By Sarah, on July 14th, 2009 This is a work of non-fiction. All names, places, and events in this book are real. If the author happened to teach you Canadian poetry in university, you may get a little freaked out.
I remember the third year of my undergraduate degree very well; among other adventures, it was the year I took an early Canadian lit course with Elspeth Cameron. I used to hang out in the ‘English Lounge’ with all the other lit nerds, and there was constant rumbling about this Elspeth person, an adjunct professor about whom gossip was either directed at her personal life or the horrifying, truly horrifying ‘quizzes’ that were more like the kind of exams where all the questions are taken from obscure footnotes.
When I picked up her memoir I realized that all the rumours were true. For this reason, and for many others, I was absolutely gripped by her story.
No Previous Experience has been called Cameron’s ‘coming out’ book, the story of her voyage into her first lesbian relationship – with longtime friend and colleague Janice Dickin McGinnis – and the steps that brought her there. Ironically, this book gave me the sense that the term ‘lesbian’ couldn’t mean less to [...]
By Sarah, on March 25th, 2009 I stayed up way too late finishing this book. Thinking back on it now, it’s a wonder I slept at all after that. This book was creepy. Not just roman typeface creepy, but italics creepy. Without being obvious, without giving too much away, and without ever crossing the line into over-detailed descriptions of pedophilia territory, Barbara Gowdy creates a story pushed along by plot and characters but developed almost entirely within the (sub)conscious of the reader.
I must say, mad props to BG for telling a story of this magnitude so carefully. This is a book about the abduction of a child, and the way the people around her act and react to the events that unfold. It takes place in Cabbagetown / Regent Park, and the proximity to my life made it extra chilling.
The novel tracks multiple points of view (abducted child — mother of abducted child — friends of mother of abducted child — man who abducts chlid — girlfriend of man who abducts child) and throughout the book, the reader is given the opportunity to identify with / abhor each of them at any given time.
Let’s dissect, shall we?
Ron (man who abducts child): A chubby appliance repairman with [...]
By Sarah, on March 16th, 2009 Disclaimer: the following review deals with material that is highly technical, and some might say is lofty, or pretentious, or even cavalier. I liked it anyway.
This is the kind of book that, oddly, made me really glad for my theory background. It might be, actually, one of the only things I’ve encountered that allowed me to be really indulgent about hyperreality, on which I have a secret crush. Really, as soon as Dr. Leo Liebenstein (our hero) began referring to his wife as ‘The Simulacrum,’ I was sold.
About this simulacrum business; Jean Baudrillard (aka Jean Boring-Gard) plans it out in four steps – “(1) basic reflection of reality, (2) perversion of reality; (3) pretence of reality (where there is no model); and (4) simulacrum, which “bears no relation to any reality whatsoever.” Confusing? A little. Galchen brings this idea into the forefront of her story, however, with ease and clarity. When Dr. Liebenstein’s wife is replaced by a copy, or simulacra, both reader and protagonist must undertake a search for the real. Dr. Leo employs the help of his psychiatric patient, Harvey, who has convinced himself that he receives secret messages from the Royal Academy of Meteorology and can control [...]
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