any essays. (Oh, and I didn't scribble all over my pages. That would have ruined my ebook reader.)

The language is divine. It is actually delicious from page one. Word choice is so carefully considered in this novel, which is interesting because the book has been translated from French to English. "I crawl out of the sleeping bag and stumble over to the window. Clutching at the curtains, I watch the garbage truck pull up with a pneumatic squeal in front of our bungalow. Since when do diesel engines imitate breaking waves? Dubious poetry of the suburbs." page 8

I really liked Nikolski. The characters are personal and engaging. Like many literary books, the plot isn't the most important tool that the novel uses, but I was still eager to find out what would happen. The book follows three characters who are deeply connected as they go about their lives, often oblivious to one another.

Being a sucker for plot, I really wanted the book to give me more. I wanted the characters to become as aware as the reader was. I wanted to know what happened next. I am sure though, that if I actually got my wish, I wouldn't have found the literature nearly as good.

I do struggle with whether I would suggest this book. I initially want to say Yes! Read it! but I am quite sure that this isn't a book for everyone. I suppose I would suggest that if you want to read a book that a large amount of Canadians are reading / have read, then pick up this novel. If you have an appreciation for literature and literary devices, then pick up this novel. If you are looking for an entertaining and exceptionally engaging page turner, then this book is probably not for you.(less)

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Mar 30, 2011 Andy Taylor rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

Winner of the 2010 Canada Reads contest hosted by CBC I was intrigued by the setting and premise. Opening in 1989 with three young people from very different backgrounds who leave their familiar surroundings to go on their on journey of discovery that takes them to Montreal where their paths converge however tangentially.

I loved Quebec author Dickner's prose that shines through with the guidance of Lazer Lederhendler's translation. Part Kurt Vonnegut yarn and part Chuck Palihnuik fable, I was ra...more

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Jun 04, 2009 Karalee rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads, summer-09-chall, fiction-general

This book is about three lonely, lost souls trying to find their place in the world. Noah, Joyce and an unnamed bookstore owner are all misfits who are connected in ways they do not realize and whose lives have a lot of parallels to each other, even if they are not conscious of each other. All three of them were raised by a single parent and they all have, for one reason or another, distanced themselves from their families and are making their way in the world alone. They all are searching for m...more This book is about three lonely, lost souls trying to find their place in the world. Noah, Joyce and an unnamed bookstore owner are all misfits who are connected in ways they do not realize and whose lives have a lot of parallels to each other, even if they are not conscious of each other. All three of them were raised by a single parent and they all have, for one reason or another, distanced themselves from their families and are making their way in the world alone. They all are searching for meaning in their lives and, in that vein, all have a fascination with their roots and ancestry. All of them have a strong connection to maps and/or travel guides. They all have a fascination with trash or discarded objects in one way or another. The bookstore owner sells used books, even ones that others have thrown away, Noah majors in archaeology with a fascination for the archeaology of trash, and Joyce becomes a trash-diving treasure hunter as part of her quest to become an cyber-pirate.

The three story lines, although they intersect only tangentially, flow beautifully and the language is very lyrical (which is very interesting given that this book was translated from French and translations usually are a bit stilted). Of the three, my favorite character was Noah. He is so sweet and earnest and was a bit more focused and in control of his destiny than the other two. Although I adore books, bookstores and used bookstores in particular, I found it a little hard to relate to the bookstore owner because he is never identified by name and the author (perhaps deliberately) keeps the reader more distant from him. Joyce is a very interesting character but not quite as empathetic as Noah.

