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Black Bird
Book by Michel Basilieres
320 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2003
7 people are currently reading
192 people want to read
About the author
Michel Basilières
3 books12 followersMichel Basilières was born and raised in Montreal’s Milton Park neighbourhood and now lives with his son in Toronto. He is the author of Black Bird, a magic realist novel set during the October Crisis.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews
August 1, 2017
I was, and still am, very ambivalent about “Black Bird”, which does not happen very often.
There are many details that I liked a lot: the view of identity in which certain characters have no first names and their own perception of themselves, the shift of perspective through an omnipresent narrator, the dynamic style and rich plot, the macabre ways of the family and other characters as a contrast to a relatively realistic background, the social and political aspects incorporated into the story, the first and last sentence which create a narrative within the narrative and a general film-noir-quality.
The protagonists keep swinging between being characters and being types. They are often more than mere types, but hardly ever develop fully into characters. I did not mind that though, for in a story like this types would have done just fine.
Even though I know not much about the social conflicts in francophone Canada, the larger socio-political context is a very interesting part of the novel. Still I believe that the antagonism is much better depicted (or rather could have been depicted) in the confusing self-perception and identity of the mixed anglophone and francophone family. On community level though I find the tensions to simplified and unilateral.
My impression is that on all levels, rather than on pillars creating three-dimensional depth in characters and plot, the novel rests on a vast variety of topics and images distributed in a wide range yet superficially. More than once did I feel the need for clearer motivation or consistency.
This lack of consistency was quite visible formally as well. Although magical realism is probably my favourite genre and Verfremdungseffekt my favourite concept, in this case the hint of estrangement seemed like nothing more than an experiment gone wrong: It was too insisted upon to go unnoticed, but still too incoherent to leave a mark.
In the end all the things I liked and those to which I had objections cancel each other out. I would have preferred to see a smaller number of completed ideas than this range of semi-developed elements in the novel.
There are many details that I liked a lot: the view of identity in which certain characters have no first names and their own perception of themselves, the shift of perspective through an omnipresent narrator, the dynamic style and rich plot, the macabre ways of the family and other characters as a contrast to a relatively realistic background, the social and political aspects incorporated into the story, the first and last sentence which create a narrative within the narrative and a general film-noir-quality.
The protagonists keep swinging between being characters and being types. They are often more than mere types, but hardly ever develop fully into characters. I did not mind that though, for in a story like this types would have done just fine.
Even though I know not much about the social conflicts in francophone Canada, the larger socio-political context is a very interesting part of the novel. Still I believe that the antagonism is much better depicted (or rather could have been depicted) in the confusing self-perception and identity of the mixed anglophone and francophone family. On community level though I find the tensions to simplified and unilateral.
My impression is that on all levels, rather than on pillars creating three-dimensional depth in characters and plot, the novel rests on a vast variety of topics and images distributed in a wide range yet superficially. More than once did I feel the need for clearer motivation or consistency.
This lack of consistency was quite visible formally as well. Although magical realism is probably my favourite genre and Verfremdungseffekt my favourite concept, in this case the hint of estrangement seemed like nothing more than an experiment gone wrong: It was too insisted upon to go unnoticed, but still too incoherent to leave a mark.
In the end all the things I liked and those to which I had objections cancel each other out. I would have preferred to see a smaller number of completed ideas than this range of semi-developed elements in the novel.
gave-up
June 27, 2019Kada sam videla o čemu se radi i da je u pitanju crna komedija, ponadala sam se da će biti neki miks filmova Hotel Splendide, Delicatessen i The Comedy of Terrors. Ali nije ni blizu nijednom od njih. Ne znam da li je smešnije na srpskom, ali na engleskom nije bilo ni malo. :/
June 30, 2013
I really enjoyed this novel. I couldn't put it down. I was a bit afraid because it got some mixed reviews from us common folk, but I read ahead anyway. I'm so very glad I did.
It's entertaining and irreverent. It makes some interesting political points, paints a fabulous picture of a dysfunctional family in a city where "death is at the center of everything," argues about the virtues of action vs. art and vice versa. Yet, I still found it very funny and quirky. Well done.
