Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Collection
Publication
Ecco (2013), Edition: Reprint, Paperback, 432 pages
Description
After his parents are arrested and imprisoned for robbing a bank, fifteen-year-old Dell Parsons is taken in by Arthur Remlinger who, unbeknownst to Dell, is hiding a dark and violent nature that interferes with Dell's quest to find grace and peace on the prairie of Saskatchewan.
User reviews
LibraryThing member SamSattler
The first two sentences of Richard Ford’s Canada are, I suspect, destined to be among the most quoted of 2012. Even so, I cannot resist using them here, too, because they are the perfect opening for the book:
“First, I’ll tell you about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the
These words are spoken by 65-year-old Dell Parsons, the book’s narrator, as he considers the fifteen-year old boy he was in 1960 just before his parents made the stupid decision that would almost destroy him and Berner, his twin sister. The Parsons had been transferred to Montana by the U.S. Air Force, but now Dell’s father is a civilian, and having decided that Great Falls is a good place to raise his family, Bev Parsons is struggling to find a job that will allow him to do that. To young Dell, nothing is more important than the fast-approaching start of his freshman year in the town’s public high school. Up to now, the twins have been encouraged not to develop ties to the places they pass through with the Air Force, so Dell is eager to transform Great Falls into the hometown he has never known.
But when Dell’s parents are arrested for a North Dakota bank robbery, his hopes of finally settling down and making long term friends are destroyed before he can even set foot in his new school. Dell and Berner are surprised to find themselves, at least temporarily, forgotten by the legal system that has both their parents locked tight in the city jail. After Berner, the worldly twin, strikes out on her own, his mother’s only friend agrees to deliver Dell to her brother in the remote prairies of Saskatchewan in order to keep him from falling into the hands of Montana juvenile authorities.
There, still a very naïve child at fifteen, Dell falls under the control and influence of two men who will further destroy his sense of who he is. Charlie Quarters, the Leonard Hotel’s strange, half-breed hunting guide into whose charge Dell is delivered, will use him as an extra pair of hands. Arthur Remlinger, an American hiding out in Canada for reasons of his own, is the hotel’s owner. Unfortunately for Dell, Remlinger, a sociopath of sorts, will never be the father figure he needs so badly, and will, instead, almost finish the job of destroying his life.
Canada is a character-driven novel with the plot of a crime thriller, a literary novel that will keep the reader turning pages. Throughout his narrative, Dell Parsons gives intriguing little hints that all is not as it seems and that he should have figured things out sooner than he did. Ford’s characters are so well developed that even their most bizarre actions are believable in the context of who the reader knows them to be. With perhaps one exception (Charlie Quarters), there are no black and white characters in Canada. Each has a distinct set of strengths, weaknesses, and motivations that allows them to be sucked into whatever happens around them.
Canada is about borders – literal ones and symbolic ones – and what they really mean. The lesson for Dell Parsons is that once some borders are crossed, they are crossed forever. There is no going back.
Rated at: 5.0
“First, I’ll tell you about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the
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murders, which happened later.”These words are spoken by 65-year-old Dell Parsons, the book’s narrator, as he considers the fifteen-year old boy he was in 1960 just before his parents made the stupid decision that would almost destroy him and Berner, his twin sister. The Parsons had been transferred to Montana by the U.S. Air Force, but now Dell’s father is a civilian, and having decided that Great Falls is a good place to raise his family, Bev Parsons is struggling to find a job that will allow him to do that. To young Dell, nothing is more important than the fast-approaching start of his freshman year in the town’s public high school. Up to now, the twins have been encouraged not to develop ties to the places they pass through with the Air Force, so Dell is eager to transform Great Falls into the hometown he has never known.
But when Dell’s parents are arrested for a North Dakota bank robbery, his hopes of finally settling down and making long term friends are destroyed before he can even set foot in his new school. Dell and Berner are surprised to find themselves, at least temporarily, forgotten by the legal system that has both their parents locked tight in the city jail. After Berner, the worldly twin, strikes out on her own, his mother’s only friend agrees to deliver Dell to her brother in the remote prairies of Saskatchewan in order to keep him from falling into the hands of Montana juvenile authorities.
There, still a very naïve child at fifteen, Dell falls under the control and influence of two men who will further destroy his sense of who he is. Charlie Quarters, the Leonard Hotel’s strange, half-breed hunting guide into whose charge Dell is delivered, will use him as an extra pair of hands. Arthur Remlinger, an American hiding out in Canada for reasons of his own, is the hotel’s owner. Unfortunately for Dell, Remlinger, a sociopath of sorts, will never be the father figure he needs so badly, and will, instead, almost finish the job of destroying his life.
Canada is a character-driven novel with the plot of a crime thriller, a literary novel that will keep the reader turning pages. Throughout his narrative, Dell Parsons gives intriguing little hints that all is not as it seems and that he should have figured things out sooner than he did. Ford’s characters are so well developed that even their most bizarre actions are believable in the context of who the reader knows them to be. With perhaps one exception (Charlie Quarters), there are no black and white characters in Canada. Each has a distinct set of strengths, weaknesses, and motivations that allows them to be sucked into whatever happens around them.
