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This All Happened
The commodity a fiction writer sells is his own life, his spirit. This is especially true in fiction that draws from autobiography. In Michael Winter's journal-à-clef, This All Happened, we are exposed to the kernel of truth that exists in each day. Told from the viewpoint of Gabriel English, the work opens windows onto a richly textured, fast-paced filmic compilation of daily vignettes over one calendar year (if Fellini were a Newfoundlander...). Gabriel's promises and actions early in the year have their repercussions by the end. Gabriel's passion for Lydia Murphy leads him into paroxysms of jealousy—but he never abandons his shrewdly witty perspective on the vagaries of modern love. Concrete and delicately rendered, This All Happened depicts a man's descent from love to fury.
302 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 2000
2 people are currently reading
227 people want to read
About the author
Michael Winter
8 books69 followersAuthor of five books: The Architects Are Here, The Big Why, This All Happened, One Last Good Look, Creaking in their Skins. His novel, The Death of Donna Whalen, is slated for publication in 2010.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
January 5, 2009
"At August", I wrote: "I am enthralled." (in currently-reading)
I have since finished reading. I wanted to reread the book all over again straight away. Instead, I copied entire portions, by hand, just to get a sense of what it would feel like to write like this!
Needless to say, I highly recommend reading this book,published back in 2000!!!
I have since finished reading. I wanted to reread the book all over again straight away. Instead, I copied entire portions, by hand, just to get a sense of what it would feel like to write like this!
Needless to say, I highly recommend reading this book,published back in 2000!!!
September 28, 2013
I didn’t intend to read any more books by Michael Winter after 'The Architects are Here', but, then I saw him at a reading. He and Boyden (who was the real reason I attended the event) were launching new books. Winter was so hilarious, likeable, and lacking in fashion sense that I just had to support him and buy one of his books. The book seller didn’t take debit and I had limited cash after buying Boyden’s monolith and so was left scrounging the bottom of my purse for spare change and managed to scrape together just enough to buy the cheapest book on Winter’s table. I even had the nerve to take it up to get signed. I’m so glad I did. The book is great. Winter perfectly captures the tensions and insecurities that underlie relationships. He is also a shrewd observer of personality. I'm so glad he had Gabe and Lydia break up and stay broke up. That was one toxic relationship. Anything less would have ruined the integrity of the book for me.
I have only one gripe: Hey, Winter! What's this supposed to mean on page 208 -
...and what am I to do now that my wife has all but told me she's had an affair and with a New Brunswicker (the only thing lower than coming from Corner Brook).
I'm a New Brunswicker, born and raised, and I take offence ;)
I have only one gripe: Hey, Winter! What's this supposed to mean on page 208 -
...and what am I to do now that my wife has all but told me she's had an affair and with a New Brunswicker (the only thing lower than coming from Corner Brook).
I'm a New Brunswicker, born and raised, and I take offence ;)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 13, 2017
Loved this and I almost don't know why. It is such a seemingly simple book but the slow build up is deeply affecting. Winter's conjuring of his faux-fictional memoir's protagonist's jealousy and obsession is brutal in its subtlety. And his love-interest's casual, ALMOST unintentional torture of him is maddening. I loved this (and for so many more reasons).
December 4, 2011
Why oh why have I not read Michael Winter before now? I've got no excuse. Before I read this book, I'd had five, yes five, unread Michael Winter books languishing on my shelves. In fact, I denied myself the purchase of Donna Whalen for that reason. No sense in having six unread books.
I'm not sure why I picked this book over his previously published short story collections, or for that matter why I chose to read Michael Winter at all just now. You'd think I'd have had enough of Newfoundland after just finishing 830 pages of Kenneth Harvey's Blackstrap Hawco. I suspect it was the cover picture that did it. The guy spying on the world through his binoculars. I do that everyday, ostensibly to look for birds in or around my backyard. But when there are no birds, I spy on everything else: the couple that walks along the other side of the river most days, stopping to sit on a bench, surveying the river, seldom talking - I like to imagine what's going on in their heads; the ice forming on the river now; the muddy lines on the trees that mark the height of the river at this past spring's flood; and bark, I love to look at bark.
