The title of Pasha Malla’s 2015 article in The New Yorker’s Page-Turner says it all: “Too Different and Too Familiar: The Challenge of French-Canadian Literature.” Because it is a challenge to locate French-Canadian literature within the landscape of Canadian Literature, even for those of us who devote a significant
The thing about reading the third Linnet Muir story is that I know her now. At least, I feel like I do. Which is the deep appeal of a linked collection, the sense of gradual immersion. It’s the same phenomenon that pulls you back to a familiar series, a fledgling
Murakami, Boyle, Oz, Babitz, Cather and Adjei-Brenyah Short Stories in January, February and March Whether in a dedicated collection or a magazine, these stories capture a variety of reading moods. This quarter, I returned to two familiar writers and also explored four new-to-me story writers.
What we know, from the beginning, is that Linnet Muir is alone. "My father died, then my grandmother; my mother was left, but we did not get on." She concedes her role in this situation. She was probably disagreeable. "I was probably disagreeable with anyone who felt entitled to give
At first glance, it seems as though who is more – or less – Canadian matters in this story. Because I am Canadian, I latch on to the idea of whether Douglas’ father is more “reticent” than his mother, whether he is “cautious and single-minded”, whether I myself exhibit any
