Brother

The subject of this book is one that will make you want to shout in anger, and this short gem of a book makes that anger deeper and more resonant because the narrator, younger brother Michael, tells it with such quiet power. The same goes for the writing, structure and characters. Chariandy also gives wonderful descriptions of DJ Jelly's mixes - I wish there was a soundtrack to this novel. Here's an example:

It began, surprisingly, with voice. Once before, in Desirea's, Jelly had played from a cassette tape something that had stumped even the Professa. It was in a language I didn't recognize, and when it was over Francis said it was balwo, a style of singing from Somalia, and usually about love. And now Jelly played it again, letting the show more words ring in the empty air for almost ten seconds before he went to work. A drum and bass line was added, and then, seamlesly, relentlessly, other music was layered in. Soul, rocksteady, even calypso and Congolese rhumba. Francis was passing and grabbing records when needed. I hear artists that the Professa had already named for me: Gladys Knight, Smokey Robinson, Etta James. I heard tabla and the silly of disco. I heard a guitar lick from Hendrix. A blues riff sped up into a digital future. He overlaid voices on top of one another, messed with time, and made a man sound like a woman and a woman like a man, the truer feeling and meaning of a song suddenly emerging through the work of his hands. show less

A special thank you to NetGalley, Penguin Random House Canada, and McClelland & Stewart for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This gorgeous and powerful novel is the winner of the Rogers Writers' Trust Fiction Prize, longlisted for the 2017 Scotiabank Giller Prize, a Globe and Mail Best Book, and a Quill & Quire Best Book of 2017.

Brother is a tight and compact novel that packs a huge punch. Chariandy explores questions of race, class, family, identity, and social standing. Set in a Scarborough housing complex during the summer of 1991, violence is at a peak as is the heat.

Michael and Francis, the brothers, are the sons of Trinidadian immigrants. Their father has disappeared and to keep them afloat, their mother works show more double/triple shifts so that her boys have every opportunity in their adopted homeland.

This coming-of-age story takes place in The Park—a cluster of town homes in the outskirts of one of Canada's major cities. The boys' options are limited as they battle against stereotypes, prejudices, poverty, and the low expectations that confront young black men; they are perceived as thieves from shopkeepers, less intelligent from their teachers, and strangers fear them. The brothers' only escape is the Rouge Valley, a lush green wilderness that perforates their neighbourhood, and it is here where they imagine a better life from what they are destined for.

The boys witness a tragic shooting of an acquaintance, a boy named Anton, and they are handcuffed and roughed up by the police. The police crack down on hem, and in doing so, suffocate their hopes and dreams of a better life. It is this event that drives Francis' anger and pulls away from his family and into his gang—a group of boys who are interested the exploration of music in the form of hip hop in its infancy.

Chariandy's novel is a devastatingly emotional piece. It opens ten years after the event that altered their family and left their mother constrained by grief. The family still live in the same rundown apartment although the roles are now reversed and it is Michael who is the caregiver to his mother in her fragile state. The narrative shifts between past and present and it is the sheer force of it that drives the story. Short in length, but lasting, this story will linger with the reader long after the last page is turned. show less

In Brother, his second novel, David Chariandy describes the complex relationship of two brothers, Francis and Michael, sons of a Trinidadian mother who immigrated to Canada with hopes of becoming a nurse but who instead wore herself out with years of menial labour as she raised her boys on her own and tried to keep food on the table. The book is narrated by younger son Michael. Years after Francis’ death, the visit to the old neighbourhood of childhood friend Aisha has triggered Michael’s recollections of growing up in a crumbling and dangerous Toronto public housing complex. Michael, who has come of age on streets filled with criminal activity, drugs and gang violence, characterizes himself as artistically inclined and somewhat show more naïve. In his recollections, Francis, who as a teen aspired to a career in music, exudes confidence and mingles easily with the street crowd. Michael though is awkward and unsure of himself. The brothers grow up frequently unattended because their mother is working two or three jobs, and Francis assumes the role of his younger brother’s protector and defender, taking pains to shield Michael from both the coarser realities as well as the allure of the street culture in which they are immersed. Francis is initially tender and protective toward his mother, though he later grows distant and secretive. He is also quick to anger and doesn’t hesitate to use his fists, especially when drunk or high, and it is this volatility that gets him into trouble. At the time of Aisha’s visit, Michael, now in his twenties, still lives with his mother, who has never stopped mourning her elder son, though now their roles are reversed, and it is Michael doing the watching and protecting and worrying. Michael’s story of his brother’s short life builds to a violent and tragic climax, and along the way draws a portrait of a vital and self-sufficient community populated by immigrants that is neglected by and culturally isolated from the society that promised to welcome them with open arms, and which is often the target of police suspicion and harassment. Though Francis’ fate is inevitable, Chariandy builds suspense in expert fashion while telling an essential story of young people whose dreams and hopes for the future clash with social structures that seem designed to keep them firmly in their place. show less