Gabriel English, the "author" of this fictional memoir, spies on his surroundings through his binoculars too. They let you focus on what you want to see and block out, like blinders, what you don't. So I felt a bit of kinship with him in that.
Gabriel English is supposed to be writing a novel. Maybe he is but he seems unable to get down to the actual writing of it. He did manage to write a short story for the CBC short story contest during the course of this "one year in the life of" memoir only to be rejected. And again I felt a little kinship. Not that I have ever sent in a short story, but if I did, it would most certainly be rejected and I could relate to the rejection. But mostly he is writing little vignettes on a daily basis, a journal or diary of his daily life and ruminations. Most of those ruminations have to do with the disintegration of his relationship with Lydia Murphy. He's in love with her, or rather, he's in love with being in love with her. From page one, the reader has a pretty good idea that this relationship is not the true-love-once-in-a-lifetime-til-death-do-us-part sort. Even Gabriel knows. Here it is page 1, January 1 and Gabriel is already resentful that Lydia is laughing with another man, paying attention to someone other than him. He wants to punch the guy and he questions whether he can love a woman like that. But he wants to. Oh how he wants to.
The book is deceptively easy to read. Words flow unfaltering despite the absence of quotation marks in dialogue and apostrophes in contractions. They flow like a song, the particular song reflective of the mood and events reported. I'm sure if Gabriel was waltzing the words would flow in 3/4 time. I love writing like that.
I also liked the format of the book, 365 days, like those page-a-day calendars with inspirational thoughts, quotations, words of wisdom for each day of your life. I read with interest the entries for those days of significance to me: my birthday, wedding day, Christmas, kids' birthdays to see whether Gabriel had any significant words of wisdom for me. Admittedly, there were days that were less interesting and one wondered why bother with an entry at all, but those were rare. Some days were so filled with human frailty, especially toward the end when you've come to know Gabriel, Lydia, Maisie, Max, Alex and Oliver and the rest of his cronies well, that even though you knew how things would be, your heart aches anyway.
Funny as all hell to me was the day they all play badminton and Gabriel ends up in "emerge" after lurching for a birdie. I still cruelly snicker.
Like someone else on the Goodreads site, I too have written out whole passages from the book. Words that resonated with me, like Max's comment in November: "Some people never become themselves because they're afraid to be fools." Gabriel's in October: "We spend the afternoon gardening and it is easy and sad. We are kind to each other, but our hearts are heavy with rain." Sigh.
This will not be the last Michael Winter book I'll read.
I'm not sure why I picked this book over his previously published short story collections, or for that matter why I chose to read Michael Winter at all just now. You'd think I'd have had enough of Newfoundland after just finishing 830 pages of Kenneth Harvey's Blackstrap Hawco. I suspect it was the cover picture that did it. The guy spying on the world through his binoculars. I do that everyday, ostensibly to look for birds in or around my backyard. But when there are no birds, I spy on everything else: the couple that walks along the other side of the river most days, stopping to sit on a bench, surveying the river, seldom talking - I like to imagine what's going on in their heads; the ice forming on the river now; the muddy lines on the trees that mark the height of the river at this past spring's flood; and bark, I love to look at bark.
Gabriel English, the "author" of this fictional memoir, spies on his surroundings through his binoculars too. They let you focus on what you want to see and block out, like blinders, what you don't. So I felt a bit of kinship with him in that.
Gabriel English is supposed to be writing a novel. Maybe he is but he seems unable to get down to the actual writing of it. He did manage to write a short story for the CBC short story contest during the course of this "one year in the life of" memoir only to be rejected. And again I felt a little kinship. Not that I have ever sent in a short story, but if I did, it would most certainly be rejected and I could relate to the rejection. But mostly he is writing little vignettes on a daily basis, a journal or diary of his daily life and ruminations. Most of those ruminations have to do with the disintegration of his relationship with Lydia Murphy. He's in love with her, or rather, he's in love with being in love with her. From page one, the reader has a pretty good idea that this relationship is not the true-love-once-in-a-lifetime-til-death-do-us-part sort. Even Gabriel knows. Here it is page 1, January 1 and Gabriel is already resentful that Lydia is laughing with another man, paying attention to someone other than him. He wants to punch the guy and he questions whether he can love a woman like that. But he wants to. Oh how he wants to.
