Old Friends
Monday, March 1, 2010 at 9:44AM There is something very enjoyable about returning to an author that you have not read in a long time. It is similar to meeting an old friend with whom you have not seen for a long time. I was at the book-store with a good friend of mine and we agreed that meeting more often for coffee would be a good thing. Because the two of us seem to go months on end without meeting each other (scheduling, life, general busyness, etc.), we decided that we needed some motivation. As we were browsing the aisles of the Fiction/Literature section of the book-store, Paul paused at Timothy Findley. "I've heard good things about him, but I've never read anything from him." Done.
We've set ourselves a goal that in 1 month we'll have finished reading the same book Not Wanted on the Voyage and will then meet up to discuss. A one on one book club so to speak.
First impressions: a surreal fantastical world where common expectations of familiar Biblical stories are re-shaped. For example: Timothy has introduced a talking Unicorn into this magical-realist landscape, and yet we learn that Unicorns are only slightly larger than a dog. The characters are rich, particularly Mrs. Noyes, Noah's wife. She is a drunk who has issues when it comes to Dr. Noah Noyes religious obsession. And Yaweh is an old cantankerous curmudgeon who with his angels travels under the guise of a circus. My favourite character though would be Motyll, an elderly cat through which much of the story seems to be interpreted. An interesting choice to view the world of Noah through the eyes of various creatures and mythical beasts. Quite bizarre and delightful all at once.
Speaking of delightful things: my good friend Karen is visiting right now from New Hampshire and I am loving every second of it. We've mostly been sitting around and catching up. As I told her yesterday, we're attempting to cram everything we would be doing if we lived in the same city, into a 4 day visit: getting drunk, dinner, movies, bad-tv marathons. We only knew each other for a year but we managed to create a very strong friendship. It is nice knowing that even though we have not seen each other in two years, that we can just fall right back into a friendship and pick up where we left off. The internet and telephone help some but nothing beats sitting down next to your friend and giggling over The Golden Girls.
Alice in Wonderland later today. I am sure a review will go up shortly. Cheers.
friends, golden girls, karen, not wanted on the voyage, paul, random, timothy findley in book reviews, literature, random 