The
latest book by Saskatoon author David Carpenter is a
collection of novellas and short stories that succeeds
on a number of levels. Welcome to Canada features a
landscape that is richly imagined (or perhaps remembered);
it is a place where people and nature play an equal
role, with the weight of importance shifting smoothly
back and forth between them.
The author
has created realistic voices for his characters, and
renders their dialogue authentically and with great
skill. He writes colloquially, which can be distracting
if not done well. Suffice it to say, he does it well.
One imagines
the children wearing hand-me-downs and jeans with patched-up
knees. Friends and family are equally important and
the children are raised in the community as much as
in the home.
Carpenter
moves fluidly from story to story, and the book has
a natural rhythm to it.
He begins
with a story about a Texan in a fancy white suit who
books a fishing trip to Medicine Lake and returns home
with some tall (but true) tales to tell, a bear fight
under his belt, and a white suit that's a little worse
for wear.
The Snow
Fence is a man's recollection of a significant season
in his childhood. The narrator recounts his story of
living in Jasper Park in 1948. Whenever the train came
through town, bears would come out of the woods looking
for handouts. To keep the travellers safe, the park
superintendent erected a snow fence around the area.
After an accidental (and rather minor) incident, the
superintendent decides the bears are dangerous and should
be shot. What follows is an unfortunate accident that
forever scars the two families involved.
Much of the
book takes place in the outdoors. There are stories
about hunting, fishing, and neighbourhood boys playing
football. Turkle is a tale of a family man who goes
out in a winter blizzard and ends up taking refuge inside
a cow to keep warm; that's a level of desperation we'll
probably (and thankfully) never experience.
This Shot
and Meeting Cute at the Anger Motel veer away from the
rugged setting of the other narratives, but maintain
the natural feel of the book.
Although
the stories are often full of adventure, each one is
grounded in the relationships between the characters.
Carpenter writes about the complex bonds between people,
how we influence each other's lives, and how sometimes
our actions have consequences long after the day is
done.
Legends play
a part in a few of the stories. Among those are stories
about an elusive and magnificent buck named Appletree,
and a fish named Adolph that swallowed a three-inch
hook and took off with a young fisherman still attached
to the other end of the line.
Regardless
of where you live or grew up, Carpenter has crafted
his stories in such a way that the land and people feel
familiar. Even urban dwellers will be able to appreciate
the wildness and rough edges of the characters and the
countryside.
-Carmen Klassen, The StarPhoenix
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