Canada is about borders – literal ones and symbolic ones – and what they really mean. The lesson for Dell Parsons is that once some borders are crossed, they are crossed forever. There is no going back.
Rated at: 5.0
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LibraryThing member annie.michelle
THE STORY…
“First I’ll tell about the bank robbery our parents committed.
Then about the murders, which happened later”
This was the beginning of then 15 year old Dell Parson’s story told through the now adult eyes of 60 year old Dell living as a teacher and reaching back through the
Living a somewhat simple life in 1960’s Montana, things go downhill quickly when an act of incredible and almost comical stupidity shatters his young life forever.
Beverly and Neeva Parsons the parents of Dell and his twin sister Berner decide in order to get some much needed cash that they must rob a bank. Of course things go terribly wrong and the children are set adrift in an uncaring world when their parents are taken to jail.
So begins the end of childhood for Dell. Berner eventually runs away and Dell is then rescued by his mothers friend Mildred and taken to Canada, dropped off with her brother in a whole new world unlike any he has been familiar with.
His new guardian, Arthur Remlinger is an enigmatic and reclusive man who owns a somewhat rundown hotel mainly for goose hunters with many questionable people around and, who we later find out has been running from the law for close to 30 years with people still in pursuit and this results in the murders Dell is unfortunately witness to.
MY STORY…
I loved this book. The way it is written kept me turning page after page, beautiful prose, no word out of place. My heart ached for Dell and his sister who through no fault of their own were caught up in their parents incredibly stupid, selfish act.
The parents are so not suited to be together or to parent anything much less a child. I have always said…”just because you can, does not mean that you should.”
The story is a classic coming of age tale, how or if we survive our childhood and how this shapes us as adults.
Dell handled the traumatic events in his childhood with grace and generosity unlike his sister Berner who seemed to have not been able to cope well with the trauma of her life.
A most excellent read!
“First I’ll tell about the bank robbery our parents committed.
Then about the murders, which happened later”
This was the beginning of then 15 year old Dell Parson’s story told through the now adult eyes of 60 year old Dell living as a teacher and reaching back through the
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years trying to make sense of his traumatic childhood.Living a somewhat simple life in 1960’s Montana, things go downhill quickly when an act of incredible and almost comical stupidity shatters his young life forever.
Beverly and Neeva Parsons the parents of Dell and his twin sister Berner decide in order to get some much needed cash that they must rob a bank. Of course things go terribly wrong and the children are set adrift in an uncaring world when their parents are taken to jail.
So begins the end of childhood for Dell. Berner eventually runs away and Dell is then rescued by his mothers friend Mildred and taken to Canada, dropped off with her brother in a whole new world unlike any he has been familiar with.
His new guardian, Arthur Remlinger is an enigmatic and reclusive man who owns a somewhat rundown hotel mainly for goose hunters with many questionable people around and, who we later find out has been running from the law for close to 30 years with people still in pursuit and this results in the murders Dell is unfortunately witness to.
MY STORY…
I loved this book. The way it is written kept me turning page after page, beautiful prose, no word out of place. My heart ached for Dell and his sister who through no fault of their own were caught up in their parents incredibly stupid, selfish act.
The parents are so not suited to be together or to parent anything much less a child. I have always said…”just because you can, does not mean that you should.”
The story is a classic coming of age tale, how or if we survive our childhood and how this shapes us as adults.
Dell handled the traumatic events in his childhood with grace and generosity unlike his sister Berner who seemed to have not been able to cope well with the trauma of her life.
A most excellent read!
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LibraryThing member kayceel
Endless navel gazing, very little action (for a story *supposedly* about a bank robbery and murder), and so very boring. Decent writing, but holy GOD, there was waaaay too much of it.
LibraryThing member ozzieslim
“Canada” is a meditation. Like life on the 49th parallel, it is at times bleak but also majestic in scope. It is a story of youth represented by summer below the 49th in Great Falls, Montana and growth represented by winter above the 49th.
As the story opens we are told from the beginning that
The Parson’s are an Air Force family. Their father a debonair southern charmer is a Captain in the USAF. Their mother, the daughter of Polish immigrants raised in Tacoma, Washington is everything their father is not – dark, dour and reserved. Their one commonality is the love they have for their daughter Berner and their son Dell. Ultimately, due to the character weaknesses in both parents and the inability to support their family, a bank robbery is committed. From the planning or lack of, until the act itself, we know that this endeavor has no chance of succeeding.
The story before the robbery, unfolds in the setting of Great Falls, Montana in 1960. It is an examination of small town life; what it means to be an American and the role of the white man and his relationships in shaping the plight of the Native American’s in the region. It has a triangle of race relations between a corrupt African American Pullman porter, local Native American cattle rustlers and Capt. Parson’s running a meat scam that carried over from his time in the USAF.