Overall, this was an excellent first novel by Nicholas Dickner. He has a real flair for character development and for seamlessly incorporating quirky traits and elements into the story (the archaeology of trash being only one example). I will look forward to reading future books by him.(less)

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Feb 14, 2009 Melwyk rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a highly entertaining read, taking us all over Canada, from the Prairies to BC to Montreal, and includes stops in South America and Nikolski, Alaska. The main action of the story is in Montreal, where the 3 characters intersect. The nameless narrator and two others, Joyce (from Acadian stock) and Noah (from the Prairies) end up all situated in Montreal at the same time: Noah to go to university, Joyce to fulfill a long-cherished dream of following her family's tradition of becoming pira...more

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Jan 09, 2013 Nick rated it 3 of 5 stars

***Some light spoilers in this review!***

It's tricky to review this one. My current girlfriend is friends with the author and translator, and the book has a fair bit of award power behind it, raising expectations considerably. So I was a bit disappointed when it turned out less wonderful than I had hoped.

Not to say it isn't a good book. Nicolas has an excellent imagination, and his characters (my favourites being Joyce [the modern pirate girl], her grandfather, Maelo, Sarah [Noah's mother], and...more

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Nov 20, 2011 Steven Langdon rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Nikolski" features some of the most remarkable characters you will ever find thrown together in a single novel, never really interacting in any continuing way, yet building a collage of a book that has impact and humour and meaning despite its incoherence. There is Noah, deserted by his father, who grabs hold of accidental paternity and thrives as a doting parent of the sort he dreamed of having. There is Joyce, who seeks to become a pirate of the sort she dreams her absent mother became. And t...more

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Sep 10, 2011 Blake Fraina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Some books make you feel and others make you think.

Nicolas Dickner’s clever debut, Nikolski, definitely falls largely into the latter category. As a matter of fact, it still has me turning over its intricacies in my head months after I’ve finished it. This tightly woven tale is packed with ideas that challenge customary thinking about the nature of personal identity. Dickner asks if who we are is a result of nature or nurture, genealogy or geography, or, perhaps, a combination of all four.

Early...more Some books make you feel and others make you think.

Nicolas Dickner’s clever debut, Nikolski, definitely falls largely into the latter category. As a matter of fact, it still has me turning over its intricacies in my head months after I’ve finished it. This tightly woven tale is packed with ideas that challenge customary thinking about the nature of personal identity. Dickner asks if who we are is a result of nature or nurture, genealogy or geography, or, perhaps, a combination of all four.

Early in the story, we are introduced to the three main characters, all distantly related, although not necessarily aware of one another’s existence. They are the unnamed narrator – a second hand bookshop clerk who is in possession of a compass that always points in the direction of Nickolski, a tiny Aleutian Island, Noah - son of an itinerant Native American mother and absentee father who learned to read from roadmaps and Joyce - restless young woman descended from a family of French-Canadian pirates. The three stories unfold in alternating chapters as each begins a pilgrimage to unearth their family connections, seek their place in the world, establish their destinies and find themselves.

Like the Nickolski compass, the writer postulates that all people have a built-in homing instinct. A family of Dominican fishmongers, who rent a room to Noah and employ Joyce in their retail shop, despite being long time residents of Canada, hold a monthly "jututo" to enjoy their native foods and boisterously debate Dominican politics. And humorously, we see how Joyce (and her erstwhile mother) inadvertently fall into a twentieth century version of the family business - as computer pirates. Ties to place, ethnicity and family not only dictate our actions, but define who we are.

This was a deceptively easy and enjoyable read. There was a certain sense of mystery, plus a fair bit of suspense, that pulled me along until the end. It’s particularly impressive to see how the author weaves all the threads together. Much like the "three-headed book" that passes through the hands of both Noah and Joyce, before ending up on the bookstore’s shelves, Dickner manages to stitch three disparate stories into one cohesive, and endlessly captivating, whole. Definitely one of a kind.
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Nov 29, 2010 Jeanette rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nikolski captured my interest from the first page although I have difficulty explaining why. It is one of the quirkiest books I have every read. The story is told through three different characters who only meet in passing and never know that all three of them are related. However, all three end up in Montreal. The reader only knows the names of two of the characters and the third opens the book with "My Name is Unimportant." The third character tells his story in first person and is going throu...more