The book is deceptively easy to read. Words flow unfaltering despite the absence of quotation marks in dialogue and apostrophes in contractions. They flow like a song, the particular song reflective of the mood and events reported. I'm sure if Gabriel was waltzing the words would flow in 3/4 time. I love writing like that.
I also liked the format of the book, 365 days, like those page-a-day calendars with inspirational thoughts, quotations, words of wisdom for each day of your life. I read with interest the entries for those days of significance to me: my birthday, wedding day, Christmas, kids' birthdays to see whether Gabriel had any significant words of wisdom for me. Admittedly, there were days that were less interesting and one wondered why bother with an entry at all, but those were rare. Some days were so filled with human frailty, especially toward the end when you've come to know Gabriel, Lydia, Maisie, Max, Alex and Oliver and the rest of his cronies well, that even though you knew how things would be, your heart aches anyway.
Funny as all hell to me was the day they all play badminton and Gabriel ends up in "emerge" after lurching for a birdie. I still cruelly snicker.
Like someone else on the Goodreads site, I too have written out whole passages from the book. Words that resonated with me, like Max's comment in November: "Some people never become themselves because they're afraid to be fools." Gabriel's in October: "We spend the afternoon gardening and it is easy and sad. We are kind to each other, but our hearts are heavy with rain." Sigh.
This will not be the last Michael Winter book I'll read.
December 10, 2015
I loved this continuation of the life and times of Gabriel the bumbling, beautiful and charming Newf chasing his dreams and girlfriend with almost equal measure. His writing is like how cowboy coffee tastes when you spike it with Irish Cream and sit on Canadian Shield overlooking motor-boat free water and smelling cedar and tamarack at the same time. Splendid!
November 16, 2012
I loved the introspection of the novel, his life advice & thoughts. But I hated the two main characters. Lydia is a bitch. Gabe is a controlling prick.
August 18, 2023
This is Michael Winter’s first novel, and the third that I’ve read recently. There is a fourth on a shelf that I will get to next.
Winter is a Newfoundland novelist who centers his work in Newfoundland geography, culture, and history. "This All Happened" is about contemporary St. John’s. I think that it is what Newfoundlanders would call a “townie” novel. It is written by the protagonist as a year’s worth of daily diary entries, January 1 to December 31. The chapters are organized by month. The protagonist is a writer, like Winter, and the friends with whom he interacts and hangs around with are mostly, but not exclusively, artists of one sort or another. His plan for the year is to write a novel about the American painter, Rockwell Kent, who spent time in Newfoundland. "The Big Why" is Winter’s second novel, and it is about Rockwell Kent. "This All Happened" seems a bit autobiographical.
The protagonist, Gabriel English, has twin New Year’s resolutions: to decide on marrying his long time girl friend, Lydia, and to finish the novel that he has started working on. The twin resolutions are the thesis of the book, which, besides helping to organize the daily and monthly diary entries, come to naught: at the end of the year, the novel is nowhere near done, and Lydia and he have broken up.
Gabriel spends more time obsessing over Lydia than thinking about, planning, or writing his novel, so it is no surprise that the thesis fails, but those twin aims give the reader a way to make sense of his daily entries and pick up on what’s important to him. Although Gabriel English is the protagonist, Winter writes This All Happened as an ensemble cast: Gabriel English and the long time group of friends, family, neighbors, and others he sees and hangs out with regularly. The daily entries are mostly about events, observations, or relationships in various degrees of health or decline, but sometimes Gabriel will wax poetically about the world around him. Winter uses the same kind of ensembling of characters in his later novel, "Minister without Portfolio": a community with a longstanding and complicated history that can be traced through the memories of its members. The community is the thing. It always is in Newfoundland fiction. There is also a big, derpy old dog in this book, just like there is in Minister without Portfolio. Winter has something for big, derpy dogs.