The story after the robbery speaks briefly to the fall out and dissolution of the family but more importantly focuses on Dell, His twin sister Berner leaves to start her own life and it is not until the very end of the book that we discover what road she traveled and where she ends up. We do know that she is headed to San Francisco in an attempt to reunite with a boyfriend she had in Great Falls.
Dell is taken to Canada. This occurs because of an arrangement Dell’s mother makes with an acquaintance. Once there, Dell is more or less provided with a job, very rudimentary accommodations and left to fend for himself. Throughout the book, Dell’s interest in chess is almost an allegory of how to survive in life. Sacrifices have to be made in order to succeed and like chess, the game of life cannot be rushed or fast forwarded in order to achieve the end game.
This is not a book for readers who need action in order to hold their interest. The story is told in some detail through the eyes of a fifteen year old boy. It includes all the missed cues and misunderstandings of youth and the slow realizations of what is happening as a child is forced to grow up quickly. In that sense, the book is very much a meditation. It is somewhat poetic and the beauty is in the stark detail.
This is the first book that I have read by Richard Ford but from other things I have read about this author this slow, melodic, poetic way of storytelling is a signature of Ford’s. If you can allow yourself to take the time and appreciate the slow pace of this book, you will definitely enjoy it. I did and I look forward to reading other works by this author.
As the story opens we are told from the beginning that
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Dell Parson’s parents have committed a bank robbery, been jailed, his mother has committed suicide and he and his sister have been left to fend mostly for themselves and to find their way in the world without help from their parents.The Parson’s are an Air Force family. Their father a debonair southern charmer is a Captain in the USAF. Their mother, the daughter of Polish immigrants raised in Tacoma, Washington is everything their father is not – dark, dour and reserved. Their one commonality is the love they have for their daughter Berner and their son Dell. Ultimately, due to the character weaknesses in both parents and the inability to support their family, a bank robbery is committed. From the planning or lack of, until the act itself, we know that this endeavor has no chance of succeeding.
The story before the robbery, unfolds in the setting of Great Falls, Montana in 1960. It is an examination of small town life; what it means to be an American and the role of the white man and his relationships in shaping the plight of the Native American’s in the region. It has a triangle of race relations between a corrupt African American Pullman porter, local Native American cattle rustlers and Capt. Parson’s running a meat scam that carried over from his time in the USAF.
The story after the robbery speaks briefly to the fall out and dissolution of the family but more importantly focuses on Dell, His twin sister Berner leaves to start her own life and it is not until the very end of the book that we discover what road she traveled and where she ends up. We do know that she is headed to San Francisco in an attempt to reunite with a boyfriend she had in Great Falls.
Dell is taken to Canada. This occurs because of an arrangement Dell’s mother makes with an acquaintance. Once there, Dell is more or less provided with a job, very rudimentary accommodations and left to fend for himself. Throughout the book, Dell’s interest in chess is almost an allegory of how to survive in life. Sacrifices have to be made in order to succeed and like chess, the game of life cannot be rushed or fast forwarded in order to achieve the end game.
This is not a book for readers who need action in order to hold their interest. The story is told in some detail through the eyes of a fifteen year old boy. It includes all the missed cues and misunderstandings of youth and the slow realizations of what is happening as a child is forced to grow up quickly. In that sense, the book is very much a meditation. It is somewhat poetic and the beauty is in the stark detail.
This is the first book that I have read by Richard Ford but from other things I have read about this author this slow, melodic, poetic way of storytelling is a signature of Ford’s. If you can allow yourself to take the time and appreciate the slow pace of this book, you will definitely enjoy it. I did and I look forward to reading other works by this author.
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LibraryThing member Algybama
Because the writing is so smooth that you hardly notice it, and so little actually happens, the intensity of the novel – so penetrating and so unpretentiously thoughtful– gets somewhat washed over by the slickness of the narration. Many things of great significance are said without much affect.
There are a few moments when it lags – this is normal for a novel almost entirely concerned with thinking and feeling rather than action or plot (Madame Bovary comes to mind) – but these moments aren’t unpleasant. The quotidian details are so well realized and the characters fit so well into this world that everything seems to slide into a natural, oddly easy-going dread. It's hard to be super enthusiastic about a novel (even if you really liked it) that is both thematically and stylistically concerned with detachment.
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But I wonder if that’s something Ford decided to do. Despite being so emotionally heavy, I came away from it feeling a bit numb. It’s a strange way to handle a story that’s almost purely concerned with personal tragedy.There are a few moments when it lags – this is normal for a novel almost entirely concerned with thinking and feeling rather than action or plot (Madame Bovary comes to mind) – but these moments aren’t unpleasant. The quotidian details are so well realized and the characters fit so well into this world that everything seems to slide into a natural, oddly easy-going dread. It's hard to be super enthusiastic about a novel (even if you really liked it) that is both thematically and stylistically concerned with detachment.