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May 07, 2009 Russ rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 21st-century, fiction

In Nikolski, Dickner tracks the lives of three wandering characters whose lives cross--and who share a family tree--but who do not really interact with each other to any great extent. The narrative jumps quickly between the various characters; most chapters are no more than a couple pages. This lends a feeling of disjointedness to the novel, but that mimics some of the disjointedness of the characters themselves. The characters share more than a family tree, as Dickner weaves similar motifs into...more

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May 29, 2011 Vasha7 rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reading the first two chapters of this book, I couldn't help be struck by the contrast with the last book I read, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit ; in that one, a girl is overwhelmingly influenced by her mother growing up, to the point that her father (though always around) is barely mentioned; here, though, two boys never meet their father, but are dominated by thoughts of him -- one has a compass that points toward the father, the other (Noah), since the father was a sailor, finds a sturgeon on...more Reading the first two chapters of this book, I couldn't help be struck by the contrast with the last book I read, Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit ; in that one, a girl is overwhelmingly influenced by her mother growing up, to the point that her father (though always around) is barely mentioned; here, though, two boys never meet their father, but are dominated by thoughts of him -- one has a compass that points toward the father, the other (Noah), since the father was a sailor, finds a sturgeon on the road in the middle of Manitoba. The third character, Joyce, is missing her mother instead.

This is a novel delicately woven from absences and missed connections; even though the author engineers a number of outrageous coincidences, the three main characters, though close kin, never really meet. Noah and Joyce lived very close to each other for ten years and knew each other by sight at best. The narrator barely knows any more about Joyce in spite of their one night together. Noah sends letters to his nomadic mother at towns he thinks she might pass through, which are returned unclaimed; at one point he wonders if his mother really exists. Joyce seeks unsuccessfully for news of her mother and her relative Leslie Lynn Doucette. The Doucet family left Tete-a-la-Baleine and scattered into anonymity. They're not the only ones -- Noah's mother never visits her relatives when she passes near them. (Nonetheless, displacement doesn't necessarily mean the breakup of family -- Maelo's Dominican family stays together, but then, Maelo works very hard to make it so. The Doucets don't.)

Dickner weaves a number of other themes into the book, cultural displacement, the disposable nature of modern life (garbage is a big theme), and fish -- I'm not sure what role the fish play. It's a gently melancholy book, but not without some hope. For one thing, Noah works hard to stay with his son, even though the boy's mother isn't sure she wants him to. In the end, Noah is alone with the boy -- I hope that the mother will stay in touch. No more longing for lost parents, please!(less)

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Mar 23, 2010 Lindsey Reeder rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-read-in-2010

This weekend was filled with earl grey tea and “Nikolski” by Nicolas Dickner. If you’re from Canada and you listen to CBC, you might already know that this book was a contender on CBC’s literary competition called Canada Reads. Basically, it’s a battle of the books and each day one of the five books get kicked off and Nicolas Dickner made it to the end this year and took home the reigning title of Canada Reads, meaning that his book is the book that all Canadians should be reading and after read...more This weekend was filled with earl grey tea and “Nikolski” by Nicolas Dickner. If you’re from Canada and you listen to CBC, you might already know that this book was a contender on CBC’s literary competition called Canada Reads. Basically, it’s a battle of the books and each day one of the five books get kicked off and Nicolas Dickner made it to the end this year and took home the reigning title of Canada Reads, meaning that his book is the book that all Canadians should be reading and after reading it, I whole heartedly agree.

We’re introduced to three characters, one unnamed young man, Joyce and Noah. Dickner interweaves these three characters stories sparingly but successfully. We learn the back stories of each character which provides insight into why these individuals are each so complex.

