The Donald Windham Sandy M. Campbell Literature Prizes
Pastoral
A novel set in a small Canadian town that weaves together faith, miracles, desire, and philosophical inquiry.
Work Information
Miracle-like events and inner uncertainty gradually enter a quiet town.
Through Father Pennant's posting to Barrow, the novel shows moments when faith breaks apart or takes shape again. Its anecdotes are light, but the questions underneath run deep.
Book Information
- Publisher
- Coach House Books
- Published
- 2014-05-13
- Pages
- 160 pages
- Language
- 英語
- Size
- 13.46 x 1.52 x 20.83 cm
- ISBN-13
- 9781552452868
- ISBN-10
- 9781552452868
- Price
- 4829 JPY
- Category
- 洋書/Literature & Fiction/Genre Fiction/Metaphysical
There were plans for an official welcome. It was to take place the following Sunday. But those who came to the rectory on Father Pennant's second day were the ones who could not resist seeing him sooner. Here was the man to whom they would confess the darkest things. It was important to feel him out. Mrs Young, for instance, after she had seen him eat a piece of her macaroni pie, quietly asked what he thought of adultery. André Alexis brings a modern sensibility and a new liveliness to an age-old genre, the pastoral. For his very first parish, Father Christopher Pennant is sent to the sleepy town of Barrow. With more sheep than people, it's very bucolictoo much Barrow Brew on Barrow Day is the rowdiest it gets. Bu things aren't so idyllic for Liz Denny, whose fiancé doesn't want to decide between Liz and his more worldly mistress Jane, and for Father Pennant himself, who greets some miracles of naturemayors walking on water, talking sheepwith a profound crisis of faith. 'It’s been clear since his debut novel, Childhood , that Alexis is one of our most distinctive and exacting prose stylists, and at its highest pitch, as in the breathtaking final paragraph, these are sentences that attain the level of the best music.' - Montreal Gazette Praise for André Alexis's previous books: "Astonishing . . . an irresistible, one-of-a-kind work." Quill & Quire "Alexis [has an] astute understanding of the madly shimmering, beautifully weaving patterns created by what we have agreed to call memory." Ottawa Citizen André Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. His debut novel, Childhood , won the Books in Canada First Novel Award, the Trillium Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Writers' Trust Fiction Prize. His books include Asylum and Ingrid and the Wolf .
André Alexis was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada. He is the author of the Quincunx , comprised of five novels: Fifteen Dogs , winner of the Giller Prize, CBC Canada Reads, and the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize; Days by Moonlight , winner of the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize; Pastoral; The Hidden Keys ; and Ring . His debut novel, Childhood , won the Books in Canada First Novel and the Trillium Book Award, and was shortlisted for the Giller Prize and the Writers’ Trust Fiction Prize. His other books include Asylum, The Night Piece, Despair and Other Stories of Ottawa, and most recently Other Worlds, longlisted for the Toronto Book Award. He is the recipient of a Windham Campbell Prize. He lives in Toronto.
Reviews
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Great book!
Loved it!
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One of the finest novels I've read recently
An excellent read, well-written, beautiful language. Very thought-provoking. Raises complex life-questions and provides different ways of looking at and responding to these. There are also memorable characters and landscapes. The writer uncovers, in effect, the intricate relationships among people as well as people and their landscapes. It is a novel that you don't want to end, even as you are caught up with wanting to know how the various plots untangle.
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Wonderful
"A pastoral lifestyle is that of shepherds herding livestock around open areas of land according to seasons and the changing availability of water and pasture." says Wikipedia, and this story is a lyrical example of that lifestyle. A Catholic priest is assigned as his first parish the small Canadian town of Barrow in rural Ontario. His role as shepard is to guide the people of his parish through some difficult times, a role that is made difficult for him by a sequence of ambiguous "miracles" that try his faith: moths flying in perfect circles, a man appearing to walk on water, a sheep with a message. As the priest gets to know the people and the land his understanding of his place in the world and of what he truly believes changes. The connection to a place is a central theme of the story. Alexis explores this theme through the beautifully realized characters: the simple/complex man who expects to die, the young man who believes he loves two women equally, and especially the two women caught in the struggle to understand themselves, their relationship, and their place in the world. Beautifully written, gently emotional, almost dreamlike, this story of love, place, faith and doubt is a wonderful read. Highly recommended.
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Life's promises ever changing
This is a sensitively written story with characters who choose & choose again, forever reasoning for their happiness. We are not born with answers. We must figure them out as we travel through life.
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Meh...
A bit of a dull read but had to keep turning the pages to see what happened to all of the characters. Easy reading pretty light story.