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Robert Kroetsch captures the beauty of this province in this endearing documentation of his Alberta experience—from the dinosaur digs in the Badlands to the Calgary Stampede to the site of Big Bear’s prophetic vision to kd lang’s hometown.

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This conversation between Robert Kroetsch and John Lent is guided by love -- of the word, of stories, of reading, of teaching. These two veteran writers circle around the topic, returning to the centre, to the question "where's that damn story?"
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Set against the Klondike Gold Rush of the 1890s, The Man from the Creeks is a gripping tale of three entrepreneurs desperate to strike it rich. Fourteen-year-old Peek and his mother, Lou, join up with cooper Benjamin Redd and embark on a treacherous journey to fabled Dawson City. First published in 1998, this is a witty and ribald retelling of Robert Service’s incomparable “The Shooting of Dan McGrew.” ... Read more

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Kroetsch has a way with words and with drama, so the reader will be interested in the world he creates. Humour, wit, and irony make these poems lively and a pleasure to read. Trees, comic books, and other parts of the poet's world allow him to tell stories with twists and turns, combining the history of German tribes and Native lands with the taking of a cup of tea. He considers tree rings, calendars, and other marks of time and timelessness as a measure of wisdom and narrative. Even Anne of Green Gables makes an appearance in these pages. From homesteading to computers, Kroetsch ranges through our times. The poet's life happens among games, art, landscapes, and much else. Here is a book of well-turned poems with the suggestive amplitude of a novel world. ... Read more

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Hazard Lepage, the last of the studhorse men, sets out to breed his rare blue stallion, Poseidon. A lusty trickster and a wayward knight, Hazard’s outrageous adventures are narrated by Demeter Proudfoot, his secret rival, who writes this story while sitting naked in an empty bathtub.In his quest to save his stallion’s bloodline from extinction, Hazard leaves a trail of anarchy and confusion. Everything he touches erupts into chaos necessitating frequent convalescences in the arms of a few good women–excepting those of Martha, his long-suffering intended.Told with the ribald zeal of a Prairie beer parlor tall tale and the mythic magnitude of a Greek odyssey, The Studhorse Man is Robert Kroetsch’s celebration of unbridled character set against the backdrop of a rough-and-ready Alberta emerging after the war. Winner of the Governor General’s Award for Fiction. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Always original, at times wickedly funny
When Hazard Lepage sets out to breed his rare blue stallion Poseidon in the hope of saving his horse's bloodline from extinction, he creates a trail of anarchy, confusion, and chaos -- as well as encountering the charms of a fewgood women. The narrator of Hazard's idiosyncratic adventures in pursuit of his obsession is a maniacal, naked writer who works in his bathtub. Always original, at times wickedly funny, and told with unrestrained enthusiasm framed by a post-war, rough-edged Alberta, The Studhorse Man showcases and documents Robert Kroetsch as one of Canada's best living writers at work today. Also part of the University of Alberta Press "Canadian Literature Series" and very highly recommended reading are Robert Kroetsch's earlier works: What The Crow Said (0888643039, $14.95); The Words Of My Roaring (0888643490, $16.95); Completed Field Notes (088864-3500, $19.95: and The Hornbooks Of Rita K. (0888643721, $16.95).

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Seed Catalogue is an autobiographical long poem by Canadian prairie poet Robert Kroetsch, This new limited edition is illustrated with wood engravings by Jim Westergard.First published in the 1970s, Seed Catalogue is the seminal work of poetry that first gave voice to the long root in Prairie writings of the metaphor of the seed catalogue. The poem explores the actual world of history transformed into the mythical world of poetry, where what we remember about the past may be more real than history tells us. ... Read more

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"Prairie poetry," as it came to be known in the 20th century, has found no more eloquent and accomplished a practitioner than Robert Kroetsch. Yet the North American prairie his work has made so recognizably visible in all of its characteristic particularities is changing profoundly in the 21st century. This change is marked by the transition of a cultural identity primarily rooted in place, to one that is rooted in a rapidly fragmenting, urbanizing, technology-based globalization. In an opening dialogue between the archetypal practitioner of this poetics of place, Robert Kroetsch, and a new practitioner of a poetics of the search for the often sublimated sign, Jon Paul Fiorentino, the reader bears witness to a rare literary event—a master passing on his legacy to the students who have become his peers—the transition from the unifying classic articulation of place to the diaspora of the vernaculars it has engendered. ... Read more