Each character ends up in Montreal, Quebec (where Dickner resides) arriving in the year 1989 hoping to create a better life for themselves. Noah is there to pursue his goal of studying archeology, specifically the archeological dig of garbage. In the novel he explains, “As a rule, archaeologists don’t take much interest in nomads. The more a population travels, the fewer traces it leaves behind. They prefer to study civilizations that settle down, that build cities and produce large amounts of garbage. Garbage teaches us more than infrastructures, buildings or monuments. Garbage reveals what everything else tries to hide”.

Joyce arrives after she’s run away from the boring days of high school and is there to pusue her life long dream to become a pirate. Ironically enough, she spends a majority of her time digging through garbage to collect discarded computer parts, in order to gain illegal access to the internet (aka piracy).

It is a clever and humourous read filled with lots of different ideas that are woven into a collection of 290 pages. I suggest to read it on a day when you can give it lots of attention, as it should be read closely so you don’t miss anything.
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Sep 11, 2011 Susan B rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: literary-fiction, canadian-fiction

The book's opening line, "My name is UNIMPORTANT", is a great hook. Why is the narrator's name unimportant? Who is he or she? Why does s/he have such a self-effacing view? etc.

A bit confusing for the first while as the story alternates between points of view (the "unimportant" narrator and two other protagonists - Noah and Joyce). Once they are clear in your head, though, the story is quite compelling. All three characters have come from different places to settle in Montreal. All three are on a...more

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Jun 02, 2010 Friederike Knabe rated it 3 of 5 stars

Every character in this light comedy-satire seems to be fishing for something, although not necessarily fish or even in water. Yet, most places where the action takes place are somehow located on islands: Montreal Island, Stevenson Island, and an island off the Venezuelan coast. Finally, and not to be overlooked the "magnetic north" and the title of the novel, Nikolski, a village one of the small Aleutian islands off Alaska. Sounds a bit like a mystery story? In a way, yes, as first time Quebec...more Every character in this light comedy-satire seems to be fishing for something, although not necessarily fish or even in water. Yet, most places where the action takes place are somehow located on islands: Montreal Island, Stevenson Island, and an island off the Venezuelan coast. Finally, and not to be overlooked the "magnetic north" and the title of the novel, Nikolski, a village one of the small Aleutian islands off Alaska. Sounds a bit like a mystery story? In a way, yes, as first time Quebec novelist Nicolas Dickner spins a delightful yarn around his three primary characters, either moving to or through and/or living in Montreal until...

Noah, who, until he was eighteen, lived with his mother a nomadic life in a trailer, crisscrossing the western regions of Canada, arrives in Montreal to study archaeology and discovers the "archaeology of trash" as an intriguing topic, "trash being the artifacts of civilization" and much "fishing" is involved. Joyce, from a long line of Doucettes of dubious reputation in Atlantic Canada, pursues her ambitions to live up to the family's tradition and to become a modern-day pirate. She also goes on fishing expeditions, but of a different kind: she scrounges through industry trash to find all the bits needed to get a workable computer built and much more... Finally, a first person narrator of a kind, who runs a second-hand bookshop also has some fishing to do...

Do these characters link together in some way? Are the connections stronger than strangers meeting in the night? It is for the reader to find out. The author introduces some secondary characters, charming in their own way, who may have to offer some clues or provide connections. Along the way, Dickner's easy-going, ironic style hits a few punches at Canadian multicultural society and the modern way of life. His descriptions are off-beat yet apt, whether he describes certain areas of Montreal or of one of the other islands in the novel. The novel won the 2010 Canada Reads competition, and the sensitive and lively English translation won a major Canadian award.(less)

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Mar 30, 2011 Roberta rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: top-11-2011, fiction

Selected by Canada reads and on our booklist to read. I just started this and like the first few pages very much. I had started Remembering the Bones but sensed a heartbreaking story so put it aside for a bit.

Just finished. What a great, quirky book! It was character driven, charming, intricate and original.

