Civilization and Its Part in My Downfall

by Paul Quarrington

Received with almost unanimous accolades from critics and readers alike, Civilization is the amazing tale of Thom Moss, a young man who sets out in the early twentieth century in search of a grand adventure. He soon finds himself in the thick of Hollywoodland, employed as an actor by the renowned Caspar Willison, master of the two-reel cowboy flicker. However, Thom's fortune quickly takes a ruinous turn and he lands in the Penitentiary, where he writes the story of his downfall. At once hilarious and courageous, Civilization is a daring work by one of Canada's finest novelists.

Genres: Fiction

318 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1994

About the author

Paul Quarrington was a novelist and musician, an award-winning screenwriter, filmmaker, and an acclaimed non-fiction writer. His last novel The Ravine was published in March 2008. His previous novel Galveston was nominated for the Giller; Whale Music won the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. Quarrington won the Stephen Leacock Medal for King Leary, a title that also won the 2008 Canada Reads competition. As a musician, he played in the band PorkBelly Futures; their self-titled second CD was released in April 2008; the first CD Way Past Midnight was extremely well received. His screenplays and story editing have won many awards, most recently the CFPTA Indie Award for Comedy for the series Moose TV, and he was in high demand as a story editor for feature films and television. Paul ’s filmmaking talents as writer / director were evident in his BookShorts short film, Pavane, which he adapted from The Ravine and was featured in the Moving Stories Film Festival September - November 2008. His non-fiction writing included books on some of his favourite pastimes such as fishing, hockey and music. He regularly contributed book reviews, travel columns and journalism to Canada’s national newspapers and magazines. Paul lived and worked in Toronto, where he taught writing at Humber College and University of Toronto, and sat on the Board of Directors for the Fringe Theatre Festival. Quarrington was also an (extremely) amateur magician and a would-be mariner.

Paul was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer in May of 2009. He died at home, with his family.

Reviews

[Caleigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this to be a very satisfying story. Quarrington's characters are all so bizarre and quirky, and I love his dry wit.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

SPOILERS SHALL BE SPOILED. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

all right so i must say, there was SO MUCH hilarity here and i've never not enjoyed a paul q book, but i had to refrain from giving it five stars just because i didn't get the same feeling upon finishing it that i usually do when finishing his books. usually i have a sense of awesome and general amazement and joy but this time, i did get the general amazement and respect and obviously i thought it was really well put together but i just felt... sad.
i mean really, ALL of thom's friends kept dying, and right when i was coming to really love them. bodnarchuck and kingsley's deaths really got me (as in tears) and i was even quite upset when jensen "the fat man" had to go. AND THE GODDAM HORSE, THAT WAS ONE OF THE MOST EMOTION SCENES OH MY GOD. and okay, don't even get me started on foote. THEY WERE THE BEST BROMANCE EVER, AND THE WHOLE BOOK THEM DRIFTING APART AND THEN PUNCHING EACH OTHER IN THE FACE AND THOM BEING THE INSTRUMENT OF HIS DEATH WAS JUST.. GAH.
yes, i do realize my reactions were exactly what old paully intended them to be and my feeling of sadness at the end was supposed to be felt.. but god. that was depressing. the sad and depressing and disturbing things just kept piling on and it did lead to an epic climax (the part with willison and the duel was pretty intense, as was the 23rd psalm, elijah comparison and just the whole ending in general) but it really left me quite drained and sad. and i know that was the point. it just kept me from enjoying it THAT much.
so yes, for those ^ reasons i could not give this 5 stars. HOWEVER, there were many things i did enjoy, which i shall now list:
- charles wild horse and the fact that he actually had a happy ending
- kingsley
- the thom/foote bromance (even if it was sad, the whole relationship was heartbreakingly well written)
- the lingo used
- pretty much all of the dialogue
- cowboys. need i say more
- living in the shadows and the reference in the end about falling into the shadows that was crazy
- that last sentence about elijah the tishbite ending in the still small voice (sorry i can't copy it out i don't have the book with me)
- that scene when willison is getting the shot of thom being a coward and made him talk about his dad and the bit about "don't wipe them away" (the tears). that s.o.b. was one goddam well written scene
- willison's accent
- the part when he and the phsycho killer and the warden are talking about the weather and predictions and the act of faith being more important than faith itself and yeah. i may find that one and type it out for my fave quotes because that s.o.b. was another goddam well written scene
- lawl the part when he reads the newspaper article about his old boss drowning during mud skin treatment for acne and he guffaws and makes thespa spill the orange juice. that was great
- the baseball game
- i may add more parts i loved later because there were quite a few

SO final opinion: many parts i loved, hilarious, well written, epic, awesome, but just too depressing for a 5/5.

[Erkki · Rating 5 out of 5]

an epic by all proportions

[Clivemichael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a romp, great writing