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The Hornbooks of Rita K, Robert Kroetsch's first volume of new poetry in more than a decade, is a brilliant collection of mysterious fragments. Where has Rita gone and who is reconstructing her oeuvre? Written with wit and playfulness, Hornbooks is a welcome new work from one of Canada's best writers. ... Read more

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First time in the New Canadian Library

“Northwest of Montreal, through a valley always in sight of the low mountains of the Laurentian Shield, the Ottawa River flows out of Protestant Ontario into Catholic Quebec. It comes down broad and ale-coloured and joins the Saint Lawrence, the two streams embrace the pan of Montreal Island, the Ottawa merges and loses itself, and the main-stream moves northeastward a thousand miles to sea.”

With these words Hugh MacLennan begins his powerful saga of Athanase Tallard, the son of an aristo-cratic French-Canadian tradition, of Kathleen, his beautiful Irish wife, and of their son Paul, who struggles to establish a balance in himself and in the country he calls home.

First published in 1945, and set mostly in the time of the First World War, Two Solitudes is a classic novel of individuals working out the latest stage in their embroiled history.


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Customer Reviews (6)

The Great Quebecois Novel
I enjoyed this book mostly for its presentation of the recent history of Quebec.The novel presents a kind of snapshot of the English and French cultures at a turning point in their odd collective history.I found it helpful in understanding the roots of the ethnic and historical conflicts that remain largely unresolved in much of the province.

The writing is solid if unspectacular -- overall I found that the plot held my interest, although it moved a bit slowly.All in all it's a good read, and I recommend it to anyone who wants to understand the weird sociological experiment that is Quebec.

A great canadian novel
Two solitudes by Hugh MacLennan is a graet Canadian novel. it discusses all canadian themes, such as landscape, bilingulism, conflicts on identity etc.
I will ask every canadian to read this book. It's worth your time.

Stuck with each other, for better or worse
Although it has been several years since I have read "Two Solitudes," the book remains quite vivid for me -- perhaps, in no small part, because I live only a few miles from the Quebec border, andlisten quite attentively to Canadian news on the radio.Everything, andyet nothing has changed regarding Anglo-French relations over the sixtyyears that have passed since the conclusion of the action in the book.Ofcourse, English shop clerks in Montreal no longer tell Francophone patronsto "speak white;" the Roman Catholic Church has lost virtuallyall of its influence over French Canadians; the notion of the French being"maitres chez nous" -- masters in our own house -- has triumphedto such an extent that the province came within a hair's breadth of votingfor independence several years ago.Yet despite the all but de factopolitical autonomy of Quebec -- and in no small part because of it -- allof the old misunderstanding and mistrust so skillfully depicted inMacLennan's book persist.Two profoundly different cultures, heirs toprofoundly different colonial pasts, still vie for the soul of the secondlargest nation on earth.For this reason alone, Americans (famously andshamefully ignorant of Canadian history) ought to read "TwoSolitudes;" for Canadians, or course, it should be required reading. But "Two Solitudes" is not merely a sociopolitical tract.Ifound the love story quite engaging, with neither of the characterspresented as a mere representation of ethnicity and class, and theresolution ennobling in a way one doesn't expect from a novel any more. The term "old-fashioned" comes to mind, but I'm afraid that willbe terribly off-putting for many modern readers.Let's call the booksolid, sure, and rewarding, then -- and evocative and informative as well. That's a lot to put into a package this tidily crafted, but MacLennan hasdone it well.Exclusive of the work of Robertson Davies, in a class byitself, "Two Solitudes" bids fair to be called the Great CanadianNovel.

Too much history
Two Solitudes, written by Hugh MacLennan, is a historical tragedy remembering the differences between the French and English Canadians.Beginning in 1917, passing through World War II, and finishing in 1939, thestory is at the same time historical and sentimental.The reader can sensethe dark side of the Church nourishing the rancour of the French Canadiansagainst the English Canadians because of their importance.The book startsin the parish of Saint-Marc, with its priest, Father Beaubien, which almostrules the village except for a powerful man, Athanase Tallard that istrying to industrialise it for good.A failure in everything heenterprised, Athanase have even changed religion, almost a crime at thattime, to be able to get away from the priest and make his son Paul go to agood English school.Even if I found the story die with this character, Ifound it very realistic and historical and it helped me to understand somevery good facts about that time.

