Author
Abdou,
Angie
Title
The Bone
Cage
Setting
Calgary;
summer of
2002 leading
to Sydney
Olympics
Plot
Alternating
narratives of 2
Olympic athletes
training for the
summer games.
Takes us through
the daily grinds of
their singleminded existences
until they connect
with each other
and then
everything is put
in doubt.
Akhtar,
Ayad
American
Dervish
Contemporary
Mid-western
U.S.
Atwood,
Margaret
Oryx and
Crake
Future; North
America
An American
college student
tells the story of
his upbringing in
a Pakistani family
to his girlfriend.
His teenage years
centered on his
relationship with
Islam, his distant,
non-believing
father, his needy
mother, and his
mother’s best
friend, the love of
his life, his
troubled ‘auntie
Mina’.
The lone ‘human’
survivor of the
‘Waterless Flood’
of The Year of the
Flood, must
wander the barren
land in search of
food, etc. and take
care of the
geneticallyengineered
‘Crakers’, a breed
of humans left in
the wake of the
disaster that
Character(s)
Tom ‘Digger’
Stapleton just
missed qualifying
for the past 2
Olympic gameshe has put his life
on hold and as
approaches 30
years old is finally
about to realize
his life-long goal;
Sadie Jorgenson
has swum for 14
years, up to 6
hours a day,
forced to live with
her parents and
deprive herself of
a ‘regular’ life in
her pursuit of
being the best in
the world.
Hayat Shah is a
Pakistani
American
searching for
meaning in his
life. His secular
family and society
don’t provide him
with this, so he
tries on many
roles, such as
trying to become a
hafiz and a
defender of the
faith, but to no
avail.
Topics/Themes
-identity
-sports and the pursuit
of the Olympic dream
-success vs happiness
-ethics in sports
Snowman, Jimmy
from TheYear of
the Flood, is the
reluctant ‘hero’,
the last man
standing, a classic
1st person minor
narrator.
-distopian, postapocalyptic world
-man vs. nature
-environmental,
biological destruction
-capitalistic greed
-scientific, genetic
experimentation
-‘speculative’ fiction
-coming-of-age story
-guilt and
atonement(compare
with Ian McEwan’s
Atonement)
-Islam/Pakistan
-role of women
-old world religion/
tradition in conflict
with modern society
Atwood,
Margaret
The Year of
the Flood
Future; North
America
Basran,
Gurjinder
Everything
was GoodBye
British
Columbia;
2010
Boyden,
Joseph
Three Day
Road
1919;
Northern
Ontario and
WW I
battlefields of
destroyed most of
the world. He
narrates the events
related to his
friend Oryx, his
girlfriend Crake,
and what lead to
the destruction of
the world.
‘Pre-quel’ to Oryx
and Crake,
parallel stories
about two
characters trying
to survive as
society heads
towards the
destruction that
has happened in
the other novel.
Ren and Toby tell
their individual
stories, then end
up together at the
end, with Jimmy,
Snowman from
Oryx and Crake.
The book is
somewhat ‘semiautobiographical’
as it is set within
the confines of the
Punjabi
community in the
lower mainland of
British Columbia.
The story has
almost become a
universal-type
among second
generation
immigrant writers:
it is about the
conflict between a
young woman’s
struggle for
independence
from a family and
culture rooted in
old world values
and traditions.
Parallel stories:
Niska, an old Cree
healer who lives
in the bush,
travels to town to
The two girls do
what they must to
survive as they
recount how they
arrived together at
the end of the
novel
-distopian, preapocalyptic society
-role of women
-religion
-environmental,
biological destruction
-parallel narratives
-class distinctions
Meena is the
youngest of six
daughters raised
by a widowed
mother. Meena
longs for the
freedoms of her
classmates, and,
eventually,
refuses to submit
to the dictates of
her traditional
Punjabi culture.
-immigrant experience
-women’s role in
contemporary society
-family honour
-doomed romance
-love and loss
Due to a mix-up
of ID, Xavier, the
quiet Cree who
grew up in the
bush, is mistaken
-what is the difference
between sanity and
madness in war time
- native identity
-the horror of war
France and
Belgium
Boyden,
Joseph
Through
Black Spruce
Contemporary
Moose
River(northern
Ontario),
Montreal ,
Toronto,
Manhattan
Boyden,
Jospeh
The Orenda
Circa 1625;
The frontier of
‘New France’
return her nephew
to his birth place
after his return
from the
battlefields of
WW I. The
nephew, Xavier
Bird, recounts
what happened
overseas and lead
to his current
condition as a
morphine
addicted, amputee
war hero. During
the three day trip
up river, each tells
stories about the
past, each other,
and Xavier’s
cousin, Elijah.
Parallel stories:
Will Bird, son of
the legendary
WW I
sharpshooter
Xavier, lies in a
coma in a hospital
in Moose River,
suffering the after
effects of a
vicious attack; his
neice, Annie,
visits him and
tries to bring him
out of his coma by
telling him the
story of her
travels to Toronto,
Montreal, and
Manhattan in
pursuit of her lost
sister. Will talks
to the reader in
flashbacks about
what lead to the
events that
resulted in his
predicament.
Three alternating
perspectives
narrate the epic
story of early life
in New France.
Christian
missionaries
for his cousin
Elijah, the expert
marksman who
grew up in a
residential school.
Each descends
into his own form
of madness over
the years of WW
I.
-the nature/power/role
of storytelling
-parallel narratives
Will is a former
bush pilot who
lost his wife and
kids to a fire. He
is trying to put
himself back
together
physically and
rescue his lost
life; Annie Bird
lost her sister and
her way of life;
she tries to find
both by returning
to the bush and reconnecting with
her uncle.
-native identity
-the nature/power of
storytelling
-family bonds
-parallel narratives
Father Chrisophe
Crowe believes he
can bring God to
the savages. His
faith and ability to
survive are tested
repeatedly as he
-early native life
-Christian religion vs.
native traditions/myths
-violence
-survival
-compare with Bride of
New France
venture into the
wild frontier to
live among the
Huron and convert
the ‘sauvages.’
Survival is always
precarious –
starvation and
warfare are
always on the
horizon.
Bradley,
Alan
The
Sweetness at
the Bottom of
the Pie
English
countryside;
1950
Bronte,
Emily
Wuthering
Heights
Circa 1800,
spanning two
generations;
English
countryside
A strange visitor
turns up dead in
the cucumber
patch just outside
of Buckshaw, the
family home of
the de Luces’ in
the quaint English
countryside.
Young Flavia de
Luce takes it upon
herself to uncover
the clues and
figure out ‘who
dunnit’.
Mr. Earnshaw
brings home the
‘gypsy’ boy
Heathcliff who
over the course of
the next 30 years
upsets the simple,
traditional way of
life of the
residents of
Wuthering
Heights and
Thrushcross
Grange.
encounters the
harsh truth of life
in the wilderness;
‘Snowfalls’ is a
young Iroquois
girl captured and
raised by the
Huron. As she
grows she learns
about the power
of myth and
natural healing
and the role of
women in the
village; ‘Bird’ is a
Huron leader who
embodies the
roles of warrior
and statesman,
leading his people
through
encounters with
the seasons and a
variety of
enemies.
Flavia de Luce, is
the 11 year-old,
third daughter of a
widowed,
introverted father,
and is obsessed
with Chemistry.
She is intelligent,
observant, and has
an inquiring mind,
which is what
compels her in the
pursuit of the
murderer.
Heathcliff’s
obsessive love for
Catherine
Earnshaw drives
everything in his
life. When she
marries Edgar
Linton he spends
the rest of his life
seeking revenge
and a way to be
with her forever.
He is mean,
vulgar, and singleminded in his
pursuit of his own
-child narrator
-murder/mystery
-first in a series of
‘Falvia de Luce’
mysteries, in the
tradition of Agatha
Christie
-love
-revenge
-class system
-violence
-setting: English moors
Byatt, A.S.
The
Children’s
Book
Turn of the
20th Century;
England and
Northern
Europe
Carter,
Stephen L.
The Emperor
of Ocean Park
Contemporary
New England
Chandra,
Vikram
Sacred Games
Present day
India
A long, densely
written
examination of the
multiple changes
in European
society, family,
sexual mores,
education, the role
of women,
politics, art, and
religion that
arrived with the
end of the
Victorian era.
Oliver Garland is
a conservative
judge from Ocean
Park (a black
community on
Martha's
Vineyard) whose
nomination to the
Supreme Court
was denied
because of his
connections to a
shady thug, with
whom he'd made
some unknown
"arrangements."
Broken, bitter, and
drinking heavily
afterwards, he's
found dead of
what appears to be
a heart attack. His
son, Talcott,
trying to keep his
grips on his own
life, also tries to
discover the
mystery
surrounding his
father's death.
This is not just a
legal thriller set
amid the black
bourgeoisie, but
also about the joys
and pitfalls of
family.
There are two
main narrative
threads in the
novels, chapters
satisfaction.
A group of
families and a
wide cast of
secondary
characters
-appearance/reality
-the role of women
-the meaning of art
-family secrets
-sex
-political systems
-philosophical theories
-rural vs urban life
Talcott Garland is
a successful law
professor, devoted
father, and
husband of a
beautiful and
ambitious woman,
whose future
desires may
threaten the
family he holds so
dear. When
Talcott’s father,
Judge Oliver
Garland, a
disgraced former
Supreme Court
nominee, is found
dead under
suspicious
circumstances,
Talcott wonders if
he may have been
murdered.
-murder/mystery
-upper class AfricanAmerican society and
race relations
-family sagas
-white liberal racism
and black hypocrisy
-modern Hamlet
-possible contrast to a
‘classic’ AfricaAmerican story
Most of what
Sartaj does is
mundane,
everyday police-
-epic Indian
gangster/mystery
thriller novel
-The book resembles
alternating (more
or less) between
police officer
Sartaj Singh's
present-day life
and criminal
Ganesh Gaitonde
recounting his life
and career up to
that fatal final
confrontation
from the afterlife.
(There are also
four 'Insets',
chapters offering
additional
perspectives.)
Sacred Games is
very much a book
of these two
personal stories -not typical Indian
destinies or even a
study in black and
white/good and
evil contrasts, but
simply the stories
of two lives and
careers in rapidly
modernizing
India.
work -- though no
less fun for that.
The small shakedowns, the
arranged busts,
the lectures to
local kids brought
in by their worried
parents,
investigating a
blackmailer on the
side: it all offers
peeks at all sorts
of aspects of
Mumbai and
Indian life. Sartaj
doesn't have much
of a personal life,
but his family -including his
policeman-father's
shadow as well as
his mother -- and
his interaction
with the families
he looks out for
show something
of his personal
side. He does
what he can but
he can't always fix
everything (failing
miserably, for
example, when
one of Parulkar's
daughters comes
to him for help,
tradition being too
much for even
him to overcome).
Gaitonde is an
entertaining
figure, his ability
to get whatever he
wants done
(through cash
and/or violence)
appealing -especially since
he has rather
grand and
interesting
ambitions. It's not
an entirely
convincing mobboss-portrait, but
an extra-length
Bollywood movie,
complete with its
formula titillation,
intelligence agents,
India- Pakistan politics,
smuggling of gold and
radioactive materials,
and the tense ticking
away of a nuclear
threat.
-Chandra's Bombay
reflects the glamour
and wealth that has
attracted millions from
the villages
-Ultimately, Sacred
Games reflects the big
Bombay dream, about
making good against
the odds in a crimeridden city
Choy,
Wayson
The Jade
Peony
China Town,
Vancouver;
the Depression
Chrichton,
Michael
Timeline
1999 New
Mexico
Research Lab;
1357
Dordogne
region of
France
Coady,
Lynn
The
Antagonist
2010,
Southern
Ontario
Three siblings
tells his/her own
story about
growing up with
each other, their
immigrant
parents, and the
grandmother who
dominates family
life. Contributing
to the tension is
the conflict
between the
Chinese-and the
majority of
Canadians-against
the Japanese. The
stories go over the
same time and
events, each
seeing those
events differently.
A group of
historians journey
through time with
the use of
quantum physics
theory and get
involved in the
violent life of the
medieval time
period.
