Here I am again, learning more about Canadian writers who are famous up there and virtually unknown down here in the lower 48. And Brian Fawcett is a real find, because this guy can really tell a story! Not surprising, I suppose, given that he's written twenty-some previous books, but THE LAST OF THE LUMBERMEN is, according to the author note, his first novel and "his first foray into fiction since 1993." Apparently Fawcett's favorite forte has been social commentary and the environment, and, while these things show up in LUMBERMEN and form an important part of the story, their inclusion adds much and does nothing to slow the flow of the narrative. Fawcett may have been away from fiction for over twenty years, but he obviously knows his way around the genre, as this is a story that kept me turning pages long past my usual geezer bedtime.

It would probably be easy to pigeonhole this book as a "hockey novel," but it's a lot more than that. Set in the economically depressed lumbering town of Mantua, in central British Columbia, LUMBERMEN's hero, quietly wealthy industrial realtor, forty-something Andy Bathgate, harbors some dark secrets about his past, that is until he learns they're not so secret after all. Because mixed in with the male-bonding stuff of senior hockey league storyline is a dark mix of tragedy and twisted family relationships and secrets - all those undercurrents that make for that compulsive page-turning I mentioned.

I love the way it starts: "Let me tell you the story of my life." This deceptively simple beginning is absolutely perfect. Because it's been an absolutely fascinating life, filled with over twenty lonely years of wandering and avoiding meaningful relationships - which makes Andy's current situation all the more satisfying - and, to my mind, well deserved. And the story comes full circle, to "That's ... the story of my life, as much of it as I know." I loved his story.

And here's an odd thing. I know almost nothing of hockey, yet hockey fills these pages. It is so obviously - via the hockey motif - a Canadian novel, but one that is easily accessible to the non-Canadian, to the non-hockey fan. That's how good Fawcett is at this fiction thing. I learned early on in the story that there is another, real, Andy Bathgate (born in Winnipeg, 1932), who was an NHL star from 1952-1975. Of course any hockey fan would have known this immediately, but me, well ... But, having found this out, I wondered if the fictional Andy's best friend and teammate being named Gord might have been a subtle nod to the great Gordie Howe of Red Wings fame. And then I wondered about other subtle things here, like the fact that Fawcett's Andy Bathgate refused to use modern carbon composite sticks, but was still using wooden hockey sticks, which he custom-altered to his own tastes. Wood, Lumbermen? Of course the "lumbermen" term serves many plot purposes here, not the least of which is the way the once abundant timber resources surrounding Mantua have been viciously clear-cut by an international consortium, resulting in a moribund economy and rampant unemployment. This aspect of the plot brought to mind several of author Jim Harrison's early novels of northern Michigan and its Upper Peninsula where the pine forests were logged off to the brink of extinction. Truth is, I think I like Fawcett's treatment of this matter better than Harrison's, despite the latter's international success as a writer.

Obviously I'm still thinking about THE LAST OF THE LUMBERMEN, and could say more. But I'll just repeat myself. Perfect story-telling. Lots to think about - social issues, environmental, personal family stuff, etc. I loved this book. Now I think I'd like to read Fawcett's memoir, HUMAN HAPPINESS, and maybe another of his called VIRTUAL CLEARCUT, OR, THE WAY THINGS ARE IN MY HOMETOWN. This book? HIGHLY recommended! ( )

It is no secret the hardships that occur in Canadian small towns. Economic downturns, failing relationships, alcohol abuse and general despair have been documented enough on several different fronts that it has become tiresome in reading. But Brian Fawcett has written a novel which shows the emotional aspects of that life in his novel The Last of the Lumbermen and he brilliantly gives the situation a glimmer of hope for its citizens in talking about the well-know camaraderie of the hockey game.

Page 5-6

So why is this the story of my life? Well, first, that dark forest is a place I'm very familiar with. Second? I'm a guy who's seen a lot of plans that didn't work they way they should have. Sometimes it's been ignorant armies and falling trees; things got destroyed and money lost, and sometimes people got hurt or worse. Sometimes I've been on the business end, like now. Not that I'm complaining. It's how life is: a deep, looming thicket, and only temporary clearings.
Then there's hockey, which I've played since I can remember. Hockey has rules and it's played in the light. That makes it very different from life, which has no rules, and which asks you to spend all your energy and heart trying to invent ones that work or trying to elude the stupid ones other people are trying to plant on you. Hockey has been my clearing in the dark forest. It's preserved my sanity again and again, whatever it's done to my body.

The plot deals with middle-aged Andy Bathgate who is living in the small logging town of Mantua, British Columbia. But he fears that life he has in Mantua - a relationship with a good woman, connection with good friends and action on the town's senior hockey team - will all fade away if people find out the truth about him. That he isn't Andy Bathgate, and he is hiding from a checkered past.

my complete review ( )