Hugh MacLennan (1907–1990)

3.25 stars

It’s 1917 in Halifax, Nova Scotia. Penny (a woman working at the shipyard – very unusual for the time)’s love (and cousin) has been at war and he’s missing. They all think he’s dead. So, when Angus (much older than Penny) asks her to marry him, she accepts. Only days later, the Halifax Harbour goes up in an explosion.

The book only follows just over one week. It took longer than I liked to get to the explosion. Leading up to it wasn’t nearly as interesting as the explosion itself and the aftermath, but not long after, it concluded mostly with their regular lives again. If there had been more focus on the disaster, I would have enjoyed it more, I’m sure. There was an afterword by another “classic” Canadian author, Alistair Macleod – one of those that analyzes the book; one of the ones that should never be an introduction but often is (because it gives away the story)! Luckily, it was an afterword.… (more)

This collection didn’t grab me the same way Cross Country did — the essays on the English culture felt somewhat pointless to this 21st-century reader. I would have liked more of the ones he wrote about Canada: the one about Diefenbaker was especially interesting, and I liked his descriptions of the weather in the Eastern Townships.

All of the essays in this collection were well written, but sometimes I couldn’t tell MacLennan’s actual position on an issue; was he talking about these things because he liked them or because he didn’t? Maybe I just wasn’t paying enough attention. This is probably one of those books that works better as a bedside book than something read on the bus in 20-minute spurts.… (more)