Battle for the West by Daniel Francis - Book Report #284

Fur Traders and the Birth

of Western Canada

A long time ago the Edmonton Public Library had something called the Heritage Collection.  It was a cache of books (over 10,000 of them) that could only be read in the downtown branch, they could not be borrowed and taken home.

A few years back this policy was relaxed.  This allowed me to enjoy Daniel Francis' 1982 book about the fur trade of early Canada.

I found it to be illuminating, entertaining and filled with facts about the competition between the Hudson's Bay Company and the North West Company.  Funny, how I always imagined the Voyageurs were exclusive to the HBC - how wrong I was.  At least until they merged in 1821.

I found the subject matter completely engrossing and Francis' text crisp and readable as if it was published today.  This says a lot about his writing style and clarity.

Thank you, EPL for lending this book to me.

Daniel Francis' website - https://www.danielfrancis.ca/

Daniel Francis

The Watcher from the Man Descending collection by Guy Vanderhaeghe

I came across Vanderhaeghe's name from reading Roy MacGregor's book.

My awakening of all things Canadian has begun to spin into the fiction I'm reading.  Up until now I have always read some kind of genre story.  My chief frustration with science fiction is the amount of exposition most stories require. There always has to be an explanation of the situation we are in and the rules of this new universe.

With literary fiction there is none of that.  We just need to know when and where the story takes place, we already know the rules of planet Earth.

But I have never read literary fiction.  I have always assumed there is a fundamental lack of plot and why would I want to read about nothing really happening?

But, I decided, if I am going to read Canadian stories, I will have to read literature.

In this first story, Charlie, a boy of eleven years, is sent to spend the summer of 1959 at his grandmother's farm.

Charlie's family is a bit of a mess.  One day his aunt Evelyn arrives with her slick and unlikable boyfriend.  What transpires is a battle of wills between the grandmother and the boyfriend.

I was rather surprised by how raw the story was.  I found myself completely immersed in it with five pages.

This is a rather good start to something new for me.

Guy Vanderhaeghe