DOCSLIB.ORG

Write Me a Film?

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Write Me a Film? WRITE ME A FILM? A Symposium by Canadian Filmmakers INTRODUCTION Hugo McPherson WHAT ARE THE CONNECTIONS vision. So we will regard this as a quartet, between writing and cinema in Canada? not in musical terms, where four voices There is no authoritative answer to this play together, but in film terms, where question. Instead, there are almost as discordant voices achieve a special har- many answers as there are film makers mony or dissonance in a completed work. and writers. Hence a symposium, the In this script, Ian MacNeill, film form most closely related to the group maker, and former Director of English effort of making a film. I have not, how- Programme, relates the costs of film- ever, taken a further step towards film: making to the individual effort of the I have not asked each contributor to sub- writer. William Weintraub, novelist, mit his article to a score of colleagues script-writer and film-maker, dramatizes to have it revised, praised, condemned, the four-way problem of scripted and cut, expanded, re-titled, or changed to unscripted films. Guy Glover, producer, another subject before it reached the page-proof (or test print) stage. That and Director of English Programme, em- would have been too close to the real phasizes the inter-disciplinary, non-liter- process; and of course the budget for a ary nature of the film art. And Jacques symposium is not a film budget. Godbout, film maker, novelist, poet, and What follows reveals the attitudes of Directeur de la production française, four working film makers and writers looks philosophically at fiction and film, who occupy important places at the Na- and finds that words and visual images— tional Film Board. Each has chosen an though very different media — have a aspect of the relation between film and common bond in poetry. Bon appétit! I writing, and each expresses a personal shall add an Afterword. 73 UNEASY RIDERS William Weintraub The connection between writing and the cinema in Canada? Whither? I got some insight into this matter the other day by eavesdropping on a conversation that took place in the cafeteria of the National Film Board (or any other place where Canadian film makers gather). The conversa- tion was between RALPH OBSOLETE, a 40-year-old film maker, and a 20-year-old colleague of his, PETER WITH-IT. OBSOLETE: This film you're making, off faster than a well-made play. No, what's it about? we're just going to roll the camera and WITH-IT: Alienation. How people can't let it happen. That's what the kids communicate. want. OBSOLETE : Of course. What else is there? OBSOLETE: Easy Rider, eh? Who's writing your script? WITH-IT: Easy Rider? Are you putting WITH-IT: Script? Are you putting me me on again? The kids are laughing on? Who uses scripts? at that one. You ought to get out on OBSOLETE: You're having the actors im- the college circuit. It's really wild, provise, is that it? Realism? man. WITH-IT: YOU older cats might have OBSOLETE: I'd like to read you a quota- called it realism. We call it honesty. tion, which I just happen to have with OBSOLETE: What makes you think that me. It goes like this: "The making of when an actor makes up a line it's a film, to me, is simply the extension more honest than when a writer writes of the process of writing. It's the pro- it? Or more perceptive? cess of rendering the thing you've writ- WITH-IT: These kids aren't really actors, ten. You're still writing when you're dad. They're amateurs. More like real directing." It was John Huston who people. said that. OBSOLETE: YOU mean their jaws will be WITH-IT: Who's he? more slack? While they're grunting OBSOLETE: He made The Maltese Fal- around trying to think of what to say con and The Treasure of Sierra Madre next? and a few others. WITH-IT: NOW don't get uptight, man. I WITH-IT: Oh, JohnHuston. We had him see you're still hung up on that struc- in school. But that's not where it's at, ture thing. Well that's not where it's man. That's museum stuff. at. There's nothing that turns the kids OBSOLETE: And Eisenstein and Hitch- 74 WRITE MEA FILM? cock and Bergman. They all seem to them off by creating a whole