A former hockey
enforcer confronts
his past when a
book written by a
former friend of
his appears. The
book appears to
be loosely based
on the enforcer’s
life and he tries, in
a series of e-mails
enjoyable enough
if not too closely
scrutinized. But
he also never
emerges as
anything more
than that, as any
sort of tragic hero
or victim. He's
larger than life,
but for almost all
the book he is,
after all, also dead
The children,
Jook-Liang, JungSum and SekLung or Sekky
each tells their
own unique story,
revealing their
personal flaws
and differences.
-immigrant experience
-conflict between
generations, cultures
-identity
-belonging
A cast of modern
and medieval
males and females
-time travel(modern
science fiction)
-medieval vs modern
life, roles, conflicts,
etc.
Doug “Rank’
Rankin is a 40
year-old school
teacher, single and
childless, who
narrates the story
as the ‘antagonist’
against the story
written by his
college friend, in
which he is the
-male bonding
-masculinity
-small town life
-story told through email, facebook
messaging
-violence
-religion
and facebook
messages, to tell
the author the
truth of the story
of his life.
Coupland,
Douglas
Hey
Nostradamus!
Vancouver,
1988-2003
The events of a
school shooting
are told from the
p.o.v of one of
the victims; then,
three other
characters
connected either
to the event or the
people involved,
tell their stories in
the aftermath of
the tragic event.
Crosbie,
Lynn
Where Did
You Sleep
Last Night
2014; Seattle
and west coast
of California
A whirlwind story
of an obsessed,
alienated teenage
girl and what it
would be like to
fall in love and
live with the reincarnated Kurt
Cobain. The two
become famous,
drug-addicted
rock stars, whose
lives spiral out of
control leading to
a messy ending.
Dekker,
Ted
The Bride
Collector
2010;
Colorado
A serial killer is
on the loose,
kidnapping and
ritually killing
beautiful women
in a twisted
attempt to serve
God. A mentally
‘wounded’ FBI
agent, desperate
and convinced the
killer is mentally
protagonist. Rank
is a big, muscular
guy, who has been
used by others his
whole life for his
size. He has run
away from
hockey, college,
and his past-until
now.
Four different
narrators from
four different
times tell their
stories: Cheryl,
who narrates the
events of her own
death; Jason,
Cheryl’s
‘husband’ who
survives the
shooting; Heather,
Jason’s girlfriend
years after the
shooting; and
Reg, Jason’s
religious father.
Evelyn Gray is a
sad, lonely 16
year-old girl who
fantasizes a
modern day Kurt
Cobain into
existence after a
drug overdose;
she takes on a
Courtney
Love/Yoko Ono
role as her
‘relationship’ with
Celine Black
intensifies and the
two head to an
inevitable ending.
Brad Raines is an
FBI agent haunted
by the suicide of
his fiancé. He
must deal with his
own sense of loss
and inadequacy as
he works with a
group of mentally
ill geniuses to
help find a killer
before the next
-school shootings
-alienation
-violence
-religious ‘faith’
-forgiveness
-love/obsession/longing
-fame
-suicide
-sex/drugs/rock’n’roll
-‘fan’ fiction
-rambling prose that is
a cross between James
Joyce’s Ulysses, Jack
Kerouac’s On the
Road, and Leonard
Cohen’s Beautiful
Losers: it’s cubist art as
literature
-alternating narrative
pov
-what is mental illness?
What is the difference
between genius and
crazy?
-good vs. evil
-thriller
Dekker,
Ted
THR3E
Early 2000s;
California
De Rosnay,
Tatiana
Sarah’s Key
1942, France;
2002-Paris and
New York
City
DesRochers
Bride of New
Paris; Quebec,
ill, enlists the help
of a group of
highly intelligent
residents at an
exclusive mental
institution who
help him figure
out the clues the
killer has left.
A seminary
student receives a
series of calls
from a deranged
stranger who
gives him a riddle
to solve within a
certain time limit
each time,
threatening to
explode a bomb
unless he
confesses to a sin.
A cast of
agents/cops
attempts to find
the caller before
he sets of the
bombs while the
student tries to
figure out what
the sin is.
Interweaving plot
lines: 1-In July of
1942, thousands
of Paris Jews are
rounded up and
eventually
murdered at
Auschwitz. One
little girl escapes,
goes into hiding,
and eventually
immigrates to
America. 2-an
American writer
living in Paris
researches about
the 1942 round-up
of Jews and
comes across the
story of the
escaped little girl
from 1942 and
then begins to
search for her.
Laure Beausejour
beautiful victim.
Kevin Parsons is
the naïve
seminary student
who has lived a
strange, sheltered
life. He must
delve into the
secrets of his past
in order to figure
out the sin he has
committed.
-good vs. evil
-multiple personality
disorder
-mystery/thriller
Julia Jarmond is
45 years old, and
living in Paris
with her daughter
and philandering
husband. She gets
pregnant and as
her family life
falls apart she
becomes obsessed
with the story of
Sarah Starzynski,
the girl who lived
through pain, loss,
starvation,
beatings,
loneliness to
survive the roundup and try to
purge her own
guilt over an act
she committed
that haunts her for
her entire life.
Laure always
-alternating narrative
structure
-Holocaust
-guilt
-family secrets
-is it better to know the
truth or be ignorant of
the past?
-historical fiction
, Suzanne
France
1655-1665
DeWitt,
Patrick
The Sisters
Brothers
1851; Oregon
City down the
coast of
California
Donoghue,
Amanda
Room
2010;
nameless U.S.
city
Dumas,
Alexandre
The Count of
Monte Cristo
France, Italy,
islands in the
Mediterranean
and the Levant
grows up an
orphan in a
Parisian dormitory
surrounded by
other girls and
women of limited
potential. Sent to
the New World as
one of the King’s
fille du roi, she
marries and has to
survive the harsh
realities of life in
a rugged world of
danger, weather
and few comforts.
Two brothers,
hired killers, set
off on their latest
‘assignment’.
Along the way,
they encounter a
wide variety of
characters,
eventually
including their
target, which
change their views
about their jobs
and they return
home different
men.
A 19 year-old girl
has been
kidnapped and
held in a secured
room for seven
years; during that
time, she has been
repeatedly raped
by her captor, and
given birth to 2 of
his children. Her 5
year-old son
narrates the story
of their time
together in
‘Room’, and what
happens to them
after they escape.
A young sailor is
mistakenly
identified as a
supporter of the
dreamed of a
better life than
what she seemed
destined for as
one born to such
limited means.
Her determination
not to give into
the people or
circumstances
around her is both
her strength and
weakness.
-women’s roles
- Old World class
system
-New World life
Eli Sister, is the
narrator,
travelling with his
older, violent and
ruthless brother,
Charlie. Eli
questions the
morality of his job
and his character
is torn between a
yearning for love
and human
connection and
violent outbursts
of temper.
-classic ‘western’
-violence
-brotherly love and
loyalty
-morality
-‘goodness’ vs evil
- the anti-hero
Known only as
Jack, the 5 yearold narrator is
raised in the
ultimate state of
innocence. He
knows only what
his mother has
told him-and what
she allows him to
see on tv-about
the world. He is
fiercely loyal and
protective of his
mother and
questions
everything about
the ‘real’ world
upon his escape
from Room.
Edmond Dantes,
who becomes the
Count of Monte
Cristo, is a man of
-child narrator: use of
voice and language
-abuse
-survival
-power of love and the
imagination
-innocence
-horror
-the epic adventure
story
-historical fiction
-hope, justice,
during the
historical
events of
1815–1838
(from just
before the
Hundred Days
through to the
reign of LouisPhilippe of
France)
Edugyan,
Esi
Half-Blood
Blues
1939-40
Berlin/Paris;
1992 Poland
Eggers,
David
The Circle
California
(near San
Francisco);
near future
exiled Napolean
and he is
sentenced to life
in prison. He
eventually escapes
and armed with
the knowledge
learned in prison,
he uncovers a vast
treasure of wealth,
becomes a count,
and spends the
rest of his life
rewarding those
who helped him
before he was
rich, and gaining
revenge against all
who conspired
against him, his
family, and his
friends.
A group of black
jazz musicians
must escape Nazi
Germany before
the outbreak of
WW II. They
arrive in Paris and
are stranded,
awaiting the
arrival of the
Nazi’s. Flash
forward and two
of the surviving
members deal
with the memories
of that time and an
explosive secret
from their last
days in Paris.
The Circle is the
world’s most
powerful internet
company. Its
leaders believe
that the free
exchange of all
information
should be the
ultimate goal of
the internet. As it
many disguises,
each used as part
of his elaborate
plans of revenge.
His character is
one man’s answer
to the question of,
given unlimited
resources, how far
would a man go to
gain revenge on
his enemies, and
what would it do
to his humanity to
do so?
vengeance, mercy, and
forgiveness
Sidney Griffiths, a
young American
jazz musician,
escaped from
Nazi occupied
Paris and spent
the rest of his life
in the U.S. One
day, his closest
childhood friend,
a fellow jazz
musician who
went onto to a
great music
career, convinces
him to return to
Europe, and Sid
must confront his
past and the
reason he never
played music
again after their
escape from Paris.
Mae Holland is a
new recruit of The
Circle and
believes she has
found her ideal
job. She slowly
becomes an ideal
employee, rising
through the ranks,
becoming a true
believer in the
-jealousy
-WW II
-black jazz music of
WW II
-racism, intolerance
-language as music
-compare to Huck Finn
-the internet,
implications/effects of
social media
-personal validation
-class in America
-criticism of
Apple/Microsoft and
the cult of computer
corporations
-compare with
1984/BNW, other near
Fallis,
Terry
The Best Laid
Plans
OttawaQuebec; 2010
Federal
election
Feguson,
Will
419
2012; Canada
and Nigeria
invents new
products and
applications, its
control of
individuals and
governments
becomes stronger
and the few who
object and try to
escape from its
reach become
fewer and more
isolated.
A former liberal
backroom
operative who
wants to get out of
Ottawa agrees to
‘run’ a campaign
in a seat the
Liberals have no
chance of
winning-then they
miraculously win
and the raw new
MP must be
‘managed’
through the ins
and outs of federal
politics.
Intersecting
stories that bring
together a cast of
characters from
the tribal regions
of Nigeria to the
middle class
suburbs of
Canada. A ‘419’
internet scam
originating in
Nigeria leads to a
suicide in Canada
and the
subsequent
investigation
reveals how the
lives of all the
people involved
are affected.
culture and the
goals of the
company. She
ends up in conflict
with her former
way of
life(friends,
family, social
circle) as she
becomes a true
adherent.
future, dystopian
fiction
Daniel Addison,
who learned
politics in the
backrooms of
Ottawa power,
must ‘un-learn’
much of what he
assumes about the
people and power
of political office
as he deals with
his own
‘candidate’ and
the people he
encounters during
a most unusual
election
campaign.
Four central
characters: Laura
Curtis, quiet, shy
reclusive daughter
of a man who kills
himself after he is
a victim of a ‘419’
scam; Nnamdi,
son of a village
story-teller who
travels across
Nigeria trying to
escape the deadly
life of corruption
that follows in the
wake of oil
exploration;
Amina, pregnant
and on the run
from her northern
village; Winston,
educated and from
a good family, a
con-artist who is
symptomatic of a
-humour writing
-political satire
-use of diary format
-liberal vs conservative
politics
-compare with
American experience:
Primary Colours or All
the King’s Men
- intersecting, multiple
plot lines
- lies and deception
- revenge and justice
- debt and honour
- tribal, traditional way
of life vs. modern
world
- greed
Findley,
Timothy
The Piano
Man’s
Daughter
Present is
during WW II;
most of the
novel is a
flashback to
1890-1918;
Toronto
Findley,
Timothy
Pilgrim
1912,
Switzerland
Ford,
Richard
Canada
1959-60; Great
Falls,
Montana; Fort
Royal,
Saskatchewan
Charlie Kilworth
tells the story of
his mentally-ill
mother’s
life(She’s the
piano man’s
daughter). Born to
an unwed mother
from a small
Ontario town, Lily
grows up in
Toronto trying to
cope with her
mental illness
during a time
when sufferers are
ignored or locked
away.