Three characters, each very different, yet all connected in different ways. They are all loners, cut off from family ties. They share a fascination for discarded items, from used books to tra...more

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Feb 26, 2010 August Bourré rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

When I was doing my bachelor's degree, one of my summer jobs was working Confined Space Safety Watch (known colloquially as Hole Watch) for the Weyerhaeuser pulp and paper mill in Dryden. The job was pretty simple. The mill would shut down for ten days of the annual top-to-bottom maintenance period, a lot of workers, both contract and union, would have to crawl into some very cramped spaces to work, and often those spaces were dangerous. My job was to put on a tonne of heavy gear, grab a first a...more When I was doing my bachelor's degree, one of my summer jobs was working Confined Space Safety Watch (known colloquially as Hole Watch) for the Weyerhaeuser pulp and paper mill in Dryden. The job was pretty simple. The mill would shut down for ten days of the annual top-to-bottom maintenance period, a lot of workers, both contract and union, would have to crawl into some very cramped spaces to work, and often those spaces were dangerous. My job was to put on a tonne of heavy gear, grab a first aid/emergency rescue pack and a walkie talkie, and sit outside a confined space for twelve hours a day making sure nobody died. I worked in the bleach plant, the recovery boiler, the chemical plant, flak dryers, precipitators, black and green liquor tanks, and a few places I can't remember the names for. I did it two years in a row (earning, in each ten day period, about twice my current monthly income), and there were never any accidents or emergencies on my shifts. I got a lot of reading done. On one particularly scorching afternoon I was working in the precipitators—a relatively easy post, because there was a place to sit, it was easy to keep track of the workers, and there were normally at least three other watchers there with you—and I happened to be seated next to a woman whose name I can't recall. The precipitators were an ugly, almost frightening place. To us it was a long, narrow iron corridor with iron doors on either side, like the watertight doors of a battleship. There'd be welders and other tradesmen (always men) on the other side of the doors, balanced on thin, tightly grouped iron rails, a great, black, breathing emptiness far above and below. Even in the heat of the afternoon it was a grim, dark place, like something David Lynch would have built for the Baron Harkonnen. We didn't want to think about our surroundings, and it was too filthy a place to bring a book, so we'd talk. The woman I sat next to on that afternoon told me what she did to pass the time. She would pick a person at random, me, say, or one of the welders, and imagine an entire history for them. Would they have a family? What did they do for fun? Where did they live? If she liked the way her story turned out, she would find a way, small and innocent, to put herself in it, to make it, just briefly, her own story as well. She never wrote any of it down. It all just happened in her head, and when she was done, she'd let it drift away like smoke.

Nikolski is about serendipity, three characters whose lives barely brush up against each other, never quite connecting. Noah, the itinerant archaeologist, Joyce the dumpster diving pirate, and the unnamed bookseller with the ocean in his basement. They are united by the Book with No Face, by trash, and by a shared bond of blood that they don't even know exists. Set in Fournier, Lazer Lederhendler's translation is lovely to read as the three protagonists fumble in the dark, unknowing but, strangely, far from lost. That, I think, is the conventional reading, and it's certainly the best one.

I'm going to offer an alternative.

One of Dickner's protagonists, the only one without a name, and not coincidentlaly, the only one who is allowed to narrate his own story, works in the S.W. Gam Bookshop in Montréal, the only place visited by all three characters. Nikolski begins in 1989 with him cleaning out his dead mother's house, taking with him the Nikolski compass—a cheap plastic compass that points to the island of Nikolski, where our narrator's father lived and eventually died. It's the only thing he has left of his family. The novel also opens with garbage, bags and bags of it, full of history, of treasure, of the stuff that Noah and Joyce will build their lives with.

I wonder if there may not somewhere be a Britannica of our desires, a comprehensive repertory of the slightest dream, the least aspiration, where nothing would be lost or created, but where ceaseless transformation of all things would operate in both directions, like an elevator connecting the various storeys of our existence.

