Journal Entry 1 by Ibis3 from Newcastle, Ontario Canada on Saturday, October 07, 2006

From the back cover:
"Celebrated writer Gaétan Soucy's riveting tale rises from the ashes of a devastating inferno. In Montreal in the 1920s, in the working-class parish of the Nativité, seventy-five residents died during one terrible night at the hands of an arsonist. The surviving parishioners must now cope with the aftermath of the felony. among them are Remould Tremblay, a seemingly simple-minded bank clerk who spends his days caring for Séraphon, his invalid father, while trying to ward off the nightmarish memories of his childhood; and schoolteacher Clémentine Clément, who struggles in solitude to keep from going mad in spite of past tragedies, unrequited passions, and the obsessive suspicion that something is terribly amiss with a group of boys in her class.

By turns poetic and gritty, suspenseful and revelatory, The Immaculate Conception explores the same ominous, enchanted territory as the award-winning Vaudeville! Lazer Lederhendler's graceful translation adroitly renders the author's inventive language, bracing wit, and unflinching insight. Soucy brilliantly illuminates the dark corners where ordinary people fear to look and reminds us that for every moment of justice, there are numerous crimes that will remain forever secret."

On the shortlist for the Giller Prize. 

Journal Entry 2 by Ibis3 from Newcastle, Ontario Canada on Friday, December 29, 2006

I thought this book was great. Several months after reading it, the images still stick in my mind. It's one of those books you could contemplate and analyse for hours on many different levels. This one is my Giller winner (so far--I'll have to confirm once I've read Home Schooling).

Many reviewers have likened the atmosphere of this book to a Grimm fairy tale, with its shadowy characters and shifting sense of reality. There is definitely a folk-tale-like aspect to Soucy’s Montreal parish of the Nativité: there are mysterious events, phantasmic beings, and evil monsters in human form. We are confronted over and over again with pairings and dualities: two nasty brothers, a set of twins (good and evil), two enigmatic little girls (one in the past and one in the present), two fathers for the protaganist (both of whom are partially paralyzed at some point), two relics saved from two different fires–all coalescing around the stories of two struggling, broken people, Remould Tremblay and Clémentine Clément. Images of fire recur over and over--the symbolism is there, hovering just above or just below the surface. Loved it! 

Journal Entry 3 by Ibis3 from Newcastle, Ontario Canada on Wednesday, January 10, 2007

I'm happy that this book will find some new readers.

Ring Guidelines:

1. When you receive the book, make a journal entry to let me know it got to you ok.
2. When you're done, make a journal entry and let us know what you thought.
3. PM the person next in order (please check here for the current order) for a current mailing address (please confirm that they're ready to receive the book).
4. Mail the book, make a journal entry and mark the book as travelling.

*keep the book for a maximum of 4 weeks. If you feel you can't read it in this amount of time, or you wish to be skipped for any reason, let me know & I'll rearrange the mailing order.
*feel free to include a postcard, bookmark or other trinket with the book.

Thanks & have fun reading!

Order of go:
sent January 10/07
1. Wordsnark (Ontario, Canada) - arrived January 19/07; sent January 23/07
2. ajsmom (British Columbia, Canada) - arrived January 30/07;
3. Dunzy (British Columbia, Canada)
4. lauraloo29 (Alberta, Canada)
5. gypsysmom (Manitoba, Canada)
6. ldpaulson (California, USA)
7. bibliotreker (Pennsylvania, USA)
... Back to Ibis3 (Ontario, Canada) 

Journal Entry 4 by Wordsnark from not specified, not specified not specified on Friday, January 19, 2007

Received yesterday from Ibis3. Very elegant label. I will start on this today, and should have it off to ajsmom shortly. Thanks for including me! 

Journal Entry 5 by Wordsnark from not specified, not specified not specified on Tuesday, January 23, 2007

This is an allegory. Not being raised Catholic or Québécois, I can only penetrate it a little. Any contemporary narrative out of Québec that involves twins and the preservation of purity in grotesque circumstances should clue even the most square-headed* of readers. The book is about the suffering that hope for independence must endure.

But The Immaculate Conception is a superb work of fiction, and not a polemical tract. The writing is fantastical, acutely realistic, and poetical, in turns. I resisted entering into the book at first, because it seemed to me too shifting and 'atmospheric,' vaguely ominous in a way I did not like. However, once I relaxed and let my imagination be the theatre (and not linear reason) the book became vivid and exciting.

