# The best of Canadian literature? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [April 1, 2004, 2:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648 "2004-04-01T02:17:32Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648/41 "2004-04-02T23:28:21Z")
> [@Rodd Hill](#): > > If you visited between 1980 and 1998, and ever spoke to the interpretive staff (or came on a school tour), chances are it was either a tall, thin guy or a medium height fat guy. I was the fat guy! (I still work there, but I’m not longer a fat guy, and no longer doing interpretation, but curatorial). I was probably out there a couple of times a year throughout the Eighties. I doubt we spoke to the interpretive staff, though. My father prefered to do the lecturing himself. > [@](#): > > I use what little influence I have to make the summer students we get every year read “Turvey,” just because a) it has vague theme connections to our military history period themes; b) kids should read more anyhow (especially Canadian writers); c) I’d like to think that maybe a few of them will realize that “pre-1999” doesn’t automatically mean “old and busted.” Ditto about the Canadian writers. I actually have an Earle Birney novel sitting on my shelves that I never got around to reading, called **Down the Long Table**. But I think I’ll check out Turvey first. > [@](#): > > (Needless to say, you and **Matt** get a free ride in the 1942 jeep if you come for a visit!) I’ll actually be in the neighbourhood starting Easter Monday. I’m doing some research out west for a personal project of mine, so I’m flying out then. A trip to Fort Rodd Hill might be helpful, so I’ll see if I can make it out. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [April 2, 2004, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648/42 "2004-04-02T23:40:44Z")
> [@featherlou](#): > > I figure Atwood is a love/hate thing - either you love her or flat-out hate her. I don’t love her. 😃 I think you’re right about that. Certainly no one I’ve talked to about her work ever expressed halfway feelings. I do love her work. Last weekend, I devoured _Survival_ in a day and a half. I’m a very slow reader, so that speed is unprecedented for me. The week before that it was _The Edible Woman_. I feel that, if I’m going to specialize in CanLit, I should love some incredibly obscure, experimental author (“What? You haven’t read Dave Godfrey’s ‘New Year’s Morning on Bloor Street’?”), rather than one who’s often found on the bestseller shelves. But I’ve enjoyed everything I’ve read by Atwood, and it always strikes a cord with me. ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648/43 "2004-04-03T00:08:12Z")
> [@Treviathan](#): > > Admittedly, I don’t know anyone who’d ever call _Roughing it in the Bush_, by Susanna Moodie, their favorite work of literature. But it’s one of the earliest texts to come out of Canada, and it documents the struggle of early European settlers trying to establish themselves in Upper Canada. I’ve read chunks of it, though never right through. I’ve also read chunks of her sister’s _The Backwoods of Canada_. Moodie’s pessimism and Traill’s optimism make for interesting contrasts. Taken together, they’re a very bipolar account of settlers’ life. I think it says something about the Canadian psyche that Moodie is always remembered and Traill gets forgotten. > [@](#): > > _Such is My Beloved_, by Morley Callaghan, is the story of a priest whose idealistic life is destroyed because of his relationship with a prostitute. Written in the 1930s, it’s one of my favorite Canadian novels. I’ve never even heard of that one, though I’ve read a couple of Callaghan’s short sotries (“Ancient Lineage,” “A Sick Call”). I stumbled across a dark, bizarre novel recently called _Settlers of the Marsh_, by Frederick Phillip Grove. He was apparently a well known author in his day, though I’d never heard of him. Apparently, the novel fell into obscurity because it was considered obscene. It was also about a man who’s involved with a prostitute. > [@](#): > > Stephen Leacock’s satires of small-town and urban Canadian life, _Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town_ and _Arcadian Adventures of the Idle Rich_, are considered landmarks of modern satire. The Leacock award is given anually to the best humourous piece of Canadian fiction. I’ve read some of the _Sunshine Sketches_. My favourite Leacock so far is “Hannah of the Highlands” from _The Nonsense Novels_, a very silly take on the tragic romance genre. > [@](#): > > Go into any Canadian highschool, and chances are students will have read either _The Diviners_ or _The Stone Angel_, two novels by Maragaret Laurence about the constraints of being a progressive woman in a small town. In my high school, we had _A Bird in the House_. I read _The Stone angel_ for the first time last month. > [@](#): > > Robertson Davies and Margaret Atwood are internationally renowned, but I don’t know if there’s one particular work of theirs that would be considered “canonical.” I guess it