The Road Past Altamont
by Gabrielle Roy
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Description
In The Road Past Altamont, Roy daringly returns to the same characters and the nearly identical timespan of Street of Riches, but by looking at her subjects with an entirely fresh vision, she creates a wholly new and deeply personal story of young Christine’s decision to become a writer. This haunting and poignant tale weaves a delicate but substantial network of impressions, emotions, and human relationships.Tags
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Member Reviews
"I have always thought that the human heart is a little like the ocean, subject to tides, that joy rises in it in a steady flow, singing of waves, good fortune, and bliss; but afterward, when the high sea withdraws, it leaves an utter desolation in our sight. So it was with me that day."
Written in French by Gabrielle Roy and translated by Joyce Marshall, The Road Past Altamont captures a sweet young girl’s thoughts and feelings perfectly. I also enjoyed Roy’s descriptions of the vastness of the Manitoba prairie.
The book is really four interconnected stories more than a novel. The first story, “My Almighty Grandmother,” tells of Christine’s love and awe of her matriarch. The second story, “The Old Man and the Child,” is show more about Christine’s relationship with an elderly neighbor and their visit to Lake Winnipeg. This one was my favorite as I found so much sweetness in the pair’s friendship. In “The Move,” Christine discovers that not everyone lives as she does, and in “The Road Past Altamont,” an adult Christine deals with her mother’s increasing age and unrealized dreams.
I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy Willa Cather or L.M. Montgomery. I would definitely read another book by Gabrielle Roy.
1966, 146 pp. show less
Written in French by Gabrielle Roy and translated by Joyce Marshall, The Road Past Altamont captures a sweet young girl’s thoughts and feelings perfectly. I also enjoyed Roy’s descriptions of the vastness of the Manitoba prairie.
The book is really four interconnected stories more than a novel. The first story, “My Almighty Grandmother,” tells of Christine’s love and awe of her matriarch. The second story, “The Old Man and the Child,” is show more about Christine’s relationship with an elderly neighbor and their visit to Lake Winnipeg. This one was my favorite as I found so much sweetness in the pair’s friendship. In “The Move,” Christine discovers that not everyone lives as she does, and in “The Road Past Altamont,” an adult Christine deals with her mother’s increasing age and unrealized dreams.
I highly recommend this book to readers who enjoy Willa Cather or L.M. Montgomery. I would definitely read another book by Gabrielle Roy.
1966, 146 pp. show less
Four connected stories that take Christine from her young childhood to maturity. I couldn't help but think that they must have been at least somewhat semi-biographical, reflecting the author's youth in French settlements in Manitoba, Canada.
I was enthralled by Roy's gentle storytelling.
Translated from French.
I was enthralled by Roy's gentle storytelling.
Translated from French.
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New Canadian Library
191 works; 7 members
Best Books set in Manitoba
85 works; 2 members
Author Information
33+ Works 2,053 Members
Gabrielle Roy was born on March 22, 1909 in St. Boniface, Manitoba, Canada. She attended the Winnipeg Normal Institute, where she earned top honors in both her English and French classes. After she completed her schooling, she spent a month teaching in the summer before accepting a job at a school for a year. In 1930, after that first year of show more teaching, she was offered a permanent position in St. Boniface. Roy decided that she wanted to go to Europe for a year with the meagre savings she had managed to accumulate throughout her seven years teaching in St. Boniface. When asked, she would tell people that she was going to France and England to study Drama. She had been a member of a drama troupe, Le Cercle Molière, throughout her teaching years. Once there, she took a teaching post in the summer of 1937 to gain enough to survive in Europe. She had planned to only stay a year, but that turned into two, and would have been longer if not for the outbreak of World War II. It was here that Roy began to write, and published a few articles in a French journal. Roy returned to Canada and made her home in Montreal where for six years she earned a living as a freelance reporter. Her first novel, Bonheur d'Occasion started out as a newspaper article and turned into a novel over 800 pages long. It was published in 1945. In 1947, she won the Prix Fémina from France for Bonheur d'Occasion, and the Governor General's award for the English translation, The Tin Flute. She returned to France, to the place that had originally inspired her writing and in 1950 published La Petite Poule d'Eau (Where Nests the Water Hen), after her return to Canada. 1957 also brought Roy her second Governor General's award, this time for the English translation of Rue Deschambault (Street of Riches), a novel she published in 1955. For the next several years, Roy received many awards as well as critical success, but it was not until 1978 that she won her third and final Governor General's award for Ces Enfants de Ma Vie (Children of My Heart). This was her final novel, although a compilation of some of her work as a journalist, and several children's books followed this last book. Roy's autobiography La Détresse et l'Enchantement (Enchantment and Sorrow) was not published until 1984, a year after her death. Gabrielle Roy died on July 13, 1983 of heart failure. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Series
Belongs to Publisher Series
New Canadian Library (129)
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- La route d'Altamont, roman
- Original publication date
- 1966
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Statistics
- Members
- 124
- Popularity
- 263,743
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (4.24)
- Languages
- English, French, German, Spanish
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 15
- ASINs
- 6