bloody think that writing the screenplay is mystique about film. "It's a director's important. Maybe the most important medium . the director knows best part of it. ... at best the writer is a necessary WITH-IT: That's more of the same. Cosy evil. ." We resent writers and writing stuff for Film Society liberals. Look, if because deep down we know that writ- you want to write, write. If you want ing is real work and directing is just to make films, make films. It's two play. different ball games. What we're try- WITH-IT: You're hung up on that puri- ing to do is create a new, non-verbal tan work thing, man. Unless you sweat language. That old words-on-paper bit you won't go to Heaven. Why don't isn't going anywhere. you relax? Roll the camera and let it OBSOLETE : Let's talk about your last film happen. Let it turn you on. Don't feel — Opus, I think you called it. If I re- so threatened by freedom. member correctly, you spent ten min- OBSOLETE: We'll never have a feature utes before the screening explaining to film industry unless we do something us how you were creating a new, non- about the writing problem. verbal language. Then we saw the film WITH-IT: (triumphantly) That word — six minutes long — and then you "industry" gives you away, doesn't it? spent half an hour explaining the sym- The hell with meaningful relevance, bolism and other goodies. That was you want factories with Hollywood the most verbal goddam performance written on the chimneys. I ever saw. Is that your new, non- OBSOLETE: (weakly) Hitchcock ... Berg- verbal language? man . Faulkner wrote for the WITH-IT: I can't help it if you old folks movies . .. have to have things translated for you. (At this point, SAMUEL SAGE, cup of OBSOLETE: What you mean is that if I coffee in hand, enters and sits down at had been high on acid I would have the table. He is Professor of Communi- understood what those out - of - focus cations at a well-known Canadian uni- blurs meant. versity, and a film sage. He is 50 years WITH-IT: You're getting all uptight old and wears a new beard and a mán- again. You would have understood if dala around his neck.) you cared. All you want in films is for SAGE: I liked Opus, With-In. the butler to open the door and say, WITH-IT: Thanks. "Anyone for tennis?" Anything to take SAGE: The mosaic thing came off quite your mind off what's relevant. well, I thought. And there was a kind OBSOLETE: (belligerently) Unless we in- of "foreground restlessness," if I may volve writers, we'll never have a Cana- coin a phrase. I was reminded of dian feature film industry. God knows, Oldenburg's use of mass. we've made plenty of features, and all OBSOLETE: (shouting) What about the of them stink. That's because we've boredom? What about the goddam never encouraged writers — brought savage bone-crushing inhuman bore- them along, made them feel part of dom of these goddam youth films? film making. Instead, we've frightened (We notice, for the first time, that while 75 WRITE ME A FILM? the others have been drinking coffee, Council sends Old Sage ten thousand OBSOLETE has been nipping at a to explicate With-It's films. "Come all flask.) ye thesis writers ..." In the nick of OBSOLETE: {screaming now) Incoher- time, too, now that the oie T. S. Eliot ence is boring. lode is drying up. WITH-IT: The alcohol makes them up- SAGE: DO you really want to stop all ex- tight. Ugly, isn't it? perimentation, Obsolete? Would you SAGE: {smiling) You can sometimes have stopped Picasso in his youth? pacify them by telling them a nice, Would you have stopped McLaren? old-fashioned linear story. OBSOLETE: I want to stop being bored {WITH-IT lights up a joint and offers by experiments that are unsuccessful. one to SAGE. But SAGE declines, apolo- We used to throw those away, but getically, and fills his pipe with Edge- now we screen them for the public. worth Tobacco.) And I want to stop treating every SAGE : What you don't understand, Obso- snot-nosed kid who comes along as a lete, is that we young people see Film genius. Nowadays everybody's a genius as part of a total Communications until proven otherwise. In my day, it Picture. Subject matter is no longer in used to be the other way around. the ascendancy, no matter what your WITH-IT: {with his generation's Love) rear-view mirror tells you. If we have Never mind, Obsolete, you still serve a to try to verbalize the New Cinema's purpose, I guess. qualitative parameters for purposes of SAGE: It just so happens that With-it is identification through your generation's six years ahead of his time. syntax, we might call them "honesty," OBSOLETE: Then let's put his films away "freedom," "relevance," "spontaneity." for six years and release them when But essentially, Post-Syntactic is where people have developed the stamina to it's at.