Our bookshop is, in sum, a universe entirely made up of and governed by books—and it seemed quite natural for me to dissolve myself in it completely, to devote my life to the thousands of lives duly stacked on hundreds of shelves.

This could be Nikolski, the book our narrator writes himself, the chapter in the Britannica that contains his slightest dream, the one where he has family, connections. I can imagine him sitting behind the counter, looking at the customers, seeing which books they buy (or steal), finding common ground, making up stories like the woman who sat next to me in the industrial hell of the precipitators. This woman buys books about marine life and shoplifts books about computer programming. That man comes in with a child and browses the dinosaur books. Before that, there was a woman, loud and frantic, with a book that was decades old and falling apart. How do these things connect? I see our unnamed protagonist as the narrator of the entire novel, taking his mother's collection of travel guides as a jumping off point and reaching back, creating a mythology of wanderlust and a family tree to support it, putting up the scaffolding that will let him build the courage to leave a life that holds no connective tissue for him anymore.

Of course this is just me grafting my own experiences on top of a narrative that works exceptionally well as it stands, but I think that any book that can open itself up this way, that can be read as a complex, adventurous, but still accessible novel and like a box of puzzles and secrets, like a map to pirate treasure or a midden heap, is a book that should win Canada Reads. I have two books to go, but I think I've found the contender I'm rooting for. And as an aside, if this is the sort of thing that's going on in French Canadian literature, English Canada needs to get working on more translations as good as Lederhendler's. (less)

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May 09, 2010 Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: you-have-to-read-this-they-said

This was an easy and even mildly enjoyable read, and the translation certainly stood up, but the gimmick of the connection/disconnection of the characters essentially allowed the author to avoid any real character or plot development, and also resulted in the story seeming more than a little disjointed.

The book is just that, a not unpleasant read (whimsical, one newpaper review said) that goes nowhere. I would not have minded an actual story on any of the characters, which would require going de...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Annabree rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nikolski is one of those perfectly Canadian books that sheds light on the national mosaic. In particular, the lives of three individuals interweave in this story and sometimes they even cross paths with each other (not that they ever know it). Water, pirates, and garbage are some of the strongest themes in this story. Fish in the water each follow different currents, some staying in smaller geographic areas and others shifting from one current to another. I got the sense from this novel that the...more Nikolski is one of those perfectly Canadian books that sheds light on the national mosaic. In particular, the lives of three individuals interweave in this story and sometimes they even cross paths with each other (not that they ever know it). Water, pirates, and garbage are some of the strongest themes in this story. Fish in the water each follow different currents, some staying in smaller geographic areas and others shifting from one current to another. I got the sense from this novel that the characters were like fish in the ocean's currents and sometimes they would pass by each other before moving on with their particular current.

Seemingly disconnected from family and the world around them, Noah, Joyce, and the nameless bookkeeper each follow the current of their lives without ever reaching some goal-oriented, final destination. Noah studies urban garbage as an Anthropology major, Joyce becomes a cyber-pirate and dumpster-dives for discarded technology, and the unknown narrator (the bookkeeper) collects discarded books for a second-hand book store. I was particularly interested in the theme of garbage in this novel and Dickner's proposition that we can learn a lot about our world through the garbage we leave behind.

The title "Nikolski" refers to a northern community off the Aleutian Islands. Unbeknownst to the characters, they share a common ancestor who ends up in town. The characters never really have a sense of direction in their lives (not that anyone does, and that's what makes this more true-to-life) but this far off place of Nikolski really anchors them and is a reference point from which they move. The bookkeeper keeps a Nikolski compass, which is a compass from Nikolski, and a gift from his unknown father. This unique compass doesn't point true North, but rather points to the town of Nikolski. The idea of the compass was really symbolic in this novel in that a compass can only provide a sense of direction in which one can move but it can't ever tell you where you are. And that summarizes the novel beautifully. The story was in the journey, not in the final destination.