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LibraryThing member EdGoldberg
Bev Parsons and his wife Neeva are a mismatched pair. He is a smiling gregarious six-foot tall retired Air Force bombardier from the south. The daughter of Jewish immigrants, she is an intense and aloof diminutive school teacher. A hasty marriage due to an impending birth brings these two together,
Told majestically from Dell’s perspective Canada is his story. He is an unremarkable fifteen year old who’s only wish is to start the coming school year by joining the chess club yet finds himself as far away from normal as possible. Dell survives to convey a life lived and suggests the means to get there.
Richard Ford has managed to bring the characters and the Canadian prairie to life. The story unfolds slowly with the introduction of the characters, but then the pages fly. I do have a few issues with the novel. It truly is a slow go for about 100 pages, and the ending did seem a bit rushed, but overall Ford paints pictures with words and the time spent was well worth the effort.
I found Canada to be an interesting book. I found the beginning to be in the vein of Empire Falls by Richard Russo and, unlike Susan, I found the beginning to be the faster read. The premise is unique and the characters are as well. You feel the desolation of both the Canadian prairie as well as Dell, in a world where he knows no one.
It's definitely worth the read.
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and an equally hasty decision to rob a bank tears the entire family apart leaving their fifteen year old twins Dell and Berner orphaned. Neeva, anticipating an impending arrest, had arranged for a co-worker to intercept the twins before they could be placed into the care of the state, but the two still spend a few days adrift. Berner decides to follow her own path. Dell is transported over the border and into Canada and the care of Arthur Remlinger. Remlinger is an expat American educated and ejected from Harvard whose outward demeanor fools few.Told majestically from Dell’s perspective Canada is his story. He is an unremarkable fifteen year old who’s only wish is to start the coming school year by joining the chess club yet finds himself as far away from normal as possible. Dell survives to convey a life lived and suggests the means to get there.
Richard Ford has managed to bring the characters and the Canadian prairie to life. The story unfolds slowly with the introduction of the characters, but then the pages fly. I do have a few issues with the novel. It truly is a slow go for about 100 pages, and the ending did seem a bit rushed, but overall Ford paints pictures with words and the time spent was well worth the effort.
I found Canada to be an interesting book. I found the beginning to be in the vein of Empire Falls by Richard Russo and, unlike Susan, I found the beginning to be the faster read. The premise is unique and the characters are as well. You feel the desolation of both the Canadian prairie as well as Dell, in a world where he knows no one.
It's definitely worth the read.
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LibraryThing member brocade
I was aggravated by the continual delaying tactics of the narrative. Is it a style? I suppose it's a style. A writer must have an awfully big ego to believe that his readers are willing to follow him on every niggling segue. Far too much felt like empty padding. I forced myself to continue until
I still gave it 2 stars because there were excellent descriptions and character studies.
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halfway through Part Two, but reading this novel was such a chore. Usually when I'm not enjoying a book, I leave it on a park bench for someone else to have a try. This book got cracked in half and tossed in the recycling bin. I still gave it 2 stars because there were excellent descriptions and character studies.
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LibraryThing member JJbooklvr
Finished Canada by Richard Ford today. Normally I'm not a big fan of literary books. They tend to move to slow for me and have characters I just don't like.
Canada is a literary book. The pace is slow, the language sparse, and it has some very unlikable characters. I found it maddening at times,
Don't get me wrong, I am still an unabashed genre reader and will always be. I want to be entertained first and foremost. But sometimes I want a little more and that's what this book did for me.
Canada is a literary book. The pace is slow, the language sparse, and it has some very unlikable characters. I found it maddening at times,
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but then the author would write such a great sentence that would make me pause and contemplate what it meant. Don't get me wrong, I am still an unabashed genre reader and will always be. I want to be entertained first and foremost. But sometimes I want a little more and that's what this book did for me.
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LibraryThing member LibraryCin
In 1960, 15-year old Dell and his twin sister, Berner, are effectively “orphaned” when their parents are arrested for robbing a bank in North Dakota. Berner runs away and a family friend takes Dell over the Canadian border to a small town in Saskatchewan to live with and work for her brother.
The first paragraph sets things up, telling the reader of the bank robbery and also about murders, still to come. So, it starts with a “bang”, but after that, the book moves pretty slowly. That being said, I grew up in Southern Saskatchewan and thought the descriptions were very well done. It’s also always fun to recognize places, and there were a few really small towns mentioned nearby to where I lived. Overall, I’m considering this one “ok”.
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The first paragraph sets things up, telling the reader of the bank robbery and also about murders, still to come. So, it starts with a “bang”, but after that, the book moves pretty slowly. That being said, I grew up in Southern Saskatchewan and thought the descriptions were very well done. It’s also always fun to recognize places, and there were a few really small towns mentioned nearby to where I lived. Overall, I’m considering this one “ok”.
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LibraryThing member jorgearanda
A story of a kind young soul growing up among adults that inflict wreckages upon themselves. Great, wise writing.