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature Edited by Eva-Marie Kröller Frontmatter More Information
    Cambridge University Press 978-1-107-15962-4 — The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature Edited by Eva-Marie Kröller Frontmatter More Information The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature This fully revised second edition of The Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature offers a comprehensive introduction to major writers, genres, and topics. For this edition several chapters have been completely re-written to relect major developments in Canadian literature since 2004. Surveys of ic- tion, drama, and poetry are complemented by chapters on Aboriginal writ- ing, autobiography, literary criticism, writing by women, and the emergence of urban writing. Areas of research that have expanded since the irst edition include environmental concerns and questions of sexuality which are freshly explored across several different chapters. A substantial chapter on franco- phone writing is included. Authors such as Margaret Atwood, noted for her experiments in multiple literary genres, are given full consideration, as is the work of authors who have achieved major recognition, such as Alice Munro, recipient of the Nobel Prize for literature. Eva-Marie Kröller edited the Cambridge Companion to Canadian Literature (irst edn., 2004) and, with Coral Ann Howells, the Cambridge History of Canadian Literature (2009). She has published widely on travel writing and cultural semiotics, and won a Killam Research Prize as well as the Distin- guished Editor Award of the Council of Editors of Learned Journals for her work as editor of the journal Canadian
    [Show full text]
  • Writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Monica Ali Isabel Allende Martin Amis Kurt Andersen K
    Writers Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie Monica Ali Isabel Allende Martin Amis Kurt Andersen K. A. Applegate Jeffrey Archer Diana Athill Paul Auster Wasi Ahmed Victoria Aveyard Kevin Baker Mark Allen Baker Nicholson Baker Iain Banks Russell Banks Julian Barnes Andrea Barrett Max Barry Sebastian Barry Louis Bayard Peter Behrens Elizabeth Berg Wendell Berry Maeve Binchy Dustin Lance Black Holly Black Amy Bloom Chris Bohjalian Roberto Bolano S. J. Bolton William Boyd T. C. Boyle John Boyne Paula Brackston Adam Braver Libba Bray Alan Brennert Andre Brink Max Brooks Dan Brown Don Brown www.downloadexcelfiles.com Christopher Buckley John Burdett James Lee Burke Augusten Burroughs A. S. Byatt Bhalchandra Nemade Peter Cameron W. Bruce Cameron Jacqueline Carey Peter Carey Ron Carlson Stephen L. Carter Eleanor Catton Michael Chabon Diane Chamberlain Jung Chang Kate Christensen Dan Chaon Kelly Cherry Tracy Chevalier Noam Chomsky Tom Clancy Cassandra Clare Susanna Clarke Chris Cleave Ernest Cline Harlan Coben Paulo Coelho J. M. Coetzee Eoin Colfer Suzanne Collins Michael Connelly Pat Conroy Claire Cook Bernard Cornwell Douglas Coupland Michael Cox Jim Crace Michael Crichton Justin Cronin John Crowley Clive Cussler Fred D'Aguiar www.downloadexcelfiles.com Sandra Dallas Edwidge Danticat Kathryn Davis Richard Dawkins Jonathan Dee Frank Delaney Charles de Lint Tatiana de Rosnay Kiran Desai Pete Dexter Anita Diamant Junot Diaz Chitra Banerjee Divakaruni E. L. Doctorow Ivan Doig Stephen R. Donaldson Sara Donati Jennifer Donnelly Emma Donoghue Keith Donohue Roddy Doyle Margaret Drabble Dinesh D'Souza John Dufresne Sarah Dunant Helen Dunmore Mark Dunn James Dashner Elisabetta Dami Jennifer Egan Dave Eggers Tan Twan Eng Louise Erdrich Eugene Dubois Diana Evans Percival Everett J.