This is a remarkable little book! So much is said in so few words! It takes a special talent to be a minimalist writer and still get so much covered and said. This is a coming of age book about two brothers whose parents were Trinidadian immigrants to Canada. Francis and Michael are only a year apart, but Francis has always taken care of his little brother. Their father had left them when the boys were really young and their mother worked long hours trying to provide for them. The book takes place in Scarborough, Ontario in a mostly immigrant neighbourhood in the summer of 1991. Their mother has big plans for her boys having a chance at a good life, and works long hours to provide for them. But the influences of the gangs and criminals show more in and around their neighbourhood keep creeping into the boys' realm. Francis is drawn further and further into the gang life, until a tragedy occurs that rips Michael and his mom's world apart. With brilliant and spellbinding prose, Chariarty outlines this coming-of-age story about a young boy growing up in a hardscrabble and dangerous neighbourhood, and how the violence that exists outside the door, escalates and ends up breaking through and ripping the lives of families apart. I am totally in awe of the skill of this writer with this his first book, and so proud that he is another Canadian rising star in the writing world.. show less

Michael und Francis wachsen mit ihrer Mutter in einem heruntergekommenen Stadtteil von Toronto auf. Den Vater haben die Brüder quasi nicht kennengelernt und die Heimat der Eltern auf einer der West Indies ist ihnen ebenfalls fremd. Dafür kennen sie jede Ecke von Scarborough – auch Scarbistan, Scarbirien oder Scarlem genannt wegen der bunt zusammengewürfelten Bewohner aus aller Herren Länder. Die Mutter bemüht sich, arbeitet als Putzfrau gleich in mehreren Jobs, um ihre zwei Söhne ordentlich großzuziehen. Zehn Jahre sind vergangen seit jenem unheilvollen Tag und plötzlich meldet sich Aisha wieder, die Michael seither nicht mehr gesehen hat. Er bittet sie zu kommen, damit sie über das reden können, worüber sie so lange show more geschwiegen haben. Der Besuch seiner ersten Liebe führt ihn gedanklich zurück in jene Zeit, als plötzlich alles kippte und aus seinem fürsorglichen großen Bruder ein wütender junger Mann wurde.

David Chariandy unterrichtet Literatur an der Simon Fraser University, auch als Autor ist er in seiner Heimat bekannt und wurde mit zahlreichen Preisen geehrt, auch sein Roman „Francis“ wurde mehrfach ausgezeichnet. Im Zentrum der Handlung steht das Aufwachsen in finanziell und sozial prekärem Umfeld gepaart mit Erfahrung von Rassismus. Es ist ein Umfeld, das literarisch nicht unbekannt ist, für europäische Leser man jedoch ausgerechnet Toronto, Kanada, unerwartet sein. Ein Land, das üblicherweise als Musterland für Immigration und das friedliche Zusammenleben unterschiedlicher Kulturen bei relativ hohem Lebensstandard gilt, ist für ein solches Setting nicht gerade typisch. Der Autor öffnet mit seinem Roman damit eine bislang verschlossene Tür.

