Never have I been so excited about a required read. I'm telling you. I had to check that I hadn't picked the wrong book, because I didn't know it was possible to discover such talented contemporary Quebec authors through a literature class.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In 1918, 100 years before the publication of La Scouine <\/em>by Gabriel Marcoux-Chabot, La Scouine <\/em>by Albert Laberge was published. I have not read it, but this book is considered the first realist novel in Quebec. The author \"describes in a crude way the miserable life of the peasants in the Beauharnois region between 1853 and 1896\" (La Presse<\/a>). The humor is dark, and ignorance and violence dominate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This Scouine<\/em> is a modern rewriting of this century-old novel, and the story is apparently the same. Urg\u00e8le and M\u00e2\u00e7o already have three children when M\u00e2\u00e7o gives birth to twins, Caroline and Paulima. But they are far from identical. Caroline has everything going for her, while Paulima is particularly ugly and is constantly mocked. In order to survive and get some positive attention in this deep countryside, she starts to lie. The whole family suffers the vicissitudes of life, ages, and withers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Premi\u00e8re chose qui m’a frapp\u00e9e : le roman “rime”. Je ne m’en suis pas rendu compte imm\u00e9diatement, mais apr\u00e8s un moment, je ne voyais que \u00e7a. Un exemple :<\/p>\n\n\n\n Son cauchemar n\u2019est pas termin\u00e9 pour autant. Le surnom que lui a donn\u00e9 Fran\u00e7ois Potvin ce jour-l\u00e0 ne hante pas seulement ses r\u00eaves r\u00e9currents. Cette interjection vague, surgie d\u2019on ne sait quels abysses du langage, s\u2019est r\u00e9pandue comme une tra\u00een\u00e9e de poudre au village et, \u00e0 son grand d\u00e9sarroi, il n\u2019est plus un enfant qui ne l\u2019interpelle autrement que par ce sobriquet infamant.<\/p>\n– La Scouine<\/em>, Gabriel Marcoux-Chabot, chapter VIII<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n It gives the novel a really catchy pace. When you combine that with the macabre and compelling story, it becomes really hard to put down. You have to tear yourself away from it to go to bed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n And then there is the language. A good Quebecois very marked in the dialogues, delicious to recite aloud.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – O\u00f9 c’tu vas?<\/p>\n\n\n\n – L\u00e0-bas. Pas loin.<\/p>\n\n\n\n – J’peux-ti vnir aec to\u00e9?<\/p>\n\n\n\n – Non.<\/p>\n– La Scouine, <\/em>Gabriel Marcoux-Chabot, p. XIX<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Everything about this book is uncomfortable. The characters live in squalor, they don't bathe often, their education is minimal, their morals are questionable, and they've been repressing their sexuality for too long. And yet, there's something about it that makes it comical. So it's not a heavy read. But it does stir us up a bit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n A very nice discovery. I recommend it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nImpressions<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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