Fifteen Dogs by André Alexis
What does
it mean to be alive? To think, to feel, to love and to envy? André Alexis
explores all of this and more in the extraordinary Fifteen Dogs, an insightful
and philosophical meditation on the nature of consciousness. It’s a novel
filled with balancing acts: humour juxtaposed with savagery, solitude with the
desperate need to be part of a pack, perceptive prose interspersed with playful
poetry. A wonderful and original piece of writing that challenges the reader to
examine their own existence and recall the age old question, what’s the meaning
of life?
Arvida by Samuel Archibald
Samuel
Archibald’s stories come from over there: way, way over there. They live in the woods, hunting for creatures
that may or may not exist, and they sometimes go surging down the highway at
reckless speeds. At other times, they
freeze, paralysed by the strange sounds that should not be coming from empty
rooms in very old houses. This writing –
so wise and funny and impeccably crafted – is the best kind of gossip: it tells
us everything we need to know, the real dirt, about this place and about all
the people, the true ‘characters,’ we meet wandering up and down the cryptic
streets of a real but mythic Arvida. There
is a lot of whispering going on in this town, a lot of information that strains
credulity, a lot of laughter, a lot of suspense, a bit of fear. Arvida is just like life: a tender,
sometimes terrifying, mystery unfolding before our eyes.
Outline by Rachel Cusk
Compulsively
readable and dazzlingly intelligent, Rachel Cusk’s Outline follows a writer’s journey to Athens to teach a summer
writing course. Along the way she
encounters a cast of characters who share with her the outlines of their own
life stories. The result is a novel of
breathtaking skill and originality. Perfectly paced, without a word out of
place, Outline reminds us of the
truly formidable power that good literature has to change our hearts and our
minds.
Daydreams of Angels by Heather O’Neill
This is a
work of acute charm and radically deft imagination. Whether probing the behaviour of clones for
some sign of a relationship between genes and genius, eavesdropping on the
anecdotes of abandoned dolls, or detailing the particulars of ‘A Portrait Of
The Marquis de Sade As A Young Girl’, O’Neill’s stories continually spar with
that which so often defines our lives or limits our daring – the problem of
pain. Here are characters born of a
distinctive sensibility and sent forth to chart the strange and volatile
terrain where grace is found, lost, and found again. There’s no thrill quite like encountering
tales this tall, and few tall tales offer up their gifts this freely.
Martin John by Anakana Schofield
Stylish and
provocative, Martin John comes at you as soft and lyrical as a folk song. But like the tune that refuses to stop
repeating itself, it is hauntingly about all those memories of suspect desires
and guilty pleasures, of knowing right from wrong, of wanting to do what even
your mamma would want you to do but maybe you just can’t. As readers, we find Martin John a tantalizing reflection on living the contradictions
in every identity and of definitively knowing what is real. At its heart, this is a bittersweet story of
personal confrontations such as asking do I always want what others — even my
mother — want for me.
For more information (biographies, access to the first few pages of the books), check out the Scotiabank Giller Prize website: http://www.scotiabankgillerprize.ca/finalists/2015shortlist/. If you are interested in the other seven books on the longlist which didn't make the shortlist, check my blog for September 9.
The winner will be announced on November 10.
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