The Gentle Anarchist. a Life of George Woodcock Douglas Fetherling

Book Reviews TIJ affairs. While McClean's narrative Farris's beliefs and achievements, she ends here, Farris lived on for another is less successful in uncovering how thirty years as a wife, mother, and other people saw this woman. Farris grandmother. had little in common with most of A strength of this biography is its Vancouver's moral reformers and first- integration of the religious, political, wave women's movement activists. and social contexts. The sections on Nor did most of the men in the Liberal the modernist Baptists are particularly party seem to like either her or her useful. McClean addresses the biases "influence" on policy. While McClean of many middle-class Canadians, in argues that Farris's influence faded as cluding Farris, and demonstrates just her ideas and beliefs became dated, how contradictory and complex any her early personal influence on party individual's belief system and be politics is possibly overstated, partic haviour can be. While McClean does ularly given the lack of personal and not dwell on the anti-Asian prejudice official support for many of her ideas. or the class bias of her subject, she These criticisms aside, McClean fills raises these issues and does not at a gap in BC women's history. Her por tempt to play down the effects of trait of Farris as a "warts and all" ma racism or elitism on Farris's behaviour. ternal feminist whose influence moved McClean writes in a rather dis beyond her family into the political passionate style, which makes it dif- culture of British Columbia is an inter fcult for the reader to care about Farris esting and useful reminder that much and masks the effect she had on people. of the political history of this pro While McClean takes a good look at vince's women remains to be written. The Gentle Anarchist. A Life of George Woodcock Douglas Fetherling Vancouver/Toronto and Seattle: Douglas and Mclntyre/ University of Washington Press, 1998. 244 pp. $35 cloth. BY IVAN AVAKUMOVIC University of British Columbia he West Coast has always Among the latter, George attracted men and women in Woodcock is by far the most famous. T search of a more stimulating A native of Winnipeg who spent his environment. The belief that life formative years in England, he emi would be better West of the Rockies grated to Vancouver Island in 1949 and brought to our shores many who still stayed in British Columbia until his had to make their mark in society as death. The decades he lived in well as those who were already fairly Vancouver were years of tremendous well known in other parts of the intellectual growth and visibility that world. extended well beyond Canada. 114 BC STUDIES Woodcock became Canada's most il to Woodcock's correspondence at lustrious man of letters. The tre Queen's University, Kingston, and mendous range of his publications and through fairly lengthy conversations his nurturing of those who assumed with Woodcock in the evening of his an increasingly important role in the life. Considerable evidence shows that study of Canadian literature ensured Woodcock was eager for Fetherling to him a very prominent place in the firm write the biography. However, Wood ament of Canadian intellectual life in cock's wife Inge, and several of his the second half of the twentieth cen closest collaborators in Vancouver, tury. either declined to be interviewed for Success, however, came at a very the project or were not asked. heavy price. A highly disciplined ap The result is a study that will be of proach to work left little time for re great use to those interested in as laxation, light amusement, and the sessing the impact that Woodcock kind of reflection that might have led made in Canada and the English- to truly revolutionary breakthroughs speaking world through his major in those areas in which he was parti contributions to our understanding of cularly interested and qualified. anarchism; sophisticated travel books; Financial pressure imposed upon him and numerous studies on Canadian a certain amount of hack work at the and English literature, history, and expense of the writing that he and his politics. Ironically, the weakest parts admirers hoped that he would un of the biography are the sections dertake. Friction and misunder devoted to Woodcock's work as editor standings at the University of British of UBC'S journal of Canadian Literature Columbia imposed additional re and tl>e lack of proper assessment of strictions on his creative work and a wide range of Canadian writers who provided yet another example of how figure in Woodcock's writings, corre myopic university administrators and spondence, and conversations. Refer envious colleagues complicate the life ences to the "gentle anarchist" ignore of very gited and highly productive the fact that Woodcock held very scholars. strong views about fellow writers and Douglas Fetherling, the author of often did not share the prevalent esti the first major biography of Woodcock, mates of the work of this or that poet has produced a convincing portrait of or novelist. an individual whose life in British Notwithstanding these concerns, Columbia started on a farm near Fetherling's biography of Woodcock Sooke and who died forty-five odd has much to offer. The prose is clear, years later amidst a great deal of the story flows easily, and a great deal adulation from the literati. of pertinent information is made Fetherling was helped in his task by available about a modest man who con his experience as a writer of some dis tributed so much to our understanding tinction as well as by gaining access of Canada and of the outside world. .

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