Monday, April 4, 2011

Galore by Michael Crummey


 

Newfoundland always has a bit of a magical ring to me. When I had the opportunity to read
this for the Vine program, I was intrigued. It takes place in Newfoundland,in a place called
Paradise Deep. It opens with a beached whale being carved into for oil and food by the starving
inhabitants of this fishing community.

As they all worked for their share, and arugued with the man who said he owned that part
of beach, A woman, known as Devine's Widow, cuts into the belly of the poor whale, and out
came a man. He was an albino. He is a central character to the story, and yet, nary a
word passes his lips. Despite this, a more extraordinary man is seldom found.

The story leads us down through the generations of the family of Devine family. Suffice to say
that few men of the family manage to make much of a name for themselves, and certainly no one
is quite like the albino, who came to be known as Judah. The women of the family are another
story altogether. They are a force to be reckoned with, each and every one.

Although we watch as some leave the community for other ports, including the United States. Eventually,some of the men head for Europe. We follow them through good times and bad. We find characters to loveand other that we can barely tolerate, just as we would in any town. I suspect that some of us would notagree on which was which.

An ongoing theme is poverty, and want. Each generation will face it and tragedies of their own. I
was sorry to see the story end, and would not have minded seeing it continue to the present. I felt
that as much as the story offered, I would gladly have accepted more.

3 comments:

  1. That was an interesting review. I've never heard of this author before. I found you on book blogs and am now following. Come and visit me at http://sharonhenning.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  2. Sounds like an intriguing story! So nice when a book leaves you wishing for more. Also visiting & following from bookblogs, welcome your visit at http://bookspersonally.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sharon, he is Canadian.. this one was recently released in the US.

    I agree.. it IS nice when you wish there was more !

    ReplyDelete