Ibis3’s Comments (group member since Sep 06, 2010)

Ibis3’s comments from the CanLit Challenge group.

Kirsten wrote: "I had the great pleasure of attending the WJCs in 2005."

Lucky girl! And heaven forfend that anyone should go hungry or thirsty when a hockey game is going on in Winnipeg! Pass the pierogies and beer say I.

About the Bryson... yeah, I read it back in '06 and have been wanting the illustrated version ever since. Awesome.

Kirsten wrote: "Excellent! What book?

The WJC is the best part of the hockey year."

It's certainly one of my favourites (especially when none of the teams I like is playing in the Stanley Cup). All the young boys just learning their game, just so sweet. And the enthusiasm they have is infectious.

The book:

Settling down to watch the Juniors. Go Canada!

Kirsten wrote: "Merry Christmas to all! I didn't get any books, but I got a couple of giftcards to buy them with!"

I only got one book this year, but it was one that I've wanted for a long time.

Mrsgaskell wrote: "Merry Christmas to all!! I'm enjoying some quiet time before everyone else gets up. My book and a nice cup of tea..."

Sounds lovely. What was your book?

Hope everyone out there is having a merry (and booky) Christmas!

My Christmas shopping day is tomorrow. I'll let you know how I hold up. Baked some eclairs today, but my mum's oven wasn't hot enough (she thinks), so they didn't really rise all that much. They turned out flat and wide instead of cylindrical.

Certainly not as heavy-handed as the bulk of Man From Glengarry, thank goodness. In addition to Angel Mrs. Murray, we have Saint* Mrs. Finch. Connor really had a thing for idealising (in a Christian Victorian mould) and idolising the mature women in his stories. Yet his opinion of girls and women in general is hyper-patriarchal (for the most part...I keep thinking of Kate driving that frisky team of horses). The girls scrub and clean up the school room while the boys have the freedom to go out in the woods and gather evergreen branches, playing the entire time. The man of the house is expected to lay down the law in the form of a beating and only relents when challenged by another man (his wife is yelled at and told to STFU). The denigration of the "gurl" teachers and the general consensus of everyone, including Her Holiness Mrs. Murray, that a man is required for the position.

A couple other interesting points of observation:
The gun culture is crazy. It's really more expected than not that the boys will be playing with real guns. I know the focus in this part of the story is about Hughie's fall into temptation, but I can't help but be distracted by the fact that the object for which he fell was a pistol that he could shoot squirrels with.

Foxy reminds me of a baby Milo Minderbinder from Catch-22.


***spoiler for Chapter 9 ff.***
*and Martyr, one would presume

What was your favourite book by a Canadian author that you read in 2010? What was great about it? We all want to know. :)

It's been kind of quiet here lately. I guess everyone is out shopping, inside baking, or trying to weather the weather.

How about MagniMed?

I've read this one before (though not in high school like so many people), but I'm looking forward to a re-read. From what I recall, there isn't much cheer to be had, so if you're in the mood for some Christmas spirit, there's a great Christmas episode in Book 14, The Mountain and the Valley.

Margaret Laurence

***spoilers ahead***

Finished. The final third of the book was really like reading a different novel. I wish that Connor had toned down and shortened the sermonizing sections and expanded on Ranald's experiences in British Columbia. We know why he went there but not why and how he became so attached.

Of course, the nation-building theme is quite obvious there at the end.

Ranald and Mrs. Murray are much too idealised, both by the author and by the other characters. They're both utterly competent to any situation, and neither have any failings. People just aren't that perfect. And would we really want them to be?

The last act of the book is a breath of fresh air. Echoes of Armand Durand with the man from the country rising up in the world. It's rather fun hanging out with the young people in Quebec City: a bit of drinking, a bit of gambling, a bit of fighting in the street, a bit of courting, a bit of canoeing. Lots of great characters, none of them unlikeable. And Kate is quite the modern gal, more at home driving a feisty team of horses than corseted up for sermons and tea.

Did you ever figure something out?

***mild spoilers for Chapter 17 ff.***

Yes! I'm through The Gauntlet of Religious Zeal™. The rest of the book looks pretty good—kind of a typical 'love quadrangle' (or pentagon?) shaping up. On the boys;' side we have Ranald, Harry, and De Lacey, on the girls', Maimie and Kate. Who will end up with whom? Only thing we can know for sure is that Maimie and Harry won't be partnered off.

Kirsten wrote: "I saw that. I wonder if he has to have those coats custom made for him."

Why yes, yes he does.

Kirsten wrote: "Anyone else watching HNIC? Don Cherry's suit coat looks pretty bad this week based on the 3D previews they were showing. (Unless that isn't this week's, but either way, I'm pretty sure my statemen..."

I've been watching. He was wearing a white jacket with multicoloured flowers. And Marcus Naslund is a sweet guy (not to mention hot). And the Leafs won against Montreal (what could be better?).

Started back up. Oh my gawd is this the most tiresome book I've read in ages. All I can do is think about how much torture it would entail to live under such pious tedium. An eighteen month religious revival? What a waste of time and energy!! And all the moaning and wailing about sin and forgiveness...blah blah blah. I feel so sorry for the people who had to spend their lives like this—half the time in a panic over whether they or their loved ones would end up in a lake of fire for all eternity and the other half singing psalms and praising the god who would put them there.

I'm hoping that the book will actually have a plot eventually.

Kirsten wrote: "Has anyone gone to grad school in Canada? I'm considering it and wondering what your thoughts were on the topic. Many of my Canadian friends have weighed in, and almost all of them have told me t..."

I did my MA at UofT, but I'm not sure if any part of my own personal experience would be generally applicable since my program was kind of isolated from the main school. What are you planning to study?