A
few years ago, upon getting an office job, I began to listen to the CBC—more accurately
Jian Gohmeshi’s program, Q. Canada Reads caught
my attention with the debate over five non-fiction novels: Something Fierce
(Carmen Aguirre), Prisoner of Tehran (Marina Nemat), The Game (Ken Dryden), On
a Cold Rode (David Bidini) and The Tiger (John Vaillant). At the time, I was
too late to read all of the novels before the debate concluded announcing
Something Fierce the winner. However, upon going to my favourite store
(Chapters), I picked up both Prisoner of Tehran and Something
Fierce. While I have yet to read the last three on the top five of 2012, I
couldn’t help being captivated by both of these stories. This was the beginning
of my search for finding Canada in Canadian novels.
So,
what is Canada? I don’t know how to
answer the question, and yet here I sit—born and raised in Canada. There are
two words that come to mind when I hear the word Canada: multicultural and
hockey. I realize that there are also the typical: beaver, igloos, maple leaf,
syrup and any other icon that you can potentially find on one of our monetary
coins, but those are not what I mean. I mean, when you walk down the streets of
a Canadian city and you say wow this is Canada – what is “this”. Like many
things, I turn to novels to teach me about my own culture. Let’s face it, if we
were American you could easily look at Hemmingway, Twain, Kerouac, Thompson and many more,
and you can find American culture. It’s time I begin my Canadian search, and
although I took Canadian Lit in school, the fact is who, other than Atwood,
Munro and Ondaatje, are iconic Canadian authors that comes to mind? While I do
not want to keep referring to Canada Reads—it is where I have begun this
search, and where I will begin my initial Canadian List. I will alternate
between my Canadian search and my initial BBC challenge list, to find the
Canadian culture. I also did not include the Canadian novels on the BBC list on this list... What I ask from you is – what is your favourite Canadian
Author and book? I am making no promises to get through this list quickly; it
may take my whole life! I will most likely focus on the novels that I own and
the ones on the upcoming Canada Reads Debate as I enjoy listening to this
program. But here is the list that I have created:
1.
The Game
by Ken Dryden
2.
On a Cold
Rode by David Bidini
3.
The Tiger
by John Vaillant
4.
Something
Fierce by Carmen Aguirre
5.
Prisoner
of Tehran by Marina Nemat
6.
Indian
Horse by Richard Wagamese
7.
The Age of
Hope by David Bergen
8.
Away by
Jane Urquhart
9.
Two
Solitudes by Hugh MacLennan
10.
February
by Lisa Moore
11.
Accusation
by Catherine Bush
12.
Afterlands
by Steven Heighton
13.
Anil’s
Ghost by Michael Ondaatje
14.
Annabel by
Kathleen Winter
15.
The Blue
Light Project by Timothy Taylor
16.
The
Cellist of Sarajevo by Steven Galloway
17.
Cockroach
by Rawi Hage
18.
The
Disappeared by Kim Echlin
19.
Dogs at
the Perimeter by Madeleine Thien
20.
Fifth
Business by Robertson Davies
21.
Fugitive
Pieces by Anne Michaels
22.
Galore by
Michael Crummey
23.
Going Down
Swinging by Billie Livingston
24.
The Good
Body by Bill Gaston
25.
Half Blood
Blues by Esi Eduyagan
26.
Happiness
Economics by Shari Lapena
27.
Headhunter
by Timothy Findley
28.
The
Headmster’s Wager by Vincent Lam
29.
Little
Brother by Cory Doctorow
30.
The Lizard
Cage by Karen Connelly
31.
Matadora
by Elizabeth Ruth
32.
Monoceros
by Suzette Mayr
33.
Natural
Order by Brian Francis
34.
October
1970 by Louis Hamelin
35.
The Orenda
by Joseph Boyden
36.
Ragged
Company by Richard Wagamese
37.
The
Republic of Nothing by Lesley Choyce
38.
The Shore
Girl by Fran Kimmel
39.
Six Metres
of Pavement by Farzana Doctor
40.
The Stone
Carvers by Jane Urquhart
41.
Stunt by
Claudia Dey
42.
Sub Rosa
by Amber Dawn
43.
A Sunday
at the Pool in Kigali by Gil Courtemanche
44.