In the end, the novel never resolves itself. I never felt the three story lines were ever drawn together or even wrapped up at all. I appreciate that Dickner didn't wrap it up in shiny paper and stick a bow on top. It would be too easy to do that. It would betray the characters and the lives they lived.

Overall, this was a great read. I think I will wonder where Joyce is in the future. And Noah and the bookkeeper, too.(less)

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Dec 01, 2009 Erin Sterling rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: adult-fiction, book-club-pick, read-in-2009, setting

An adult book--I haven't read one of these in a while! Although there wasn't much plot to speak of, I found this book of 3 intertwining stories with quirky characters set in Montreal fun and interesting. The various stories follow an unnamed narrator who works at a dusty bookstore, a nomad Noah who just moved to Montreal after years of roaming around in a trailer with his mom, and Joyce who escaped to Montreal from all of her extended family making her cook for them. Each a drifter and somewhat...more

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Feb 06, 2010 C rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: canada-reads, governor-general-s-award

Unimpressive and difficult to follow. The book's focus kept switching from the main character to the other characters like the main character's father. This was seriously confusing because, as I remember, it still kept present tense.

The story of a nomad who tries to settle down in Montreal, goes to school, meets a girl, moves away. Then, there are these other stories floating around the main story: a girl who works in the fish store of the main character's landlord, but she and the main characte...more

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Nov 13, 2011 Tobi rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this book a very quirky, but interesting and intriguing read. I was facinated by the underlying themes in the book which were not immediately apparent, but more so in reflecting on it after having finished the book.

I actually lost interest 1/2 way through and it sat on the shelf for a few months, unfinished. When I picked it up again, I was so lost that I started all over... I'm glad I did because I caught on the second time through.

My initial reaction to the story's end was frustration...more

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Jan 04, 2011 Mircoffen rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had to think about whether I liked this book or not. It was like watching a movie that grew on you the more you thought of the memories of it rather than watching it at the time. The book was mainly about 3 characters that had connection to each other, but were mostly just ships passing in the night. They never actually connected and didn't really have much direction of their own, but each was quirky in their own right. The book just kind of starts, goes along and ends without anything being t...more

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Aug 24, 2012 Julie rated it 3 of 5 stars

This wasn't a bad book, but it wasn't a good one either. Mainly because almost nothing happens for the entire book. Sure there is a story there, but nothing seems to come together. It's almost like it's separate stories, with one similar link, that all just stop part way through. Each story line had some interesting points to them which I did enjoy, but everything seemed to start and stop in the middle. There wasn't much character development or plot development to the story, it was just a flat...more

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Apr 10, 2010 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Nikolski" teases three unconnected, yet absolutely connected lives together in a complex tapestry of eccentric themes which include piracy, bibliomania, fish, archaeology and cartography. Weirdly, and with more than a whiff of magic realism, Dickner manages to pull off a story that is brilliantly implausible but perhaps is not! The translation is superb capturing all that is comic and poignant and perceptive about this truly Canadian romp (sans BC!). Five stars would have been awarded had the f...more

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Mar 09, 2010 Doreen rated it 4 of 5 stars

I read this book as it is one of the ones on Canada Reads. I have to say there is much about this book that I really loved. I heard someone say on Canada Reads that they felt this was a "thin" book and I have to agree with the book's advocate that it depends on how one reads it. The characters and their background stories fascinated and hooked me as did the idea of what goes on in a large city during the night. A different take on what constitues identity and family and a lot to say on the subje...more

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Aug 11, 2009 Ruwanimo rated it 3 of 5 stars

Interesting premise. I think exposition is something that needs to be handled carefully. Think of Robert Conrad, and how in Heart of Darkness, it too a whole chapter to describe a Sunset. Its not that I have a problem with exposition, but it can tend to bog down a reader and make the subject being described uninteresting, mostly because you're taking away the reader's own imagination regarding the thing being described. I think to an extent, this is the trap Nikolski falls into.