Working in the theft of St. Andre Bessette's heart was really something. That scene is beautifully written, and I found myself really feeling for an ostensibly unlikeable character for the first time. Then his story is told. Never judge a book by its cover, let alone the characters inside the book.
A great, hugely entertaining read.
It's entertaining and irreverent. It makes some interesting political points, paints a fabulous picture of a dysfunctional family in a city where "death is at the center of everything," argues about the virtues of action vs. art and vice versa. Yet, I still found it very funny and quirky. Well done.
Working in the theft of St. Andre Bessette's heart was really something. That scene is beautifully written, and I found myself really feeling for an ostensibly unlikeable character for the first time. Then his story is told. Never judge a book by its cover, let alone the characters inside the book.
A great, hugely entertaining read.
June 8, 2016
I am wholly am ambivalent to this novel. It was entertaining, quick-paced and had intriguing characters, where at the same time it was a little dull, there was no sense of time passing, and the characters were flat. This may seem contradictory, but I will explain. The novel was fun to read, but I say it is “dull” in that it didn’t leave me with any lasting impression of it other than it helped me pass time on an airplane – it wasn’t funny enough or interesting enough. It moves along at a quick-pace but I was never really sure how much time had passed between segments – how long was Marie out of the house, for example? Similarly, the characters were definitely intriguing, but none of them were very well-flushed out. Other than that one incident, we have no rationale for why the grandfather was such a dick, for example. It seemed as if the novel was too rushed or too focused on other things to really make the characters come alive; they wavered between stereotypes and two-dimensional beings.
There was also a lot of Anglo/Franco political nonsense in the novel, which I have no patience for. My opinion on the matter of Quebec is that they are part of Canada and became such due to England and France warring over the territory in the Seven Years War. That happened 300 years ago – get over it. Quebec is not Ireland, Scotland, India, or even the USA – Quebec was not around for thousands of years and then taken over by the British or whomever. Really, the real victims here were the Native populations, am I right? Quebec culture is very much encouraged and their language is hardly under threat, neither now nor in the 1970s. Likewise, Quebec is smack in the middle of the country. If they had succeeded, it wouldn’t have made any sense geographically. Also, fighting over a language is even stupider than fighting over race or religion. So, I had no patience for Marie and her whining. And while there were parts of the novel that hinted at the absurdity of the FLQ movement, sometimes I wasn’t sure what angle he was approaching it from. Any staunch Quebecers out there can feel free to argue with me about their province if they so desire and I'm willing to listen/discuss, but to read about it in this novel was tiresome.
There was also a lot of Anglo/Franco political nonsense in the novel, which I have no patience for. My opinion on the matter of Quebec is that they are part of Canada and became such due to England and France warring over the territory in the Seven Years War. That happened 300 years ago – get over it. Quebec is not Ireland, Scotland, India, or even the USA – Quebec was not around for thousands of years and then taken over by the British or whomever. Really, the real victims here were the Native populations, am I right? Quebec culture is very much encouraged and their language is hardly under threat, neither now nor in the 1970s. Likewise, Quebec is smack in the middle of the country. If they had succeeded, it wouldn’t have made any sense geographically. Also, fighting over a language is even stupider than fighting over race or religion. So, I had no patience for Marie and her whining. And while there were parts of the novel that hinted at the absurdity of the FLQ movement, sometimes I wasn’t sure what angle he was approaching it from. Any staunch Quebecers out there can feel free to argue with me about their province if they so desire and I'm willing to listen/discuss, but to read about it in this novel was tiresome.
November 27, 2016
* * * * 1/2
This is an enchanting book with plenty of twists, turns and tweaks to the historical record. It concerns the Desouche family, who live in a house at the base of Mount Royal in Montreal. They're an Anglophone/Francophone mixed family and their dynamics are pretty dysfunctional. There are grave robbers, FLQ terrorists, budding poets, worn-down women, devout Catholics and the titular black bird, a crow owned by Grandfather. The characters are named by their relationship to the youngest generation in the book (Grandfather, Uncle, Mother and Father), but the book is not told from the first-person perspective. The narrative is third person limited that shifts from one character to another as events unfold.