The famous
psychoanalyst
Carl Jung is
challenged to save
a suicidal patient.
Jung must deal
with opposition
from colleagues
and the problems
of his personal life
as he attempts to
make the
breakthrough that
will make his
career.
Story is told in
two, lengthy
flashback
episodes: one, the
events leading up
to a bank robbery
by an unassuming
husband and wife
that leads to the
destruction of
their family; two,
what happens to
the 15 year-old
country with
limited
opportunities for
its young; IronsiEgobia, ruthless
leader of a
merciless cartel
which exploits the
weak and
vulnerable.
While Charlie is
the narrator and
telling the story in
the present, Lily is
the real
protagonist. Her
troubled mind
torments her and
makes her an
outcast from
‘normal’ society.
Charlie searches
through the past in
order to find out
who his father
was and tells
Lily’s story in the
process.
Pilgrim is a
mental patient
who has
attempted suicide
repeatedly-he
feels like he
cannot die, and,
has been alive
forever, living
though some of
the most
significant
periods/events in
history
Dell Parsons is the
65 year-old
narrator,
reflecting back on
the events from
his childhood that
shaped the rest of
his life. He is a
quiet, shy boy
who gets caught
up in a series of
events he has no
control over and
-mental illness
-patriarchal WASP
society of early 20th
century Toronto
-contrast with other
Findley books or One
Flew Over the
Cuckoo’s Nest
-mental illnesspsychoanalysis
-the meaning/purpose
of art
-historical fiction
-consider with
Findley’s Headhunter
-turn of the 20th century
upper class European
life
-violence
-rural setting
-flashback narrative
-nature vs nurture
Franzen,
Jonathan
Freedom
U.S.A; spans
one family
generation
circa 2000s
Galloway,
Steven
Finnie Walsh
Portsmouth
(small town,
Ontario);
today
Galloway,
Steven
The Cellist of
Sarajevo
Sarajevo; one
month, early
1990s
son of the jailed
bank robbers after
he is sent away to
live in rural
Saskatchewan
with people he
doesn’t know.
An epic story of
new millennium
middle-class
family life in
America.
Chronicles the
loves, conflicts,
betrayals,
yearnings of the
Berglund family
as a marriage falls
apart and each
family member
deals with the
‘freedom’ their
position in society
presents them
with.
Two friends
survive the trials
and tribulations of
life in small town
Ontario to make it
all the way to the
NHL.
One act of
extreme violence
amidst the chaos
of the siege of
Sarajevo leads one
man, a cellist, to
venture out into
the streets and
play every day at
4:00 in tribute to
the 22 people
killed by a mortar
attack. The lives
of various people
inter-sect around
this event for the
22 days the cellist
plays.
only comes to
understand, years
later, as he re-tells
the events to the
reader.
Patty Berglund is
a former college
basketball player,
estranged from
her political, New
York family, that
marries Walter
and then spends
the next twenty
years struggling to
find happiness
and fulfillment in
her marriage, with
her children and
with her other
relationships.
-liberal vs conservative
politics
-environmentalism
-contemporary family
life
-freedom: of thought,
guilt, opportunity;
from/to other people,
family relationships; its
temptations and
burdens, etc.
-variable narrative
Finnie Walsh is
the son of the man
who owns most of
the town; he is an
Owen Meany-like
figure.
Paul Woodward is
from a poor
family, yet he
makes it because
of his unique
relationship with
Finnie.
Three central
characters:
Arrow, the female
counter-sniper,
tries to maintain
her humanity
while killing the
enemy; Kenan, a
family man who
must venture out
into the streets in
order to help his
family survive;
Dragan, an aging
baker who sent his
family away and
strives to maintain
his dignity amidst
-hockey
-1st person minor
narrator(compare to
Nick Carraway in
Gatsby or John
Wheelwright in Owen
Meany)
-modern warfare and its
effect on a people
- hatred and revenge:
what humans can do to
each other
-compare with Robert
Ross in The Wars
-‘A Day in the life
of…’-compare with
Martin Amos’ Saturday
-an adaptation of a true,
historical event
Gaston, Bill
The Good
Body
Fredericton,
New
Brunswick;
2000
A retired pro
hockey player
returns to his
hometown to
enroll at UNB and
play hockey in
order to reconnect with the
son he left behind
during his years in
the pros.
Gowdy,
Barbara
Helpless
Toronto; 2008
A nine-year-old
girl is kidnapped
by a man who
coerces his
girlfriend into
helping him keep
the girl in a
basement room he
has constructed.
The man battles
his pedophilic
feelings while the
girl’s mother
battles her own
demons as the
police, her friends,
and neighbours
search for the girl.
Gruen, Sara
Water For
Elephants
Depression;
Travel across
the United
States
The story is told
as a series of
memories by
Jacob Jankowski,
either a ninety or
ninety-three-yearold man who lives
in a nursing home.
Jacob tells about
how he left his life
as a Veterinary
student just before
writing his final
exams, after
losing both his
parents in a car
accident, and
jumped onto a
absurd living
conditions.
Robert Bonaduce
is broke, lonely,
without prospects
but with a recent
diagnosis of MS.
He tries to hide
his diminishing
physical capacity
while faking his
way through
school and along
the way reestablish
relationships with
his son and exwife.
Celia is the single
mother who
struggles to
support her
daughter, who has
never known her
father. She feels
guilty about her
past and the life
she has made for
her daughter.
Ron, the
kidnapper, fights
his own childhood
demons as he tries
to convince
himself that he
took the girl to
protect her from
other men.
Jacob Jankowski
is the novel’s
protagonist. He is
a "90, or 93"year-old nursing
home resident
reminiscing on the
time he spent as a
circus veterinarian
during the Great
Depression. He is
cantankerous as
an old man,
humiliated by the
indignities of old
age. In the
flashbacks, we see
how he grows
-hockey
-father/son
relationships
-academic life
-honesty/integrity
-male friendship
-denial
-obsessive love
-childhood abuse and
its effects
-addiction
-guilt
-the depression
-social hierarchies
-abuse, both of animals
and humans
-the morality of
violence
-love
Guterson,
David
Our Lady of
the Forest
Washington
state, 2003
Hay,
Elizabeth
Late Nights
on Air
1974;
Yellowknife
train that
happened to house
the Benzini
Brothers Most
Spectacular Show
on Earth. The
novel chronicles
Jacob’s
experiences with
the circus as he
learns the
hierarchy of circus
workers and
performers, gains
an understanding
of the brutalities
of circus life while
struggling to
maintain his own
moral compass,
and falls in love.
After a young girl
claims to have
been visited by
the Virgin Mary, a
disparate group of
characters
converge on the
forest, the site of
the vision, in
order to seek
salvation and
redemption for a
variety of
transgressions.
The church, the
town, and the
visitors debate the
validity and
meaning of the
vision.
Set against the
background of the
Berger Inquiry
that ruled against
the Mackenzie
Valley Pipeline,
the story of the
small northern
town and its
inhabitants-both
those from ‘here’
and those from
‘there’-revolves
around every
person’s need for
from a naïve,
innocent farm boy
through his
experiences with
the wide cast of
characters that are
part of a travelling
circus.
Ann Holmes is a
sixteen year-old
runaway with a
past full of sins
who is visited by
a vision of the
Virgin Mary.
She’s small,
skinny, asthmatic,
unbaptised and
morally unsuited
to be the chosen
one.
-faith and spirituality
-Catholicism
-lost innocence
-sexual abuse
-sin, sinners, guilt and
expiation
Harry Beal has
returned to work
in radio, where it
all began for him
years ago, before
he went to the big
city and failed in
TV. He is lost,
looking for a
second chance at
most every aspect
of his life.
-native rights
-women’s rights
-redemption
-love and longing
-journey as metaphor
Hay,
Elizabeth
Alone in the
Classroom
Spanning 3
generations,
from the 1920s
on; small town
Saskatchewan
and the Ottawa
Valley
Haddon,
Mark
the curious
incident of the
dog in the
night-time
Swindon and
London,
England; 2003
love, acceptance,
and fulfillment.
Anne Soper, niece
of Connie Flood,
recounts Connie’s
life story as the
main characters in
her aunt’s life
become players in
her own life. As
Anne tries to
uncover the
mysterious details
of key events
from Connie’s
life, connections
are made to her
own relationships
with her family
members.
Autistic teenager
Christopher
Boone sets out to
find out who has
killed the
neighbour’s dog
and along the way
finds out many
things about
himself and the
world around him
while revealing to
us his unique
personality and
world-view.
Connie flood is
the single,
adventurous aunt
whom Anne
admires as a
contrast to her
own, more
conventional
mother. Connie
has many jobs,
adventures, and
relationships, and
embodies a quiet,
20th century
independence and
feminism as she
becomes a role
model to Anne.
Christopher
Boone, the 15
year old narrator,
confesses that not
only does he not
understand
people, but he
does not like
them. He prefers
dogs. He cannot
understand facial
expressions,
metaphors or
'chatting'. He
abhors being
touched. He is a
genius at maths,
and loves maps,
timetables and
facts. He is
incapable of
telling lies. Or
jokes. He hates
the colours yellow
and green. In an
unfamilar
environment he
goes into sensory
overload where he
screams and
groans to try and
shut out the
onslaught of
sensations.
Christopher has
Asperger's
-sexual longing
-mother/daughter
relationships
-small town/family
secrets
-female identity
-humour writing
-understanding
differences
-coming-of-age story
-unreliable narrator
-disfunctional families
Harbach,
Chad
The Art of
Fielding
2010;
Northern
Michigan
Hill,
Lawrence
Any Known
Blood
Hill,
Lawrence
The Book of
Negroes
Oakville, Ont./
Baltimore,
Maryland in
the present;
spanning back
over five
generations
from Virginia
through the
path of the
Underground
Railroad
Village of
Bayo, Mali,
West Africa,
1745; various
colonial
American
cities; Nova
Scotia; Sierra
Leonne;
ending in
London,
England in
1802.
Henry
Skrimshander
seems headed for
the Major Leagues
until he commits a
throwing error and
his confidence and
life slowly fall
apart. A wide cast
of characters
inter-act with
Henry, each with
their own
problems, and
each tries to
overcome the
‘errors’ of their
ways and deal
with the ‘bad
bounces’ life
‘throws’ their
ways.
The search of
Langston Cane V
— divorced, 38
and recently fired
— to understand
himself by giving
voice to those
who came before
him in five
generations of an
African-CanadianAmerican family.
Aminata Diallo, a
pretty, precocious
11-year-old, lives
with her doting
parents in Mali in
1745. One day, on
the way home
from helping her
mother deliver a
baby, Aminata is
abducted by
African slavers.
After a harrowing
voyage aboard a
slave ship to
America, Aminata
is sold to an
indigo plantation
on an island off
the coast of South
Carolina. Aminata
Syndrome.
Henry is like a
baseball-savant:
despite being
ignored for most
of his life, he
dedicates himself
to his craft until
he is on the verge
of being a big
money draft pick.
How does it go so
wrong and what
happens to a
person who
dedicated his life
to something, then
gets so close to
achieving it,
then…?
-baseball
-college life
-relationships
-goals/dreams
-ambition and its limits
-family/friendship
-commitment
Langston Cane V,
The eldest son of
a white mother
and a prominent
black father,
- prejudice,
segregation, slavery,
identity
The Book of
Negroes
introduces, in
Aminata Diallo,
one of the
strongest female
characters in
recent Canadian
fiction, one who
cuts a swath
through a world
hostile to her
colour and her
sex. As narrator,
Aminata
dominates the
narrative, and her
voice and spirit
drive it; however,
her character is
not typical of her
-Hill came upon the
idea for The Book of
Negroes in a book he
borrowed from his
parents about 20 years
ago. The Black
Loyalists, written by
historian James Walker
and published in 1980,
tells how black
Americans settled in
Nova Scotia after
serving the British in
the Revolutionary War.
Walker described how
many of these men and
women later abandoned
harsh racism in Nova
Scotia for life in Sierra
Leone. Canada, Hill
learned, was home to
Hornby,
Nick
How to Be
Good
London,
England; 2000
becomes a woman
with a facility
with languages,
which she applies
to great
advantage,
learning to read
and write and
keep the
household books,
and developing a
passion for
literature.