    [Show full text]
  • Cahiers-Papers 53-1
    The Giller Prize (1994–2004) and Scotiabank Giller Prize (2005–2014): A Bibliography Andrew David Irvine* For the price of a meal in this town you can buy all the books. Eat at home and buy the books. Jack Rabinovitch1 Founded in 1994 by Jack Rabinovitch, the Giller Prize was established to honour Rabinovitch’s late wife, the journalist Doris Giller, who had died from cancer a year earlier.2 Since its inception, the prize has served to recognize excellence in Canadian English-language fiction, including both novels and short stories. Initially the award was endowed to provide an annual cash prize of $25,000.3 In 2005, the Giller Prize partnered with Scotiabank to create the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Under the new arrangement, the annual purse doubled in size to $50,000, with $40,000 going to the winner and $2,500 going to each of four additional finalists.4 Beginning in 2008, $50,000 was given to the winner and $5,000 * Andrew Irvine holds the position of Professor and Head of Economics, Philosophy and Political Science at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan. Errata may be sent to the author at [email protected]. 1 Quoted in Deborah Dundas, “Giller Prize shortlist ‘so good,’ it expands to six,” 6 October 2014, accessed 17 September 2015, www.thestar.com/entertainment/ books/2014/10/06/giller_prize_2014_shortlist_announced.html. 2 “The Giller Prize Story: An Oral History: Part One,” 8 October 2013, accessed 11 November 2014, www.quillandquire.com/awards/2013/10/08/the-giller- prize-story-an-oral-history-part-one; cf.
    [Show full text]
  • Proquest Dissertations
    "The House of the Irish": Irishness, History, and Memory in Griffintown, Montreal, 1868-2009 John Matthew Barlow A Thesis In the Department of History Present in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements For the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy at Concordia University, Montreal, Quebec, Canada March 2009 © John Matthew Barlow, 2009 Library and Archives Bibliotheque et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de I'edition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Ottawa ON K1A 0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-63386-1 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-63386-1 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non­ L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduire, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non­ support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre im primes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation.
    [Show full text]
  • 150 Canadian Books to Read
    150 CANADIAN BOOKS TO READ Books for Adults (Fiction) 419 by Will Ferguson Generation X by Douglas Coupland A Better Man by Leah McLaren The Girl who was Saturday Night by Heather A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews O’Neill A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood Across The Bridge by Mavis Gallant Helpless by Barbara Gowdy Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood Home from the Vinyl Café by Stuart McLean All My Puny Sorrows by Miriam Toews Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese And The Birds Rained Down by Jocelyne Saucier The Island Walkers by John Bemrose Anil’s Ghost by Michael Ondaatje The Jade Peony by Wayson Choy Annabel by Kathleen Winter jPod by Douglas Coupland As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross Late Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay The Back of the Turtle by Thomas King Lives of the Saints by Nino Ricci Barney’s Version by Mordecai Richler Love and Other Chemical Imbalances by Adam Beatrice & Virgil by Yann Martel Clark Beautiful Losers by Leonard Cohen Luck by Joan Barfoot The Best Kind of People by Zoe Whittall Medicine Walk by Richard Wagamese The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis Mercy Among The Children by David Adams The Birth House by Ami McKay Richards The Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre No Great Mischief by Alistair Macleod Black Robe by Brian Moore The Other Side of the Bridge by Mary Lawson Blackfly Season by Giles Blunt The Outlander by Gil Adamson The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill The Piano Man’s Daughter by Timothy Findley The Break by Katherena Vermette The Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke The Cat’s Table by Michael Ondaatje Quantum Night by Robert J.
