The Tin Flute in Never too Late to Read Classics

Feb 02, 2023 Chrissie rated it liked it

Shelves: hf, classics, 2023-read, life-stages, ww2, swedish-narration, legimus, medical, canada

Another Canadian classic that should be read! Thank you, Rosemarie.

A book of historical fiction that plays out in a working class neighborhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The residents are struggling to make ends meet. The Depression lingers. Unemployment is rampant. We follow a French speaking family, their friends and acquaintances. The family’s fourteenth child will be born. Large families are the norm. The years before Canada’s entry into the Second World War is the time. The book gives rea Another Canadian classic that should be read! Thank you, Rosemarie.

A book of historical fiction that plays out in a working class neighborhood of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The residents are struggling to make ends meet. The Depression lingers. Unemployment is rampant. We follow a French speaking family, their friends and acquaintances. The family’s fourteenth child will be born. Large families are the norm. The years before Canada’s entry into the Second World War is the time. The book gives readers an accurate picture of a time and a place.

A question is returned to repeatedly. Why do people agree to take part in a war? What is the motivation? Patriotism? The power and excitement of taking a stand and wielding a gun? An opportunity to leave the old for something new? Some joined up for the money—living on a subsistence level, one might see enlistment as a viable alternative solving pecuniary difficulties. An escape? A relationship falters, and here is a way out. We observe the choices made by a wide assortment of characters.

Times are hard. It is not easy to judge, but I simply could not see myself in the characters. This is one reason why I don’t give the book more stars. I felt close to one—the mother of the family. Maybe one can say this--the large number of characters dilutes character portrayal. The focus shifts from character portrayal to instead a depiction of a time and a place.

The themes? War and how it affects society. The value of life and the futility of war. The role of women. And how no two individuals behave in the same way. It is not a bad book!

Perhaps it’s the prose that gives me trouble, that is not so special. Could this be a problem of translation? Originally the book was in French, entitled Bonheur d'occasion. The English and Swedish translations came later. The Swedish translator is Einar Malm. We are in the hands of the translator. Prose is important to me. It didn’t do much for me here.

Tore Bengtsson reads the Swedish audiobook. His voice takes over. He doesn’t let each character’s personality come to the fore. You hear him….rather than them! He is a Swedish actor. It is not hard to understand what is said. I am this time giving his narration three stars. His narrations vary—sometimes I like them, other times I don’t.

The book is not a waste of time. If you are a fan of historical fiction you’ll probably like it. It draws the struggles of the common people in Quebec before the war. ...more

22 likes · Like · see review