Aminata’s skills
allow her to
support herself in
New York after
her escape. In the
final stages of the
Revolutionary
war, the British
hire Aminata to
write down the
names of the
blacks who will
accompany the
loyalists to Nova
Scotia. The
register, the Book
of Negroes, based
on an actual
historical record,
was the first of its
kind in North
America.
time or gender.
Accomplished and
uninhibited, she
evokes such
respect and
loyalty in the
people she meets
that the reader
feels that she
leads something
of a charmed life
despite the horrors
that she has
endured.
Katie Carr’s
husband is a
typical male
‘angry guy’ jerk
Katie Carr:
doctor, ‘good’
person, forced to
evaluate her own
the world’s first “back
to Africa” movement.
What most captured his
imagination, however,
was this single,
astonishing fact: A
number of the blacks
travelling to Sierra
Leone had originally
been born in Africa.
- The book builds upon
the form of the
traditional slave
narrative and is
capacious and quite
Victorian in scope and
tone.
-Aminata indicts all
Europeans, Africans,
and others—Christians,
Moslems or Jews—
who played a role in
the establishment and
perpetuation of the
slave trade with her
detailed descriptions of
the cruelty and
inhumanity of slavery.
-The novel brings
forward the irony of the
fact that in the first
decade of the twentyfirst century, the issues
of equality and human
rights continue to
preoccupy our writers
and artists. Indeed,
these causes are as
urgent today as they
were two hundred years
ago. Like a number of
recent works about
slavery and its history,
Hill’s novel questions
our complacency in the
face of the alienation
and despair of blacks in
America and mocks
our deluded belief in
the success of our
efforts to secure human
rights for all humans.
-changing roles of men
vs women
-marriage
-parenthood
until one day he
undergoes a
spiritual
conversion and
the new, caring
David drives her
nuts.
Hosseini,
Khaled
Hosseini,
Khaled
The Kite
Runner
A Thousand
Splendid Suns
1995-2000;
Kabul,
Afghanistan
and California
1960-2005;
Afghanistan
and Pakistan
The Kite Runner
tells the story of
Amir, a boy from
the Wazir Akbar
Khan district of
Kabul, who is
haunted by the
guilt of betraying
his childhood
friend Hassan, the
son of his father's
Hazara servant.
The story is set
against a backdrop
of tumultuous
events, from the
fall of the
monarchy in
Afghanistan
through the Soviet
invasion, the mass
exodus of
refugees to
Pakistan and the
United States, and
the Taliban
regime.
Told through the
alternating voices
of two women, the
story spans the
turbulent period
from the 1970s to
post-9/11.
Afghanistan and
its culture are as
integral to the
story as the
relationship
between the two
women, Mariam
and Laila, and
their abusive
husband, Rashid.
morality;
David Carr:
‘angry man’ who
blames every
group in society
for every problem
converts and tries
to live according
to truly ‘good’,
liberal ideals
Amir , the
protagonist and
narrator of the
novel, said to be
born in 1963, in
Kabul, who
begins as a wellto-do boy in
monarchical
Afghanistan and
later migrates to
America
following the
downfall of the
monarchy. Amir
must return to
Kabul to right a
wrong involving
his childhood
friend-and half
brother, Hassan,
that has haunted
him for 26 years.
-humour writing
-modern morality
-liberalism
Born a generation
apart and with
very different
ideas about love
and family,
Mariam and Laila
are two women
brought jarringly
together by war,
by loss and by
fate. As they
endure the ever
escalating dangers
around them --- in
their home as well
as in the streets of
Kabul --- they
-friendship between
women
-cowardice, betrayal,
forgiveness
-friendship between
men
- father/son
relationships
-influence of politics
on everyday lives
-ethnic/class conflicts
-effects of war/violence
- mother/daughter
relationships
-influence of politics
on everyday lives
-ethnic/class conflicts
-effects of war/violence
come to form a
bond that makes
them both sisters
and motherdaughter to each
other, and that
will ultimately
alter the course
not just of their
own lives but of
the next
generation.
Hosseini,
Khaled
Irving, John
And the
Mountains
Echoed
A Prayer For
Owen Meany
1949-2010;
Afghanistan,
Paris, Greek
islands, San
Francisco
1950s-2000
New England,
Toronto
A multigenerational story,
that begins with
Pari and
Abdullah, young
siblings in a small,
poor village
outside of Kabul
in Afghanistan.
The story recounts
their lives and the
lives of their
extended family
members and
some of the
people they come
in contact with as
war ravages
Afghanistan and
tragic events send
the characters
across the globe in
search of
happiness and
fulfillment.
At the start of the
novel, Pari is 3
and Abdullah is
10. Pari is sold by
her father to a
wealthy husband
and wife in Kabul,
setting in motion
her life-long
feeling that
something is
missing in her
life. Like the other
characters in the
book, she never
feels complete
until she
reconciles with
her past.
-shifting p.o.v., interweaving storylines
An American
exile living in
Toronto recalls
the childhood
friendship that
changed his life.
Owen Meany
believed that he
was God’s
instrument and
everything that
happened in his
life led him
towards the
climactic scene at
the end of the
novel. The story
John Wheelwright
is the 1st person
minor narrator,
reflecting back on
the events in his
relationship with
Owen that have
brought him to his
present situation
in life.
- Religion
Owen Meany is a
diminutive person
with a unique
voice. He is a
modern day
Hamlet-like
Renaissance man
-the bonds of family
-love
-friendship
-loyalty and betrayal
-the influence of the
past on the present
- Destiny, fate, free will
-1st person minor
narrator
- war
- friendship
recounts the two
boys’ lives
together and the
extraordinary and
terrifying events
that mark them.
Itani,
Francis
James, P.
D.
Requiem
The Children
of Men
1940s British
Columbia;
1990s Ottawa
2021; England
Bin Okuma is a
successful artist of
Japanese descent
who lived through
the interment of
the 1940s. After
the death of his
wife, he is
journeying across
the country to
meet with the
father he has not
seen since he left
the camp. The
story alternates
between his
present journey
and flashbacks to
his life in the
camp.
A future world in
which all males
are infertile and
no children have
been born in 25
years. England is
ruled by a Council
led by the
Warden. It is a
dreary, hopeless
society. A small
group of rebels
contact Theo,
cousin to the
Warden, and ask
for his help in
trying to reform
society. Then they
inform him that
one of its
members is
pregnant. The
group must go on
the run to escape
capture of the
who believes he
has seen a vision
of his own death
and all the trials
and tribulations in
his life are leading
him towards his
penultimate
moment.
Bin has lived into
his fifties by
refusing to come
to terms with the
injustices he
experienced in the
past. Now that he
finds himself
alone again, he
must finally deal
with the emotions
and past
relationships he
has tried to
ignore.
Theo Faron is a an
Oxford professor
in a society in
which learning for
the future has lost
its importance.
Theo is separated,
childless, and
drifting through
life when he
meets Julian, a
member of a rebel
group. He begins
to question what
is happening and
is lured into the
group in
opposition to his
cousin Xan, the
despotic Warden
of England.
-Japanese interment
during WW II
-racism
-family
-tradition
-immigrant experience
-river
symbolism/imagery
-a ‘portrait of the artist’
as a young man
-dystopian novel
-the role of government
-use of journal
narrative
prized child.
Joyce, P.D.
King,
Stephen
King,
Stephen
The Code
11/22/63
The Cell
Present day;
southern
Ontario
Present day
Maine; back in
time to 196063 Texas
Present day,
northeast U.S.
A former NHL
player turned
scout, researching
the background of
a potential top
prospect, stumbles
into a murdermystery after the
coach of the
prospect’s junior
team is murdered.
The story takes us
inside the ‘real’
world of how
hockey teams are
run.
Brad Slade is a
down-and-out
former NHL
player who uses
his connections to
hang around the
game as a scout.
Son of a cop, he
uses his college
criminology
background and
his insider
knowledge of the
game to solve the
crime and save his
job.
-‘who-dunnit’
murder/mystery
A man is given
the opportunity to
travel through a
portal and back in
time to Sept. of
1958. He spends
five years
planning to save
President
Kennedy from
being
assassinated-but
it’s not easy to
change history
and altering any
one event can
have multiple,
unforeseen
effects.
Jake Epping is a
35 year old school
teacher whose
marriage to an
alcoholic wife has
fallen apart. He’s
accused of being
unable to express
his emotions. He’s
given a chance to
go back in time,
save people, fall
in love, and
change the course
of history.
-‘speculative’ fiction
about timetravel(maybe pair with
Hominids or The Time
Machine)
The plot concerns
a New England
artist struggling to
reunite with his
young son after a
mysterious signal
broadcast over the
global cell-phone
network turns
masses of his
fellow humans
into zombies. The
Pulse," is a signal
sent out over the
global cell-phone
network which
instantly strips
Clayton Riddell,
the art
teacher/cartoonist
who's in Boston
(signing his first
big-time book
contract) when the
world goes to hell
in a handbasket, is
the ‘ordinary
man’ hero. The
novel's story line
is centered on his
attempt to get
back to Maine and
rescue his son and
estranged wife,
and the cast of
-An apocalyptic horror
novel
-hockey
-loyalty/betrayal
-love and sacrifice
-ethics: is it okay to kill
a person to save the life
of others?
-Mr. King spends part
of "Cell" contemplating
the essential darkness
of human nature.
Stripped of social
constraints, the Pulse
people create a
Hieronymous Bosch
tableau of hellish
depravity. They can be
found reeling,
staggering, biting their
own mothers or
fighting over Twinkies.
King,
Thomas
Truth &
Bright Water
Truth, a small
town in rural
Montana, and
Bright Water,
a reserve
across the
CanadianAmerican
border; 1990s
any cell-phone
user of their
ability to reason,
locking them into
blood-thirsty,
homicidal
creatures.
Civilization
promptly
crumbles as the
masses of Pulse's
victims (dubbed
"phoners") attack
each other and any
unaltered people
in view.
characters that
come along for
the ride and that
they encounter
along the way.
-Contains typical King
horror elements: the
quest, the use of lone
survivors, a world that
needs restarting, and
malevolent forces
beyond human control.
Truth, a small
town in rural
Montana, and
Bright Water, a
reserve across the
CanadianAmerican border,
are separated by a
river. The first
person narrator, an
15-year-old
Native American
(Blackfoot) youth,
Tecumseh (named
after the famous
Shawnee leader),
watches a strange
woman jump off
the cliff into the
river that marks
the border. His
companions are
Lum, his cousin,
and Soldier, his
boxer dog. The
plot revolves
around their
interactions with
each other, with
their parents, and
other people in
Truth and Bright
Water, which lead
up to the great
event, the Indian
Days festival, and
the (partial)
resolution of the
mystery around
Tecumseh is the
15 year-old first
person narrator of
the novel, and it is
about his
‘coming-of-age’
although the wide
cast of characters
is typical of the
‘community
storytelling’ that
is part of the
native tradition.
-magic realism and
native storytelling
- Truth and Bright
Water has a wandering
structure, weaving
between several
different plot lines as
Tecumseh investigates
mysteries with his
trusty dog, Soldier
-cultural stereotypes of
aboriginal peoples
-family relationships
the strange
woman.
King,
Thomas
Medicine
River
Fictional
narrative
reserve on the
Alberta/US
border; 1980s
When Will goes
back to Medicine
River for his
mother's funeral
he is persuaded by
Harlen Bigbear,
the local jack-ofall-trades, to stay
and open a
photographer's
shop. The book is
a series of
episodes and
flashbacks that
reveals life on the
reserve and how
Will adapts
himself to it. Will
meets Louise who
becomes an
unfulfilled love
interest that very
much represents
Will existence, a
series of half
fulfilled
expectations. That
is, he develops an
on-going
relationship with
Louise and her
daughter,
Southwing, for
whom Will
becomes her
closest male
figure. He neither
marries or
develops a
common-law
relationship with
Louise. The
basketball team of
which he is a part,
receives some
success when
Clyde, an exconvict joins the
team. They soon
return to
mediocrity when
Clyde is sent back
The story centers
around the two
main characters,
Will and Harlen
Big Bear, and the
rest of the
community
members.