    [Show full text]
  • The Mainstream
    THE MAINSTREAM Ronald Sutherland A.LONG WITH A NUMBER of other activities in Canada, literary criticism has picked up a great deal of momentum in the last decade. Like the St. Lawrence River it has deepened and broadened as it moved along, and to a large extent it also has divided in two at the Island of Montreal. In view of the mighty St. Lawrence's present state of pollution, however, it would perhaps be injudicious to pursue the analogy. But it can be said with reasonable confidence that the steady increase in the volume of Canadian literary criticism is having and will continue to have a beneficial effect on creative writing in this country. I imagine that there is nothing more debilitating for a writer than to be ignored, to be working in a vacuum as it were. Frederick Philip Grove comes immediately to mind. Despite the recent increase in the volume of literary criticism, however, several major problems remain to be resolved. They are basic problems which glare like a hole in a girl's stocking or a pair of mismatched shoes, but they can also be covered up and ignored. They would seem to invite attention, and then again they do not. For they are often charged with emotional overtones. For instance, there is the question of who precisely is a Canadian author. Anthologies and literary histories, to say the least, have tended to be gloriously free of discrimina- tion, grabbing all that could possibly be grabbed. One wonders, indeed, how Jacques Maritain, Wyndham Lewis, Willa Cather and Ernest Hemingway, all of whom lived for a time in Canada, escaped the conscription, not to mention Alexis de Tocqueville, Charles Dickens and Henry David Thoreau.
    [Show full text]
  • Longlisted & Shortlisted Books 1994-2018
    Longlisted & Shortlisted Books 1994-2018 www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca # The Boys in the Trees, Mary Swan – 2008 13 Ways of Looking at a Fat Girl, Mona Awad - 2016 Brother, David Chariandy – 2017 419, Will Ferguson - 2012 Burridge Unbound, Alan Cumyn – 2000 By Gaslight, Steven Price – 2016 A A Beauty, Connie Gault – 2015 C A Complicated Kindness, Miriam Toews – 2004 Casino and Other Stories, Bonnie Burnard – 1994 A Fine Balance, Rohinton Mistry – 1995 Cataract City, Craig Davidson – 2013 The Age of Longing, Richard B. Wright – 1995 The Cat’s Table, Michael Ondaatje – 2011 A Good House, Bonnie Burnard – 1999 Caught, Lisa Moore – 2013 A Good Man, Guy Vanderhaeghe – 2011 The Cellist of Sarajevo, Steven Galloway – 2008 Alias Grace, Margaret Atwood – 1996 Cereus Blooms at Night, Shani Mootoo – 1997 Alligator, Lisa Moore – 2005 Childhood, André Alexis – 1998 All My Puny Sorrows, Miriam Toews – 2014 Cities of Refuge, Michael Helm – 2010 All That Matters, Wayson Choy – 2004 Clara Callan, Richard B. Wright – 2001 All True Not a Lie in it, Alix Hawley – 2015 Close to Hugh, Mariana Endicott - 2015 American Innovations, Rivka Galchen – 2014 Cockroach, Rawi Hage – 2008 Am I Disturbing You?, Anne Hébert, translated by The Colony of Unrequited Dreams, Wayne Johnston – Sheila Fischman – 1999 1998 Anil’s Ghost, Michael Ondaatje – 2000 The Colour of Lightning, Paulette Jiles – 2009 Annabel, Kathleen Winter – 2010 Conceit, Mary Novik – 2007 An Ocean of Minutes, Thea Lim – 2018 Confidence, Russell Smith – 2015 The Antagonist, Lynn Coady – 2011 Cool Water, Dianne Warren – 2010 The Architects Are Here, Michael Winter – 2007 The Crooked Maid, Dan Vyleta – 2013 A Recipe for Bees, Gail Anderson-Dargatz – 1998 The Cure for Death by Lightning, Gail Arvida, Samuel Archibald, translated by Donald Anderson-Dargatz – 1996 Winkler – 2015 Curiosity, Joan Thomas – 2010 A Secret Between Us, Daniel Poliquin, translated by The Custodian of Paradise, Wayne Johnston – 2006 Donald Winkler – 2007 The Assassin’s Song, M.G.