-------------------------
*Tête(s) carrée(s): English-Canadians. Used only in Québec, this term can be considered pejorative or even a racial slur. Literally, square head(s) in English. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quebec_French_lexicon]

Er, but not meant to insult anyone here.

[2007.01.23 Off to ajsmom]
 

Journal Entry 6 by ajsmom from Quesnel, British Columbia Canada on Tuesday, January 30, 2007

Book is here! Thank you, I am looking forward to this. 

Journal Entry 7 by ajsmom from Quesnel, British Columbia Canada on Friday, February 09, 2007

Wow! I found this book to be intense and mystifying. Since I brought it on vacation with me, I will take the time and start it again, as I was a little confused when it was mostly wrapped up at the end.

I have now read 2 of this year´s Giller Nominees and I can see why Bloodletting won (at least over this one) - it was a much more straight-forward read and in many senses, easier.

I will ask Dunzy for an address and have this book on its way next week when I return home. Thank you for the opportunity, Ibis!! 

Journal Entry 8 by ajsmom at mailed to next reader in Postal release, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, February 13, 2007

Released 5 yrs ago (2/13/2007 UTC) at mailed to next reader in Postal release, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent to Dunzy this morning.

May I just mention I read this book twice and will be recommending it to my book club to read. There is so much to think about!! 

Journal Entry 9 by Dunzy from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on Saturday, February 17, 2007

This new book must have been a close contender for the Giller: after a peek inside, I found it hard to resist jumping in and staying.

I'll get through the (elegantly presented) text as soon as I can, for the sake of keeping this copy on the move. Thanks for starting it on its rounds, Ibis!

 

Journal Entry 10 by Dunzy from Vancouver, British Columbia Canada on Thursday, March 22, 2007

I’m glad that I was given the chance to read this, though it sometimes made me as crazy as several of the characters. It went down like a winner in some rarified literary contest (as if, say, Soucy had decided to establish the new genre of ‘Plouffe Gothic’), but it went down very well.

Even the most nightmarish sequences had sparks of unexpected humour; even the most puzzling developments had an explanation, though the wait occasionally seemed interminable. The narrative and POVs kept looping back and doubling up to describe events again, with the most outrageous examples deferred till the last few pages.

It’s all very creepy and perhaps too leisurely for comfort. (I assume the latter effect is by design, like
the author’s way of trotting out trite imagery from his characters' minds!) Clearly, its revelations and demonizations aren't meant to be comfortable.
 

Journal Entry 11 by Dunzy at Controlled Release in n/a, n/a -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, March 22, 2007

Released 5 yrs ago (3/23/2007 UTC) at Controlled Release in n/a, n/a -- Controlled Releases

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

RELEASE NOTES:

Being mailed to California -- from the original list, the intervening pair of Canadians opted to pass. 

Journal Entry 12 by ldpaulson from Ventura, California USA on Monday, April 02, 2007

Arrived in the mail this weekend and will start reading as soon as humanly possible. 

Journal Entry 13 by ldpaulson from Ventura, California USA on Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Wow. Is it just me or was anyone else lost throughout the narrative? This book is both Grimm and grim. The author lays down all these narrative trails of breadcrumbs, then allows them to scatter in the winds. Where do they lead? Am I following this correctly? When I finished I was relieved, revulsed, and, yes, still hopelessly confused, especially because the author's name is used in the final narrative. Intentional?

This would be a great read for a book group to puzzle through.

I almost neglected to mention that some of my revulsion was an uncanny connection. The main character's name is exceedingly similar to that of a person whose triple murder trial I covered while a newspaper reporter. I kept seeing and remembering parts of the testimony. Not pretty. 

Journal Entry 14 by ldpaulson from Ventura, California USA on Tuesday, May 01, 2007

Contacting the next reader in line. The next reader asked for this to be sent with another CanLit book, which precipitated the delay in sending. This has been mailed to the next participant. 

Journal Entry 15 by bibliotreker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA on Monday, June 25, 2007

Arrived today with another Canadian bookring. So I'll be totally immerged in Canadian literature for a while. Doesn't that make you happy ibis3 :) Can't wait to get started. 

Journal Entry 16 by bibliotreker from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania USA on Thursday, July 19, 2007

Sending this one on it's way home back to Canada. Thanks Ibis3, for another great read. Will be mailed in the morining.

Sent July 20 2007. 

Journal Entry 17 by Ibis3 from Newcastle, Ontario Canada on Thursday, August 02, 2007

Thanks everyone, for your participation. This book has arrived home safely! I imagine I''ll send it out for another ring if I have an opportunity.