I liked the char...more

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Jun 16, 2009 Emily rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

This book was so charming. The story revolves around three characters, and the coincidences that bring them close together, but never close enough to connect. All throughout the story we switch from one point of view to another, and, for two of the main characters, their lives are like a photo and its negative. The little similarities between their situations that draw the reader in are never quite enough to unite these two. This pleasant tension makes for an engrossing read.

I found the end a l...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Brian rated it 5 of 5 stars

When I finished Nikolski the first time I was struck by a number of things. It read like three trains on connecting tracks, all bound for a collision at top speed, a collision that never develops. It was at once thrilling and disappointing. It was clear as a sunny day what was going on, yet absolutely puzzling with all the synchronicity between the three plots and no glue to tie it together. The images were enchantingly ironic (how could you not love a son writing letters for decades to his wand...more When I finished Nikolski the first time I was struck by a number of things. It read like three trains on connecting tracks, all bound for a collision at top speed, a collision that never develops. It was at once thrilling and disappointing. It was clear as a sunny day what was going on, yet absolutely puzzling with all the synchronicity between the three plots and no glue to tie it together. The images were enchantingly ironic (how could you not love a son writing letters for decades to his wandering mother at random addresses in the hopes one would connect) but frustratingly disconnected. What was Dickner saying besides sometimes ships pass in the night, sometimes mysteries remain unsolved?

But just before I composed a review stating the obvious (or admitting to the obscure) I read the enlightening, well-written review of August Bourré which led me to sit down and read it all over again.

I think he's right. Instead of three trains, I believe there is just one: the "My name is unimportant" narrator who is has no friends or family, who collects travel books but never travels, a man with "flights of fancy," a dreamer who finds his own life pointless, a hermit in a used bookstore, his "universe made up entirely of books." The clues are subtle but they are there. In the end, he frees himself from the detritus which he as collected; he takes a chance; he moves on. But the catalyst in his transformation is the invention of his own mind. The lovely fiction of an imaginary half brother (the son who wrote letters) and an imaginary cousin whose fascination with piracy gets her into hot water is the charm of Nikolski. Their stories are bold, amazing, titillating in their serendipity, rich in detail, and sprawling in its scope. They are the ships that nearly collide. They are lives that a reader can fall in love with. But in the end, they are smoke in the mind of a man who at last has lost his false (Nikolski) compass and found a reason to risk living himself.

What an amazing read.
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Mar 27, 2010 Alison rated it 3 of 5 stars

This one was a little hard to get into. I liked the ending, and the inter-weaving of stories was skillful but the multiple plot-lines meant that I never really got into one. Definitely Can-lit in its references and style and I doubt it would have much appeal to non-Canadians. The funniest part was when one of the characters was accepted as a tenant in a house with a requirement to take political refugees because he was from Alberta. I found some of the themes unoriginal, such as the fixation on...more

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Jun 14, 2009 Natalie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Very enjoyable and refreshing read, masterfully written (I read it in english translation).
I usually like the stories (in both books and movies, actually) where you feel like you are running out of time - there is so much more to discover or questions to answer. This book leaves that lingering feeling - makes you think and contemplate possible outcomes of events.
The story follows three seemingly different characters through Canada and beyond trying to find their own way in life. (But no "blame...more

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Quotes from Nikolski

“Mais que gaspillerait-il, au juste? De l'espace? Des centimètres carrés? Du vide? Peut-on gaspiller du vide?” — 3 people liked it

“In my view, fate is like intelligence, or beauty, or type z + lymphocytes - some individuals have a greater supply than others. I, for one, suffer from a deficiency; I am a clerk in a bookstore whose life is devoid of complications or a storyline of its own. My life is governed by the attraction of books. The weak magnetic field of my fate is distorted by those thousands of fates more powerful and more interesting than my own.” — 2 people liked it

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