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

Ibis3’s comments from the CanLit Challenge group.

Kirsten wrote: "I don't know about that, they way they played last game...Hopefully they start Luongo. Seabs will be back tonight too, though I might recommend he stay home on his couch and rest instead."

For all that strenuous golf he'll be playing next week, eh?

Just starting slowly on A Map of Glass by Jane Urquhart.

Kirsten wrote: "So how bout them Blackhawks? It's like Toews WILLED Vancouver to ..."

Wah. I had to turn it off (twice). I'm sure the Canucks will finish Chicago off today. To lose 3 games in a row? Not a chance.

I'm enjoying this immensely. Callaghan is a great guide to the literary world of the twenties. He was obviously well-regarded by his slightly older contemporaries, including Hemingway and Sinclair Lewis and Ezra Pound and James Joyce. I love his enthusiasm as he meets up with his idols one by one. In between stories of these encounters, he talks about his day to day (or night to night) routine of walking around Paris and discussing literary and other things in the cafés over wine, punctuated by weekend boxing matches with Ernest. It's inspiring and fun.

Kirsten wrote: "I picked up Harperland, I'm all set to embark on my quest of knowledge. Time for me to finally understand what all the bickering is always about."

I'll be interested to hear your thoughts as an outsider who's coming into it without any preconceptions.

Kirsten wrote: "I have to admit, politics in Canada is something I don't have a super firm grasp on. I understand U.S. politics very well, but I only have heard bits and pieces about Canada, mostly because my fri..."

Politics
Book recommendations, eh? These two books give some insight into our current political situation, though Conservative partisans would likely cry bias:

Harperland: The Politics of Control
The Armageddon Factor: The Rise of Christian Nationalism in Canada

Canadian politics is very complex and bound to historical antecedent. It's kind of difficult to explain what's going on now without reference back to how we got here. I'm planning to add some history to the Challenge, so hopefully you'll be able to join in when those books come up.

Hockey
I like Toews too (I've been keen on him since the Juniors), but I wasn't happy when the Hawks beat the Canucks last year (and the year before). As for the Canadiens, well, as a Leafs fan, I kind of have to hurt when they win, but I do like them too. If that makes any sense? Kind of like "frenemies" I guess? On the other hand, though I may be an Ottawa native, I couldn't be more gleeful that the Sens tanked.

I've finished Woodsmen of the West and am now reading That Summer in Paris, a memoir by Morely Callaghan.

Kirsten wrote: "That's cool. I don't mind political talk, I just shy away from it here because my views sometimes clash with others.

Ah Vancouver. I kind of loathe them, but they have been good."

I'm open to political discussions happening here, but since I'm the mod, I don't want to alienate anyone or imply that members have to agree with my views. I have to tread lightly.

I think we're all adult enough to treat hockey rivalries without the same delicacy, however. So if Chicago is going to lose (maybe within 4 heh heh heh), who else are you planning to cheer for, Kirsten?

Kirsten wrote: "School has been eating my soul. As a Minnesotan, I was raised to avoid politics, a fact I find even more necessary after returning from the west coast. Whole different world.

Who are we feeling ..."

I've actually been pretty busy volunteering for one of my local candidates (but won't get into a political discussion here unless someone else starts one).

Playoffs: I'm going for Vancouver. They are superb, especially with the Sedins and Burrows (i.e. the honourary Sedin) healthy and Luongo hot (not to mention a great backup in Cory Schneider). I think it's their year this year.

It's taken me quite a long time to read this one, even though it's not that long a book (plus it's episodic, so one might think it would go quickly).

It reminded me quite a lot of Moby-Dick without all of the biblical overtones--the western loggers were rather a secular bunch--and without the extensive descriptions of the process (in this case, of logging). I liked Marty and his self-deprecation--he seemed to embody the amateur outsider, just there to observe the culture into which he'd been dropped. Carter, the obsessive, cruel taskmaster seemed a close cousin of Ahab.

I loved to read the descriptions of frontier life. I think the illustration of the Western ideal, the Western character, is still today the mythos in which Western Canadians see themselves: tough, uncomplaining, independent, active, educated by doing rather than reading books.

I guess no one wants to heat up the board with partisan chat. That's fine by me (also fine if you do want to break out the politics), but it's awfully quiet around here....

Believe it or not, I'm still struggling through this one. I'm finding it extremely heavy and draggy. There's mild interest in comparing Lorne's speech etc. with debates over NAFTA that I recall from my teens, but really I'm so disengaged. I just want it over with.

So do you all have election fever? Less reading or more during #elxn41?

I'm still on The Imperialist, which is largely a political novel so I'm getting it double-barrel: in real life and in my reading world.

I've moved the first P&P thread to the archive since it was at about 100 posts.

This one should be interesting. The story of Morley's friendships with Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and their time in Paris. I've just barely started it so far.

Hi everyone! I've been pretty busy the past couple of weeks which is why I haven't been around so much. Glad you had a good trip, Kirsten.

The middle of the book is kind of a drag. Lots of political talk about a policy that is no longer relevant. A little discussion might be interesting (i.e. what was at issue back in the day, how might that compare to positions on issues today like free trade and globalisation), but this ongoing, detailed stuff is like watching obsolete, archived episodes of Power & Politics for hours. I think the fact that the factors involved would be unrecognisable to the original readers and author only a decade after the book's publication with the advent of WWI makes it seem even more pointless. I wish Duncan would spend a little more time talking about her characters apart from their political views on imperialism.

So from Ontario, we travel west to the rough frontiers of British Columbia on the other side of the young country. I don't know much about this one, so it should be a nice surprise. Martin Allerdale Grainger

I've moved the book to the 'read' shelf, though I haven't finished it myself, so as to make room for the next CanLit Challenge book, Woodsmen of the West.

The relationship of Canada to England is so central to Canadian life and politics (at least as seen through the eyes of Duncan) a century ago, but now, it's hardly a blip on the radar (except maybe when there is a Royal Wedding on the horizon).

I had to put this one aside again since I had to finish an Interlibrary Loan book first. Now reading it steadfastly so I can move on...

As with the Glengarry books, religion and church play quite a role in the lives of the characters (I guess one could extrapolate that to encompass Ontario life at the end of the nineteenth century/beginning of the twentieth. The few pages outlining Dr. Drummond's theology was boring and offputing but wasn't nearly as tedious as the continual droning of Connor's books.

I find Duncan's writing to be similar to that of Elizabeth Gaskell or George Eliot (or perhaps a cross between the two), rather than Wharton.