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Loading... The Beggar's Garden (2011)by Michael Christie
   None No current Talk conversations about this book.   cait815 | Apr 1, 2013 |  Told from various points of view – the grandfather who leaves food and clothing in dumpsters that he knows his drug-addicted grandson dives, an addict who has just spent his entire welfare cheque on a giant dope trip, a woman who runs a second-hand store, and so on – the stories all intrigued me. Short story collections always seem to have a few weaker pieces. I didn’t think this had any. Read this if: you’re interested in knowing just how close any one of us is to being on the street; or you’d like some insight into the people in a Canadian city’s slum. 4 stars (  ) ParadisePorch | Dec 7, 2012 | Read my full review: http://www.monniblog.com/2011/02/the-beggars-garden-by-michael-christie/" ( ) monnibo | Nov 9, 2012 | What's equally impressive is that Christie writes about them without it feeling exploitative. He looks deeply into their lives, their thoughts and their hearts, but there's no sense of voyeurism, just as the is no moralizing. The sympathy he creates is entirely due to his talent at making us see his characters as humans no so unlike us, broken, fragile, floundering, perhaps, but still us and not some judgment-inducing "them". The writing is clean and precise, and creates the perfect tone -- neither too stark, nor too romantic. I recommend this book. I would be surprised if you don't find some aspect of yourself within its pages. ( )1  Laurenbdavis | Aug 19, 2012 | It’s at the heart of this debut collection: that which has been left behind, tossed out, put in the trash, given away, or dismissed as no longer useful/valuable/functional. (Literally “at the heart”, for the author clearly feels a strong emotional connection with the discarded.) People or objects that have been cast aside: these are the flora and fauna of The Beggar’s Garden. Don’t let that put you off, however: these stories are not bleak and sorrow-filled stories of the disenfranchised. Indeed, there are plenty of humourous moments in these tales. (I have lot more to say about this collection here, if you're interested. It will have a wide appeal, even for those who normally prefer novels to stories.) ( ) buriedinprint | Nov 26, 2011 |
 The gravity of these words echoes throughout the eight other stories in Christie’s first book, The Beggar’s Garden, a skillfully composed collection of short fiction illustrating the gritty textures of life in places like Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside and Coquitlam’s Riverview Hospital. The narratives showcase lonely characters who scour for connection while struggling with drugs, mental illness, or regret; their encounters with charity are often tainted by a need for redemption or distraction, either their own or someone else’s....This volume’s transcendent tales speak of yearning, remorse, and renewal, and their grimness is offset by apposite bolts of black humour...His assured prose compassionately describes these characters’ internal orbits and discloses the personal histories that rustle through back alleys and hide beneath the ragged façades we pass on the street It is to his credit that Christie never demonizes his characters, nor does he reduce them to a series of tics or pat psychology. The people in these stories are complex individuals, fully capable of surprising the reader by acting in ways that are unexpected, yet wholly appropriate....In Christie’s hands, the Downtown Eastside becomes every bit as thriving and alive as Richler’s St. Urbain Street or Michel Tremblay’s Plateau-Mont-Royal. The Beggar’s Garden takes the pulse of history by unsentimentally dramatizing the way a certain segment of society lives now, and in so doing stands as a sympathetic and compassionate examination of modern urban loneliness and disaffection. Michael Christie’s debut collection of nine linked stories is dazzling. Drawing on his experience working in a homeless shelter in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside, Christie explores the intense humanity of people living on the margins of society. His characters include addicts, homeless people, hospital patients, and those who interact with the city’s outcasts....Christie manages to create sympathy for his characters, no matter how damaged or drug-addled....Employing straightforward, disarming prose, Christie gives voice to the disaffected and unwanted figures in our society, forcing readers to pay attention to a class of humans they would most often ignore AwardsNotable Lists
Longlisted for the 2011 Scotiabank Giller Prize Critically lauded, The Beggar's Garden is a brilliantly surefooted, strikingly original collection of nine linked short stories that will delight as well as disturb. The stories follow a diverse group of curiously interrelated characters, from bank manager to crackhead to retired Samaritan to web designer to car thief, as they drift through each other's lives in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. These engrossing stories, free of moral judgment, are about people who are searching in the jagged margins of life--for homes, drugs, love, forgiveness--and collectively they offer a generous and vivid portrait of humanity, not just in Vancouver but in any modern urban centre. The Beggar's Garden is a powerful and affecting debut. Its individual stories have been anthologized in The Journey Prize Stories and have been nominated for major awards, including a National Magazine Award for fiction. The collection has been longlisted for the Frank O'Connor International Short Story Award. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.09)
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