The events of this story require some suspension of disbelief and perhaps a bit of silencing your internal historian, especially if you are familiar with the events of the October Crisis (and if you're not, don't go researching until after you finish the book), but the characters are all very vivid and one becomes very much invested in their various plights, even when they do completely unlovable things like stealing electricity and gas, or robbing graves, or committing acts of terrorism.
This book comes very highly recommended, especially for anyone who is familiar with Montreal -- it comes alive in these pages. One part that moved me particularly deeply was the scene involving Brother André's heart, if only because of the Blue Rodeo song called "Brother André's Heart". So yes, if you like slightly offbeat novels that are almost-but-not-quite historically accurate, you may want to check out this one.
This is an enchanting book with plenty of twists, turns and tweaks to the historical record. It concerns the Desouche family, who live in a house at the base of Mount Royal in Montreal. They're an Anglophone/Francophone mixed family and their dynamics are pretty dysfunctional. There are grave robbers, FLQ terrorists, budding poets, worn-down women, devout Catholics and the titular black bird, a crow owned by Grandfather. The characters are named by their relationship to the youngest generation in the book (Grandfather, Uncle, Mother and Father), but the book is not told from the first-person perspective. The narrative is third person limited that shifts from one character to another as events unfold.
The events of this story require some suspension of disbelief and perhaps a bit of silencing your internal historian, especially if you are familiar with the events of the October Crisis (and if you're not, don't go researching until after you finish the book), but the characters are all very vivid and one becomes very much invested in their various plights, even when they do completely unlovable things like stealing electricity and gas, or robbing graves, or committing acts of terrorism.
This book comes very highly recommended, especially for anyone who is familiar with Montreal -- it comes alive in these pages. One part that moved me particularly deeply was the scene involving Brother André's heart, if only because of the Blue Rodeo song called "Brother André's Heart". So yes, if you like slightly offbeat novels that are almost-but-not-quite historically accurate, you may want to check out this one.
December 23, 2011
A gifted writer with a unique storytelling ability. This novel is a magical blend of dark humour, political history and the fantastic. Although his characters aren't likeable, Basilieres does an impeccable job of drawing you in - His sense of family (to both love and hate them) is brilliantly captured. At times, an uncomfortable read. As a reader, you find yourself strangely rooting for the Desouches - through all of their flaws.
April 28, 2016
Loved it!! So much kookiness and dark humour mixed in with history and wisdom. Michel was my writing prof at UofT and as soon as I met him I knew how this book came alive = he lived through all the crazy Quebec politics and family life that all shaped his fantastic imagination.
April 21, 2016
Gothic, darkly funny, and wholly weird, Black Bird manages to capture the atmosphere of Montreal in ways only Mordecai Richler had been previously capable of.
October 25, 2022
Starts slow, you're fighting to continue reading it - and than BUM! A roller coaster of dark humour, irony, sarcasm, beautifully crazy characters... the one I laughed at with tears.
July 31, 2012
Groteskna, opskurna atmosfera s dekadentnim likovima.
Tek dasak magijskog realizma kao opulentni zacin u uzarenom klupku romana.
Pisano kroz kaleidoskop sveznajuceg pisca, bez mnogo dijaloga.
Junaci ove crnohumorne, blistave povesti su cesto posrnuli, rugobni. Ipak, u sredistu topli, bliski.
Kada zarobi olovna usobljenost sredovecnosti, tuge i neizdrza, kuda tada? Samo u okrilje poznatog, u prastajuce narucje porodice.
Kada licni hronoskop zataji, ovaj roman ce otkriti kako progledati, prodisati (naznaka: odlican Dedin solilokvijum u poglavlju Prica o oku).
Kako iznova nastati, kako biti nakon zrtvi u bracnim posteljama, nakon zgrusanih sutona?
Griznje savesti. Kako bez oka i bez sna?
Nepretenciozan stil, radnja bremenita iznenadjenjima i dogadjajima.
Tek dasak magijskog realizma kao opulentni zacin u uzarenom klupku romana.
Pisano kroz kaleidoskop sveznajuceg pisca, bez mnogo dijaloga.
Junaci ove crnohumorne, blistave povesti su cesto posrnuli, rugobni. Ipak, u sredistu topli, bliski.