would likely be Atwood’s _The Handmaid’s Tale_ (though in my survey course in second-year we read _The Edible Woman_ - a poor choice, I thought) and either Davies’ _Leaven of Malice_ or something from his _Deptford Trilogy_. Well, here I have to admit something shameful: I’ve only read one work by Davies – _The Lyre of Oprpheus_. I really enjoyed though, so I’m always open to recommendations. > [@](#): > > I’ve mentioned this in other threads, and I’ll stand by my opinion that Timothy Findley’s _The Wars_ is the most powerful, well-crafted Canadian work of literature ever written. I have yet to read any Findley, though I have _Pilgrim_ sitting on my shelf. > [@](#): > > I think Douglas Coupland’s best novel isn’t _Generation X_, but _Microserfs_, which I approached with some trepidation because - being the Luddite that I am - I know dick-all about computers, the [dot.com](http://dot.com) industry, and technology in general. I went through a Coupland phase where I read all his stuff (I still haven’t gotten to _All Families are Psychotic_). I liked _Microserfs_, too, though my favourite is his very surreal _Girlfriend in a Coma_. I didn’t like _Miss Wyoming_ very much – nothing new, and a weak conclusion. > [@](#): > > and two works by Tomson Highway, the play _Dry Lips Oughta Move to Kapuskasing_ and the novel _Kiss of the Fur Queen_. If you’ve read any William Falkner, you’d probably have a good grasp of Highway. Drew Hayden Taylor’s plays, notably _alterNatives_, are both politically charged and bitingly funny. I have “Dry Lips…” on my shelf, but I haven’t gotten around to it yet. I like Faulkner, so it should be a treat 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Hamish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/a5b964/32.png) [@Hamish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hamish)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648/44 "2004-04-03T00:13:17Z")
> [@Captain Amazing](#): > > The book to try of his is his first novel, “The Birds of Prey”. It’s about this writer trying to investigate the plane crash that killed General Ailleret. the French Chief of Staff. It’s a weird thing about Saul that his novels are sort of more popular outside of Canada than inside it. I’ll give it a try, then. I guess what turned me off with _Baraka_ was it was obviously and excuciatingly autobiographical, and – disappointing for an author with Saul’s wicked sense of humour – the autobiographical character wasn’t self-deprecating, but rather overly sympathetic. ---
**Author:** ![PastAllReason](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f07891/32.png) [@PastAllReason](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastAllReason)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648/45 "2004-04-03T01:13:50Z")
I’d also add Wayne Johnston to the list for _The Navigator of New York_ and _The Colony of Unrequited Dreams_. And Ann-Marie MacDonald for _Fall on Your Knees_. And for contemporary short stories that are hugely enjoyable I adore Stuart McLean’s Vinyl Cafe stories. I buy both the books and the cd’s, and will take any chance I can get to see him in person. ---
**Author:** ![Cat\_Whisperer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cat_whisperer/32/4839_2.png) [@Cat\_Whisperer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cat_Whisperer)\ **Post date:** [April 3, 2004, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648/46 "2004-04-03T17:55:41Z")
> [@MoodIndigo1](#): > > Featherlou, could the book be _The Night Watch_, by Sean Stewart? Not a bad read, not a great writer either, but I know what you mean: I too like reading books set in a familiar décor. I think that is the one - all I remember clearly is a guy freezing to death when he nearly has his fire built then a big plump of snow from above puts it out. I recall that the book didn’t knock my socks off either. Pretty mediocre. Turns out Sean Stewart isn’t even Canadian - he was born in the U.S. Okay, he moved to Canada at age three - I guess I’ll give him honourary citizenship status. ---
**Author:** ![Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19adc/32.png) [@Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [April 6, 2004, 3:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648/47 "2004-04-06T03:52:44Z")
Whoops, I missed the whole ‘pre-20th century’ thing. My bad. However, since most suggestions to this thread are from the current-century-minus-one, I’ll add a couple more suggestions. One-- the book “Stanley Park” – a conjoined tale of coffee, restaurants, and cold case murders. It really captures Vancouver in the late 20th century. Two-- Spider Robinson. He’s lived in Canada for nigh on 20 years, most of those in Vancouver and its suburbs. Some of his stories are set there. Well worth reading. And I wish I still had some notes from my college days, but after taking 10 English classes in toto, I tossed them all through sheer frustration… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-best-of-canadian-literature/237648.md?page=2)