Jacques Poulin

I liked that a cat accompanied Jack and La Grande Sauterelle on their journey across North America, and I liked that the Indigenous narrative was brought to the fore to challenge the traditional colonial narrative. It has a sort of hipster vibe that might appeal to fans of Kerouac, but you do not by any means need to know or like him to find this book interesting.

I read the English translation by Sheila Fischman; normally I don't read French books in translation, but for Sheila Fischman I make an exception.

The English translation was a Canada Reads finalist in 2005, so I was surprised to learn that this book was first published in the mid-1980s! The Canada Reads thing threw off my sense of timing.… (more)

In the beginning he was alone on the island.

Thus begins a short novel loosely based on Genesis. We never learn our Adam's name, but he says his codename is Teddy Bear, short for TDB or Traducteur de Bandes Dessinees (translator of comic strips). He is working in a newspaper office doing translations when a new boss drops in and wants to know what would make Teddy Bear happy. "Would you have a desert island by any chance", he asks. As it happens, the boss does and transports him to Ile Madame.

Teddy Bear seems content on the island as caretaker of the two empty houses and the small grounds. He has his cat, whose name is a play on Methusaleh, and an automatic tennis ball machine, named Prince. But the boss, who visits weekly via helicopter, is unconvinced. So he brings a young woman to live on the island with Teddy Bear, and then slowly a few others, as the Boss tries to create a happy society.

This is my second book by Jacques Poulin; the first being the wonderfully poetic short novel, Translation is a Love Affair. Spring Tides shares some themes with Translation, namely the translator's strive for perfection and the relationships between small groups of people. For me, the difference is that Spring Tides has more complexity and Translation more poetry. Spring Tides challenges the readers with fun allusions and word plays, and was well worth the second reading I felt it deserved. Warmly recommended, and I shall continue looking for books by Jacques Poulin.… (more)

In this Quebecois novel, originally published in French in 1993 and recently reissued in English by Steerforth Press, an unnamed middle-aged man known only as “the Driver” travels in a bookmobile for the provincial Ministry of Culture. He has followed the same route every year through the remote villages along the St. Lawrence River’s “North Shore,” distributing books to the networks of readers that have been established there over time. This summer is to be different. Feeling the approach of old age, the Driver knows he hasn’t the psychological fortitude to cope with the inevitable decline of his body. This will be his last trip. The reader learns that he has brought with him a long flexible hose, which can reach from the back of his vehicle to the driver’s side window.

Before he is to leave Quebec City, he is drawn to the performance of a troupe of musicians, jugglers, and entertainers who have come from France to present at the annual summer festival held near the Chateau Frontenac, an iconic hotel overlooking the majestic St. Lawrence River. He meets Marie, a beautiful woman around his age. She’s the manager for the troupe and a kind of director, who always sits or stands in the front row where she can subtly signal the entrances and exits of the performers. The Driver and Marie have an immediate, almost spiritual connection. Marie has a boyfriend, Slim —an acrobat, tightrope walker, and juggler—but there are suggestions that things may be changing between the two of them.

Before returning to France the members of the troupe want to travel, see something of Quebec and perhaps a little of the States, too. They decide to buy an old bus, outfit it for their needs, and accompany the Driver on his route. Once they get going, Marie often travels in the bookmobile alongside her new friend. They have gentle talks about books and life. When not with Marie, the Driver attends to his book networks, collecting the volumes that were selected, read, and passed from one reader to the next in the chains of bibliophiles, and assisting people with their selection of new books for the months ahead. The Driver has read every book he carries, and he knows his readers well. One of the pleasures of Autumn Rounds was encountering names of writers and books I’d never before heard of. Unfortunately, many of the works of Quebecois writers, if they even make it to English-speaking Canada, are not widely known.

This is a delicate, intimate, and gentle novel about books, their ability to connect people, and the mysterious gifts of love and friendship we may be given when we least expect them. It’s lovely.… (more)