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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. I recommend this book: I really enjoyed this book. We studied it in school this year and at first I found it a bit slow but after a few pages I started to really get into it. It was easy to identify with the main character Vanessa and I really liked the way the rest of the characters were described, especially the grandfather. Here's a little example; "Well, Peter, you've brought the wood." It was his habit to begin conversations with a statement of the obvious, so that nothing except agreement was possible." I like this because it sums up the grandfather' character in two sentences, even though it's being developped throughout the entire novel. I can't really explain exactly why I enjoyed this book so much, I guess it's because of the subtle humor and the emotion involved. The sad parts are quite moving, and that's difficult to do without making the whole book depressing.   iayork | Aug 9, 2009 |  Vanessa was interesting, each of the stories was moving, and the book as a whole was remarkable. Full review: http://www.canadianauthors.net/l/laur... (  ) ripleyy | Jun 30, 2008 | A series of related stories that combined together equal a novel take place in 1930's Canada. They are told from the point of view of 6 year old Vanessa who describes herself as a "professional listener". She narrates the lives of her parents, aunts, uncles & grandparents during the years of the Great Depression leading up to WW2. Ther is little sentiment here, only the facts of day-to-day lives & the cumulative effect of what we are told can break the heart. (  )1  MarianV | Aug 5, 2007 |  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0226469344, Paperback)A Bird in the House is a series of eight interconnected short stories narrated by Vanessa MacLeod as she matures from a child at age ten into a young woman at age twenty. Wise for her years, Vanessa reveals much about the adult world in which she lives. "Vanessa rebels against the dominance of age; she watches [her grandfather] imitate her aunt Edna; and her rage at times is such that she would gladly kick him. It takes great skill to keep this story within the expanding horizon of this young girl and yet make it so revealing of the adult world."—Atlantic "A Bird in the House achieves the breadth of scope which we usually associate with the novel (and thereby is as psychologically valid as a good novel), and at the same time uses the techniques of the short story form to reveal the different aspects of the young Vanessa." —Kent Thompson, The Fiddlehead "I am haunted by the women in Laurence's novels as if they really were alive—and not as women I've known, but as women I've been."—Joan Larkin, Ms. Magazine "Not since . . . To Kill a Mockingbird has there been a novel like this. It should not be missed by anyone who has a child or was a child."—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette One of Canada's most accomplished writers, Margaret Laurence (1926-87) was the recipient of many awards including Canada's prestigious Governor General's Literary Award on two separate occasions, once for The Diviners. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:10 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
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