    [Show full text]
  • Montreal Essentials
    ESSENTIALS Montreal Essentials Origin of the Name: It’s generally accepted that Montreal got its name from the mountain at its centre. The theory is that French explorer Jacques Cartier applied the name “Mont Royal” to the modest peak he ascended when he visited the area in 1535. While the French settle - ment that was established a century later was initially called Ville Marie (in honour of the Virgin Mary), by the 1700s the name “Montreal” (a contraction of Mont Royal) was commonly used. Coat of Arms: Adopted in 1833 and modified in 1938. Emblazoned on a silver field is a heraldic cross meant to reflect Christian motives and principles. On the coat of arms are also four emblems: The fleur-de-lis of the Royal House of Bourbon representing the French settlers, the Lancastrian rose for the English component of the city’s population, the thistle represents those of Scottish descent; and the Irish shamrock rep - resents early Irish settlers. Montreal’s Motto: Concordia Salus (Salvation through harmony). 17 ESSENTIALS Official Flag: First displayed in May 1939. The flag is emblazoned with holiday known as St. Jean-Baptiste Day (feast day of St. John the the same heraldic symbols as those of the coat of arms. Baptist). Other holidays are New Years Day (January 1), Good Friday (the Friday before Easter), Canada Day (July 1), Labour Day (the first Logo: Created in 1981, the logo is shaped like a flower, in which each petal Monday in September), Thanksgiving (second Monday in October), forms the letters V and M, the initials of the name “Ville de Montréal.” Remembrance Day (November 11), Christmas Day (December 25) and Boxing Day (December 26).
    [Show full text]
  • MORDECAI RICHLER Craftsman Or Artist
    MORDECAI RICHLER Craftsman or Artist Nairn Kattan I Ν AN ARTICLE which he wrote for the special number that the American travel magazine Holiday recently devoted to Canada, Mordecai Richler said : Finally, the best influences in the world reach us from New York. The longest unmanned frontier in the world is an artificial one and I look forward to the day when it will disappear and Canadians will join fully in the American adventure. To say this in Canada is still to invite cat-calls and rotten eggs. We would lose our identity, they say, our independence. But Texas or Maine still have distinctive identities and we are even now economically dependent on the United States. This is the logical conclusion that can be glimpsed behind Mordecai Richler's whole literary output and behind the intellectual and psychological processes from which it springs. Before accepting the argument of the cultural supremacy of the United States, this Canadian novelist explored all the ways which might have led him to a vigorous affirmation of the cultural autonomy of Canada. The journey of Mordecai Richler in fact runs along two parallel lines which are actually projections of the same hunger and the same will to succeed; he is an adolescent doubling as the child of an immigrant. This immigrant's son was born at a time when a middle class was beginning to take shape in the heart of the Jewish community. The child who first saw the light in the old Jewish quarter of Montreal shared the dreams and hopes of a generation which was born in Canada and wished to gather with both hands the possibilities of that American land.
    [Show full text]
  • The Great Canadian Reading List: 150 Books to Read for Canada 150
    The great Canadian reading list: 150 books to read for Canada 150 1. Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese 32. Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood ​ ​ 2. A Great Reckoning by Louise Penny 33. Saints & Misfits by S.K. Ali ​ ​ 3. Firewater by Harold R. Johnson 34. A Fine Balance by Rohinton Mistry ​ ​ 4. Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien 35. 419 by Will Ferguson ​ ​ 5. My Best Stories by Alice Munro 36. Celia's Song by Lee Maracle ​ ​ 6. Susceptible by Geneviève Castrée 37. One Hour in Paris by Karyn Freedman ​ ​ 7. The Game by Ken Dryden 38. In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts by Gabor Maté ​ ​ 8. Who Has Seen the by Wind by W.O. Mitchell 39. Birdie by Tracey Lindberg ​ ​ 9. Whylah Falls by George Elliott Clarke 40. Ru by Kim Thúy, translated by Sheila Fischman ​ ​ 10. Obasan by Joy Kogawa 41. Roughing it in the Bush by Susanna Moodie ​ ​ 11. Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel 42. Never Cry Wolf by Farley Mowat ​ ​ 12. The Inconvenient Indian by Thomas King 43. In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje ​ ​ 13. Mabel Murple by Sheree Fitch 44. Bloodletting and Miraculous Cures by Vincent Lam ​ ​ 14. The Disappeared by Kim Echlin 45. Half-Breed by Maria Campbell ​ ​ 15. River Thieves by Michael Crummey 46. Anne of Green Gables by L.M. Montgomery ​ ​ 16. The Right to Be Cold by Sheila Watt-Cloutier 47. Company Town by Madeline Ashby ​ ​ 17. Montreal's Irish Mafia by D'Arcy O'Connor 48. New Tab by Guillaume Morissette ​ ​ 18.