„(...) je erwachsener Francis wurde, desto unzufriedener wurde er mit der Welt und dem ihm zugedachten Platz.“

Michael und Francis trennt gerade einmal ein Jahr und so wachsen sie zusammen auf. Obwohl kaum älter übernimmt Francis die Rolle des Beschützers, nicht nur die wenigen Monate Altersvorsprung, sondern vor allem sein untrügliches Gespür für Emotionen und eine brenzlige Atmosphäre schützen die beiden Jungs vor ernstzunehmenden Schwierigkeiten. Früh schon machen sie Bekanntschaft mit der Polizei, kommen jedoch unbeschadet aus den Konfrontationen heraus. In der Schule haben sie Chancen, die sie jedoch nicht nutzen und so rinnt ihnen die Zukunft, die vielleicht ein Entkommen ermöglicht hätte, durch die Finger.

Francis erkennt schneller als Michael, dass die Welt ihm nichts zu bieten hat und entwickelt eine Wut, die immer weniger kontrollierbar wird. Es beginnt eine Spirale, die sich unweigerlich dreht und in eine Richtung bewegt. Man ahnt, wie es ausgehen muss, dass es nur eine Frage der Zeit ist, bis es zur Eskalation kommt.

Die Handlung springt zwischen der Gegenwart und der Jugend der Protagonisten in den 80er Jahren. Die Elterngeneration hat mit der Emigration zwar nicht die Hoffnung auf eine bessere Zukunft, jedoch ihre eigenen Berufschancen aufgegeben. Für ihre Kinder arbeiten sie hart und kommen doch nicht weit. Obwohl die Mutter erschöpft und verzweifelt ist, kümmert sie sich engagiert und liebevoll um ihre Kinder, erzieht sie, versucht ihnen mitzugeben, was sie im Leben brauchen. Von außen wird sie jedoch wahrgenommen als alleinerziehende Mutter, die es zu nicht mehr als Putzfrau gebracht hat und irgendwann den Lebensmut verliert, dement und wohl auch alkoholabhängig wird.

Ein dichter Roman, der trotz der Kürze die Dramatik gleich zweier Generationen ausbreitet und verschiedene Facetten von Leid und Enttäuschung sprachlich unaufdringlich, aber pointiert ins Licht rückt. Eine für mich bis dato weitgehend unbekannte Seite des diesjährigen Gastlandes der Frankfurter Buchmesse, das offenkundig noch einige Überraschungen bereithält. show less

David Chariandy's first novel Soucouyant, 'was nominated for nearly every major literary prize in Canada and published internationally.' His second novel, Brother is recently released and it too is racking up accolades.

Brother is the first reading of this author for me - and I was blown away....

1991 Scarborough, Ontario. Michael and Francis are the children of Trinidadian immigrants, living with their mother in a housing complex in this urban center. Their mother dreams of more and better for her sons and works tirelessly to ensure this happens. The boys also imagine their futures. Francis in the music industry and Michael dreams of a life with Aisha, far from the concrete walls of 'The Park'.

But in 1991 Scarborough, racial tensions are show more running high, violence is becoming part of everyday life, police presence is heavy and prejudices are rampant. Those hopes and dreams of the three members of this family are changed forever by the violence of that year.

Brother is told in a back and forth timeline spanning ten years. In the present we learn about the past as the book progresses.

Brother is a slim novel, but it took me a while to read it. I had to put the book down numerous times - to absorb and avoid the inevitability of what was coming next - even though I knew what that was. The story is real - and raw. Chariandy's prose are absolutely beautiful, drawing you in and wrapping themselves around you. I cried more than once as I read.

As a mother, that is where I felt that punch the hardest - her hopes, dreams and desires for her children. And the undercurrent of the loss of her own wants and desires. Her perseverance, fortitude and strength resonated with me - even as it eroded and collided with ugly reality. I'm sickened by the indignities, attitudes and prejudices depicted. Even more so as I know they are not fiction. But those moments are juxtaposed and tempered by the acts of love, joy and happiness that also part of the life of this family.

Brother speaks to the immigrant experience, to family, love, loss, hope, duty and desires. And the fact that the past is still the present. Absolutely, positively recommended reading. show less

Thank you to the publisher and Goodreads for a free copy of Brother!

Holy shit, you guys. This is an incredible look at racism, police brutality, masculinity, and music. Shifting between the 1990s and present-day Scarborough, the book is timely and powerful. And it is beautifully written -- short, but every word packs a punch, and it's the sort of thing you want to read slowly and reread.

And I would say more, but honestly, don't waste your time reading my review. Go and start Brother.