Besides the focus on community, there is much in this novel that is marked with Newfoundland. Winter demonstrates a very particular knowledge of St. John’s geography, streets, and neighborhoods. Some time in the novel is spent in the outports–Heart’s Desire, in particular–but because this is an urban “townie” book the outports seem rather foreign places. Besides the daily entries and the monthly chapters, the book marks time by the seasons: snow, rain, fog, capelin, partridge berry, bakeapple. There are also plenty of references to moose, icebergs, and boil-ups. Although a more important theme in "Minister without Portfolio," the characters in "This All Happened" are very much DIY fixer-uppers. In the Newfoundland literature I’ve read, the DIY fixer-upper is one of the foundational character types.
This is a good book about a St. John’s artist who–within the familiarity of friends, city, and province–struggles to find his voice as a writer and figure out where his life is going in his mid-thirties.
Winter is a Newfoundland novelist who centers his work in Newfoundland geography, culture, and history. "This All Happened" is about contemporary St. John’s. I think that it is what Newfoundlanders would call a “townie” novel. It is written by the protagonist as a year’s worth of daily diary entries, January 1 to December 31. The chapters are organized by month. The protagonist is a writer, like Winter, and the friends with whom he interacts and hangs around with are mostly, but not exclusively, artists of one sort or another. His plan for the year is to write a novel about the American painter, Rockwell Kent, who spent time in Newfoundland. "The Big Why" is Winter’s second novel, and it is about Rockwell Kent. "This All Happened" seems a bit autobiographical.
The protagonist, Gabriel English, has twin New Year’s resolutions: to decide on marrying his long time girl friend, Lydia, and to finish the novel that he has started working on. The twin resolutions are the thesis of the book, which, besides helping to organize the daily and monthly diary entries, come to naught: at the end of the year, the novel is nowhere near done, and Lydia and he have broken up.
Gabriel spends more time obsessing over Lydia than thinking about, planning, or writing his novel, so it is no surprise that the thesis fails, but those twin aims give the reader a way to make sense of his daily entries and pick up on what’s important to him. Although Gabriel English is the protagonist, Winter writes This All Happened as an ensemble cast: Gabriel English and the long time group of friends, family, neighbors, and others he sees and hangs out with regularly. The daily entries are mostly about events, observations, or relationships in various degrees of health or decline, but sometimes Gabriel will wax poetically about the world around him. Winter uses the same kind of ensembling of characters in his later novel, "Minister without Portfolio": a community with a longstanding and complicated history that can be traced through the memories of its members. The community is the thing. It always is in Newfoundland fiction. There is also a big, derpy old dog in this book, just like there is in Minister without Portfolio. Winter has something for big, derpy dogs.
Besides the focus on community, there is much in this novel that is marked with Newfoundland. Winter demonstrates a very particular knowledge of St. John’s geography, streets, and neighborhoods. Some time in the novel is spent in the outports–Heart’s Desire, in particular–but because this is an urban “townie” book the outports seem rather foreign places. Besides the daily entries and the monthly chapters, the book marks time by the seasons: snow, rain, fog, capelin, partridge berry, bakeapple. There are also plenty of references to moose, icebergs, and boil-ups. Although a more important theme in "Minister without Portfolio," the characters in "This All Happened" are very much DIY fixer-uppers. In the Newfoundland literature I’ve read, the DIY fixer-upper is one of the foundational character types.
This is a good book about a St. John’s artist who–within the familiarity of friends, city, and province–struggles to find his voice as a writer and figure out where his life is going in his mid-thirties.
November 8, 2017
This book is about strange, dysfunctional people who cannot seem to grasp that they are consistently engaged in destructive, broken, and abusive relationships. It is one incredibly long livejournal blog entry spanning a year of Michael Winter's (more or less) real life, and I don't really know why I read it the whole way through.
Gabe's character is fictional in the same way, I assume, that Henry Chinaski is fictional. I can appreciate Gabe at times as I see a lot of myself in my early 20s in him. Except he's 34.
I don't understand how this is such a popular book. The story (or lack thereof) is one long grimy emotional ride. I'll save you hours of your life by giving you the book's plot in one line: The main characters have tumultuous relationships in each other and have a hard time dealing with it.
