The Reader's Shelf: O Canada! Literary Journeys in Canadian Fiction

The literature of a nation provides readers with new perspectives and ideas to explore as well as new authors to discover. Whether born in Canada or having chosen to make it home, a host of talented writers have used its unique history, viewpoint, and concerns to fashion an array of titles worth considering. [For travelers, a country's fiction is an excellent introduction to that nation's history, culture, and people. Collection development librarians may want to use this list as a supplement to Jo-Anne Mary Benson's feature on travel to Canada, “True North” (see p. 45–48).—Ed.]

While readers have been captured by the imaginations of such Canadian writers as Yann Martel (The Life of Pi) and Michael Ondaatje (The English Patient), Margaret Atwood remains Canada's best-known novelist. With dark wit and her trademark control of language, she creates, in ORYX AND CRAKE (Nan A. Talese: Doubleday. 2003. ISBN 0-385-50385-7 [ISBN 978-0-385-50385-3]. $26), a cautionary tale about a horrific future. Jimmy, perhaps the last human on Earth and the feared caretaker of an odd group of beings known as the Children of Crake, narrates a story about an apocalyptic chain of events, the brilliant Crake, and the exploited but beloved Oryx.

Atwood has plenty of great literary company. Robertson Davies, perhaps Canada's most well-known man of letters, is the creator of the “Deptford Trilogy” masterwork. In FIFTH BUSINESS (Penguin Classics. ISBN 0-14-118615-1 [ISBN 978-0-14-118615-3]. pap. $14), a simple boyhood act—the throwing of a rock-laden snowball—is used to show how one unintended event can change the lives of a cascading group of characters. The story continues in The Manticore and World of Wonders.

Short-story writer Alice Munro offers many reading pleasures in her American Library Association Notable Book, RUNAWAY (Knopf. 2004. ISBN 1-4000-4281-X [ISBN 978-1-4000-4281-4]. $27.50). The collection introduces readers to Munro's brilliance at crafting scene and illuminating the human psyche. The title story relates the life of an emotionally abused woman incapable of leaving her husband, while the novella “Powers” examines the role of female friendship and the differences between male and female perceptions.

Alistair MacLeod's ISLAND (Norton. 2001. ISBN 0-393-05035-1 [ISBN 978-0-393-05035-6]. $25.95) is a collection of stirring short stories that focus on the rift between rural and urban. With a great gift for depicting the harsh beauty of the Cape Breton landscape and using both lovely and precise prose, MacLeod explores the links between fathers and sons, city and coastal seafaring communities, and the desires each has for the other.

Joseph Boyden's THREE DAY ROAD (Penguin. 2006. ISBN 0-14-303707-2 [ISBN 978-0-14-303707-1]. pap. 14) relates the story of two Cree Indians who enlist in the Canadian Expeditionary Forces during World War I. Both skilled sharpshooters, Xavier and Elijah are set loose as snipers on the battlefields of France, but the horror and buzz of killing becomes too much for Elijah, who falls into madness. Wounded and addicted to morphine, Xavier returns home to be taken in by his aunt, an Oji-Cree medicine woman. The two share stories, of her life and his battles and of Elijah's tragedy, as they try to heal from the brutal devastation of war.

Timothy Findley's THE WARS (o.p.) uses a unique technique of shifting narratives in another tale of World War I. Young and naïve, Robert Ross enlists to fight. Eventually, he will witness the ruin of Belgium, the sheer horror of battle, and too much slaughter and suffering. The war becomes an echo to his inner turmoil, leading Ross to commit a last desperate and unthinkable act.

David Adams Richards's Canadian best seller, MERCY AMONG THE CHILDREN (Washington Square: S. & S. 2002. ISBN 0-7434-4818-9 [ISBN 978-0-7434-4818-5]. pap. $14), which won the prestigious Giller Prize along with Ondaatje's Anil's Ghost, is a disturbing and powerful consideration of human nature. Sydney Henderson, the victim of horrific childhood abuse, vows never to do harm. He grows into a man with the love and respect of his family until the vindictive motivations of a small community rip his world apart and lead his son down a dark path.

THE COLONY OF UNREQUITED DREAMS (Anchor: Knopf. 2000. ISBN 0-385-49543-9 [ISBN 978-0-385-49543-1]. pap. $15.95) by Wayne Johnston vividly captures the life of Joseph Smallwood, who, in 1949, became the first premier of Newfoundland. It is a fascinating life, made more so by the way in which Johnston conceives his narrative, weaving together both real and fictional characters into a wonderful faux History of Newfoundland and using Smallwood's personality and political plotting to propel the novel.