A Complicated Kindness
3 journalers for this copy...
From Publishers Weekly
A 16-year-old rebels against the conventions of her strict Mennonite community and tries to come to terms with the collapse of her family in this insightful, irreverent coming-of-age novel. In bleak rural Manitoba, Nomi longs for her older sister, Tash ("she was so earmarked for damnation it wasn't even funny"), and mother, Trudie, each of whom has recently fled fundamentalist Christianity and their town. Her gentle, uncommunicative father, Ray, isn't much of a sounding board as Nomi plunges into bittersweet memory and grapples with teenage life in a "kind of a cult with pretend connections to some normal earthly conventions." Once a "curious, hopeful child" Nomi now relies on biting humor as her life spins out of control—she stops attending school, shaves her head and wanders around in a marijuana-induced haze—while Ray sells off most of their furniture, escapes on all-night drives and increasingly withdraws into himself. Still, she and Ray are linked in a tender, if fragile, partnership as each slips into despair. Though the narration occasionally unravels into distracting stream of consciousness, the unsentimental prose and the poignant character interactions sustain reader interest. Bold, tender and intelligent, this is a clear-eyed exploration of belief and belonging, and the irresistible urge to escape both.
A 16-year-old rebels against the conventions of her strict Mennonite community and tries to come to terms with the collapse of her family in this insightful, irreverent coming-of-age novel. In bleak rural Manitoba, Nomi longs for her older sister, Tash ("she was so earmarked for damnation it wasn't even funny"), and mother, Trudie, each of whom has recently fled fundamentalist Christianity and their town. Her gentle, uncommunicative father, Ray, isn't much of a sounding board as Nomi plunges into bittersweet memory and grapples with teenage life in a "kind of a cult with pretend connections to some normal earthly conventions." Once a "curious, hopeful child" Nomi now relies on biting humor as her life spins out of control—she stops attending school, shaves her head and wanders around in a marijuana-induced haze—while Ray sells off most of their furniture, escapes on all-night drives and increasingly withdraws into himself. Still, she and Ray are linked in a tender, if fragile, partnership as each slips into despair. Though the narration occasionally unravels into distracting stream of consciousness, the unsentimental prose and the poignant character interactions sustain reader interest. Bold, tender and intelligent, this is a clear-eyed exploration of belief and belonging, and the irresistible urge to escape both.
Journal Entry 2 by tranq1 at bookray/bookring, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases on Friday, June 10, 2011
Released 12 yrs ago (6/10/2011 UTC) at bookray/bookring, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases
CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:
Sending to dancing-dog for the round robin readers book exchange.
woo-hoo! a wishlist book that's been on my list quite a while - thanks tranq1! :=D
This was a fun, off beat, quirky, a little dark & sometimes irreverent story - I really liked it! Kind of a female, Canadian Mennonite version of Catcher in the Rye. Nomi has a dark yet witty sense of humor to help her deal with the ultra conservative community and her dysfunctional family. I enjoyed the writing style because it seemed very true to the character, her age and state of mind and allowed us to follow her (often less than logical or cohesive) thoughts.
reserved for therubycanary
reserved for therubycanary
Off in the mail to therubycanary - enjoy!
Thanks! I've read this author before and really enjoyed her. I have a friend in Korea who collects books by Canadian authors, so I might send this on to her if she hasn't read it yet.
