Spring Tides

In the beginning he was alone on the island.

Thus begins a short novel loosely based on Genesis. We never learn our Adam's name, but he says his codename is Teddy Bear, short for TDB or Traducteur de Bandes Dessinees (translator of comic strips). He is working in a newspaper office doing translations when a new boss drops in and wants to know what would make Teddy Bear happy. "Would you have a desert island by any chance", he asks. As it happens, the boss does and transports him to Ile Madame.

Teddy Bear seems content on the island as caretaker of the two empty houses and the small grounds. He has his cat, whose name is a play on Methusaleh, and an automatic tennis ball machine, named Prince. But the boss, who visits weekly via show more helicopter, is unconvinced. So he brings a young woman to live on the island with Teddy Bear, and then slowly a few others, as the Boss tries to create a happy society.

This is my second book by Jacques Poulin; the first being the wonderfully poetic short novel, Translation is a Love Affair. Spring Tides shares some themes with Translation, namely the translator's strive for perfection and the relationships between small groups of people. For me, the difference is that Spring Tides has more complexity and Translation more poetry. Spring Tides challenges the readers with fun allusions and word plays, and was well worth the second reading I felt it deserved. Warmly recommended, and I shall continue looking for books by Jacques Poulin. show less

This is my second book by Poulin from the boutique press Archipelago Books and, like everything I've received from them, a joy to hold. Poulin's story was also a joy to read, with a writing style that is extremely simple, yet full of strong visual moments and an atmosphere that left me with seemingly conflicting feelings of contentment and loss.

It's a short book, maybe 100 pages in a standard format, and tells us the story of Teddy, a translator living a solitary life on an island owned by his employer. The latter's only goal is to make people happy and, unable to perceive Teddy's contentment, he gradually adds more people to the island, each to "fix" a flaw he sees in the growing community. At first, the reader finds each new show more inhabitant humorous, the center of a comic scene or two. Gradually, however, it becomes apparent that, for each moment of humor added, a tiny something is lost. By the end, the peace and contentment that filled the early book...suddenly doesn't.

The allegory that is present but never heavy-handed turns this little story in a modern fable, one I enjoyed a lot. show less

Teddy Bear is a translator of comic books for a newspaper. One day the boss asks TB what he would need to be happy. TB says he'd like to be alone on an island. Luckily the boss has an island and transports TB there to work in peace. TB is happy on the island with his numerous dictionaries and translation guides and the company of a feral cat he has managed to befriend. The boss becomes worried that TB is lonely. One day a young woman, Marie, and her cat are helicoptered onto the island (by the boss). Marie is just looking for a place in read in peace. The two introverts each live in one of the two inhabitable structures on the island. They are able to get their work and reading done without interruption and eat dinner together nightly. show more But the boss is still worried. He continues to bring people to the island: his wife,a professor, a comic book scholar, an author, an ordinary man and an organizer. The island becomes crowded and chaotic. TB gets no work done. But it doesn't matter because the last people sent to the island are there to inform TB of something that the boss has been unable to tell him. The comics that TB has translated have never been, and will never be, published in the newspaper. Since TB no longer has a job or a reason to be on the island, the others force him to swim away.
I always enjoy reading Poulin. This one left me going "what the...?" by the end. Highly recommended, although not nearly as good as Translation is a Love Affair. show less

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