While I didn't enjoy this book for the most part, its (somewhat) saving grace is that Michael Winter adds a nice poetic touch to things that would take me away from the nastiness of the rest of the book at times. Case in point:
"He says, Now you with Lydia. I’ve never seen a man so cuntstruck. I thought about that word all day. Cuntstruck. I had to go out for a walk with it. It was a little dog that I put on a leash and let wander ahead of me."
"Sometimes, I say, it feels like you dont understand me. You dont like how I behave. You wish I were another way. Yes, she says. I agree with that. But I also resent that you compare me with others. I say, I should be cherished every day. Lydia suddenly laughs, agreeing. And there is a melt between us."
"I’m not sure what I want to do tonight. I may just go home. She’d said, You can come down if you want. There is something so uninviting in that. If you want. I wanted her to want me to come down. I didnt want her to shift the want to me."
There are several other genius lines in this book, but it just doesn't make it enough for me to recommend it to anyone else. Pass on this one.
Gabe's character is fictional in the same way, I assume, that Henry Chinaski is fictional. I can appreciate Gabe at times as I see a lot of myself in my early 20s in him. Except he's 34.
I don't understand how this is such a popular book. The story (or lack thereof) is one long grimy emotional ride. I'll save you hours of your life by giving you the book's plot in one line: The main characters have tumultuous relationships in each other and have a hard time dealing with it.
While I didn't enjoy this book for the most part, its (somewhat) saving grace is that Michael Winter adds a nice poetic touch to things that would take me away from the nastiness of the rest of the book at times. Case in point:
"He says, Now you with Lydia. I’ve never seen a man so cuntstruck. I thought about that word all day. Cuntstruck. I had to go out for a walk with it. It was a little dog that I put on a leash and let wander ahead of me."
"Sometimes, I say, it feels like you dont understand me. You dont like how I behave. You wish I were another way. Yes, she says. I agree with that. But I also resent that you compare me with others. I say, I should be cherished every day. Lydia suddenly laughs, agreeing. And there is a melt between us."
"I’m not sure what I want to do tonight. I may just go home. She’d said, You can come down if you want. There is something so uninviting in that. If you want. I wanted her to want me to come down. I didnt want her to shift the want to me."
There are several other genius lines in this book, but it just doesn't make it enough for me to recommend it to anyone else. Pass on this one.
October 7, 2019
You know that meme about male authors and how they describe women? The first paragraph on the first page of this book had the word 'breasts' written twice (in relation to a woman) and I almost tossed this book aside, but I decided to persevere, for, if nothing else, the support of local authors.
I actually did, in the end, enjoy this book. I love being able to picture locations when something I'm reading is written in Newfoundland and Labrador, and that, for me, was my favourite part about this book. The Ship, Long's Hill, Heart's Delight, Corner Brook, the DMV - I can picture them all. The characters were really distinct in this book as well. I loved when Max was around - such a resourceful and handy man; a bayman - good as gold.
The format of this book was written like a daily journal entry, and I really liked that. I thought it was a clever way to highlight how a relationship can evolve and, in this case, dissolve, over the course of just a few days (when the signs had been there all along).
I actually did, in the end, enjoy this book. I love being able to picture locations when something I'm reading is written in Newfoundland and Labrador, and that, for me, was my favourite part about this book. The Ship, Long's Hill, Heart's Delight, Corner Brook, the DMV - I can picture them all. The characters were really distinct in this book as well. I loved when Max was around - such a resourceful and handy man; a bayman - good as gold.
The format of this book was written like a daily journal entry, and I really liked that. I thought it was a clever way to highlight how a relationship can evolve and, in this case, dissolve, over the course of just a few days (when the signs had been there all along).
November 3, 2024
Autofiction from before the term was popularized.
Unless you actually know these people in real life, the hook of ‘This All Happened’ doesn’t really work. This all happened? Ok, and so did every other literary novel ever. Why should I care? Well, we end up caring for the same reason we end up caring in any successful novel, autofiction or not. The writing grabs you and the characters stay with you. You want to know what will happen to them. You want to know if Lydia is having an affair. You want Gabe to wake up and get away from her, as far away as he possibly can. You want a lot of things in life. Written in the form of a daily journal, the novel is plotless in the same way life is. The trick of the novel is the relationship. We keep reading, not only for the compelling and thoughtful prose, but because we want to know what will happen to Gabe and Lydia. In this most shapeless, formless collection of vignettes, the thing that ties everything together is the base human impulse of will-they-or-won’t-they?