Kada zarobi olovna usobljenost sredovecnosti, tuge i neizdrza, kuda tada? Samo u okrilje poznatog, u prastajuce narucje porodice.
Kada licni hronoskop zataji, ovaj roman ce otkriti kako progledati, prodisati (naznaka: odlican Dedin solilokvijum u poglavlju Prica o oku).
Kako iznova nastati, kako biti nakon zrtvi u bracnim posteljama, nakon zgrusanih sutona?
Griznje savesti. Kako bez oka i bez sna?
Nepretenciozan stil, radnja bremenita iznenadjenjima i dogadjajima.
March 15, 2011
Good magic realism - had a good discussion at our book club meeting.
Great quote from the book: As she browsed she noted the other customers' seemingly unconscious slavery. They ran their hands over spines, read front matter and dust jackets, opened volumes and lost themselves in the pages. They rarely spoke to one another and looked only at the books. When they did converse, it was only to recommend the relative merits of particular books, like born-again proselytizers or hosts for parasitical alien invaders. They were like opium smokers: calm, contented, alone with their thoughts and heedless of time or space.
It gave her the creeps.
Great quote from the book: As she browsed she noted the other customers' seemingly unconscious slavery. They ran their hands over spines, read front matter and dust jackets, opened volumes and lost themselves in the pages. They rarely spoke to one another and looked only at the books. When they did converse, it was only to recommend the relative merits of particular books, like born-again proselytizers or hosts for parasitical alien invaders. They were like opium smokers: calm, contented, alone with their thoughts and heedless of time or space.
It gave her the creeps.
February 21, 2012
If you are a lover of the real goth spook and comedy in one, you will most probably like this book. I say probably because if you like books that have a dominant, strong plot that will drag you in completely...you might not like it. This is mainly a psychological book, dealing with personalities of more than interesting, cute characters.
I did enjoy reading it, even though i would easily let go of it on slow parts so it did take me a while to read it.
I did enjoy reading it, even though i would easily let go of it on slow parts so it did take me a while to read it.
June 16, 2012
This was a bookclub book from the Library. I chose it because the reviews said it was innovative and it sounded interesting. And maybe it is, but not for me. I really tried to find one character that I liked, and all of them have distinct personalities, that's for sure, but alas, I was unsuccessful. To say I hated this book would be stretching, but I disliked and didn't understand it. Maybe I missed a pivotal scene, but the longer I read the more confused I got.
August 15, 2012
I actully found this book painful to read! I still don't even know how you can go from a poticial movement of Quebec to grave robbing to frankenstein corpses in one book and have the underlying story be about a family coming together.
September 13, 2011
Kind of morbid, kind of sardonic, creepy at times--familial at others. Quebecois, in a nutshell.
April 23, 2018
Set in Montréal in the early 70's we follow the Desouche dysfunctional family through various misadventures, most notably a twist on the actual October Crisis. Enjoyable book, very well written.
July 25, 2019
Extremely well written, full of black humour and often surreal. I will certainly keep my copy and read it again.
April 12, 2011
Imaginative, but the author's (politically-charged) voice comes through too often.
March 18, 2020
What a great book! Autobiographical, satirical, circular, a comment on political Montreal?
Wonderful cast of characters. An extended family living together: Grandfather and his new, younger bride. His twin sons, one married, with his own twins, but these are a boy and a girl. Told in the young teenage girl’s voice. Grandfather and Uncle are grave robbers. The girl’s father is a drunk and her mother suffers from depression. A great conflict between Anglo and French Montreal. A war for the city’s soul? Or does the city, or anyone for that matter have a soul? Frankenstein inhabits the girl’s dead boyfriend’s body and may hold the secret. Is it worth writing non-fiction, since nobody believes it anyway?
What a fun, intertwined, circular, fantastic story.
Wonderful cast of characters. An extended family living together: Grandfather and his new, younger bride. His twin sons, one married, with his own twins, but these are a boy and a girl. Told in the young teenage girl’s voice. Grandfather and Uncle are grave robbers. The girl’s father is a drunk and her mother suffers from depression. A great conflict between Anglo and French Montreal. A war for the city’s soul? Or does the city, or anyone for that matter have a soul? Frankenstein inhabits the girl’s dead boyfriend’s body and may hold the secret. Is it worth writing non-fiction, since nobody believes it anyway?