    [Show full text]
  • Award Winning Novels: Plot Summaries for Books in Bayside's Resource Centre (Courtesy of Chapters Website)
    Award Winning Novels: Plot Summaries for Books in Bayside's Resource Centre (Courtesy of Chapters website) Man Booker Award Winners Mantel, Hilary. Bring Up the Bodies. By 1535 Thomas Cromwell, the blacksmith''s son, is far from his humble origins. Chief Minister to Henry VIII, his fortunes have risen with those of Anne Boleyn, Henry''s second wife, for whose sake Henry has broken with Rome and created his own church. But Henry''s actions have forced England into dangerous isolation, and Anne has failed to do what she promised: bear a son to secure the Tudor line. When Henry visits Wolf Hall, Cromwell watches as Henry falls in love with the silent, plain Jane Seymour. The minister sees what is at stake: not just the king''s pleasure, but the safety of the nation. As he eases a way through the sexual politics of the court, and its miasma of gossip, he must negotiate a "truth" that will satisfy Henry and secure his own career. But neither minister nor king will emerge undamaged from the bloody theatre of Anne''s final days. Barnes, Julian. The Sense of An Ending. The story of a man coming to terms with the mutable past, Julian Barnes''s new novel is laced with his trademark precision, dexterity and insight. It is the work of one of the world''s most distinguished writers. Webster and his clique first met Adrian Finn at school. Sex-hungry and book-hungry, they navigated the girl drought of gawky adolescence together, trading in affectations, in-jokes, rumour and wit.
    [Show full text]
  • What Is Québécois Literature? Reflections on the Literary History of Francophone Writing in Canada
    What is Québécois Literature? Reflections on the Literary History of Francophone Writing in Canada Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures, 28 Chapman, What is Québécois Literature.indd 1 30/07/2013 09:16:58 Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures Series Editors EDMUND SMYTH CHARLES FORSDICK Manchester Metropolitan University University of Liverpool Editorial Board JACQUELINE DUTTON LYNN A. HIGGINS MIREILLE ROSELLO University of Melbourne Dartmouth College University of Amsterdam MICHAEL SHERINGHAM DAVID WALKER University of Oxford University of Sheffield This series aims to provide a forum for new research on modern and contem- porary French and francophone cultures and writing. The books published in Contemporary French and Francophone Cultures reflect a wide variety of critical practices and theoretical approaches, in harmony with the intellectual, cultural and social developments which have taken place over the past few decades. All manifestations of contemporary French and francophone culture and expression are considered, including literature, cinema, popular culture, theory. The volumes in the series will participate in the wider debate on key aspects of contemporary culture. Recent titles in the series: 12 Lawrence R. Schehr, French 20 Pim Higginson, The Noir Atlantic: Post-Modern Masculinities: From Chester Himes and the Birth of the Neuromatrices to Seropositivity Francophone African Crime Novel 13 Mireille Rosello, The Reparative in 21 Verena Andermatt Conley, Spatial Narratives: Works of Mourning in Ecologies: Urban
    [Show full text]