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.

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1 person found this helpful

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.

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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.

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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.

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3 people found this helpful

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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CHILDHOOD DECISIONS CAN MAKE ADULT OUTCOMES

Are some people simply “amoral,” neither moral nor immoral? Are there people who truly believe that their wants and needs justify any action, even murder, if it is required for satisfying their wants?

Teenage fraternal twins, Dell and his sister Berner have a father with this outlook. After the father is “pushed” out of his Air Force career, although with an honorable discharge, and is unable to hold jobs for which he considers himself highly qualified, he needs money. So, he robs a bank and a man is killed. He implicates his wife and both are sent to prison.

The twins are left with $500, fears of being sent to orphanages, very little time for decisions and their mother’s plan for them to be cared for by the brother of an old friend in Saskatchewan, Canada. Berner takes the money and runs away to live on her own. Dell is left to be sent to Canada. Ford addresses how seemingly single decisions can impact generations of lives.

Fifteen year-old Dell faces life in a strange, cold, hard environment, living in virtual solitude in an “overflow shack” among strangers. His saving grace is a decision he had made when he was younger. He loved school and learning. He wanted to learn everything in the world. He grows in maturity and in confidence as he learns to live within himself and his circumstances. He learns to adjust to his new life, where there is no school, and still hold on to his decisions to go to school and learn someday. And then he is confronted by an event beyond his control.

He is forced to make decisions that should not be faced by a fifteen year- old. He is drawn into the life of of another totally amoral man. Arthur simply does not think of his actions as being immoral or moral. He simply acts as required to get what he wants. No anger. No animosity. No hard feelings. No regrets. Same as leaving small animals as roadkill.

Richard Ford writes thought provoking books. This one also has suspense and interesting (for someone who shivers when the temp drops below 70 F)information about living north of even Montana.

It is a compelling read (listen) with an excellent narrator. I recommend it.

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12 people found this helpful

True crime

Sentence by sentence Ford lays it all out. Bad things leading to much worse things, deadly things. He creates tremendous suspense leading up to events that he's already foretold the precise outcome of. He inverts sentences in a way that creates overwhelming propulsion for the actors. "That door, we walked through."

It's told as the memoir of a retired teacher, looking back 50 years on the chaos that unfolded from his parents' rash decision to rob a bank, and then be swallowed up abruptly and permanently by prison.

What happens next is frightening and strange and even more criminal. But the kindly, honest narration let's you know that that there is at least one path to safety among the myriad bad choices .

The performance is fine. Just enough inflection to create characters and to find the truth about crime in Dell Parson's aching soliloquy.

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