LibraryThing member hemlokgang
This is a tale of a boy abandoned by bankrobber parents and a twin sister. He is abandoned to an unimaginable stay in Canada with an odd group of goose hunters. Ford's writing is excellent. The natural manner of narration by the protagonist reads like a memoir and rings so true that the reader can
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forget it is fiction. A traumatic coming of age story which evoked strong feelings of angst, compassion, and uncertainty. Somehow, not clearly explained, the boy goes on to a decent life. An excellent read. Show Less
LibraryThing member rmckeown
Quite a few years ago, I heard a lot of buzz about Richard Ford. His novel Independence Day won a Pulitzer and a Pen/Faulkner Award. I have always been a bit skeptical about the Pulitzer for fiction – too often I have not liked their selection. I felt some of their picks relied on gimmicks and
Then, I found myself in a class which required me to read Independence Day, and to my surprise, I enjoyed the novel enough to give it four stars. That was the Spring of 2008. Since then, I have read and watched interviews, read a short story or two, and read some reviews of ID. When I saw Ford had a new novel, I decided to dive in head first.
Canada Is a sprawling story of a dysfunctional family and how that dysfunction can affect the lives of its members in a variety of ways. The story is narrated by the son, Dell, about 50 years later. Dell has a twin sister, Berner. The mother, “Neeva,” short for Geneva, has been disowned by her Jewish parents for marrying Bev Parsons, a World War II bombardier, who now flits from job to job. He was demoted and honorably discharged from the Air Force for his participation involving some stolen beef for the officer’s club. He continued this sort of shadowy activity in civilian life. Finally, faced with death threats over a beef deal gone bad, he takes desperate measures to save his family.
Ford’s prose is most notable for his attention to details. These really bring the characters, the settings, the situations to life. Ford writes, “[Dad] had brought home two bottles of Schlitz beer, and they’d each drunk one – which they didn’t regularly do. It made them playful, which was how our mother’d become with us while he was gone. She’d put on a pair of white pedal pushers that revealed her thin ankles, some flat cotton shoes, and a pretty green blouse – clothes we didn’t know she owned. She looked like a young girl and smiled more than she normally would’ve and held her beer bottle by its neck and drank it in small swallows. She acted affectionately toward our father and laughed and shook her head at silly things he said. A couple of times she patted him on the shoulder and said he was a card. (As I said, she was a good listener.) Though he didn’t seem any different to me. He was a man in a good humor most of the time” (73).
As the dust jacket tells us, when Berner and Dell were 15, their parents robbed a bank, but the plan did not rise to the level of perfection Bev assured Neeva it would. She fought against the idea, but in the end, she agreed to accompany Bev to the bank and drive the getaway car. This catastrophic even tore the family apart. Berner ran away to California, and Dell was taken by Neeva’s friend, Mildred to Canada to live with her brother.
The second half of the novel deals with Dell’s adventures in Fort Royal, a near ghost town in Saskatchewan. Eventually, Dell learns some lessons from his parents, and begins to make sense of them, his life, and his relationship with his sister.
In Canada, Ford leaves lots of clues about the future of this family, and these are interesting. Ford is now in that hallowed group of my favorite authors. 5 stars
--Jim, 7/5/12
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attempts – it seemed to me – intended to shock and break out of the usual conventions of the novel. Now, I am not against a bit of iconoclasm when it comes to novels, but I sense – on occasion – that rule breakers break rules simply for the sake of making a ruckus. That, added to a fragment of a review, turned me away from Ford.Then, I found myself in a class which required me to read Independence Day, and to my surprise, I enjoyed the novel enough to give it four stars. That was the Spring of 2008. Since then, I have read and watched interviews, read a short story or two, and read some reviews of ID. When I saw Ford had a new novel, I decided to dive in head first.
Canada Is a sprawling story of a dysfunctional family and how that dysfunction can affect the lives of its members in a variety of ways. The story is narrated by the son, Dell, about 50 years later. Dell has a twin sister, Berner. The mother, “Neeva,” short for Geneva, has been disowned by her Jewish parents for marrying Bev Parsons, a World War II bombardier, who now flits from job to job. He was demoted and honorably discharged from the Air Force for his participation involving some stolen beef for the officer’s club. He continued this sort of shadowy activity in civilian life. Finally, faced with death threats over a beef deal gone bad, he takes desperate measures to save his family.
Ford’s prose is most notable for his attention to details. These really bring the characters, the settings, the situations to life. Ford writes, “[Dad] had brought home two bottles of Schlitz beer, and they’d each drunk one – which they didn’t regularly do. It made them playful, which was how our mother’d become with us while he was gone. She’d put on a pair of white pedal pushers that revealed her thin ankles, some flat cotton shoes, and a pretty green blouse – clothes we didn’t know she owned. She looked like a young girl and smiled more than she normally would’ve and held her beer bottle by its neck and drank it in small swallows. She acted affectionately toward our father and laughed and shook her head at silly things he said. A couple of times she patted him on the shoulder and said he was a card. (As I said, she was a good listener.) Though he didn’t seem any different to me. He was a man in a good humor most of the time” (73).
