La fille de l'Ouest / Louise Dubuc (Montréal : Leméac, 2006)

 

La fille de l'Ouest takes the reader by the hand and transplants him/her right in the middle of the Quebec countryside. Yes, Louise Dubuc is obviously in love with Nature and understands it deeply. She knows how plants grow and how animals live, how food and love are made, how farms are run, how rivers get flooded, how the seasons bring change to Quebec's fields and forests and she writes about all this beautifully.

Daniel Lavoie and I Musici de Montréal, Laurentian Highlands Festival of Classical Music, August 14, 2010.

Once upon a time (in August 2010 to be exact) the village of Ferme-Neuve in the Laurentian Highlands region of Quebec hosted an exclusive concert that brought together Daniel Lavoie and I Musici de Montréal.

La Belle Bête / Marie-Claire Blais (Québec : Institut littéraire du Québec, 1959)

 

Cover of 1st edition of La Belle Bête, 1959. Source:
https://laurentiana.blogspot.co.uk/2011/06/marie-claire-blais-la-belle-bete.html

Once upon a time there stood an evil farm where Hatred, Vanity and Vengeance ruled...  Marie-Claire Blais's La Belle Bête reads easy, but offers its reader no comfort, as the world of this Quebec author is cold and frightening. The characters are torn away by their passions, but the only true feelings here are hatred and envy, any positive feelings are either fake or selfish or borne by people who are either blind or mad (i. e. mentally blind). Physical beauty is one of the central themes (as the title implies), but it is always accompanied by a physical or mental flaw, and always - by a flawed soul. Yes,  in her novel Blais leaves no place for hope, no "crack" through which the light would get in. And yet it is an interesting work.

Marjo et ses hommes, Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (Quebec), August 15, 2010

© Marjo et ses hommes

Once again, summer rains have brought memories of the show Marjo and her men (Marjo et ses hommes), seen in August 2010 at the 27th International Baloon Festival (International de montgolfières) in the good town of Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu in Quebec... Time to write these memories down.

La détresse et l'enchantement / Gabrielle Roy (Montréal : Boréal Express,1984)

 … car c’est souvent en errant seule dans les villes inconnues que je suis le mieux arrivée – mais à quelque chose d’autre que ce que je pensais chercher et qui fut presque toujours meilleur.

(Gabrielle Roy, La détresse et l'enchantement)

 

La détresse et l'enchantement is a great autobiography of a woman artist.  And as any great biography it is both unique and typical. Actually it is unique and typical on not just one, but at least two levels.  The first level is a story of a young woman searching for her path in life, and the second is a story of a Manitoban French-Canadian in the first third of the 20th century, and both stories are relatable and extraordinary at the same time.

Histoire du Manitoba français : de Gabrielle Roy à Daniel Lavoie (1916-1968) / Jacqueline Blay (Saint-Boniface, Man. : Éditions des Plaines, 2016)

This book is volume 3 of the series on the history of the French Manitoba published by Les Éditions du Blé / Les Éditions des Plaines and it covers 1916-1968, the period defined by existence of the Association d’éducation des Canadiens français du Manitoba (Manitoba French-Canadian education association), the organization that made possible teaching French language in Manitoba’s schools during those 50+ years when it was prohibited by the provincial government, thus saving the culture from becoming extinct.

Mes longs voyages (show) : Daniel Lavoie's live show, Canada, February 2017

If you go see Daniel Lavoie's new live show Mes longs voyages and are familiar with his eponymous and unabashedly dark album (released in 2016), you are in for a surprise. Because oh, what a magician that Daniel Lavoie is! Hop-la and all the blood, sweat and tears of the album turn into champagne! Effervescent and luminous, Daniel Lavoie sings, dances, switches (or ditches) instruments, talks, laughs, grimaces, savors his time in the limelight, as if trying to put behind him all the troubles that followed him in 2016 (and inspired the album) as fast as he can, and he effortlessly pulls the audience into his happy vortex. And as for that guy on the promo photos - the one who carries the weight of the world on his shoulders – one wonders what he has to do with this show…

Des nouvelles d'Édouard / Michel Tremblay (Chroniques du Plateau Mont-Royal #4, 1991, Lemeac)

Of the 6 books from Chroniques du Plateau Mount-Royal series by Michel Tremblay Des nouvelles d'Edouard is my favorite. It is a striking book. When I took it in my hands after having read the previous three I thought this one would be another charmingly busy multi-figure anthropological canvas describing life in a certain area of Montreal. And the book indeed begins as expected. However soon it takes a completely different turn, changes genre and becomes a book on a solitary journey of self-discovery with most of the action taking place actually outside of Montreal and outside of the continent altogether.

L'Énigme du retour / Dany Laferrière (2009, Grasset)

I found Dany Laferrière's  L'Énigme du retour fascinating. What caught my attention from the beginning was its form. I  am not sure it's truly a "novel" ("roman"), I thought it was more of a long poetic essay. The combination of free verse and prose is enchanting. The subject was also very new for me, as I know so little about Haiti. And as any good book would do, this book made that previously obscure to me country somewhat closer. What made this book especially captivating were the common points I have with the author. The narrator's complex relationship with his own past, national identity and time in general are all issues that I can relate to.