The main
character, Will, is
a half-Blackfoot,
half-White, whose
largely absent
father was a bullrider in Calgary.
He and his brother
James were raised
by his mother in
Medicine River.
He moves to
Toronto to
become a
photographer.
Harlen BigBear is
the centralizing
figure in this
novel; he holds
the community
and the novel
together. We
might call it
nosiness, and
manipulation, but
he calls it
"keeping on top of
things" and
"helping out."
Will’s deadpan
humor and
thoughts while
Harlen is "circling
around the issues"
is very funny.
-Medicine River is a
complex, intricately
woven story about
belonging and coming
home, intertwined with
authorial commentary
about issues relating
specifically to the First
Nations people in
Canada: social status,
intermarriage, and the
function of community.
-could be read as a
series of connected
short stories(like Alice
Monroe’s Lives of
Girls and Women)
there isn't the
traditional plot that
most Western stories
utilize. This novel is
more a snippet of life
in Medicine River;
there isn't a beginning
and end with a plot
climax and all that
classroom rhetoric that
we study. It is more of
a "slice of life story;" in
this way, it stays in line
with the traditional
format of Native
American stories.
-cultural stereotypes of
aboriginal peoples
-the humour novel
to jail. In Toronto,
Will has an affair
and shares
accommodation
with a married
woman by the
name of Susan.
Predictably, soon
after Susan leaves
Will after
breaking up with
her husband
giving Will hope
of a lasting
relationship. And
so it goes with all
the characters in
this story. Where
there's hope,
there's also
despair. Be happy
with what you've
got.
Kingsolver,
Barbara
The
Poisonwood
Bible
1959-1962,
Kilanga in the
Belgian
Congo; 19701990, various
countries
including
southern U.S.
A missionary
family, the Prices,
move in 1959
from Georgia to
the fictional
village of Kilanga
in the Belgian
Congo. The
Price's story,
which parallels
their host
country's
tumultuous
emergence into
the post-colonial
era, concerns the
increasing
maturity of all
four girls as each
adapts differently
to African village
life and to the
misogyny of their
father, who wears
out his family's
welcome in
Kilanga but
refuses to depart.
It is only after a
series of
misfortunes,
The Price's story,
is narrated by the
five women of the
family: Orleanna,
long-suffering
wife of Baptist
missionary
Nathan Price, and
their four
daughters –
Rachel, Leah,
Adah, and Ruth
May. Upon
leaving Nathan,
Orleanna and the
three surviving
daughters take
very different
paths into their
futures, which are
described up to
the 1990s.
- the colonialization of
Africa
- criticism of the
missionary attempts to
Christianize Africa.
-European exploitation
of Africa
-self-righteous
dominion of the strong
over anyone or
anything too weak to
prevent it.
- Perspectives on the
imbalance of power,
resources, and justice
that exists in the Congo
and elsewhere.
Klein, Joe
(originally
published
by
anonymous
)
Koontz,
Dean
Primary
Colours
Velocity
1990s U.S.
Presidential
campaign trail.
Napa Valley,
California;
2005
however –
culminating in the
death of one of the
daughters – that
the women finally
find the will to
leave Nathan to
his folly.
Primary Colours
can be identified
as a roman à clef,
a novel in which
real persons
appear as fictional
characters.
Presidential
candidate Jack
Stanton is based
on Bill Clinton
and the story
follows the
campaign trail of
the small,
unknown,
southern governor
as he pursues the
oval office.
The predictability
of Billy Wiles's
simple life is
abruptly shattered
when he finds an
anonymous note
on the windshield
of his SUV. The
note gives Wiles a
choice that will
result in the death
Jack Stanton is the
fresh new
candidate that
seems to care and
goes out of his
way to appear
different from the
rest of the
Democratic field.
-politics and the pursuit
of power
-the moral cost of the
pursuit of the American
Dream
-sex, lust, the
weaknesses and
corruption of powerful
men
-idealism vs realism
But the situation
begins to cloud
with details of
Stanton's
involvement in an
anti-war protest in
Chicago and
alleged affair with
his wife's
hairdresser.
Seeing his
political future
slip away and
fellow candidates
preparing to
replace him,
Stanton makes a
last desperate
pitch. He survives
and manages to
tread water the
rest of the way,
helped by the
mistakes of his
adversaries.
Billy Wiles,
thirty-something
bartender living a
quiet life, who has
experienced
tragedy in his life.
The series of
choices he is
faced with turn
him into a
different person,
-the anti-hero
-the psychological
thriller
-moral dilemmas
Koontz,
Dean
Frankenstein:
Prodigal
Son(Book
One of
Trilogy)
Near future;
New Orleans
Lam,
Vincent
Bloodletting
& Miraculous
Toronto; 2005
of an innocent.
This is the first of
many notes, and
only the
beginning, as
Wiles is taunted
and pursued by an
unknown assailant
who possesses not
only an uncanny
knowledge of his
whereabouts at
any given moment
but also detailed
insight into his
past. Wiles,
however, is not
without resources
and a
frighteningly
canny intelligence
of his own. The
tragic turns of his
life have wounded
him but have
made him stronger
as well --- a fact
that Wiles's
tormentor comes
to realize when
Wiles stops
reacting and
begins to act
proactively.
Dr. Frankenstein
and his monster
creation from the
Mary Shelley
work have
survived for
hundreds of years
and now assume
modern identities.
The doctor
continues to
search for the
perfect creation,
the monster is in
pursuit, and
others, copycat
killers and
detectives,
become part of the
intrigue.
A series of
connected short-
capable of just
about anything, as
he pursues his
quarry.
Dr Victor Helios
and Deucalion
reprise their
original roles. The
doctor is now
more obsessed,
arrogant and
ruthless; the
monster more
human, as they
head towards an
inevitable
showdown that
will occur at the
end of the trilogy.
-man vs. God
-excesses, limits of
science
-corrupting influence of
power
Ming, from a
conservative
-sickness and cures
-compare with similar
Cures
stories chronicling
the work and lives
of 3 doctors, from
medical school
through to their
work days.
Larsson,
Stieg
The Girl with
the Dragon
Tattoo
Contemporary
Sweden, with
flashbacks
through
generations of
family history
A disgraced
journalist is hired
by an aging
family patriarch to
re-open the
investigation into
the disappearance
of a family
member over forty
years earlier. The
journalist
uncovers new
evidence and with
the help of a
mysterious,
tattooed computer
hacker, he slowly
uncovers a family
history of startling
complexity.
MacDonald
Ann-Marie
Adult
Onset
Present day
Toronto
A successful
author has taken
on the role of
raising the
children she has
had with her
lesbian wife. She
is haunted by the
memories of her
own upbringing
and questions her
role as both wife
and mother during
a one week period
when her wife is
away and she has
ethnic Chinese
family whose
expectations are
clear: be a
successful doctor
and marry a
fellow Asian;
Chen, son of
Vietnamese
refugees who
escaped poverty;
Fitzgerald, the
talented but
troubled
Canadian.
Mikael Blomkvist
is the disgraced
journalist/magazin
e publisher whose
personal and
professional
relationships are
falling apart. He is
an unlikely hero
as he doggedly
pursues the truth.
Lisbeth Salander
is the tattooed girl
of the title. A
mysterious,
brilliant, social
misfit haunted by
her own personal
history, she forms
a strange team
with Mikael to
solve the mystery.
‘story-cycle’ book:
James Joyce’s
Dubliners; Stephen
Leacock’s Sunshine
Sketches of a Little
Town; Alice Monro’s
Lives of Girls and
Women
Mary Rose
MacKinnon,
‘Mister’, is a 48
year-old lesbian
mother of two,
facing a mid-life
crisis of identity
and purpose.
-the effects of postpartum depression
-family relationships
-female identity
-motherhood
-role of memory(the
past) on the present.
-murder/mystery/thriller
-financial
intrigue/computer
privacy, theft
-the female anti-hero
-disfunctional families
-European(Swedish)
history
-there is a follow-up
book with same
protagonists
MacGregor,
Roy
The Last
Season
Small town
Ontario;
various NHL
Cities;
Finland; 19601980s
MacIntyre,
Linden
The Bishop’s
Man
Contemporary
Newfoundland
and small
town
Maritimes
MacIntyre,
Linden
Why Men Lie
Toronto and
small town
NewFoundlan
to deal with her
children, brother
and parents on her
own.
Plot alternates
between Felix
Batterinski’s
upbringing in
small town
Ontario and the
weird cast of
characters he
encountered on
his way up to the
NHL; and his
post-career
soujourn oversees
to coach in
Finland, where he
takes the time to
finally reflect on
his career, life and
the meaning of it
all.
An aging priest,
trying to come to
terms with his
own weaknesses
and
temptations(alcoh
ol and a woman),
is asked by his
bishop to
investigate the
rumours of
another possible
sex scandal
involving a priest.
Father MacAskill
has been the
‘bishop’s man’
before, but finds
he is unable to
come to terms
with his
conflicting
emotions as he
uncovers the
chilling details
and his own
weaknesses tempt
him from the
truth.
In the follow-up
to The Bishop’s
Man, the focus
Felix Batterinski
is the small town
Ontario boy, son
of an immigrant
family, who
makes it to the
NHL as a
goon/enforcer.
His is the ‘Hockey
Night in Canada’
story-a behind the
scenes look at the
real people under
the helmets who
seem larger than
life-but are filed
with a variety of
human
weaknesses.
-small town life
-hockey culture
-the immigrant
experience
-the ‘Canadian’
experience
-sexism/racism/etc. in
all of the above
-pair with The
Antagonist
Father Duncan
MacAskill is a
representative of
the modern
priesthood; a man
full of human
weaknesses,
struggling with
his vows and
trying to find a
balance between
his calling as a
priest and his
natural urges as a
man.
- temptation
-human weakness vs
sacred vows
-child sexual abuse
-hidden obsessions and
guilty secrets
-the Catholic Church
A university
professor with a
number of failed
-trust and forgiveness
-lies and truth
d; 1970-early
2000s
Mandel,
Emily St.
John
Station
Eleven
Toronto, then
Midwestern
USA; present
day, then 20
years into the
future
Martel,
Yann
Life of Pi
The story
begins in
Pondicherry, a
former French
colony in
India, then
moves to the
Pacific Ocean.
Time is 1960s70s.
shifts to Father
MacAskill’s
sister, Effie. This
story weaves back
and forth between
Toronto(a place
people escape to)
and small town
NewFoundland
(the place people
return to for
comfort and the
truth) as Ellie
searches for the
truth in her
relationship with
CJ Campbell,
trying to figure
out if men and
women are so
different after all.
A pandemic wipes
out most of the
human race and a
small group of
survivals band
together in
Travelling
Symphony,
putting on
performances as
they travel around,
struggling to
survive. Along the
way, they meet
many other small
pockets of
survivors, some
friendly and some
not, most of
whom we were
introduced to
before the
pandemic broke
out.
Piscine Molitor or
Pi Patel’s family
decides to relocate
to Canada. His
father sells many
of the animals
from the zoo, but
selects some to
move with them
to Winnipeg by
freighter. The ship
relationships in
her past, Effie
feels she has
found the type of
man she has
always longed
for-a mature,
sensible one. But
she realizes
nothing is ever as
it seems as her
new relationship
develops and no
one can escape
their past.
-relationships
-religion and faith
-with The Long Stretch
and The Bishop’s Man
form the Cape Breton
Trilogy
An ensemble cast of
characters whom we
watch grow and
change over the
course of twenty
years; Kirsten
Raymonde, 8 years
old at the start,
becomes an actress
the Travelling
Symphony; Jeevan
Chaudhary, one
time paramedictrainee who
becomes a ‘healer’
in a small
community of
survivors; Arthur
Leander, star of film
and stage, whose
philandering begets
‘the prophet,’ leader
of a doomsday cult.
