I’m not sure where to start with George Bowering’s Bring Forth a Wonder. Maybe I won’t start with the story’s content. Bring Forth a Wonder is another of the stories from the collection, From Ink Lake, which I’ve mentioned a few times before. It features stories from the most well known Canadian authors, like Margaret Atwood, to others whose work is less recognized, like Alice French. Bowering is one of those I’ve never heard of before, but after doing some research, I’ve come to discover he is a prolific Canadian writer. His work is mostly in poetry, but he has also written ten novels, nine collections of short stories, four memoirs and lots more. Where have I been that I haven’t heard of him before? I thought I was doing pretty well on the Canadian literary front.
Am I going to read any of these works? I don’t know; who knows what the future will bring? If I do, it won’t be based on this short story. It was a bit odd for me. There was a lot going on for a ten page story. Maybe it was doing too much for its small space. The story starts out with a couple of Indian men (meaning First Nations) fishing. One is young and trying to prove himself a “man of the tribe”, the other is probably ten to fifteen years older. After their conversation, which I thought was interesting, the story shifts to the present day and it is actually the story of a writer, who is writing a novel about two Indians. He doesn’t like the way the story was going and changes it. This happens a few times in Bring Forth a Wonder. We also learn about why the author has left Canada to come to Italy to write about life in the Canadian past. Maybe it was a bit too much metafiction for me, or maybe not metafiction enough.
The story was definitely and interesting part of From Ink Lake. It didn’t put me off the author, it just didn’t attract me to him either.
This week’s words are varied in their meaning and sources.
From Alice French’s Spring and Summer.
Muskeg: An acidic soil type common in Arctic and boreal areas. It makes sense that this word was used since the short story took place on the Canadian tundra. A better description of muskeg can be found here.
From the blog, Stargazing.
Barnet: British slang for hair. From rhyming slang, Barnet fair hair (whatever that means). Stargazing was quoting the British Sun, who wrote an article on Emma Watson’s new hair, which apparently has to do with her attempt to land the lead role in The Girl With The Dragon Tatoo. [Aside: Am I the only one in the world who hasn’t read this book?]
From the blog, Sleep Talkin’ Man.
Numpty: Also British slang. It’s another word for “moron”. If you haven’t checked out the Sleep Talkin’ Man blog, I suggest you do. It’s hilarious.
I feel like all of the words can be a part of my vocabulary. I think I like “numpty” the best. I feel like I can use it here and no one would know what I was saying.
I found Spring and Summer among the stories of From Ink Lake, a collection of Canadian short stories. From what I can tell, Alice French has written two works, an account of her life called, My Name is Masak from which this story comes and The Restless Nomad. She was born on Baillie Island in the Northwest Territories. In my search for a picture of her, I found a lot of pictures of French Toast as well as French food. There were also pictures of Alice In Wonderland and Alice Munro. Sadly, none of her.
I wish I could find out more about her. Alice French wrote a vividly descriptive account of a spring and summer in the tundra. She starts with the new growth, buds and blossoms. She talks a lot about the birds, where they mate, their particular behaviours. What I found really interesting was her account of whaling with her family and the other families. She describes the process of utilizing every bit of the animals they hunt. Then they return to school and their identities are buried until next year.
As much as I enjoyed the description of Inuit life, I did however, find the story lacking in something. A point, perhaps? Perhaps that was because this was an excerpt from her first book. By being an excerpt is there more that wasn’t chosen to be included in this collection, something that would have made it feel more complete? I didn’t know that it was an excerpt until after I read the story, then read the short bio about her in the back of the book. Going in, maybe it would have changed my feeling while reading the story, or maybe I wouldn’t have read the story. Alice French is definitely worth a read, though I don’t know how easy it will be to get her books.
Visit the host of Short Story Monday, John Mutford at The Book Mine Set.
The story was definitely and interesting part of From Ink Lake. It didn’t put me off the author, it just didn’t attract me to him either.
