A Complicated Kindness

by Miriam Toews | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: 0676976123 Global Overview for this book
Registered by Lotusflower77 of Toronto, Ontario Canada on 5/26/2005
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3 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by Lotusflower77 from Toronto, Ontario Canada on Thursday, May 26, 2005
Winner of the Governor General Literary Awards and Finalist for The Giller Prize. Who could resist buying it? :)

Nomi Nickel is a sassy 16-year old whose mother and sister have bolted from the Mennonite community, leaving Nomi with her off-kilter father in a repressive town where rebellion is severely punished.

It's a darkly funny, provacative novel which I couldn't get around to finishing!

Off to JuneBug31 on Monday.


Journal Entry 2 by JuneBug31 from Omemee, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, December 7, 2005
Received in the mail today with ''MANY THANKS'' from Lotusflower77.

And..THANK YOU for sending this to me as a RABCK!!! How very kind of you.

I'll journal again once I've read the book. :o)

Journal Entry 3 by JuneBug31 from Omemee, Ontario Canada on Monday, December 12, 2005
Miriam Toews has done a wonderful job of depicting teenage life in a dismal Mennonite community.

The narrator and main character Nomi, expresses very well the conflict and confusion she feels as a youth growing up in this ruled society. The clarity of writing is amazing and you are able to picture and feel this 'other' world in which Nomi lives and felt like you walking along side of her.

Nomi's struggle to come to terms with both her mother and sister's disappearance, leave her alone with a father who is uncommunicative but very kind.

He is overcome with his grief from losing his wife and eldest daughter but doesn't show his grief in public. He wears a suit everyday and even wins an award for perfect church attendance. However, at night he secretly sifts through and rearranges garbage at the dump and slowly sells off their household furniture. Through his deep love and confusion, he shows Nomi that he just doesn't have all the answers.

I will leave the rest of my comments out as I don't want to reveal too much. I've given this a lower rating than I normally would have as I did find the novel to be a bit disjointed, jumping from topic to topic too quickly. I sometimes had to stop reading and think "why are we talking about this now?"

THANK YOU to lotusflower77 for sharing this book with me!!

Journal Entry 4 by JuneBug31 from Omemee, Ontario Canada on Sunday, April 16, 2006
RESERVED for cestmoi. The book will be travelling with a friend in her car to Toronto in a couple of weeks. Hope you can wait that long!!


Journal Entry 5 by wingcestmoiwing from Hamilton, Ontario Canada on Friday, May 5, 2006
I know this was part of Canada Reads which piqued my interest in it. Thanks for sharing Louise.

Lotusflower...are we going to see you at an Oakville meetup???? :)

Journal Entry 6 by wingcestmoiwing from Hamilton, Ontario Canada on Saturday, September 2, 2006
I took my son for lunch today at Montana's in Oakville (403/Dundas). It was just the two of us, so we both took books so we could chat and read while waiting for food and over dessert. Our server was a wonderful young woman named Marissa. She took time to talk to Liam and made him feel very grown up. She saw the book I was reading and asked about it. When I told her the theme, she was very interested and said she'd seen an Oprah show and a documentary about the Mennonites. I had almost finished the book so I was able to read the last few pages over dessert, so when I left, I left it with the hostess to give to her after we left. I think she got it, because just as we were driving away I saw her stick her head out of the restaurant door :)

About the book...this has to be one of the most depressing books I've ever read. The first is Vinegar Hill by A. Manette Ansay. Nomi's life has no joy, no redeeming qualities, no affection, nothing to make it worthwhile to live. Even her sort-of boyfriend is useless and does nothing to make her feel good about herself or help her out of her depression. I had a hard time with the role her parents played in her life. What faith, what belief system could make them treat her the way they did? (I don't want to give anything away here).

The novel is well written and engrossing. Nomi's voice is strong and heartfelt and although she is miserable, I never got the sense that she was self-pitying. She *is* definitely on a path of self destruction if nothing changes and even though there seems to be hint of the future, I really don't think that Nomi is equipped, emotionally, to deal with the changes she would need to make to change the path she's headed on.

Journal Entry 7 by wingcestmoiwing at Montana's Restaurant (403/Dundas) in Oakville, Ontario Canada on Saturday, September 2, 2006

Released 17 yrs ago (9/2/2006 UTC) at Montana's Restaurant (403/Dundas) in Oakville, Ontario Canada

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