-futuristic, dystopian
literature
-survival
-the power, role of art
-the nature of fame
The "story" of Pi
Patel, teenaged
son of a
zookeeper in
Pondicherry,
India, is a simple
one. Pi is a person
dedicated to
finding his
connection to the
Eternal. To
-Martel wrote Life of Pi
in a frame narrative. In
the novel, Pi, a fictional
character, is met by
another fictional
character, the supposed
author of Life of Pi. In
the author's note, the
fictionalized author
tells his own reasoning
capsizes in the
middle of the
Pacific Ocean,
leaving Pi an
orphan, alone on a
lifeboat with a
hyena, a zebra,
and an enormous
Bengal tiger
named Richard
Parker. In short
order, the hyena
dispatches the
zebra, the tiger
dispatches the
hyena, and for all
intents and
purposes, Pi
appears to be the
next item on
Richard Parker's
menu.
What happens for
the next 227 days
at sea is nothing
short of amazing.
Rejecting the idea
of killing the only
companion (albeit
a dangerous one)
he has in the
middle of sharkinfested waters
with waning
prospects for
rescue, Pi devises
ways to care for
both his own
needs and the
tiger's in an
ongoing survival
situation of the
most dire
proportions. In the
process, he calls
upon everything
he has learned,
both in a practical
sense and a
spiritual one, to
keep himself and
Richard Parker
alive against
overwhelming
everyone's horror,
he systematically
samples religions
like canapés on a
cosmic platter. In
addition to his
own native Hindu
beliefs, Pi adds
Christianity and
Islam, and happily
integrates them
into his daily life.
Pi's spiritual
journey as he
searches for
meaning in life
comprises the real
"story" of Pi.
for recounting Pi's life.
This author meets Pi
and his family, years
after his journey at sea.
Interestingly, Martel
uses italicized chapters
to distinguish the
"author's" notes from
the continued story of
Pi's life. Although
somewhat unclear, it is
this fictional author
who writes the story in
Pi's own words.
-faith and science
-a survival story, a tall
tale, an action piece, a
work about
human/animal
relationships, and a
fiction about (1) India,
(2) adolescence, (3)
zoos and zoology, and
(4) the Pacific Ocean
-Life of Pi is a powerful
argument for the
absolute nonrandomness of
universe. Every
experience has its
purpose. Every event
has significance. Every
scrap of knowledge
we've acquired is
specific for us.
odds.
Matar,
Hisham
Mayr,
Suzette
McCarthy,
Cormac
In the Country
of Men
Monoceros
All the Pretty
Horses
1970s Libya,
during the
early years of
Qaddafi’s
reign.
Calgary; 2012
Texas/Mexica
n border; 1948
A young boy
learns about his
family’s and
country’s troubled
pasts and political
present times
while growing
amid the
tightening
restrictions of
Qaddafi’s Libya.
The boy sees the
effects of political
oppression all
around him, but
doesn’t begin to
feel/understand it
until it strikes in
his own home.
A lonely 17 yearold by(Patrick),
feeling unable to
come out publicly
about his
homosexuality,
bullied and
ignored by all the
people around
him, hangs
himself. The
novel is based on
the reactions of
the students,
teachers, family
members who
remain and try to
come to terms
with their guilt
and possible roles
in the suicide.
After the death of
his grandfather,
whom he has
lived with since
his parents’
separation, sixteen
Twenty-four year
old Suleiman
recounts the
events leading up
to his being sent
away from Libya
to Egypt at the
age of nine. He is
a delicate, naïve
young boy, who
spends most of his
upbringing with
his ‘ill’ mother,
trying to get close
to his distant
father.
-repressive, autocratic
government
A wide cast of
characters that
includes the
following: Max,
the school
principal, ‘in the
closet’
homosexual, and
Walter, the school
guidance
counselor, and his
‘lover’, each of
whom how to deal
with their failure
to help Patrick;
Farady, Ginger,
and Petra,
classmates of
Patrick, whom
each had their
own inter-actions
with him; various
other adults who
touched the life of
Patrick and are
effected by his
death.
Sixteen year old
John Grady Cole
has a love for
horses and a
knowledge of
them far beyond
-suicide
-male-female roles in
Arab country
-dissent and repression
-violence
-mother/father/son
relationships
-secrets and lies
-compare with The Kite
Runner
-guilt
-homosexuality
-high school
-shifting narrative p.o.v
-possible comparison
with of The Lovely
Bones, or
Hey Nostrodamus!
-1st book of ‘The
Border Trilogy’
-‘western’ coming-ofage story
- McCarthy's main
McKay,
Ami
McKay,
Ami
The birth
house
The Virgin
Cure
Scot’s Bay,
Nova Scotia;
WW I
New York
City; 1870s
year old John
Grady Cole, with
no apparent future
in Texas, and
sensing the threat
of the new era to
the traditional life
he values, John
Grady urges his
old friend Rawlins
to accompany him
to Mexico. As
they ride into
Mexico, they
realize that they
are no longer in a
world that they
can understand.
By the time John
Grady returns
home, he has
worked on a horse
ranch, fallen in
love, been in
prison, and been
exposed to the
evil in the world.
An older woman,
from ‘away’, a
practitioner of
midwifery and
naturopathic
remedies, is
confronted by
modern medicine
when an educated
male doctor
arrives. As the
community lives
through the effects
of slow
modernization and
WW I, the conflict
between the
warm, loving
ways of women
and the cold,
sometimes
inhumane
scientific ways of
men, plays out
over the course of
Dora Rule’s life.
Moth is a 12 yearold street kid
scavenging an
his years.
Although mature
for his age, he is
unprepared for the
changes
overtaking
America as
traditional values
are being replaced
with
modernization and
industrialization.
theme in ALL THE
PRETTY HORSES is
conflict --- man vs.
woman, freedom vs.
authority, rich vs. poor
- All the books of the
"Border Trilogy" are
written in an
unconventional format,
omitting traditional
Western punctuation,
such as quotation
marks, and making
great use of
polysyndetonic syntax.
- purpose and value of
violence are explored
Dora Rare is
raised in a
traditional home
and small
community,
where women’s
roles are limited.
She desires more
and surrounds
herself with a
support group that
helps her to make
choices that fly in
the face of
convention-and
slowly help
change the society
around her.
-women’s suffrage
Moth quickly
loses her
innocence and
-historical realism
-midwifery
-historical realism
-early feminism
-man’s inhumanity to
McEwan,
Ian
Atonement
England,
1935; France
during WWII;
England, 1999
existence in the
Lower East Side
slums when she is
sold by her
mother into
service as a lady’s
maid. She escapes
this brutal life to
be ‘rescued’ into a
training home for
young prostitutes.
She is groomed
until she is finally
claimed by a
pathetic man in
pursuit of the
‘virgin cure.’
It is the summer
of 1935 in the
Surrey
countryside when
a rape occurs that
destroys the
relationships
between the
members of the
Tallis family and
their cousins and
guests who were
present. 13 yearold Briony
accuses the wrong
man of raping her
cousin, the man
whom her sister is
in love with. The
man is convicted
and sent to jail.
After he is
released he goes
off to fight in WW
II; we follow his
exploits as he
makes his way
back to see his
beloved, Briony’s
sister, Cecelia,
who has cut
herself off from
her family in
support of her
love. We find out
at the end that the
writing of the
events in the
novel is Briony’s,
learns the value of
her body and how
to use it to her
advantage in a
world that is
brutal and
unfeeling. She
never quite gives
up on her dreams
of a better life,
using those
around her to gain
what she can.
man
-In part the novel
is a roman a clef:
the writer is
Briony Tallis
whom we see at 3
stages in her life:
a 13 year-old girl,
naïve to the ways
of sex; an 18 yearold nurse during
WW II; the
acclaimed 77 year
old-novelist,
ruminating on the
validity of the
story she has told
as the end of her
life draws near.
-like a Victorian novel
in its descriptions of
the English countryside
and its classes
-Cecelia Tallis
and Robbie
Turner, the starcrossed lovers;
devoted to each
other although
most of their time
together is limited
and only dreamed
of.
- treatment of women
- child
protagonist(compare
with ‘lullabies for the
little criminals’?)
-a graphically written
depiction of the British
retreat to Dunkirk in
1940.
-a love story
-what is truth? How
much of a history, a
person’s life, is creative
storytelling?
-a portrait of the artist
McEwan,
Ian
Saturday
London,
England; 2003
now a successful
novelist, way of
atoning for her
cruel mistake in
1935 and setting
the record straight.
But is her story
really the truth
about what
happened?
Saturday is a
closely
circumscribed
novel, a detailed
day in the life.
The life is London
neurosurgeon
Henry Perowne's,
the weekend day - away from work
-- not quite typical
or everyday. The
Saturday is 15
February, 2003,
the day on which
hundreds of
thousands would
march in the
capital in protest
against the
proposed war
against Iraq, the
teeming masses a
constant backdrop
(though always
kept at some
distance, whether
on television or on
the streets).
Perowne's day is
one largely of
simple routine and
leisurely errands,
scheduled to
culminate in the
evening with a
family gettogether at dinner.
McEwan slowly
and carefully
describes what
Perowne does and
thinks, and what
happens to and
around him.
Perowne's world
In Saturday
McEwan depicts a
man who has done
well and leads a
comfortable life,
happily married, a
proud father, a
respected
professional. But
the world at large,
dealing with
others or with
questions of
politics
(repeatedly
touched upon,
especially
regarding Iraq),
makes for
complications
that, if not entirely
baffling, do leave
him ill at ease.
He's only really
comfortable with
the inner circle of
closest family,
and, especially, in
his operating
theatre.
- a comfortable world
gently unraveling
- a mix of the mundane
and the extraordinary in
a man’s comfortable
life
- a book about how the
threat of all forms of
violence -- chemical,
biological, social and
political – can threaten
an otherwise peaceful,
middleclass life.
-the effect of 9/11 on
our lives-how is it
changing our everyday
lives?
Michaels,
Sean
Us
Conductors
New
York/Russia;
1920s-1940s
Morrison,
Toni
Sula
Ohio; 19191965
is upset by a
fender-bender.
Not much of one,
indeed, it turns out
there's barely any
damage at all to
his fancy car. But
it's an odd
accident: he
encounters a
group of thugs,
led by Baxter, and
the scene escalates
into one of
inescapable
violence. Needless
to say, Perowne
does not manage
to escape Baxter
entirely, and it
comes to another
confrontation,
later in the day,
involving
Perowne’s entire
family.
The fictionalized
life story of the
Russian
inventor/spy Leon
Theremin. The
brilliant engineer
is used by Lenin’s
spy agency to
infiltrate
American
institutions by use
of his inventor
cover. Along the
way, Theremin
falls in love, then
out of favour with
the brutal regime
of Stalin.
A study of how
the lives and
identities of the
black community
that lives above a
small Ohio valley
town and that of
Sula Peace are
developed through
a series of
Lev Sergeyvich
Termen/Dr. Leon
Theremen
struggles to
remember who he
really is and
where his loyalty
lies as he becomes
further engrossed
in 1920s America.
His struggle to
stay connected to
his family,
friends,
colleagues, and,
finally, the love of
his life, compete
with his devotion
to his craft and his
Clara.
Sula often seems
perpetually stuck
in a kind of
childlike
impetuosity. As
flawed as Sula is,
however, she
never surrenders
to falseness or
falls into the trap
-historical fiction
-loyalty
-communist Russia
-1920s New York
- ‘invention’ as
metaphor: how one
creates a product, life,
love, role, etc.
-racism
-female relationships
-mother/children
relationships
-irony
-fire and water
changing
relationships and
tragedies.
Nichols,
David
One Day
Mostly
England,
1988-2004,
with some
European
travels
The story of the
relationship
between Dexter
and Emma,
college friends,
who spend most
of their lives
denying the
attraction between
them until one day
they finally get
together and…
Oates,
Joyce Carol
Foxfire
1950s, up-state
New York
Oates,
Joyce Carol
We Were the
Mulvaneys
Small towns,
upstate New
York; 1950s1990s
O’Neill,
Heather
the girl who
was Saturday
night
Quebec;
leading up to
the 2nd
referendum
A group of poor,
girls, with sad,
violent family
lives, unite to
form a girl-gang.
They find
belonging and
power together,
swearing
allegiance to each
other as they
become stronger
and emboldened,
gaining revenge
on a maledominated world
until their
increasingly
violent plans spin
out of control.
A family’s idyllic
farm life is
shattered by the
rape of the
daughter, and the
family slowly falls
apart over the
course of 15
years.