The first pages help the reader toknow the characters of the story but there is no conflict.Its likereading Peter Pan without Captain Hooks: "Athanase Tallard was the onlylimit, under God and the law, to the priest's authority in Saint-Marc. Since the days of the early French colonization, the Tallard had beenseigneurs."

When McQueen started to be present in the plot, themajor conflict was established.That was almost the story, after that,they were only small and they weren't permanent:-"The details make nodifference.Your trying to build a factory here." -"Is that against thelaw?" -Lawyer's arguments are useless with me.Are you, or are you not,planning to buy the Tremblay land for a factory?" -"And if I am?" -"I willtell Tremblay not to sell.I will tell every farmer you have alreadytalked not to sell." After Athanase's death, the story turned fromtragedical to romentical.It changed into roses when Heather and Paul metagain and that will probably make the reader lose attention in the book: -"Have you ever been in love?" -"I'm not sure.I've thought I was severaltimes."

The setting was very good.The places and the time werevery typical as the characters were to.The author was well informed aboutthe time and history, you could imagine it through his writing.

HughMacLennan talked a lot about French Canadians rancour against the EnglishCanadians.But he made the English neutral as if they had nothing againstthem.

In conclusion, with a lack of conflict, too much romantism and anda very good setting, this book, may be a very good one for readers whominterests are in history, but I wouldn't read it for the fun of it.Willyou?

Fight On Two Races
Two Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan, is a novel whose title has become significant of Canada's most troubling legacy: the relations between English and French Canadians. Using historical settings within amythological framework, MacLennan explores the tensions in these relationsfrom World War One to 1939. The French Canadian realities are set in theparish of Saint-Marc, which is dominated by its priest, Father Beaubien,and by Athanase Tallard, a powerful but tragic figure blamed by his churchfor trying to industrialize the village. Even if I didn't like the book, itdoes in fact describe how the French and English continued to dislike eachother, and how the church was involved in the past.

Two Solitudes,in my opinion is a factual descriptive book, which holds a subject, whichis very interesting. But, I find that the author, Hugh MacLennan doesn'tmake a very good job in setting a climax in the story. It takes a very longtime to get some conflict and have some affection towards the characters.

The book started very slowly since there was nothing going on. Noactions were taking place. It was only description was being said in thefirst few chapters so I lost interest in the story very quickly.Description remained constant throughout the entire book, which was a majorreason why I got bored and didn't like this book.

I showed someinterest in the book, about a quarter way down. At last, I saw some actionsand a bit of conflict arising, which held my attention for a little while.But unfortunately, it didn't last for a very long time. Description tookover the action and I got lost and bored. This, I found, was a major flawof the book- not enough action and too much description.

A readerfrom Ontario Canada wrote a review on this book, and he says the exact samething as I said. This is a quote from his review:"Slow at first, andnot a lot of action, but the powerful descriptions of the land and thein-depth characters make up for it in a way. This book spans a time periodof 1917 to 1939 and takes place primarily in Quebec, Canada. It tells thestory of several French-Canadians and English-Canadians, and their struggleto get by and to find themselves amidst the bitterness between the Frenchand the English in war time Canada. It's not the most enlightening bookI've read, but I gave the Canadian author credit- it wasn't a waste of timeto read."

I also had a great difficulty of understanding the bookfor many reasons. The main reason is because at certain points, the authorsuddenly switched scenes without telling us. For example: once the priestand Mr. Tallard were talking about Paul going to an English school, and injust a couple of seconds, two different people were talking about somethingwhich didn't even relate to Paul going to an English school. It got veryconfusing.

Another reason of confusion is inadequate informationabout the characters. Since there is a whole lot of people in the book, itis necessary to identify who each of them is related to. But the authordidn't do this in the book. I didn't know which person was married to whomin the story, and which person was related to whom. Only till the end ofthe book that I was able to establish all of the characters and who theyrelated to.

Though tough to understand, it shows that the authorhad very appropriate knowledge on how the people lived back in the earlytwentieth century. He appropriately covered all aspects on how peopleacted, lived and behaved during this period of time.

Hugh MacLennanknew exactly how and why the church was involved in everyone's daily life.He uses the church as a major conflict in Two Solitudes. For example: Mr.Tallard and the priest were arguing about Paul, Tallard's son, going to anEnglish school. The priest insisted that he didn't because he thought thatby going to an English school, it would ruin his religion since the Englishwere Protestant and the French, including Paul, were Catholic. MacLennanknew how the church was involved in their lives, and he makes it a majorconflict and a deal of discussion in Two Solitudes.