Unless you actually know these people in real life, the hook of ‘This All Happened’ doesn’t really work. This all happened? Ok, and so did every other literary novel ever. Why should I care? Well, we end up caring for the same reason we end up caring in any successful novel, autofiction or not. The writing grabs you and the characters stay with you. You want to know what will happen to them. You want to know if Lydia is having an affair. You want Gabe to wake up and get away from her, as far away as he possibly can. You want a lot of things in life. Written in the form of a daily journal, the novel is plotless in the same way life is. The trick of the novel is the relationship. We keep reading, not only for the compelling and thoughtful prose, but because we want to know what will happen to Gabe and Lydia. In this most shapeless, formless collection of vignettes, the thing that ties everything together is the base human impulse of will-they-or-won’t-they?
April 21, 2018
I was put off by the first chapter and only kept going because of the book being Canlit. It did get better once I got into the rhythm of the prose. The book reads less like a novel than a notebook, documenting the activities and thoughts of the narrator who is a would -be writer. The group of characters in the book seem destined to flit from relationship to relationship without ever achieving a solidly intimate partnership. I enjoyed the details of place, one of those books that make me want to go to where it is written, in this case St John's Newfoundland.
February 10, 2022
I'd give this a solid 4 for quality of writing but a scant 3 for enjoyability. The writing is clean and evocative and very well done. The characters are vivid and real, and as a whole it's immersive and vibrant. But I just don't like the people. They're self-absorbed and petty and I didn't enjoy spending time with them.
January 17, 2020
A book that lives on both my fiction and memoir shelves. Loved this book for it's quirky structure and found plenty of good writing, but nothing that left me astounded. Need a 3.5 star for this book. A good read to be sure and love the fact it was set in Newfoundland.
March 10, 2024
Originally it was only going to get three stars because it's really a two but takes place in Newfoundland. However, the back half of the book was really good and there's a lot of amazing quotes throughout. So, now it gets a three out of five, because it deserves a three out of five.
April 1, 2019
Incredible book. Highly recommended.
August 28, 2020
great writing, good characters, very toxic relationship that was a bit of a drag to read about the main character and his partner
November 11, 2020
Spare and touching, though the story-lover in me wanted a bit more of the plotting that I know Winter hates.
July 30, 2022
I haven't loved a book like I love this one in a long, long time.
Gorgeous writing. And the people in it, written with such care. And all that love on the page. And the ending that won't let me stop feeling it. The whole thing floored me.
I've just finished my second read of the library copy, and ordered my own copy today.
Reading The Big Why next and will work my way through the author's other titles. I truly hope Michael Winter publishes another book before I get through them all.
Gorgeous writing. And the people in it, written with such care. And all that love on the page. And the ending that won't let me stop feeling it. The whole thing floored me.
I've just finished my second read of the library copy, and ordered my own copy today.
Reading The Big Why next and will work my way through the author's other titles. I truly hope Michael Winter publishes another book before I get through them all.
January 10, 2013
Was I really tossed this book in June?
I suppose I was. By a friend, in passing. A poetic friend who liked this sort of prose.
What a deep and wonderful book this is! It tells the year day by day of writer Gabriel English as he lives, exists, in St. Johns.
It's a fantastic read. A dreamy entry for each day of the year. Vibrant friends with their own unique voices.
It is not exactly the kind of book I would choose to read. It's not poetry that you immediately recognize. But it is! So much more.
How did she describe the book to me? A book where nothing happens.
Certainly things happen but it's just the passing of time, the events in enough detail that you might consider them how you would recall memories, just enough to say you'd been there, you'd done that.
I'm not entirely sure if "This All Happened" is Gabriel's journal, it's not clear that it is, but it might be. Maybe.
On conversation is particularly profound, for me:
"...And I felt like I couldn't say anything to you because you'd take it the wrong way and write it down in that journal.
