Translation

Review, Translation

Les portes closes

Les portes closes

There is a great deal to be fond of in Les portes closes. It reminds me of a well-tended garden: considered, but not pretentious. It’s clear that a great deal of thought went into every word choice and yet the writing never feels overdone or self-conscious, just elegant and refined.

Review, Translation

Déjà

Déjà

Roland is happily married. He lives life to the full, trying to juggle his roles as a father, a lover, an employee, a student. Then one day he falls at home. A brain tumour. He’s 30.

Review, Translation

Terre des cons

Terre des cons

The first Quebec novel to draw inspiration from the massive spring 2012 student protests, Terre des cons evokes the ideological shift that can occur with the transition to middle age. Does getting older mean becoming a (grouchy) reactionary?

Translation

Red Mountain

Red Mountain

La montagne rouge blew me away the first time I saw it. And the second time. The writing is so raw and visceral, I almost prefer to read the words aloud to myself on the page than see the play in performance.

Review, Translation

Dixie

Dixie

Wrestling, a fugitive from justice, a meat theft, banjo-playing as coyote deterrent…and how to make moonshine with Kentucky bluegrass, galvanized screws, BBQ peanuts, and a Black Sabbath T-shirt.

Translation

A Constellation of Stories

A Constellation of Stories

Stories about learning how to live, about the things that really matter, the things that connect us to loved ones and that we’re too embarrassed to ever mention again. Chaque automne j’ai envie de mourir by Véronique Côté and Steve Gagnon.
Winner, 2013 Quebec City library readers choice award.

Review, Translation

21 Days

21 Days

21 Days in October is a true coming-of-age novel set against a politically charged backdrop in 1970s Montreal. And sometimes it takes a good story to remind us of where we’ve come from. Forty years wasn’t so long ago, after all.

Review, Translation

Beneath the Surface

Beneath the Surface

Martin Michaud’s Sous la surface is an articulately written thriller that transcends the genre: it stands to appeal as much to bestseller book club readers as it will whet the appetite of Nordic noir fans.

Review, Translation

Running Freely

Running Freely

Anyone approaching Vincent Thibault’s Parkour and the Art du déplacement expecting a how-to guide filled with fitness drills is in for a surprise. The book could also be called “The Art of Living,” focusing as it does on how to apply the philosophy behind parkour to everyday life.
Photo credit: © www.parkourgenerations.com

Translation

The King’s Bungalow

The King’s Bungalow

Consider the bungalow. Half-baked, facile criticisms often reach my ears. People mock it, say it lacks ambition. It’s the same story you hear about the suburbs, but these critics are selling the bungalow short.