The main topicof the story is the conflict between the English and the French. I findthat MacLennan does a great job of identifying their action towards eachother. He describes a great deal of hate between them. He identifies thisby name calling and making the characters feel hatred if someone practicesa different religion from them or speaks a different language than them. AsI did some research of how people acted in this period of time, I learnedthat there was a lot of disgrace between these two people.

The mainconflict in the first part is the French rebelling against officers becausethey didn't want to go to war. MacLennan perfectly described how peoplereacted when they were forced to go to war. This was a big part of therebellions, which happened, in the early twentieth century. I found thispart, basically the most interesting since MacLennan describes the Frenchattacking officers, and how the French felt to be forced to go to war.

Even if I got lost during reading the book, I still learned a lot about howthe people felt and reacted during this period of time. If you like books,which happen during this period of this time, than this is probably yourbook. The only thing is that you must have patience, because the conflictdoesn't happen right away. But if you need some conflict and some action, Idon't suggest this book to you. ... Read more

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“It’s an immense night out there, wheeling and windy. The lights on the street and in the houses against the black wetness, little unilluminating glints that might be painted on it. The town seems huddled together, cowering on a high tiny perch, afraid to move lest it topple into the wind.”

The town is Horizon, the setting of Sinclair Ross’ brilliant classic study of life in the Depression era. Hailed by critics as one of Canada’s great novels, As For Me and My House takes the form of a journal. The unnamed diarist, one of the most complex and arresting characters in contemporary fiction, explores the bittersweet nature of human relationships, of the unspoken bonds that tie people together, and the undercurrents of feeling that often tear them apart. Her chronicle creates an intense atmosphere, rich with observed detail and natural imagery.

As For Me and My House is a landmark work. It is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand the scope and power of the Canadian novel.


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Customer Reviews (3)

An excellent--but not great--Canadian novel
Whether As For Me and My House can be considered one of the "great Canadian novels" is somewhat questionable, but there is no denying that it is a profound, complex and evocative work of literature.

Set during the Great Depression, the story revolves around the domestic life of the Bentleys, who have come to a small, isolated Saskatchewan farm-community of Horizon, where Philip Bentley has taken on role of being the town's new minister.

Ministering is something that Philip, in fact has little desire to do, and is instead obsessed with painting, to the point where his wife--through whose perspective the story is told--is neglected.There relationship is essentially broken, but the reasons for this are not simple, and this essentially is the focus of the story.

Throughout the novel, Mrs. Bentley--who is never named because the work is written in the form of journal entries--continuously explores their history, their personalities and the effect of their confined lifestyle upon themselves and one another.

Over the course of their residence in Horizon she comes to realize that the break-down of their relationship, is not so much the fault of Philip's conduct, as we are first led to believe, but fact that both have allowed themsleves to become victims of circumstance.

As For Me and My House is definitely a work worth studying, but like I initially stated, I question whether it can really be considered one of the great Canadian novels.

Wind, Earth and Dust
As For Me and My House provides a descriptive tale about a preacher and his wife during the depression.Written by the hand of the wife, who remains nameless, the book incorporates vast imagery to help portray the feeble lifestyle they were trapped within.Mr. Bentley, unable to motivate himself to move beyond his unsatisfying profession as a preacher, lives in unhappiness, bringing his wife into oppression with him.Animal imagery is prevalent, as the town and its people are described in such terms.They all cower and protect themselves; with the exception of Judith, who "scales the wind" at the beginning until she discovers her own sexuality and becomes the earth....Can air continue to have 'life' when submersed into the ground?

Canadian Literature at its' best!
Through the journal entries of Mrs. Bentley, we are given a beautiful and complex novel of great importance in Canadian Literature.As a story of life during the depression, this book perfectly captures the trials ofprairie life during this era.As Mrs. Bentley describes events in herjournal entries, we are given a chance to not only accept the text at facevalue, but to read betweenthe lines.Mrs. Bentley tends to say more bywhat she doesn't write than what she does. All in all, an incrediblebook and one which everyone should read. ... Read more

Product Description
This digital document is an article from Textual Studies in Canada, published by University College of the Cariboo on June 22, 2004. The length of the article is 722 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Simona Bertacco: Out of Place: the Writings of Robert Kroetsch.(Book Review)
Author: Doug Knowles
Publication: Textual Studies in Canada (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2004
Publisher: University College of the Cariboo
Issue: 17Page: 213(2)

Article Type: Book Review

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