What a fun, intertwined, circular, fantastic story.
June 28, 2019
This weird and wacky tale of a family of Montreal urban hillbillies should ideally be read around Halloween, as it includes a Frankenstein-like character and monster, grave robbers, an insane crow, as well as various other touches of the macabre. It is also entirely tongue-in-cheek with a lot of humorous insights and commentary about modern Quebec thrown in for good measure.
July 23, 2020
This book is unlike anything I've ever read before. It was fantastic. All of the characters and scenes were so real and vivid before my eyes. The writing at the end of the book, particularly the Halloween scene and the climax, were spectacular. I could not put the book down once I got toward the end.
February 12, 2026
an interesting novel about the flq crisis with a random fantasy storyline thrown in. probably could've done without that, but enjoyed the book regardless.
March 22, 2017
Upon receiving this book as a hand-me-down, I realized it looked familiar because I had to read it in a class in college. I remembered absolutely nothing about the plot, and even having re-read it now, only two small sections seemed familiar. I found it disjointed and confusing, and ultimately unenjoyable and nonsensical.
May 1, 2025
livre trop étrange et impressionnant
May 8, 2011
Mr. Basilier’s novel, The Black Bird is a very dark comedy about a very, very dysfunctional family having a very, very , very bad year.
Mr. Balilier takes great liberty with the facts of that “defining moment in Canadian History” that this novel plays with. I had to look up the facts about The October Crisis because at the time ( Fall of 1970) I was a first year university student at UofA in Alberta, Canada..and happily (or sadly??) , politics were the farthest thing from my mind! I do remember talking on the phone with my parents about the War Measures Act and being told that if things got worse, I would have to move back home!!
Facts:
FLQ – Front de liberation du Quebec
October Crisis: Canada in 1970, Montreal, Quebec
October 5 –British Trade Minister, James Cross, was kidnapped by the FLQ
October 10 – Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte was kidnapped by the FLQ
October 16 – Then Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, introduced the War Measures Act to deal with the FLQ threat. I remember his now famous quote “Just watch me” when told he couldn’t do that.
Oct. 17 –The body of Pierre Laporte was found in the trunk of a car.
Nov. 6 – Bernard Lortie was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte
Dec. 3 – James Cross was released unharmed by the FLQ
Dec. 28 – The FLQ kidnappers of Pierre Laporte were caught
Now back to the novel. We are in the city of Montreal, Quebec. 1970 is not going to end well. There is a sense of doom and gloom. The FLQ are terrorizing the English and anyone who gets in their way. The hapless, wayward “Family Desouche”, composed of three generations of English and French Canadians, struggle to put food on the table and to heat their shabby, old relic of a home. When the youngest (unbeknown to her family: a militant separatist) murders one of the oldest (her Mother’s Anglo Montrealer grandpa ) the family, tightly held together by their dirty secrets, begins to fall apart.
We see the under belly of Montreal: bars, prisons, doctor’s offices, churches. We meet a very ugly group of characters :grave robbers, patriots, rebels, abortionists, poets, murders, mad scientists, a Frankenstein, ghosts, and last but not least, a big black crow named Grace.
I have to admit, if I had a better understanding of Quebec politics in the 70’s, I would probably have found this story much funnier than I did. It is not a happy story and it is not even a true story, yet I found myself going back to it time after time, wanting to know what was going to happen to this unhappy, misguided, mixed up family.
When all was said and done, I actually liked the book and I am glad I picked it up to read.
Mr. Balilier takes great liberty with the facts of that “defining moment in Canadian History” that this novel plays with. I had to look up the facts about The October Crisis because at the time ( Fall of 1970) I was a first year university student at UofA in Alberta, Canada..and happily (or sadly??) , politics were the farthest thing from my mind! I do remember talking on the phone with my parents about the War Measures Act and being told that if things got worse, I would have to move back home!!