You read it.
Yes.
Lydia.
Everything you write about me is rotten.
I write down things that vex me. I don't write down the good things.
Well, why don't you?
Happiness is too hard to write and boring to read..." (p.190)
Many times I found the sentiments written in this book to be very true and they resonated with me.
In a way I wish everyone would read this book. It's very human. It has many lessons, and it's like being the third person in a silent conversation, that you are being shared with. It's a story we all know, with people we are familiar with, just enough.
It's not outrageous, it's life, but told in such a way that you know if could be your own, or a dream you might have had.
In a lot of ways it made me better about my life. But I could hardly say it was a book written for me.
It took a long time to finish, not to read. I read half of it for the first month I had it, then, I suppose because my friend went AWOL I didn't want to read it any more. And it, the book, was filed away. I hear from her now and then, and realized I should finish reading it, so I did, in a day. There wasn't much left. I was the best part. I think I can relate to Gabriel English, as a writer.
"This All Happened" reminds me of Virginia Wolf's "The Waves" but much more contemporary, and told by only one character. I didn't like "The Waves" but I very much enjoyed Michael Winter's writing. I hope it does become a movie.
I suppose I was. By a friend, in passing. A poetic friend who liked this sort of prose.
What a deep and wonderful book this is! It tells the year day by day of writer Gabriel English as he lives, exists, in St. Johns.
It's a fantastic read. A dreamy entry for each day of the year. Vibrant friends with their own unique voices.
It is not exactly the kind of book I would choose to read. It's not poetry that you immediately recognize. But it is! So much more.
How did she describe the book to me? A book where nothing happens.
Certainly things happen but it's just the passing of time, the events in enough detail that you might consider them how you would recall memories, just enough to say you'd been there, you'd done that.
I'm not entirely sure if "This All Happened" is Gabriel's journal, it's not clear that it is, but it might be. Maybe.
On conversation is particularly profound, for me:
"...And I felt like I couldn't say anything to you because you'd take it the wrong way and write it down in that journal.
You read it.
Yes.
Lydia.
Everything you write about me is rotten.
I write down things that vex me. I don't write down the good things.
Well, why don't you?
Happiness is too hard to write and boring to read..." (p.190)
Many times I found the sentiments written in this book to be very true and they resonated with me.
In a way I wish everyone would read this book. It's very human. It has many lessons, and it's like being the third person in a silent conversation, that you are being shared with. It's a story we all know, with people we are familiar with, just enough.
It's not outrageous, it's life, but told in such a way that you know if could be your own, or a dream you might have had.
In a lot of ways it made me better about my life. But I could hardly say it was a book written for me.
It took a long time to finish, not to read. I read half of it for the first month I had it, then, I suppose because my friend went AWOL I didn't want to read it any more. And it, the book, was filed away. I hear from her now and then, and realized I should finish reading it, so I did, in a day. There wasn't much left. I was the best part. I think I can relate to Gabriel English, as a writer.
"This All Happened" reminds me of Virginia Wolf's "The Waves" but much more contemporary, and told by only one character. I didn't like "The Waves" but I very much enjoyed Michael Winter's writing. I hope it does become a movie.
April 21, 2013
“When you describe an experience, what you are recounting is your memory of the act, not the act itself. Experiencing a moment is an inarticulate act. There are no words. It is in the sensory world. To recall it and to put words to it is to illustrate how one remembers the past, rather than actually experiencing the past. Keep this in mind as you read to words of others as they remember an incident.”
“Catholics rehearse their stories. They tell stories over and over. The same story, torquing it a little, realizing a certain detail is not working, adding stuff. I’ve heard the same two dozen stories out of Lydia about thirty times. And then there are the daily stories. Events that happen that she recounts. She’ll tell me, and then she’ll call Daphne, and then her brother phones and she tells her brother. The thing I find interesting about this story-telling thing is that if you heard only one of these stories, you’d think she was telling it for the first time. The enthusiasm behind it. That’s definitely a Catholic thing. Protestants tell a story once and it’s over with. They feel self-conscious to tell the story again. They are aware of who has already heard the story. Protestants tell a story best the first time; Catholics, the last time.”
