Michel Tremblay (1) (1942–)

Je trouve toujours intéressant les lectures plus métacritiques, dans lesquelles un.e écrivain.e revient sur ses influences. J’ai beaucoup aimé chacun des récits, pétris de l’amour de Tremblay pour sa famille et pour la littérature. On renoue avec plaisir avec les personnages tirés de la mémoire de l’auteur et immortalisés dans ses Chroniques du Plateau Mont-Royal. J’ai été particulièrement touchée par les regrets de Tremblay qui aurait voulu gâter sa mère et lui show more montrer qu’il est devenu écrivain, par la censure homophobe à laquelle il est confronté au sanctuaire de la bibliothèque, par sa résilience, sa dignité, son authenticité, son désir de s’affirmer malgré les obstacles. Un livre qui s’est « lu tout seul » en l’espace de deux jours ! show less

this is an interesting look at an odd group of neighbours in Montreal, during WWII. Tremblay is very astute - his poignant and powerful commentary on social, gender, religious and political issues has moments that hit quite deeply. the story offers POVs from several different characters and i enjoyed this (what a cast of eccentrics tremblay has created!), but i did lament not getting to know a couple of characters - who were standouts for me - a bit better. i felt the summaries at the end show more were a bit too rushed, puling certain lives into focus for us from beyond the end of the book. at certain points during the read, i felt a couple of characters were worthy of their own novels, rather than being a small part of this work. perhaps characters will further develop as the series goes on? as i have gone on about before when i have encountered her, Sheila Fischman is an awesome translator. show less

The story covers the lives of various residents of la rue Mont-Royal over the course of one day - the second day of May in 1942. An interesting neighborhood that includes 7 pregnant women, one of them the 'fat woman' in her 40's that is, shockingly for the social norms of the time period, bearing a child for love. The story doesn't have a main character, it tends to oscillate between the various pregnant women, the neighborhood aging matriarch Victoire, the three generations that live with show more her, the fates residing in the seemingly vacant house next door, the local shopkeeper and two women of a certain calling. The novel is written as a stream of consciousness with no paragraph breaks, only section breaks, to indicate when the novel shifts character perspective and reminded me immediately of Viginia Woolf's Mrs. Dalloway in structure and format.

I loved this story, the characters and the mixing of magical realism, historical fiction, divine comedy and interpersonal reflection that Tremblay presents in vivid detail. I cannot write a review that will do this great story justice. I am not even going to try. The novel transported me to a place and time that made me smile and empathize with the characters - male, female, young, old. Even the cat Duplessis and the mystical fates Rose, Mauve, Violet and Florence with their continual knitting and observation of the goings on around them were a treat to experience.

I ended the story with a long sigh mulling over the strength and importance of family, both biological and community.

Love, love, love this one and recommend it as a great story worth reading. show less

I've lived in Montreal, Québec most of my life, but somehow I managed to read my very first Michel Tremblay this month (even though most kids read this author in high school), this was Ç'ta ton tour, Laura Cadieux. I really loved this novella about a woman from Montreal in the late 60s who has been spending the last decade or more looking forward to her biweekly sessions in her gynaecologist's waiting room where she's been going for weekly injections to help her shed weight. Most of the show more novel describes the conversations and dynamics of the women who regularly meet in this waiting room, the French Canadian 'regulars' being at war with some newcomers (such as nuns and Greek immigrants), and this a fascinating exploration of a woman's word, at which Tremblay is apparently a specialist. Written in 'joual', which is a local dialect spoken mostly by the uneducated 'masses' was a bit trying at first, but I soon was able to tap into the tone of the thing, since it's the language often heard in the street, and had a thought for translators around the world, who must have done an amazing job at translating Temblay's work into other languages, for the universal appeal of his stories and characters to shine through. Looking forward to reading his famous play Les Belles Soeurs next. show less