All My Puny Sorrows

“The story, he said, it should just move really fast, like pedal to the metal, so it doesn't get boring. Plus it's hard to write, right? You want to go in, get the job done, and get out. Like when I worked for Renee's septic tank cleaning.
I considered this and realized it was the best writing advice I'd received in years. In all my life.”

Loved it. Toews writes with wit and warmth and consistent humour that makes you giggle despite the uber-depressing subject matter. I loved how eloquent the characters were — I kept googling the authors and poems and tunes that they were referencing and added a bunch of books to my to-read list as a result, which always means extra props to the book.

I took a star off for all the parts where characters talked about their dreams — can't deal with this, my eyes immediately glaze over. I have yet to read a book where this is handled well/justified.

With that title and that cover (the cartoony version with the orange background) I didn't expect something quite that heavy (no I did not read the blurb or look into it before I started reading). There are some charming moments in there and the writing is absolutely fantastic but this book is HEAVY in a way that feels entirely intentional. There are charming moments in there and they are carefully placed to further the devastating weight of the events in the book.

This should be a far more harrowing read. Yolandi is supplanted from her Toronto home to icy Winnipeg after a suicide attempt by her sister, following in the footsteps of their own father who took his own life by stepping in front of a train. Yo is separated from her children including a teenaged daughter relishing her unsupervised freedom and her new Swedish boyfriend - who later calls in to report an infestation of carpenter ants. She's in the midst of a divorce, questions her less than engaged string of assignations, her stalled career and money woes. Her aunt takes a turn and is soon hospitalized. Hardly sounds like light fare. Even more depressing is the fact that Mirriam Toews lost her own father and only sister to suicide.

But it's a lovely read and unabashedly Canadian - dropping two-fours, double-doubles, Players Extra Light, Northrope Frye, Margaret Laurence, Neil Young and Nellie McClung. It doesn't uplift through a notion of “I thought I had it bad” comparisons but rather through the weary optimism we Canadians are known for. The idea of being “as Canadian as possible, under the circumstances.”

Excellent story of two sisters, one a writer, the other a gifted pianist, in a troubled Mennonite family. Miriam Toews surpises with her wit and ability to put you in the room with her characters. It asks the question, Am I my Sister's Keeper? I wish I could say love conquers all but it certainly shines through this brilliant novel.