From the Bookshelf of The Roundtable…

The Colony of Unrequited Dreams

Wayne Johnston

Start date: June 1, 2021

Finish date: July 31, 2021

Discussion: Canadian Literature Reads

Discussion leader: Dawn

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Canadian Literature Reads

CanLit - April - Moon of the Crusted Snow *Spoilers*
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last updated Mar 16, 2024 11:53AM

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What Members Thought

Aug 24, 2014 El rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: put-it-in-your-journal, 20th-centurylit-late, wanderlust

The embarrassing admission is that I am American. Why do I say that? Well, there are two answers. The first is that because I am American, I don't think I've ever seen a copy of this book during all my years of working in bookstores. I found it recently and I've heard people talking about it recently, so I thought it was a new book. Guys, this book has been on the planet since the late 90s. It hit bookshelves before I was working in bookstores, and I can say I never saw at the library I worked i The embarrassing admission is that I am American. Why do I say that? Well, there are two answers. The first is that because I am American, I don't think I've ever seen a copy of this book during all my years of working in bookstores. I found it recently and I've heard people talking about it recently, so I thought it was a new book. Guys, this book has been on the planet since the late 90s. It hit bookshelves before I was working in bookstores, and I can say I never saw at the library I worked in prior to that either. I think this is because it is a Canadian book, a Canadian author, a Canadian topic, and we don't have those sorts here in the states. (I jest. Sort of.) It's like it just became popular here for some reason.

The second is that because I am American, I know a pathetic amount about Canadian history. Like... zero. We learned about all the states we have united down here, all the people who killed a bunch of other people down here, and we learned that Canada shares the continent with us, but that's all we really have in common: North America. A somewhat shared land, but you still have to sign over your life to cross over to Canadia, and then again on the way back (though the Canadian side is usually nicer than the American side, I will say that). Okay, they say. You can go over there, but just for a bit, don't think about getting too comfortable or we'll come back and getcha!

So I read this entire book and even questioned out loud on the internet how much of this story was based on real Newfoundland history. All my GR Canadian friends are probably laughing at me. The whole book is based on real Newfoundland history. The Joe Smallwood character? Like one of the most important people in real life Candian history. Guys, I'm dumb. I'm sorry. I'm American. That's all I can say.

The other thing I can say to try to redeem myself is that I loved this book. Absolutely. I can see what Canadia wants to keep Johnston to themselves. He writes with a confidence and a beauty that I'm not sure Americans are prepared for. Well, that might be a bit dramatic, but this is a stunning book. That's my first impression, the one I'm putting down here, the one I'll stand by.

The story follows Joe Smallwood through his youngun days and up to his premier days. It's a lengthy book, but it reads so smoothly that you barely even notice. Johnston was artful in how he laid the book out, telling you Smallwood's story through Smallwood's eyes, and then a brief chapter out of the history of Newfoundland, some excerpts from Smallwood's condensed history of Newfoundland, and some from his gal-pal-keep-your-enemies-closer, Fielding's account of the history of Newfoundland. And, my favorite bits, pieces from her journal.

So let's talk about Fielding a moment. Sheilagh Fielding is her name, an invented character unlike Smallwood himself. She has a limp, uses a cane, and is unlike most female characters in literature you will ever read. I saw mention somewhere of Fielding being a Dorothy Parker-like character, and I think that is as fair an assessment as any. She is a rough, charming, bewitching character, and I would have been fine if the whole story was hers. Which, I guess, it sort of was. If a movie is made of this, they'll probably get Jennifer Lawrence to play Fielding.

But it's also Newfoundland's story. (Says the American.) Newfoundland is on every page of this book which makes me want to pack up and move there right now.

I know people will read this and think it was too long, or too meandering, or too something. But it worked for me. All of it worked for me. Don't be turned off by the back cover that calls it a "mystery and a love story". There's a little of each, but it's not at all what you would expect. It's just a really good book. Really. Yes, this is coming from someone who knows jack about Canadian history, so someone with real knowledge might have a different assessment. I somehow doubt it, though. Johnston appears to have done his research. He could have actually lived this life for all I know.

What I do know is this won't be the last book by Johnston that I read. ...more

86 likes · Like · see review

Aug 19, 2014 Dawn rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: prize-giller, literary-fiction, can-lit, historical-fiction, favorites, series-finished

I loved this book. It was enthralling and informative, well written and funny. I know very little about the history of Newfoundland, it's the other end of the country and to be honest, from a cultural point of view, BC has more in common with Washington, Oregon and California than with the rest of Canada and I seldom think about what goes on out East.

While I realize much of this book is fictional, including one of the main characters, it fills in some very basic "how life was" in Newfoundland b ...more

6 likes · Like · see review

Jun 28, 2021 Irene rated it really liked it · review of another edition

This is a fictional account of the life and political career of Joey Smallwood, a union organizer who became the first premiere of Newfoundland who was instrumental in its confederation with Canada. I enjoyed learning about this piece of history with which I had been unfamiliar. Great writing.

6 likes · Like · see review