As the dust jacket tells us, when Berner and Dell were 15, their parents robbed a bank, but the plan did not rise to the level of perfection Bev assured Neeva it would. She fought against the idea, but in the end, she agreed to accompany Bev to the bank and drive the getaway car. This catastrophic even tore the family apart. Berner ran away to California, and Dell was taken by Neeva’s friend, Mildred to Canada to live with her brother.
The second half of the novel deals with Dell’s adventures in Fort Royal, a near ghost town in Saskatchewan. Eventually, Dell learns some lessons from his parents, and begins to make sense of them, his life, and his relationship with his sister.
In Canada, Ford leaves lots of clues about the future of this family, and these are interesting. Ford is now in that hallowed group of my favorite authors. 5 stars
--Jim, 7/5/12
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LibraryThing member Randall.Hansen
Richard Ford does a nice job of telling the story of a life interrupted by the sins of adults -- and yet also well-lived. Nicely written adventure story, from the prospective of the boy living the life and the man reflecting back on it. First piece of his work I've read and it makes me want to read
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more! Show Less
LibraryThing member St.CroixSue
A bleak story told through the voice of a 15 year old whose life (and that of his twin sister) was drastically altered after their parents are imprisoned for a robbery. A haunting ‘coming of age’ and ‘loss of innocence’ tale by a masterful writer and winner of the Pulitzer Prize.
LibraryThing member eduscapes
Late Fifties with Nixon versus Kennedy for President. The story is a retrospective recollection of key events in a fifteen-year-old boy's rather stark life in Great Falls, MT. The first page, make that the first sentence of the book declares that his parents robbed a bank - - the second brings up
It reads like a memoir, a true story but I kept reminding myself that this is fiction. I see a great movie script here; it's a highly recommended book! lj
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murders (plural, more than one?). Father is a recently retired Air Force officer. Mother is a school teacher. His twin sister is maturing fast, way ahead of her brother. The lead character, Dell Parsons, is trying to learn chess and wants to know more about beekeeping. What could have easily been a bleak tale is an intriguing coming-of-age story that leads Dell to abandon the U.S. and cross the border into Saskatoon, Canada.It reads like a memoir, a true story but I kept reminding myself that this is fiction. I see a great movie script here; it's a highly recommended book! lj
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LibraryThing member nivramkoorb
I have read the Sportswriter trilogy and a couple other books by Richard Ford. He is one of my favorite writers. Unlike most of the reviews here, I was disappointed in "Canada". Most of the book was told through the narration of the main character, young Dell Parsons. Unfortunately, his inner self
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did not match his words and actions. The net result was a flat character with a good inner life. There is no doubting Ford's writing skill. This was enjoyable but I found some of his descriptions excessive. If his style was meant to convey the bleakness of the landscape and the hopelessness of the characters, then he did a good job. Because he foretold the main events of the book, I thought the book lacked tension. When the bank robbery and murders actually occurred I had no sense of the feel for the events. A minor point that that has not been raised in any of the reviews that I have read is that the subsequent actions of Dell and the authorities to the murders made no sense. These 2 men felt strongly that Arthur Remlinger had committed the murder bombing 15 years before. Makes sense they would have communicated this to someone before they came to Canada to confront him. Ford has their car being driven into the US and 2 people registering at a hotel as the 2 Americans. I would think that the authorities would have been able to produce pictures of the victims and discover that they were not the people registered at the hotel. A thorough investigation which would have occurred in 1960 would have brought Dell's involvement to the surface. I also find it hard to believe that a 15 year old who witnesses a double homicide would keep it to himself for his entire life and certainly would tell the authorities once he was out of the influence and control of the murderer. This failure to acknowledge the possibility of this happening allowed Ford to let Parsons continue on his future life. Because the readers and reviewers tend to focus on the language and inner conflicts in the book, this hole in the plot is never acknowledged. I will continue to read Richard Ford but this book does not measure up to his previous work. Show Less
LibraryThing member b.masonjudy
Richard Ford has written a book that keeps the reader engaged through strong, terse prose and rich descriptions, but is also quite dull on a whole. The narrator is slightly insipid and the scope of the narrative (he's writing about it fifty years in the future) leaves lots of room for quick
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glimpses of tension to come and some ruminating on the circumstances the narrator faced when he was fifteen and couldn't comprehend anyway. Canada also has the most boring incest scene I've ever read. I wouldn't recommend it but I did enjoy some of the flourishes apart from the narrow yet quite discursive narrative. Show Less
LibraryThing member fiverivers
Drawn by the title, and the author's pedigree, I came to the novel Canada as a Canadian, anticipating a story illuminating this vast and diverse country and people.
Instead, what I came upon was an author trying too hard, and unsuccessfully, to channel the likes of F. Scott FitzGerald or John
The story revolves, endlessly, around a bank-robbing mother and father who, through their idiocy and sense of entitlement, leave their children, fraternal twins, barely into adolescence as orphans and essentially homeless.