Facts:
FLQ – Front de liberation du Quebec
October Crisis: Canada in 1970, Montreal, Quebec
October 5 –British Trade Minister, James Cross, was kidnapped by the FLQ
October 10 – Quebec Minister of Labour Pierre Laporte was kidnapped by the FLQ
October 16 – Then Prime Minister, Pierre Trudeau, introduced the War Measures Act to deal with the FLQ threat. I remember his now famous quote “Just watch me” when told he couldn’t do that.
Oct. 17 –The body of Pierre Laporte was found in the trunk of a car.
Nov. 6 – Bernard Lortie was arrested for the kidnapping and murder of Pierre Laporte
Dec. 3 – James Cross was released unharmed by the FLQ
Dec. 28 – The FLQ kidnappers of Pierre Laporte were caught
Now back to the novel. We are in the city of Montreal, Quebec. 1970 is not going to end well. There is a sense of doom and gloom. The FLQ are terrorizing the English and anyone who gets in their way. The hapless, wayward “Family Desouche”, composed of three generations of English and French Canadians, struggle to put food on the table and to heat their shabby, old relic of a home. When the youngest (unbeknown to her family: a militant separatist) murders one of the oldest (her Mother’s Anglo Montrealer grandpa ) the family, tightly held together by their dirty secrets, begins to fall apart.
We see the under belly of Montreal: bars, prisons, doctor’s offices, churches. We meet a very ugly group of characters :grave robbers, patriots, rebels, abortionists, poets, murders, mad scientists, a Frankenstein, ghosts, and last but not least, a big black crow named Grace.
I have to admit, if I had a better understanding of Quebec politics in the 70’s, I would probably have found this story much funnier than I did. It is not a happy story and it is not even a true story, yet I found myself going back to it time after time, wanting to know what was going to happen to this unhappy, misguided, mixed up family.
When all was said and done, I actually liked the book and I am glad I picked it up to read.
September 29, 2011
I deliberately read this book due to my appreciation of Canadian literature which, from my experience,is usually dry, quirky and droll at times. This attempts to be but it is no Annie proulx (know she is not canadian) nor close and alistair macleod shouldn't be mentioned in the same room. This is the elephant in the Canadian room. Provides insights into french vs English antagonism thanks to colonialism but I have read so much better post colonialism lit. Even attempts to be "po-mo", quirky and "different" but attempts are laboured. I really tried, was well over half way through but in a couple of hours, rapidly flicked through my kindle pages scanning. Very disappointing, especially when I have senior students looking for material that focuses on Canadian tensions. I have read the other reviews but....emporer's new clothes. Indulgent and derivative of those who precede him.
November 26, 2013
I liked this novel. It seemed like it would be the sort of novel I would love: dark humour, magic realism, surreal scenes...a ghost who doesn't realize he's a ghost, a mad scientist creating monster like Frankenstein, a mysterious crow, grave-robbers...all set against the backdrop of Montreal in 1970. It was an enjoyable story, with some great passages, but overall it seemed to fall short of its mark--too many characters whose voices were inconsistent, mixed with a breezily omnipotent narrator and a lot of telling instead of showing. I appreciated the book, mostly enjoyed reading it, but didn't love it.
April 13, 2013
While I remember the October crisis well, it didn't affect my life at all, living in BC. It was interesting to read about this time in Canada's history from the point of a Quebecois. Although this is not a historically correct story, it was enlightening. I was somewhat confused with the "supernatural' story line within the story, and, for me, it didn't add anything to the novel. Glad I read it, if only to get a fresh perspective on this time in history.
Read
June 3, 2010I'd never heard of this book and I'd never heard of this author, but I'm glad I picked up this dark, funny, brilliantly peculiar story. Set in Montreal, Black Bird centers around an amoral family that includes a grave-robbing grandfather, a terrorist daughter, a poet/playwright son, and a vindictive crow.
November 18, 2010
Remind me on Léolo (1992) Jean-Claude Lauzon movie. The same set, the same dark mood. On covers of the book says black humor. I don't see humor but most definitely black it is. Sometimes a bit naïve, especially when it speaks of the nature of the soul, but anyway I'm interested what will be next for Michel Basilières. Enjoyable. I recommend.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 45 reviews