“Catholics rehearse their stories. They tell stories over and over. The same story, torquing it a little, realizing a certain detail is not working, adding stuff. I’ve heard the same two dozen stories out of Lydia about thirty times. And then there are the daily stories. Events that happen that she recounts. She’ll tell me, and then she’ll call Daphne, and then her brother phones and she tells her brother. The thing I find interesting about this story-telling thing is that if you heard only one of these stories, you’d think she was telling it for the first time. The enthusiasm behind it. That’s definitely a Catholic thing. Protestants tell a story once and it’s over with. They feel self-conscious to tell the story again. They are aware of who has already heard the story. Protestants tell a story best the first time; Catholics, the last time.”
February 1, 2013
This book is a journal of a young writer who lives in St. John's. It chronicles Gabriel's daily life as he practises his craft and hangs out with his close circle of friends. It reads effortlessly and endearingly as if he aimlessly jotted things down, a format that conceals the effort that goes into such fine writing.
Gabriel emerges with all his flaws, although surely he is not as bad as his hypercritical girlfriend Lydia seems to think.
Part of the joy is the discovery of daily life for a 20-something in the capital of Newfoundland and surrounding countryside. Everyone knows everyone else and tolerates their flaws, a life in community that reminds me of my hometown of 20,000 in Ontario.
This seems to be a book that you read in snatches, perhaps at bedtime.
Gabriel emerges with all his flaws, although surely he is not as bad as his hypercritical girlfriend Lydia seems to think.
Part of the joy is the discovery of daily life for a 20-something in the capital of Newfoundland and surrounding countryside. Everyone knows everyone else and tolerates their flaws, a life in community that reminds me of my hometown of 20,000 in Ontario.
This seems to be a book that you read in snatches, perhaps at bedtime.
January 22, 2008
i enjoyed this book. although i found the style and main character to be very very similar to the main character/style in the Big Why. still the descriptions were excellent as was the characterization. the pace was ok, but like with the Big Why, the pace wasn't the best thing about the novel. and that's fine. but Winter's books wouldn't appeal to people who enjoy page turner type novels. i like those occasionally but his tranquil and reflective style suits me fine, especially in the bleak mid winter.
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September 4, 2016This review was deleted following Amazon's purchase of GoodReads.
The review can still be viewed via LibraryThing, where my profile can be found here.
I'm also in the process of building a database at Booklikes, where I can be found here.
If you read/liked/clicked through to see this review here on GR, many thanks.
The review can still be viewed via LibraryThing, where my profile can be found here.
I'm also in the process of building a database at Booklikes, where I can be found here.
If you read/liked/clicked through to see this review here on GR, many thanks.
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August 11, 2011One of the books that made Alison Pick want to be a writer. Read Alison Pick's book list: Books that made me realize I needed to be a writer.
May 1, 2018
I picked up this book after seeing the author at an event in Toronto. He had such great wit and charm and was so quick on his feet and with his words. I really didn’t feel that same incredible voice coming through these pages. Maybe I missed something, but nothing much about the main character resonated with me. Others seemed to enjoy this - perhaps it warrants a second read?
June 20, 2008
I had never read anything by Michael Winter before but read a short story of his which led me to this book. A story about an ordinary life and the experiences, hesitancies, love that we can relate to...only by a man! Really liked the landscape description too.
August 6, 2009
This is St. John's Newfoundland, as seenly partly by a dispassionate camera eye and partly by a sensitive soul who moves between the poles of joy/love, agony, and ennui. Not a page-turner, in terms of plot, but the writing is strong and the characters are vibrant.
January 3, 2015
it's good...the voice confused me sometimes because he seemed so unsure. now, given that this was written like journal entries, I'm sure it was intentional, but as someone who is unsure in real life, it is a little jarring to read a whole novel written in that fashion.
January 2, 2017
I read this book because it's highly recommended. Sure, Winter captures insight here and there, but overall nothing much here entertained or moved me. And writers who write about writers (okay, not quite all the characters are writers or other creative types)? Enough, already!
May 7, 2010
I loved this book because it takes place in st. john's (where I am from)
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