Two Solitudes (New Canadian Library) in CanLit Challenge

Jan 14, 2013 Pooker rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, canada-reads

I finished reading this book this morning, January 23, 2012. I started on January 14th. Nine days to read it? I'm shocked. I thought I breezed through it. I know I read a little bit every day and looked forward to doing so. There was never a point where I was bored or tempted to skim. That was also surprising since this is a re-read for me. It is rare that I will read a book a second time. But I made an exception for this book because it is one of this year's Canada Reads finalists and it has be I finished reading this book this morning, January 23, 2012. I started on January 14th. Nine days to read it? I'm shocked. I thought I breezed through it. I know I read a little bit every day and looked forward to doing so. There was never a point where I was bored or tempted to skim. That was also surprising since this is a re-read for me. It is rare that I will read a book a second time. But I made an exception for this book because it is one of this year's Canada Reads finalists and it has been about four decades since I read it the first time.

On picking it up for the second time, I only vaguely remembered the story line. I suspect that even that shadowy remembrance was due to the book's title. I imagine that all Canadians know the meaning of "two solitudes". I do not remember ever thinking that this was one of the best books I ever read, but I suspect I would have enjoyed it, even relished it when I read it.

My copy of the book is a 1972 printing. I have no doubt that I would have read it that year or at least as soon as I bought it. In 1972 a book purchased would have been a treat and would not have been relegated to a TBR heap as I have the luxury of so doing today. In 1972 I was newly married. My first child would be born that year. It was also the first year that I would vote in a federal election. I considered it my duty to make an informed choice. I would vote for Pierre Elliott Trudeau as my mother had done in 1968. I'd vote for him not because my mother had done so but because my father's absolute fury with my mother's decision in 1968 piqued my interest in politics. I had always assumed that my parents were pretty well united in everything they did. So what was it about this Trudeau fellow that caused such disagreement and fireworks between my parents? And so at that time, probably more so than any other time, I was interested in politics and thought about the people and things that divided our country and those that held it together; Bourassa and Trudeau; separatism, nationalism, federalism, multiculturalism; Canada as a mosaic, not a melting pot; the desire of the French to preserve their culture; language rights; and hockey. Paul Henderson shoots and scores. :)

So this book although first published in 1945 is chock full of things that interested me decades later in '72.

So, did it stand the test of time? Did it interest me four more decades later? To my surprise it did. I had not remembered MacLennan's style of writing which seemed almost Dickensian to me on second reading. So delightfully wordy and descriptive.

And while I am aware of criticism of the book - that it would have been a better novel had it ended at Athanase's death, I adored the Paul and Heather story. I think their story, as the younger generation being perhaps the solution to Canadian unity, parallels nicely with the aboriginal youth led Idle no More movement in Canada today.

Do I think it should win Canada Reads 2013? Nope my money's on Indian Horse. But I do think it is a book all Canadians should read and I look forward to it hanging around in the CR debates, hopefully to the end.

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Feb 04, 2013 Kay Fur rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 3-5-star-fiction, canadian-authors, canada-reads

I enjoyed the many dichotomies in this story: English and French, war and peace, city and country, man and woman. It didn't leave me feeling changed or mind blown in any way, but it was an enjoyable read and I loved the author's ability to describe the landscape near the St. Lawrence so beautifully. It's like you could smell the fall leaves, feel the cold wind and bask in the spring sunshine. Transported through poetry! ...more

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Aug 07, 2017 Rachelle rated it liked it · review of another edition

As an Anglo who has lived in Quebec, I highly recommend this book. All Canadians should try to live in Quebec at one point or another. We are one country.

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