The Antagonist

It seemed fitting, in the context of the NHL lockout to talk about The Antagonist. Firstly, there doesn't seem to be anything more antagonistic than the relationship been the players and league right now and secondly because the main character in the novel is a hockey player.

The Antagonist was a finalist in last year's Giller awards. My love of the Gillers over the years has been pretty well documented on this blog. The have turned me from completely indifferent to CanLit to a huge fan (to the point where I read mostly Canadian writers now).

Giddy for Giller Part 5: Annabel

I'm finally getting to my post on Annabel.  This will likely be my last Giller post until the 2011 shortlist is announced.

It's not often that one reads a story about a hermaphrodite.  I, in fact, have read two stories about hermaphrodites.  I talked about reading Middlesex here.  The similarity between Middlesex and Annabel stops there.  Middlesex is an epic, sprawling novel that is sometimes a bit campy.  In Middlesex no one knew Cal was a hermaphrodite (though there was always something a bit odd about her/him that people couldn't put their finger on).  I quite enjoyed it for the most part but honestly, it's nothing compared to Kathleen Winter's beautiful story.

Giddy for Giller Part 4: Short Stories with Legs

I'm not much of a short story fan.  I find sometimes that you are just getting into it and then it stops.  The one exception to this is Gabriel Garcia Marquez's short story collection Strange Pilgrims.  The stories are beautifully written.  Of course, Marquez could write an instruction manual and I would probably like it.

So in my ongoing Giller reading streak, I picked up last year's shortlisted Light Lifting by Alexander MacLeod.  In the spirit of full disclosure, I will admit, the fact that he is very cute probably played a small role in selecting this.  Cute enough to mitigate the fact that Barbara Amiel Black introduced him at the Giller Awards with a disgustingly affected British accent looking like a cougar on the loose.  But I digress.

Giddy for Giller Part 3: The Sentimentalists

After watching the 2010 Giller show, I immediately ran out and bought three of the five finalists, including the winner, The Sentimentalists. I really debated which of my three purchases (including Kathleen Winter’s book Annabel and Alexander Macleod’s short story collection Light Lifting) I would read first.  I decided to go with the winner first.

It seemed to be the dark horse of the group: first novel (Skribsund had previously published a book of poetry), artisanal publisher, and was running against some serious competition including David Bergen and Kathleen Winter.  I was super excited to read it. 

Giddy for Giller Part 2: The Golden Mean

Shortly after I had my third child last year, I started The Golden Mean.  This was the second book from the 2009 Giller Prize shortlist that I chose to read (after seeing it presented on the Giller Awards show). One of the challenges of starting a book like this with a new baby, is that it takes forever to read.  Not only because reading time is a little compressed but you're so freakin' tired that you can't absorb anything you've read and have to go back and re-read whole sections!

Now, despite my challenges in getting through The Golden Mean, I thoroughly, thoroughly enjoyed it.  The author, Annabel Lyon, imagines a period in history where the philosopher Aristotle is called upon to tutor a young Alexander (the Great).  I confess I also had a personal affinity to the story due to the fact that I'm half Macedonian (not Greek!!).

Giddy for Giller Part 1: The Bishop's Man

In the last year, I've become particularly fond of the Giller Awards.  It started when I did a consulting gig at Shortcovers (now Kobo).  I thought I was bookish but the folks there were (are) hardcore.  I had heard much excitement about the Giller ceremony, the Giller Party, the "this is not the Giller party".  So I decided to check it out.  About 10 minutes in, I was completely hooked, totally infatuated.  C'mon - any kind of awards ceremony, broadcast live on tv, that finishes in one hour?? Yes, it's only five books but really...an hour?  Brilliant.

Truth be told, I had no idea who was shortlisted.  I just took a blind leap, flipped it to Bravo and settled in.  The result?  I have come to the conclusion that the producers of every award show on earth (Academy Awards, Emmys, you name it), should look to the Giller award show as a model.  Secondly, I have become an ardent Canadian literature fan.  It's quite a surprise because I've avoided it like the plague for years, I've also talked about it here on the blog but in reality, the majority of what I'm reading and what I want to read is Canadian.

So, immediately after the Gillers, I went out and bought the winner (The Bishop's Man) and one of the other shortlisted books (The Golden Mean).