Indian Horse by Richard Wagamese

Saul Indian Horse has hit bottom. His last binge almost killed him, and now he’s a reluctant resident in a treatment centre for alcoholics, surrounded by people he’s sure will never understand him. But Saul wants peace, and he grudgingly comes to see that he’ll find it only through telling his story. With him, readers embark on a journey back through the life he’s led as a northern Ojibway, with all its joys and sorrows.

With compassion and insight, author Richard Wagamese traces through his fictional characters the decline of a culture and a cultural way. For Saul, taken forcibly from the land and his family when he’s sent to residential school, salvation comes for a while through his incredible gifts as a hockey player. But in the harsh realities of 1960s Canada, he battles obdurate racism and the spirit-destroying effects of cultural alienation and displacement.

Indian Horse unfolds against the bleak loveliness of northern Ontario, all rock, marsh, bog and cedar. Wagamese writes with a spare beauty, penetrating the heart of a remarkable Ojibway man. Drawing on his great-grandfather’s mystical gift of vision, Saul Indian Horse comes to recognize the influence of everyday magic on his own life. 

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This book sat on my coffee table for quite a few weeks before I actually picked it up and read it. When I did start reading it, the opening chapters didn't really grab me and I expected Indian Horse to be a chore to read.

I have read articles and seen news programs and possibly even a full documentary on residential schools and what life was like from the personal experiences of those who attended. Aware of the tragedy, of the sadness and of the shame of collective Canadian society regarding these schools I was not looking forward to a book that would recount such experiences.

While subject matter in no way made this a happy book, I did enjoy reading it in an evening. I like the setup of the book with the short chapters and the flow of time in the storytelling. With the exception of the opening chapters describing Saul's parents and extended family I felt that the characters were well developed and I was able to make connections with them while reading.   Perhaps the feeling I got from the description of Saul's parents was actually more poignant because he was so young at that time that his recollections would not necessarily have allowed for a deeper description of them.  After the point of the story where Saul was taken to the residential school I found the book moved quickly and evenly.  I really enjoyed the descriptions of Saul playing hockey particularly when he first learned about hockey and was learning the game and discovering what it could mean for him. The way he had to fight for the chance to play, the  solitary work he did in order  to develop his skills and the opposition he faced in the arenas and on the ice summed up the story for me.  It was a perfect metaphor to demonstrate his life.

Winter Palace by Eva Stachniak

The epic story of Catherine the Great’s improbable rise to power—as seen through the ever-watchful eyes of an all-but-invisible servant close to the throne.

Her name is Barbara—in Russian, Varvara. Nimble-witted and attentive, she’s allowed into the employ of the Empress Elizabeth, amid the glitter and cruelty of the world’s most eminent court. Under the tutelage of Count Bestuzhev, Chancellor and spymaster, Varvara will be educated in skills from lock picking to lovemaking, learning above all else to listen—and to wait for opportunity. That opportunity arrives in a slender young princess from Zerbst named Sophie, a playful teenager destined to become the indomitable Catherine the Great. Sophie’s destiny at court is to marry the Empress’s nephew, but she has other, loftier, more dangerous ambitions, and she proves to be more guileful than she first appears.

What Sophie needs is an insider at court, a loyal pair of eyes and ears who knows the traps, the conspiracies, and the treacheries that surround her. Varvara will become Sophie’s confidante—and together the two young women will rise to the pinnacle of absolute power. 

With dazzling details and intense drama, Eva Stachniak depicts Varvara’s secret alliance with Catherine as the princess grows into a legend—through an enforced marriage, illicit seductions, and, at last, the shocking coup to assume the throne of all of Russia. 

Besides being one of the Evergreen picks, this book was recommended by a friend.  I am glad it was, otherwise, I may have passed over it.  I am not a bug fan of historical fiction - I often find them long winded and overly descriptive.  I also often feel as though I need to research the period and politics in order to really understand what is happening in the novels. So it was with a deep sigh and some hesitation that I opened the pages of Winter Palace.

