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Author Topic: THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN  (Read 871 times)

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Shit machine gun

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THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« on: Apr 26, 2006, 08:30 AM »
  11. Anne of Green Gables (1908)      Lucy Maud Montgomery
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melba the disco queen

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100 Greatest Canadian Books Ever Written
« Reply #1 on: Apr 26, 2006, 09:22 AM »
I recognize quite a few on there! Thanks for posting that list SMG! One of the books I would recommend is Green Grass Running Water; it is written in a very interesting style.

Surprised that they have included Susanna Moodie but not her sister, Catherine Parr Trail.
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Shit machine gun

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THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« Reply #2 on: Apr 26, 2006, 10:13 AM »
Yeah but I don't read.  I only read magazines.  It was for the benefit of you other literary types on the .org.
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bigbenjamin

THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« Reply #3 on: Apr 26, 2006, 10:56 AM »
Not a very surprising list, I mean the wonderful Alice Munro belongs on so many lists (best modern short story writer in English) and Maggie Atwood is likewise no surprise. Little Joy Kogawa really only wrote poetry until she got deeply involved in the campaign to get an apology and reparations for the unlawful and racist treatment of Japanese Canadians during WWII - and wrote her only worthwhile long fiction -"Obasan". (Used to see she and Atwood frequently when I lived on the westside of downtown Toronto.)

The amazing Jane Jacobs just passed a couple of days ago, but she was really not so much a writer as a social planner and activist . . some say she saved Manhattan and helped keep the core of downtown Toronto growing and healthy.

The men on the list are either deservedly obscure or too commercial to matter, I mean I love Cohen and Pierre Berton as personalities, but nothing special as writers. Mordecai Richler was a great chronicler of Jewish live in Montreal and  Tomson Highway (another guy I used to see in my current eastside neighbourhood) did the same for native folk in Canada. None of the men on the list are half as talented as Munro and Atwood.

I don't read or write as much as I used to, and the Canadian literary scene ain't nearly as active and healthy as it was even 20 years ago. Video killed the radio star and small press activity seems to have moved off the page and onto the net, and the results are not encouraging, IMHO. Poetry used to drive counter culture - now it has mostly retreated to academic journals.

Thanks for posting the list, SMG, just wish it had more meaning for most of us today.


Nostalgic cheers!
« Last Edit: Apr 26, 2006, 11:01 AM by bigbenjamin »
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J to the R-O-C

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THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« Reply #4 on: Apr 26, 2006, 11:21 AM »
Quote from: Shit machine gun on Apr 26, 2006, 08:30 AM
  39. The Stone Angel (1964)      Margaret Laurence

i really, really, really hated this book in high school
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Reveen The Impossiblist

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THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« Reply #5 on: Apr 26, 2006, 03:37 PM »
I think almost every female that I knew in highschool has read and done an independent study on this novel. (Stone Angel)

Howie Meeker's Hockey Basics  :lol: the cover has two kids stopping on the ice with their names on their helmets - Butt and Andy!  Now that's Canadiana!

I'm surprise Chomsky didn't make it onto this list... oh well, I had to put down my Black Widow comic book to write this post.
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tan

THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« Reply #6 on: Apr 26, 2006, 08:39 PM »
 :? i actually don't recognize any of them but then again i only read stephen kings and john sauls novels...hehe
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DavidB_Bubbles

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« Reply #7 on: Apr 26, 2006, 10:24 PM »
Wow I loved reading #8. Wild Animals I Have Known and 200 Drawings: Being the Personal Histories of Lobo, Silverspot, Raggylug, Bingo, the Springfield Fox, the Pacing Mustang, Wully and Redruff (1898) when I was a kid.

I used to give my one of my little sisters heck about her reading #11. Anne of Green Gables (1908) ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery  :P  :lol: Hey what are big brothers for ?
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Canuckguy

THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« Reply #8 on: Apr 26, 2006, 11:36 PM »
Surprised no books on Billy Bishop made it but Im glad   51. Fifth Business (1970)      Robertson Davies made it onto the list.
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trailerchick

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« Reply #9 on: Apr 27, 2006, 07:27 PM »
Decent list I thnk they got most of them.....

definately missing is Robert Munsch,whom many parents here will know. "Paperbag Princess" and the tear jerking, "Love you forever" are two of my favorites.

The Bf was happy to see Berton on the list for the "Last Spike"...but he's a train geek so that's no surprise!

And I didn't see Maude Barlow's "Fortress North America" which is to bad....should be required reading for the whole nation.
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melba the disco queen

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THE 100 MOST IMPORTANT CANADIAN BOOKS EVER WRITTEN
« Reply #10 on: Apr 27, 2006, 09:14 PM »
Paperbag Princess, absolutely!! That's a pretty important book in my opinion, it totally reverses stereotypical fairy tale roles without being preachy. Robert Munsch is & always will be one of the most important children's authors not only in Canada, but in the world.

Excellent observation, Trailerchick!
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Seonachan

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« Reply #11 on: Apr 27, 2006, 10:26 PM »
Alistair MacLeod should be on the list.
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J to the R-O-C

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« Reply #12 on: Apr 27, 2006, 10:49 PM »
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shake

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« Reply #13 on: Apr 27, 2006, 11:16 PM »
Quote from: Seonachan on Apr 27, 2006, 10:26 PM
Alistair MacLeod should be on the list.

Yes, but at least Cape Breton was represented author Hugh MacLennan # 21, no great mischief.

"Born in Glace Bay, Nova Scotia, Hugh MacLennan (1907-90) taught at McGill University from 1951 to 1981 and wrote novels and essays that helped define Canadian literature. His novels include Barometer Rising (1941); Two Solitudes Fall On Your Knees
Quote from: J to the R-O-C on Apr 27, 2006, 10:49 PM
i have these but i haven't read them yet

  60. The Last Spike (1972)      Pierre Berton

Yeah I have it as well, but never read it, but I did see the Mini-series, or was that "The National Dream"?  Anyway I have a few Berton books that I'll probably never read.  Good author though from what I understand.


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Seonachan

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« Reply #14 on: Apr 28, 2006, 01:04 AM »
Fall on Your Knees was great. I never read Two Solitudes but I liked Barometer Rising and Each Man's Son.

To complete the list of great Cape Breton authors: D.R. MacDonald, author of a great novel, Cape Breton Road, and an even better collection of short stories, Eyestone.

Oh, and Sheldon Currie's The Glace Bay Miners Museum was a great short story that became a pretty good film, Margaret's Museum, with Helena Bonham Carter.
« Last Edit: Apr 28, 2006, 01:06 AM by Seonachan »
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shake

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« Reply #15 on: Apr 28, 2006, 06:05 AM »
Cool Seonachan.  Of the MacLennan novels the only one I only ever read was Each Man's Son as well.  I did see the movie Margaret's Museum, it was a good one.
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diesel69

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« Reply #16 on: May 03, 2006, 03:00 AM »
What aboot Farley Mowatt????????
"The Dog Who Wouldn't Be"
"Never Cry Wolf"
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