The novel is full of implausibilities: the fact there are no social services to take charge of the children at the time of the arrest of the parents; the smuggling of the unreliable narrator into Canada to an alleged safe house; the robbery itself. The list is just too long to enumerate here.
The writing, although lauded by critics as a 'meticulous concern for the nuances of language', to this reader fell flat, lacklustre, without that alleged meticulous concern for the nuance of language. Frankly, it read as so much blah, blah, blah. In fact, the first third of the book is interminably expository, given little credence or gravitas by the nature of Ford's use of the unreliable narrator.
When we finally come to the denouement, we are treated to a moment out of an old Peggy Lee song, Is That All There Is? Which is followed quickly by a complete change of scenery and time, one cannot help but feel because the author ran out of steam.
The characters were so utterly cardboard as to be ridiculous.
And let us not even begin to speak of the gross misunderstanding of anything to do with Canada, let alone Saskatchewan. Frankly, upon consideration, I would recommend every Canadian to pick up this novel, particularly if you're from Saskatchewan, just to explode into laughter at how wrong this writer could envisage that oceanic, wildly free geography we know as the middle province of the Prairies.
Finally, good job, Richard Ford, by way of insulting every Canadian who might read this book by stating several times in the novel: Canadians are just like Americans, and, Canadians want to be just like Americans. Seriously?
Next time the author of Canada wishes to write with authority about a foreign country, I suggest he actually live in that country for a period of time, immerse himself in the culture and the people, then, and only then, he might begin to approach the subject matter with some authority. But, then, maybe not. Any author who can write with sublime confidence that Canadians are just like Americans plainly hasn't a clue and should stick to writing about his own culture.
Instead, what I came upon was an author trying too hard, and unsuccessfully, to channel the likes of F. Scott FitzGerald or John
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Steinbeck, carrying with him a typically American ignorance of Canada, its people, its culture, its heritage.The story revolves, endlessly, around a bank-robbing mother and father who, through their idiocy and sense of entitlement, leave their children, fraternal twins, barely into adolescence as orphans and essentially homeless.
The novel is full of implausibilities: the fact there are no social services to take charge of the children at the time of the arrest of the parents; the smuggling of the unreliable narrator into Canada to an alleged safe house; the robbery itself. The list is just too long to enumerate here.
The writing, although lauded by critics as a 'meticulous concern for the nuances of language', to this reader fell flat, lacklustre, without that alleged meticulous concern for the nuance of language. Frankly, it read as so much blah, blah, blah. In fact, the first third of the book is interminably expository, given little credence or gravitas by the nature of Ford's use of the unreliable narrator.
When we finally come to the denouement, we are treated to a moment out of an old Peggy Lee song, Is That All There Is? Which is followed quickly by a complete change of scenery and time, one cannot help but feel because the author ran out of steam.
The characters were so utterly cardboard as to be ridiculous.
And let us not even begin to speak of the gross misunderstanding of anything to do with Canada, let alone Saskatchewan. Frankly, upon consideration, I would recommend every Canadian to pick up this novel, particularly if you're from Saskatchewan, just to explode into laughter at how wrong this writer could envisage that oceanic, wildly free geography we know as the middle province of the Prairies.
Finally, good job, Richard Ford, by way of insulting every Canadian who might read this book by stating several times in the novel: Canadians are just like Americans, and, Canadians want to be just like Americans. Seriously?
Next time the author of Canada wishes to write with authority about a foreign country, I suggest he actually live in that country for a period of time, immerse himself in the culture and the people, then, and only then, he might begin to approach the subject matter with some authority. But, then, maybe not. Any author who can write with sublime confidence that Canadians are just like Americans plainly hasn't a clue and should stick to writing about his own culture.
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LibraryThing member bpeters65
I Really enjoyed this one. I thought the pace was a bit slow in the middle, but perhaps necessary. The chapters were short during the tumultuous early years when his parents become criminals, than longer during his time in the prairies of Canada, when time really slows down for the young
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protagonist son. Really gave me a sense of time and space. It was my first book by Richard Ford and I am looking forward to another one. Really loved his writing. I so wanted to give this 5 stars, but not this time. Show Less
LibraryThing member queencersei
Fifteen year old Del Parsons and his twin sister Berner seem to be living a normal enough life in 1960 Montana. Their mother is a school teacher and their father is a newly retired decorated bombardier. Their life is shattered however when their normal enough parents are arrested for bank robbery.
Canada was so well reviewed that I began the novel thinking I would love it. The plot of the novel is certainly interesting and the Parson's are each quirky and interesting in their own way. The real weakness of the novel is how much time it takes for anything to happen. They are two major events that happen in Canada, neither of which is a surprise as the author lets the reader in on it well before he gets around to actually describing it in the story. But there is buildup and then there is a buildup. Unfortunately Canada spends huge chunks going over and over the same points. By the time the reader gets to the major events, any sense of drama has been totally sucked out of the story. Canada has many strong points, but maybe tighter editing could have made it truly great.