I found that I liked the main character from the start but was stumbling a bit as the background was woven, even though I knew it was necessary.  A soon as Varvara arrived at the palace, I knew I was going to stick with it.  I am glad that the author chose to tell the story through an original character, an outsider.  This is a view point that I could appreciate, given my own lack of knowledge about the history of Russia and the time period.  I was also pleased that Varvara held a practical voice and was portrayed as rational and pragmatic and not overly emotional.  Given her situation and lack of personal freedom, her voice could have been bitter or weepy.  Her ability to adapt to, take advantage where possible and survive the situations thrust upon her made her a heroine that was likable.

The chapters where draped in the richness of the Russian court, the writing beautiful without drowning the reader in descriptive verse. I found the use of Russian and Polish words distracting and often scanned over them.  The language changes were used to describe items, food and names either as a means for the various characters to remember their origins or to mock other characters for not being true Russians.  As annoying as I found it, I must admit that it worked well to remind the reader of foreign status of certain characters, such as Barbara/Varvara.   It was a gentle reminder that however kind they were at the moment, she would always be viewed as an outsider.  The inner politicking, paranoia, excess and royal entitlement provided some wonderfully emotional fodder:  the devastation of a child being taken from the mother moments after birth; the power a piece of silly gossip can have to inspire forgiveness or condemnation; frustration of a life not your own; the danger of trusting someone; a love that quietly grows.

I really enjoyed the last third of the novel, the last chapters especially.  I picked up this book expecting a fictionalized biography of Catherine the Great, and was surprised (and ultimately pleased) to find instead a biography of Varvara, a servant girl.  While it is her connections to Catherine that drive the bulk of the novel, this is not the story of Catherine's rule.  This is Varava's tale. I was thrilled with the ending!

Eating Dirt by Charlotte Gill

I truly did not expect to like this book. I picked it up with a sigh, thinking that here I go again, starting another book I probably didn't want to read in the first place.   The story of tree planters held almost no appeal to me. So, I began the first page ready to be disappointed. By the third page I knew I liked the author's writing style. By the tenth page I found myself enjoying the descriptions of Vancouver island and the almost alien landscape the tree planters were traveling through.

Her writing is tangible, the words enveloping me as a reader.   I can feel the dirt under my fingernails, the sweat clinging to the back of my neck.  As I turn the pages I feel like I should be looking around to make eye contact with the people Gill is talking about.

I keep asking myself who would want to do this kind of work? The conditions, the filth,  the isolation, the hours and the alienness of the terrain has it permanently removed it from every conceivable list of  jobs I could ever fathom.

I told myself that I'm not interested in this book it's not a topic I have any interest in. Still, I keep turning the pages and continuing on.  I can see why this book was nominated for an award  - the topic is unique and the writing itself draws the reader into the story.

The drawback for me was the immense amount of information about the history of trees and forestry industry in the book.   At first it felt like it was handed out in bits and peppered through stories, and that was fine as I found it quite interesting.  Yet as the book continued I found myself drowning in the information and details.    As a result it took me almost a full week to read this 250 page book.

The author,Charlotte Gill, has a much different take on this lifestyle than I do. Where I would find the filth, exhaustion and repetition overwhelming and not something that I would want to spend a career doing, never mind a single season, she finds that she has a love for it.

"Some people think planting trees is as boring and crazy making at stuffing envelopes or at climbing a StairMaster. I love my job for exactly the opposite reason because it is so full of things. There are so many living creatures to touch and smell and look at in the field that it's often a little intoxicating. A setting so full of all-enveloping sensation that it just sweeps you up and spirits you anyway like Vegas does to gamblers or Mount Everest to climbers."

Tree planting sounds like one of those jobs you would need to have a calling to.  It sounds as though it may be one of the last frontier style ways of life that can be experienced in today's world.  For me, this book has been interesting and illuminating.  And I am quite happy (and thankful) to leave it to those who have been called.