Swarm by
Lauren Carter
45.
Sweetness
in the Belly by Camila Gibb
46.
Through
Black Spruce by Joseph Boyden
47.
Truth
& Bright Water by Thomas King
48.
What the
Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin
49.
Y by
Marjorie Celona
50.
The Year
of the Flood by Margaret Atwood
51.
The Headmasters Wager by Vincent Lam
52.
Going Home
Again by Dennis Bock
53.
Hellgoing Lynn Coady
54.
Cataract
City by Craig Davidson
55.
Caught by
Lisa Moore
56.
The
Crooked Maid by Dan Vyleta
57.
419 Will Ferguson
58.
The
Sentimentalist by Johanna Skibsrud
59.
The
Bishop’s Man by Linden MacIntyre
60.
Late
Nights on Air by Elizabeth Hay
61.
The Time
in Between by David Bergen
62.
Runaway by
Alice Munro
63.
The In
Between World of Vikram Lall by M. G.
Vassanji
64.
The
Polished Hoe by Austin Clarke
65.
Mercy Among
Children by David Adams Richards
66.
A Good
House by Bonnie Burnard
67.
The Love
of a Good Woman by Alice Munro
68.
Barney’s
Version by Mordecai Richler
69.
Alias
Grace by Margaret Atwood
70.
The Book
of Secrets
71. The Book of
Negroes by Lawrence Hill
72.
A
Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews
73.
The Way
the Crow Flies by Ann-Marie MacDonald
74.
Fall on
Your Knees by Ann-Marie MacDonald
75.
The White
Bone by Barbara Gowdy
76.
The
Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt
77.
Cabbagetown
by Hugh Garner
78.
What the Dog
saw and Other Adventures by Malcolm Gladwell
79.
No Time
for Goodbye by Linwood Barclay
80.
Six
Seconds by Rick Mofina
81.
Clara
Callan by Richard B. Wright
82.
Outliers
by Malcolm Gladwell
83.
The Law of
Dreams by Peter Behrens
84.
The
English Patient by Michael Ondaatje
85.
Love and
the Mess We’re In by Stephen Arche
86.
The
Canterbury Trial by Angie Abdou
87.
The
Darling of Kandahar by Felicia Mihali
88.
The
Beautiful Mystery (Chief Inspector Armand Gamache, #8) by Louise Penny
89.
One Good
Hustle by Billie Livingston
90.
The Age of
Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker
91.
Fall from
Grace by Wayne Arthurson
92.
Far to Go
by Alison Pick
93.
Cool Water
by Dianne Warren
94.
The
Amazing Absorbing Boy by Rabindranath Maharaj
95.
Ilustrado
by Miguel Syjuco
96.
The Golden
Mean by Annabel Lyon
97.
The Cure
For Death by Lightning by Gail Anderson-Dargatz
98.
Darwin’s
Paradox by Nina Munteanu
99.
Everything
Was Good-bye by Gurjiner Basran
100. The Diviners by Margaret Laurence
101. Who Has Seen the Wind by W.O Mitchell
102. De Niro’s Game by Rawi Hage
103. Obasan by Joy Kogawa
104.The Garneau Block by Todd Babiak
105.The Englishman’s Boy by Guy Vanderhaeghe
106. How to make Love To A Negro by Danny Laferriere
107. Stolen by Annette LaPointe
108. Swamp Angel by Ethel
Wilson
109. Solomon Gursky Was Here by
Mordecai Richler
110. Helpless by Barbara Gowdy
111. Monkey Beach by Eden Robinson
112. Bow Grip by Ivan E. Coyote
113. The Glass Boys by Nicole Lundrigan
114. The Town That Drowned by Riel Nason
115. Come Thou Tortoise by Jessica Grant
116. Ragged Island by Don Hannah
117. The Bay of Love and Sorrows by David Adams Richards
118. No Great Mischief by Alistaif MacLeod
119. The Tin Flute by Gabrielle Roy
120. As for Me and My House
121. A House in the Sky by Amanda Lindhout
All
that I ask of you is: If you don’t see your favourite Canadian Novel on this
list, please tell me and I will be sure to add it!
Now
I shall make my journey to figure out What is Canada!
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