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While his sister runs away to California, Del is instead taken to Canada to live with the eccentric brother of one of his mother's friends. At first Del seems to do well enough in Canada, but as Del has already learned, people aren't always what they seem. And a normal enough life can be changed in an instant. Canada was so well reviewed that I began the novel thinking I would love it. The plot of the novel is certainly interesting and the Parson's are each quirky and interesting in their own way. The real weakness of the novel is how much time it takes for anything to happen. They are two major events that happen in Canada, neither of which is a surprise as the author lets the reader in on it well before he gets around to actually describing it in the story. But there is buildup and then there is a buildup. Unfortunately Canada spends huge chunks going over and over the same points. By the time the reader gets to the major events, any sense of drama has been totally sucked out of the story. Canada has many strong points, but maybe tighter editing could have made it truly great.
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LibraryThing member LynnB
This is a superbly written story about Dell Parsons and how his life (and that of twin sister, Berner) was changed dramatically when his parents robbed a bank. His parents had no past criminal experiences; they were a normal family caught up in financial difficulties.
Dell struggles to make sense
Deeply compelling, introspective work.
Dell struggles to make sense
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of what happened to lead up to the robbery, and to make sense of his life after he is sent to Canada to avoid becoming a ward of the state of Montana. There, he is isolated from everything he has known: parents, sister, country. Deeply compelling, introspective work.
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LibraryThing member EpicTale
I thought "Canada" was a terrific novel for the story itself, the insights about self and family revealed by protagonist Dell as he narrates the tale of his turned-on-its-head adolescence and his one-day-at-a-time determination to survive into a worthwhile adulthood, and the author's artful prose
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throughout. Despite its unexpected turns, Dell's story struck me as perfectly plausible and the motivations and actions of the people involved in his life (especially his bankrobbing father Bev and his twin sister Berner) as consistent with their personalities. "Canada" is one of a small handful of books that I liked enough, and got enough from, to consider reading again. Show Less
LibraryThing member sleahey
A melancholy coming-of-age novel about a thirteen year old boy's world falling apart when his parents commit armed robbery. Ford sets the stage of distance and alienation in Dell's family, consisting of his twin sister and mis-matched parents. There's little doubt that there will be at least two
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calamities during the summer that this action takes place, so the journey before and between traumas provides the depth and breadth of the novel. Show Less
LibraryThing member lesleynicol
This book takes us into the mind of a fifteen year old boy and his time spent in the wastelands of Canada after his parents have been sent to gaol for a bank robbery and he is left to be cared for by a friend of his mothers. He is sent to Canada to escape child welfare authorities. It is the story
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of his survival and his observations of the strange people he comes in contact with. I enjoyed it very much as it is told from the viewpoint of the grown up Del, at the age of 66 when he has just retired after a successful career as a schoolteacher. My only complaint is that I would have liked to know more of his life after he "got away" to the city and received an education, married and had a family, as I think it would have been difficult for him to adjust. Show Less
LibraryThing member librarianbryan
This book left me somewhat perplexed, torn between its finely wrought language, each sentence a chiseled work of master craftsman, and its heavy-handed artificial parallel structure. The two halves of the book are like two artisan glass bottles on a window sill each filled with Ford's crystalline
Charlie Quarters steals the show and is the most memorable character I've read since Perkus Tooth.
Dell's 15 and 68 year old selves bleed together a bit too much sometimes.
The core of the story is a metaphor about American economic life that is hidden is plain sight just like Arthur Remlinger. For me, this metaphor is what the book is really about.
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spring water words. (Did I just write that? Am I actually going to let that in?) I guess if that is supposed to be a criticism the metaphor for a better book would be an alpine spring, just there on the mountain begging to succor your spiritual thirst and turn the stars inside your mind bright. You know, Savage Detectives, or maybe Tree of Smoke, with no bottles in sight unless they are wine bottles. Charlie Quarters steals the show and is the most memorable character I've read since Perkus Tooth.
Dell's 15 and 68 year old selves bleed together a bit too much sometimes.
The core of the story is a metaphor about American economic life that is hidden is plain sight just like Arthur Remlinger. For me, this metaphor is what the book is really about.
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Awards
Dublin Literary Award (Longlist — 2014)
Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize (Fiction — 2012)
Maine Readers' Choice Award (Longlist — 2013)
Andrew Carnegie Medals for Excellence in Fiction and Nonfiction (Finalist — Fiction — 2013)
High Plains Book Award (Finalist — Fiction — 2013)
Prix Femina (2013)
The New York Times Notable Books of the Year (Fiction & Poetry — 2012)
Christian Science Monitor Best Book (Fiction — 2012)
Notable Books List (Fiction — 2013)
Globe and Mail Top 100 Book (2012)
Michigan Notable Books (2013)
Language
Original publication date
2012-06
Physical description
432 p.; 7.9 inches
ISBN
0061692034 / 9780061692031