Wednesday, July 13, 2011

You Went Away

You Went Away, A Novella
Author:  Timothy Findley (1930-2002)
Publisher:  HarperCollins Publishers Ltd., Toronto, Canada
Date Published: 1996
Pages:  218

Set in Ontario during wartime.

Based on the mysterious contents of a cardboard box containing old photographs, a family's story slowly unfolds.  The 1940s.  It is an unpredictable time; no one knows what is going to happen from one day to the next.  A rocky marriage, estrangement, war, death, a love affair.

What impressed me most about this book was the vivid imagery.  The eloquent descriptions of every mood and situation made the story come alive on the page.  The tension and feeling of exhilaration created by some of the detailed images had me mesmerized.  Equally impressive were the moments or interludes of calm and laughter, which I found remarkable, considering all that had happened.

2/13  5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge  
Posted by at
Labels: ,

4 comments:

John Mutford said...

While the book does sound interesting, I admit getting sidetracked by the term "novella." At more than 200 pages, I think I'd call it a novel. Was that your description or the publishers?

Not that the semantics matter of course if you enjoyed the book, I'm just curious.

July 13, 2011 9:36 AM
April said...

John, I just went with what was printed on the front cover and agree about the pages. But, after reading an article at Wikipedia on the structure of the novella, I think it fits some of the criteria. And it is only a tad over the 200 pages. I wonder what Mr. Findley intended when he wrote this book.

July 13, 2011 11:38 AM
emeire said...

I must definitely add a book by Findley on my Canadian TBR list this year.
Em

July 13, 2011 3:09 PM
Wanda said...

A favourite of mine, so happy to learn of someone else enjoying this book!

August 04, 2011 4:51 AM

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)

Books Read 2012

1. Half-Blood Blues/Esi Edugyan(18/01/12) A gripping and heart wrenching story.
2. The Yellow Wallpaper/Charlotte Perkins Gilman(04/12)
3. Seasons of Poetry/compiled by Caroline Foley(04/05/12) art and poems
4. The Secret Garden/Frances Hodgson Burnett(08/05/12) beautiful descriptions of the garden and a lesson in positive thinking.
5. Where the Sidewalk Ends (30th Anniversary Special Edition)/Shel Silverstein(23/05/12) poems and drawings
6. Last of the Curlews/Fred Bodsworth(29/05/12)

Books Read 2011

1. A Study in Scarlet /Sir Arthur Conan Doyle (04/01/11) - a Sherlock Holmes detective mystery set in London & Utah, 19th century.
2. Light Lifting/Alexander MacLeod (06/01/11) - seven wonderful stories.
3. Nature Girl/Carl Hiaasen (25/01/11) - a humorous tale set mainly in Florida.
4. Ines of My Soul/Isabel Allende (04/02/11) - 16th century South America.
5. The Sentimentalists/Johanna Skibsrud (08/02/11)
6. The Gardens of Kyoto/Kate Walbert (22/02/11)
7. The Razor's Edge/W. Somerset Maugham (13/04/11) - first person narrative.
8. Friends, Lovers, Chocolate/Alexander McCall Smith (18/04/11) - mystery featuring Isabel Dalhousie, 2nd book in a series.
9. What I Didn't See:Stories/Karen Joy Fowler (29/04/11) - I enjoyed these unusual stories.
10. The Uncommon Reader/Alan Bennett(07/05/11) - very entertaining.
11. The End of the Affair/Graham Greene(16/05/11)
12. The Hours/Michael Cunningham(30/05/11)
13. A Midsummer Night's Dream/William Shakespeare (08/06/11) - The New Folger Library edition, annotated. Great comedy.
14. Angel Wing Splash Pattern/Richard Van Camp (02/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
15. You Went Away/Timothy Findley (03/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
16. Fierce/Hannah Holborn (15/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
17. a Song for Nettie Johnson/Gloria Sawai (29/07/11) - 5th Annual Canadian Book Challenge
18. Taft/Ann Patchett (15/12/11)
19. A Wrinkle in Time/Madeleine L'Engle (31/12/11)
20. Rebecca/Daphne du Maurier(12/11)