Confession-like
first person
narrative account
of the poor,
desperate life of
19 year old
of
conventionality
in order to keep
up appearances
or to be accepted
by the
community.
Dexter Mayhew
comes from un
upper-class
background and
plays the part of
the studly,
commitment-shy,
party-boy. Emma
Morley is the shy,
unsure, quiet
beauty who can’t
risk enough to be
happy.
-humour writing
-relationships
-can men and women
truly be friends?
-narrative structure-the
same day each year is
the basis for each
chapter
-English version of the
movie When Harry Met
Sally
Maddy-Monkey
Wirtz narrates the
story of her
involvement with
FOXFIRE and its
mercurial leader,
Margaret ‘Legs’
Sadovsky. Legs
leads and inspires
loyalty in the
other girls,
dedicating her life
to defeating the
‘others’, gaining
revenge on rich
capitalists, men,
and all others who
would keep them
down.
-(girl)gang culture
-rich vs poor
-capitalism critique
-friendship
-family
-loyalty
Mulvaney family:
Mike Sr. and
Corrine; Children
Mike Jr., Patrick,
Judd and
Marianne
-family:
tragedy/lies/truth
/memories
-pride vs forgiveness
-small town life
-animals
Nouschka
Tremblay is an
older ‘Baby’
-family ties
-lives of the poor, the
downtrodden, and the
desperate
-the Quebecois and
separation
O’Neill,
Heather
lullabies for
little criminals
Quebec; 2007
Palahniuk,
Chuck
Fight Club
Late 1990s; un
unnamed
American city
Nouschka, who
lives in a rundown
apartment with
her twin brother,
aginf grandfather,
and the memory
of her celebrity
father. Nouschka,
mirroring the
Quebec that she
grows up in,
searches for a
sense of belonging
after being
abandoned by her
mother. She drifts
through aimless
relationships, sex,
drugs, and
alcohol, until she
is alone, pregnant
and abandoned by
her husband and
brother.
Confession-like
first person
narrative account
of the poor,
desperate life of
13 year old Baby,
who lives in a
series of rundown
apartments with a
drug-addict father.
Left to her own
devices to survive,
Baby, shuffled in
and out of various
foster homes,
turns to the streets
and its cast of
junkies, pimps,
bums, and abused
children in order
to survive.
The unnamed
narrator, suffering
from insomnia,
develops a split
personality: one
operates by day as
a typical, cog-inthe-machine
worker, and the
other, by night, as
a leader of
-fame and celebrity
-(see below)
Baby is a
survivor, but is
also a little kid in
search of love and
acceptance. She
survives the loss
of her mother,
abandonment by
her father,
prostitution, drug
abuse, and life on
the streets, by a
combination of
wits and guile.
-drug addiction
-lives of the poor, the
downtrodden, and the
desperate
-child prostitution
-broken families
The narrator
creates his other
personality as way
of dealing with a
modern, empty
existence. He is
trying to recapture a way fro
modern men to
connect and reassert this
-mental illness/split
personality
-anti-consumerism
-anti-corporatism
-the unnamed narrator
-masculinity
-missing fathers
(Oedipal complex)
Pamuk,
Orhan
Snow
Present day
Turkey
Parker,
John L. Jr.
Once a
Runner
1980s;
Southern USA
Pessl,
Night Film
Present day
emasculated men,
trying to rally
them to re-assert
masculinity. The
narrator comes to
realize this other
personality exists
and that he must
defeat it in order
to regain his
sanity.
An exiled poet,
who has lived the
past dozen years
in Germany,
returns to his
hometown in
Turkey to
investigate the
recent suicides of
young girls who
refuse to give up
wearing head
scarves to public
schools and to
pursue his long
lost love. He
arrives in the
midst of local
elections and the
growing debate of
Western influence
versus Islamic
fundamentalists.
A collegiate
runner, a mile
specialist, goes
through the ups
and downs of a
socially turbulent
collegiate season
until he is
suspended from
the track team. On
the advice of his
mentor, he drops
out and trains on
his own, testing
his physical and
mental limits as
he prepares to
make his
comeback against
the best in the
world.
The daughter of
masculinity in a
world in which
men are being
raised by women.
Tyler Durden is
everything the
narrator is not.
Ka, creates a
series of poems,
which are later
published
posthumously,
which are inspired
by the events and
people of his visit.
He meets with a
wide cast of
characters and
discusses issues of
religion, politics,
identity, culture.
He tries to win
over the woman
of his dreams
amid his
conflicting beliefs
over the nature of
God and love.
-Western vs Islamic
cultural influences
-nature of love
-Mid-Eastern politics
-poetry/the creative
process
-the role of violence in
society
-snow as
metaphor(consider
Snow Falling on
Cedars or The Moon is
Down)
Quentin Cassidy
takes us through
the mental,
physical, and
social ups and
downs of a world
class athlete. He
struggles to
explain to
others(and
himself) why he
does what he does
and why he is
willing to push
himself beyond
limits few human
beings can and
have experienced.
-running as the primal
human activity(animal
imagery)
-nature vs. nurture
(what makes an
exceptional athlete?)
-team dynamics in
sport
-social sports hierarchy
in the southern USA
-individual rights vs
social norms
Scott McGrath is
-the occult/witchcraft
Marisha
New York
City
the reclusive cultfilm director
Stanislas Cordova
is found dead, of
an apparent
suicide. Three
people are brought
together in pursuit
of the truth about
Ashley Cordova’s
life.
All the King's Men
can be identified
as a roman à clef,
a novel in which
real persons
appear as fictional
characters.
Readers
recognized the
novel's demagogic
southern
governor, Willie
Stark, as similar to
Huey P. Long,
"the Kingfish,"
former governor
of Louisiana and
that state's U. S.
senator in the
mid- 1930s. Jack
Burden, righthand man to
Governor Stark,
narrates the novel,
recounting the rise
and fall of his
boss.
-an obsessed
historian, on the
trail of the burial
spot of
Champlain, is
murdered and the
convalescing
Chief Inspector of
the Surete du
Quebec, is asked
to help out with
the investigation
and ends up
tracking down two
killers.
Penn
Warren,
Robert
All the King’s
Men
1920s-30s
Southern USA
Penney,
Louise
Bury Your
Dead
Contemporary
Quebec City
and
surrounding
villages
a somewhat
disgraced
investigative
reporter, divorced,
with a young
daughter he sees
during visitations.
His pursuit of the
truth leads him to
question his own
beliefs and
relationship with
facts, reality and
people.
Willie Stark starts
as an idealistic
young lawyer,
committed to
helping the "little
guy," but evolves
into a politician
whose power
hinges on the
numerous shady
deals he makes to
carry out his
vision of what
government
should be doing.
-horror
-suspense/mystery
-the
meaning/construction
of film
-genius/madness
-critique of the
emptiness/
safety/commercializati
on of modern life(The
Lovesong of J. Alfred
Prufrock)
-use of visual elements
in the novel
-politics and the
corruption of power
-the effect of the
past(history) on the
present
-the search for value
and faith in the
meaning of life
-the search for a father
figure
-the moral cost of the
pursuit of the American
Dream
-the human capacity for
evil
Chief Inspector
Armand Gauche
is recovering from
his injuries and
the memories of
an abduction gone
wrong. He must
solve a murder in
the present while
taking us on a
historical journey
through the
formation and
development of
Old Quebec in
-5th book in Inspector
Gauche series
-classic mystery
-historical fiction
-Anglo/French
relations
-guilt
Plath,
Sylvia
The Bell Jar
New York
City and
Boston; early
1950s
Potok,
Chaim
My Name is
Asher Lev
Brooklyn;
1940s, 1950s
Quarringto
n, Paul
King Leary
Ontario,
spanning early
to late 1900s
Esther
Greenwood, in her
early 20s and
academically
successful,
experiences an
unsuccessful
summer internship
in New York City;
then returns home
feeling empty and
depressed. Her
mother convinces
her to see a
psychiatrist after
which she ends up
being
institutionalized.
Unable to find the
freedom to be
what she wants to
be, she attempts to
kill herself then
slowly regains her
sanity.
The story of
Asher Lev, from
childhood until
early 20s, during
which time he
struggles between
being an
observant Hasidic
Jew and honing
his talent as a
great artist.
An aged,
legendary hockey
star reflects on the
his life, family,
friendships, and
the game, as he
takes one last trip
back to the big
city and through
his memories of
his past life. Story
is a mixture of
historical fiction,
referring to real
people and
order to solve a
case from the
past.
Esther
Greenwood’s
slow descent into
mental illness is
brought on by her
inability to accept
the restrictive
roles society sets
for her. She
becomes
increasingly
isolated from
everyone around
her as she realizes
that school, work,
and marriage are
not for her.
Asher Lev is a
quiet, thoughtful,
gifted Jewish boy
who struggles to
find happiness
and a balance in
his life between is
religion, his
father, his
community and
his artistic gift.
Percival ‘King’
Leary is a
cantankerous
hockey legend,
critical of today’s
game and players.
He tells about a
time when the
game, people, and
society were far
different from
today. He is funny
and sad, critical,
reflective and
insightful.
-feminism
-female ‘coming of
age’ story
-mental illness
-‘portrait of the artist’
-contrast with The
Catcher in the Rye
- roman á clef novel
-conflicting traditions
(Judaism and art)
- father versus son,
-contentedness with
one's life versus peace
in the family
- the traditional Jewish
world versus secular
America
-meaning/purpose of
art
-the individual vs the
community
-humour writing
-hockey
-friendship/loyalty
-legend/myth/heroes
Quinn,
Daniel
Ishmael
Nameless
North
American city
in the present
day
Roth, Philip
American
Pastoral
New Jersey;
1940-1970s
Saramago,
Jose
Blindness
Unnamed
European
country, circa
1995,
publishing
date
historical events,
and ‘imaginary’
characters and
events, ‘thinly’
disguised takeoffs on real
people.
An aging,
possibly former
hippie, answering
a newspaper ad
hoping to get
spiritual guidance
and find meaning
in his life,
encounters a
strange ‘teacher’
who guides him
through a mental
journey whereby
he realizes new
truths about
humankind
The conflict is
centered on the
main character’s
inability to deal
with the criminal
act of his only
daughter, who is
caught up in the
anti-war
movement. The
narrative goes
back and forth in
time, re-telling
how the Swede
built his
seemingly perfect
life as he searches
for the reasons
why it went
wrong.
A man is sitting at
a traffic light one
day waiting for
the light to turn
green and he
suddenly goes
blind. This is the
"first blind man."
Slowly this
mysterious form
of blindness, the
like not known in
the literature of
Ishmael is a fullgrown gorilla,
who has, through
a varied past of
owners and
travels, acquired
wisdom beyond
that of most books
and wise sages.
He uses a
question-andanswer approach
to guide his
students toward
enlightenment.
-spiritual adventure
-philosophy
-religion
-talking animals
-compare with Zen and
the Art of Motorcycle
Maintenance or Surfing
the Himalayas
Seymour ‘Swede’
Levov is the star
athlete who
marries the beauty
queen and takes
over his father’s
factory, allowing
him to escape the
inner city and live
in the pastoral
beauty of the
countryside.
America’s slow
post-war decline
is mirrored in the
life of the Swede,
whose idyllic life
slowly unravels.
-American Dream
-immigrant experience
-city vs country
-parochial, post-war
America
-loss of innocence
-compare with Gatsby
or Grapes of Wrath or
Death of A Salesman
We follow a cast
of fewer than 10
characters in
detail. We have
no names, only
descriptors. After
all one character
tells us "blind
people need no
names." There is
the first blind
man, the first
blind man's wife.
-Saramago's
experimental style
often features long
sentences, at times
more than a page long.
He uses periods
sparingly, choosing
instead a loose flow of
clauses joined by
commas. Many of his
paragraphs match the
length of entire
modern medicine,
spreads to the
whole nation. As
best we know,
there is only one
sighted person left
in the realm. In
the early days of
the white
blindness in which
each person sees
only a white
creamy mass, the
government freaks
out at the quick
contagion of it
and inters a large
number of the
blind in an old
insane asylum.
There, in scenes
which are quite
reminiscent of
Golding's The
Lord of the Flies,
pure anarchy
reigns and a gang
sets itself up to
control the
government
delivered food.
