We had a fun time on our bike trip along British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast and Vancouver Island, which ended on Sunday. We had only one day of rain, and enjoyed smooth roads, good company and pretty scenery. If you ever get a chance, bike touring is a great way to see parts of the world. I think I’ve taken at least one multi-day bike adventure each year for the past 15 years now, and it’s always been illuminating and invigorating in some way or another.
I highly recommend it, and you don’t have to be a bike pro to enjoy it either. I am no pro, just a bike riding enthusiast.
On the trip, I finished Kathleen Winter’s 2010 novel “Annabel,” which was discussed at my book club on Tuesday night. It’s another of those excellent reads that I likely wouldn’t have picked on my own. Chalk it up again to a good book club to broaden one’s book horizons. It definitely gets you out of your usual book-selection mold.
“Annabel’s” about an intersex child (born with both male and female genitalia, which is very rare) in 1968 in a small town in remote coastal Labrador. The child’s parents play traditional roles in the town’s hunting culture; the father is a trapper who spends months away in the wilderness and the mother works around the house. The father decides the baby, who undergoes surgery, will be raised as a boy (Wayne), though the mother secretly wishes the child were a daughter (Annabel). The parents don’t tell the child he was born intersex until something happens much later. Eventually Wayne moves away and stops taking his masculinity medications and begins to accept himself as he is.
It’s a novel that explores gender issues and empathizes with seeing beyond male/female-ness to the humanness of a person. It’s a character study into Wayne, his parents, a trusted neighbor, and the culture into how they view and cope with his intersex situation. I was convinced by the realness of the story and the feel of the town in Labrador. His parents surely have their troubles over his ambiguous circumstances but seem to evolve about it with time. I felt for Wayne and just thought he would’ve acted out more sometimes against the circumstances. He seems so calm in the face of the inner and outer turmoil when at times I felt like it might have been good to scream or throw something off a cliff or fight back against a bully.
It’s a very well-written book though and I felt like I was right there in the characters’ shoes so to speak, as they all go through a transformation of sorts. No wonder it was on the short list for both the Orange and Giller prizes. I definitely will look for the author’s next book once it comes out.
Meanwhile, I’ve picked up “The Railway Man” by Eric Lomax about his life during World War II when he was captured by the Japanese Army and forced to work on the Burma-Siam railway. Lomax died in 2012, but his story is now out as a movie with Colin Firth and Nicole Kidman. I plan to see it once I finish the book.
What about you — have you heard or read either of these books? Or what are you keen on reading these days?
Annabel sounds terrific – I wish my book club would discuss books like that.
Yeah Kathy. I think it’s good our book club picked Annabel. Not an easy topic but it made good points to discuss, and was done well.
I remember liking Annabel a little more than Middlesex. As you said, the writing was exceptional and I felt that the author handled the topic expertly.
Thanks Ti. I eventually plan to get around to Middlesex too.
Your trip sounds just wonderful. I think I’d like to try something like that too.
I absolutely loved Annabel, not only for the characterization but also for the setting. She has a collection of short stories, but when I picked it up, I was really just looking for “another Annabel novel” and wasn’t giving them the proper attention, so I must give them another try. Or, well, I could reread Annabel. It does seem like the kind of book that begs a reread, doesn’t it?
As for current reading? I just finished revisiting a collection of Mary Oliver’s poems this morning, and I”m also reading Lee Maracle’s novel Daughters are Forever, which is astonishingly good so far (30 pages in).
Hmm. I’ll have to check back on your site to hear more about Lee Maracle’s novel. I was really impressed by Kathleen Winter’s writing and look forward to what she’ll write next. I loved the Labrador parts too!
Looks like I’ve added another one to my TBR pile! I miss my book club soooo much! but it always meets on the same night as Finance committee and Youth Board for church. I try to pick up what they are reading but I miss it about 3/4 of the time… I’ll have to suggest Annabel to them!
Your trip looked amazing! Wow!
Thanks Laura. It was an interesting read. Different. Hopefully your book club might meet another night!
What intriguing books! Thanks for sharing…and enjoy your new week.
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Thanks Laurel. I’ll stop by and see what you’re up to.
I haven’t read Annabel yet though it’s been on my shelf for years now. I need to check out Railway Man. It sounds so interesting.
Thanks Vasilly. I’ll let you know about Railway Man.
Glad you had a great trip! The book sounds like a good travel companion.
Thanks Joy. It was
I haven’t heard of Annabel but sounds like you were emotionally involved with it. Will keep my eye out for it
Yeah the author did a good job with a tough subject matter. Thanks for stopping by Erin.