Canada

De: Richard Ford

Narrado por: Holter Graham

""First, I’ll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then the murders, which happened later.”

So begins Canada, the unforgettable story of a boy attempting to find grace, written by the only writer in history to win both the Pulitzer Prize and Pen/Faulkner Award for a single novel.

This is the story of Dell Parsons, whose parents rob a bank and fracture his life into a before and an after, crossing the threshold that cannot be uncrossed. After his parents’ arrest and imprisonment, Del and Berner, his twin sister, face a blank future of foster care and social services visits. Berner, willful and burning with anger, runs away – orphaning Del completely.

In the midst of his abandonment, a family friend intervenes, spiriting Del across the Montana/Saskatchewan border. There, in a dilapidated town floating in the sea of the Canadian prairie, he’s taken in by Arthur Remlinger – an enigmatic, charismatic man whose own past exists on the other side of a similarly uncrossable border.

Undone by the calamity of his parents’ robbery, Del struggles under the vastness of the prairie sky and the stark, unforgiving landscape to realign his sense of self and his perception of the parents he thought he knew, even as he moves on an inexorable collision course with the slow-simmering violence trembling just beneath Arthur Remlinger’s cool reserve.

A resonant and luminous masterwork of haunting and spectacular vision, CANADA is an elemental novel of boundaries traversed, innocence lost, and of the mysterious and powerful bonds of family. Told in spare, elegant prose but rich with emotional clarity, lyrical precision, and an acute sense of the grandeur of living, it is a masterpiece from one of the greatest American writers alive.

Disturbing but Literary

This book does what good literature is supposed to do: provoke thought. Anyone looking for a good time read to pass the time while driving should steer away from this one. Richard Ford's phrasing is often poetic here, and one gets the idea that he spent much time considering how to construct his narrative for maximum meaning. Destined to show up on English teachers' reading lists, the book provides substantial fodder for analysis and thought. Despite the disturbing and ultimately somewhat depressing events of Del's life, Holter Graham manages to create a sympathetic voice for the hero even though it recounts a life that few of us will envy.

Interesting and Well Told Story.

What made the experience of listening to Canada the most enjoyable?

Characters were well developed and story was interesting -- a true page-turnerDD

Who was your favorite character and why?

Dell. Ford developed character of young man put into most trying circumstances. Dell had integrity

Which character – as performed by Holter Graham – was your favorite?

Dell

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The development of the murders of the two men from Detroit.

Canada viewed by a 16 year old

Is there anything you would change about this book?

shorten the stream of consciousness descriptions

What could Richard Ford have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

limited the 16 year old's obsessive dwelling over and over on thoughts

Any additional comments?

An enjoyable book but too long and tedious.

extaordinary

Richard Ford has been a favorite of mine - and many - for years, but this novel is the best he has ever written. A spare and thoughtful meditation on time, family, history, mystery and their effects on a young boy, the book has a wonderful narration with just the right tone to capture the spare and beautiful language Ford uses. Only once in the past decade have I gone out and bought a book after listening to it and this is the one. I want to go back and reread it - savor the words and the images. The audio version helps imagine the openness of the skies, solitary and reflective nature of the book's protagonist, and it speaks to all who have painful memories and unanswered questions in our lives. And that would be all of us. A simply wonderful book.

Possibly my favorite Richard Ford!

I heard and related to every word! The young narrator drew me into his story, plan to share and suggest for book club!

As good as the NY Times said it was

I listen to audiobooks frequently and found this listening experience to be among the top: great story, wonderfully human characters -- warts and all, great descriptions of time and place. I thought Holter Graham's narration was outstanding: flow, dramatic touches, even his voice were right-on in his capture of the main character and reveal of the story.

A Unique and haunting novel.

The first lines of this book show us the “before and after” of an event which changed and vastly influenced the life of Dell Parsons, and his twin sister, Berner. "First, I'll tell about the robbery our parents committed. Then about the murders, which happened later." When the twins are fifteen, their parents, (immature and dysfunctional adults at the best of times) got the brilliant idea to rob a bank in a small town in order to get them out of debts to some dangerous people. The twins, who know nothing about this until after it happens, are abandoned as the parents are taken off to jail and ultimately convicted. Their mother did ask a friend to help them. Berner didn’t wait around for help but took herself off to San Francisco, but Dell was taken by this friend to Canada to live with her brother. He turned out to be a violent man who committed murder to rid himself of people coming to arrest him, and from there Dell’s life changes for the better. This is a haunting and well written story about events which happen, over which very young teenagers have no control, and how they each dealt with those events through the rest of their lives. It’s an excellent book.

Not what I expected

I had heard how wonderful this book was and it was good, just not what I had expected. It was a bit melancholy. The main character is interesting and tells his story well. A bit too sad for me but very well done.

A wonderful read

This story meanders like a wonderful trail in the forest. You meander through the life of this boy and are engaged with where his life is leading. Naration was good and I enjoyed listening.

I will listen to this book again. One of those books you listen to now and then a year later listen again and find layers of the story you missed the first time.

One of the Best Books I've Read OR Listened

Would you listen to Canada again? Why?

Yes. But not until I digest it; I'll be thinking about this book for months. Then I'll listen again.

What other book might you compare Canada to and why?

The Last Child and A Place More Kind than Home. All are about boys and the terrible things that happen to them that most people they meet will never know about.

Which scene was your favorite?

Del (the main character) alone after his parents are taken away to jail.

If you could take any character from Canada out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Del, of course. We have a lot in common.

Any additional comments?

This is a gripping, powerful story that's also philosophically and psychologically profound. And extremely well written and performed. I hate that it ended.