Soon however, the
7 central
characters have
escaped the
asylum when it
turns out that all
the guards who
are keeping them
interred have
themselves gone
blind and they
simply walk out
into a world of all
blind people.
All blind people
that is, save one.
The doctor's wife
somehow remains
sighted and she is
able to give this
small group the
advantages that
The blind man
had a seeming
good Samaritan
who helps him
home and then
steals his car and
is thus called the
man who had
stole the car.
There is the
doctor whom he
consults and the
doctor's wife, the
girl with dark
glasses, the boy
with the squint
and the man with
the black eye
patch. There are a
few others, but
these become our
key characters,
later on adding the
dog of tears.
chapters by more
traditional writers. He
uses no quotation
marks to delimit
dialog; when the
speaker changes
Saramago capitalizes
the first letter of the
new speaker's clause.
In his novels Blindness
and The Cave,
Saramago sometimes
abandons the use of
proper nouns; indeed,
the difficulty of naming
is a recurring theme in
his work.
- An allegory of what?
Of the dependency of
humans on basic
systems of order in the
manner of Thomas
Hobbes? Is it a
condemnation of
humans as being only
on the edge of
civilization and being
shown to be ready to
plunge into barbarism
at the least shaking of
central systems of
order? Or on a more
positive note, is the
tiny group of 7 the
hopeful core that even
in such catastrophic
circumstances would
maintain humanity and
re-create a safer
environment? Or does
this problematic
suggest that leaders are
essential to the
continuation of the
human species?
Sawyer,
Robert
Hominids
Early 2000s;
Ontario
Sebold,
Alice
The Lovely
Bones
Suburban
Philadelphia;
1973-80s
allows it to
survive when
others could not.
She can locate
places, keep them
all in line and,
most importantly,
find food and
water in a world
gone blind.
A Neanderthal
physicist arrives
on earth from a
parallel universe,
as a result of a
quantum
computing
experiment. His
arrival sets off a
series of conflicts,
both in the human
world and the
Neanderthal world
he left behind.
14 year-old Susie
Salmon is the
latest victim of a
serial killer who
has gone
undetected for
years. Narrating
from heaven,
Susie reveals what
her heaven is like,
and watches the
effect of her
murder on family
and friends.
Pontor Boddit is a
Neanderthal
physicist, a
species of people
who have
advanced in
different ways
than humans.
Ponter is a kind,
sensitive,
thoughtful
observer of our
society.
The Salmon
Family: Susie
Salmon, a 14year-old girl who
is raped, murdered
and dismembered
in the first
chapter, and
narrates the novel
from heaven.
Jack Salmon, her
father, who works
for an insurance
agency in Chadds
Ford,
Pennsylvania.
Abigail Salmon,
her mother, whose
growing family
frustrated her
youthful dreams
and later has an
affair with
Detective Len
Fenerman whose
wife committed
suicide. Lindsey
Salmon, Susie's
sister, a year
younger than she
-first book in ‘The
Neanderthal Parallax’
trilogy
-science fiction:
explores theoretic
world of quantum
physics
-stranger in a strange
land
-what does it mean to
be human?
-critique of our
assumptions about
religion, justice, social
order
-dead narrator
-grief, loss and
restoration
-coming-of-age story
-destruction of the
1970s ‘nuclear’ family
Sheilds,
Carol
Unless
Toronto and
small town
Ontario; 2000
Selvadurai,
Shyam
The Hungry
Ghosts
Vancouver and
Toronto
1990s;
Colombo, Sri
Lanka 1970s1990s
A middle-aged
writer, with a
happy family life,
finds her world
turned upside
down when her 19
year-old daughter
drops out of
university and
takes up begging,
on a street corner
in downtown
Toronto, wearing
a sign that says
‘Goodness’. The
writer tries to
understand why
her daughter is
doing this and
what it means for
her own life.
The tension of
civil unrest in Sri
Lanka sets the
background for
this story. Like his
country, Shivan’s
loyalty is torn
is, thought of as
the smartest.
Buckley Salmon,
Susie's brother,
ten years younger
than she is. He
sometimes sees
Susie while she
watches him in
her heaven.
Grandma Lynn,
Abigail's mother,
who comes to live
with her son-inlaw and
grandchildren
after her daughter
leaves. And,
George Harvey,
the Salmons'
neighbor, who
kills Susie and
goes unpunished
even though the
Salmons come to
suspect him, then
leaves Norristown
to kill again.
Reta Winters is 44
years old, in a
happy long term
relationship with
the father of her 3
girls, and working
on her next novel.
She becomes
increasingly
aware of the
barriers her girls
and herself face
when forced to
confront her
daughter’s
actions-how malecentered most
aspects of her life
are.
Shivan is a gay
man in a society
that does not
accept
homosexuality. In
Canada, while
able to live the
-feminism
-language and the
power of words
-relationships
-small town vs big city
life
-the artistic process
-immigrant literature
-guilt/forgiveness
-disfunctional families
-loyalty/betrayal
-racism/sexism
-homophobia
Smiley,
Jane
A Thousand
Acres
One
generation of a
mid-western
American
family, 195080
Toews,
Miriam
A
Complicated
Kindness
Small town
Manitoba;
2004
Toews,
Miriam
The Flying
Troutmans
Present day;
trip from small
between his
country and
family and his
personal
happiness. The
product of a
Tamil/Sinhalese
marriage, his
status makes him
dependent on his
grandmother’s
largesse for
survival. But an
act of unspeakable
betrayal makes the
possibility of
happiness seem
impossible for
Shivan and he
must decide what
he will sacrifice to
make things right.
Virginia Cole, the
eldest of the three
sisters, narrates
the story. A father
divides his
farm(the thousand
acres of the title)
to be left equally
to his 3 daughters
and their
husbands. The
youngest
disagrees with the
father and the
other 2 inherit the
land. Father
slowly enters into
madness and
family conflicts
lead to devastating
conflicts.
Told in memoir
form, Nomi
Nickel tells about
her dissatisfying
life in a small
Mennonite
community and
how her family
broke apart due to
the restrictions of
the church
Hattie returns
home from Paris
life he chooses, he
is haunted by his
past and the
colour of his skin
that make him feel
like a different
kind of outsider.
Virginia is unable
to have children
of her own and,
with her older
sister Rose, takes
care of her
widowed father.
She searches for
something other
than the safe,
routine life she
has lived for
years, one in
which it was
assumed she
would accept her
role and lot in life.
-a modern King Lear
-small town, farm life
-family/female roles
and expectations
-compare to We Were
the Mulvaneys
-madness
Nomi is 16 years
old, embarrassed
by her Mennonite
heritage, longing
to be ‘normal’ and
escape to see the
world
-female coming of
age/teen rebellion
-growing up in a small,
closed Mennonite
community
-female vs male
patriarchal authority
Hattie is adrift in
her own life and
- the road novel
- mental illness
town Manitoba
down and
across the US
to southern
California
to look after her
sister’s children
after her sister is
committed to a
psychiatric ward.
Hattie and the
children embark
on a cross
continent voyage
to find the father
of Min’s kids, and
discover the
meaning of
family.
Narrates the
adventures of two
runaways, the
white boy Huck
Finn and the black
slave Jim, as each
tries to escape
‘society’ and its
control over them.
Along the way,
they encounter a
variety of
conflicts and
characters that
help shape their
views of the
society they live
in.
Jason Bourne is
forced to come out
of retirement
when he is framed
for a murder as
part of a terrorist
plot to use
biological
weapons during
an international
terrorism summit.
Billy Pilgrim
randomly travels
through time and
is abducted by the
"fourdimensional"
aliens known as
Twain,
Mark
The
Adventures of
Huckleberry
Finn
Towns along
the Mississippi
river;
1830s/40s(preCivil War)
Van
Lustbader,
Eric
The Bourne
Legacy
U.S., various
European
countries;
2004
Vonnegut,
Kurt
Slaughterhous
e Five
Pre and Post
WW II; New
York state and
Dresden;
Planet of
Tralfamadore
wonders if
looking after her
sister’s kids will
bring her meaning
and help reconcile
her troubled past
with her unstable
sister; the kids, 15
year old Logan
and 12 year old
Thebes, have their
own peculiar
issues, quirks and
obsessions to deal
with as they
consider life
without their
mother and with
the father they
barely know.
Huck lies, steals,
uses course
language and has
his own sense of
morality as he
tries to survive his
‘civilized’
upbringing; but as
the story
progresses, he
finds his
maturing,
changing views in
conflict with the
world around him.
- family relationships
- dysfunctional families
Jason Bourne is
the former CIA
trained assassin
-spy thriller novel
-terrorism
Billy has become
"unstuck in time"
for unexplained
reasons (though
it's hinted towards
the end that his
surviving a plane
- This novel explores
the ideas of fate, free
will, and the illogical
nature of humans
-science fiction novels
-time travel
-sequel to Tom Sawyer
-the journey motif
-slavery/racism
-freedom
-narrative style
-child, 1st person
narrator
the
Tralfamadorians.
He is also a
prisoner of war in
Dresden during
World War II, and
his later life is
greatly influenced
by what he saw
during the war. He
travels between
parts of his life
repeatedly and
randomly,
meaning that he's
literally lived
through the events
more than once.
crash left him
with mild brain
damage) so he
randomly and
repeatedly visits
different parts of
his life, including
his death,
developing a
sense of fatalism
about his life.
-anti-war
-post-modern novel
Wagamese,
Richard
Ragged
Company
Nameless,
mid-size
northern
Ontario cityThunder Bay?
A group of 4
‘rounders’,
homeless street
people, discover a
lottery ticket and
become
millionaires, then
are forced to deal
with the pasts that
resulted in their
ending up on the
street. The money
changes them in
both good and bad
ways.
-One For The
Dead: native
woman who has
lost all the
members of her
family. Now takes
care of her ‘boys’
and others on the
street.
–Digger: former
‘carni’ who ends
up digging for
leftovers in
dumpsters.
–Timber: his wife
was permanently
injured, he left her
and ended up on
the streets.
-Double Dick:
illiterate, had to
leave his native
home after his
niece died while
under his care.
-homelessness
-what is a ‘home’?
-friendship
-loyalty
-how we view others
-aboriginal themes
-compare to Thomas
King?
Wolfe,
Tom
The Bonfire
of the
Vanities
Circa.
1990:New
York City
A wealthy, white
Wall St. bond
trader, lost in the
Bronx with his
mistress, hits a
black kid with his
car then flees the
scene. The
Sherman McCoy
is the prep-school
educated son of a
wealthy Wall St.
lawyer. He lives
in a world of fast
cars, luxury, and
wealth. He gets an
-race relations
-modern, big city life
and politics
-the justice system
-satire
-wealth and corruption
Wright,
Richard
Mr.
Shakespeare’s
Bastard
Oxfordshire
and London;
Elizabethan
England
Zusak,
Markus
The Book
Thief
Germany:
WW II
107
accident becomes
a front page story
as the DA
attempts to
prosecute the case
and gain reelection in a case
that inflames the
tensions in the
city.
Two alternating
narratives: mother
Mary Ward’s
story of her life of
servitude and
affair with the
young playwright
William
Shakespeare; her
daughter’s similar
hardscrabble life
and pursuit of a
meeting with her
father. A very
descriptive recreation of
Elizabethan life.
Death narrates the
life story of the
Book Thief, the
young Liesel
Meminger, as she
watches the war
slowly close in
around her and
take away
everyone she
loves.
awakening when
he encounters the
justice system for
the first time.
Born as the bastrd
child of William
Shakespeare,
Aerlene Ward,
eyesight and life
slowly fading
away, dictates the
story of her life,
telling about her
humble birth,
difficult life, and
pursuit of her
father.
-Historical fiction
-class society
-religion
-value/role of the arts
-consider with Cue for
Treason
Liesel Meminger
is the young
protagonist. She
watches her
brother die, then
is orphaned when
her mother drops
he off with the
Hubermanns. Her
stepfather teaches
her to read and the
Book Thief then
uses the power of
words and books
to help her
survive.
-Death as narrator
-Human’s inhumanity
to others
-the power of words,
language, books
-the Holocaust
-coming-of-age story