The Diviners
Registered by gypsysmom of Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on 7/2/2017
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
I read this many years ago but since re-reading The Stone Angel gave me new insights I suspected this might be a good book to re-read. Besides, I found it in Poor Michael's in Onanole and I always love to buy a book or two there.
I don't reread many books but I have a few Canadian classics that I have read at least twice. A few years ago I reread The Stone Angel and so I was primed to give this book another go when I saw it for sale in the lovely used book store in Onanole Manitoba, Poor Michaels.
Morag Gunn is a succesful writer living in a small rural area in Ontario. She grew up in Manawaka in Manitoba where she lived with Christie and Prin Logan who were no relation to her but who agreed to raise her when her own parents died of polio. Christie was the town garbage man and he was a veteran of the First World War. He had served with Morag's father and he credited her father with saving his life. Prin, his wife, was morbidly obese even when Morag came to live with them. There was not much money in the household and Morag was poorly dressed when she started school. Naturally she was the butt of many jokes and remained an outsider all the time she lived in Manawaka. In her class was a Metis boy, Jules Tonnerre, who was also an outsider. His family lived in shacks in the river valley and his father provided for Jules and his siblings by hunting and trapping. Perhaps it was inevitable that Morag and Jules would be drawn to each other but World War II intervened with Jules going off to fight. After the war Morag had saved enough money to go to college where she met, fell in love with and married one of her professors. Brooke Skelton takes a job in Toronto and Morag becomes a stay at home wife while trying to launch a writing career. She manages to write one book which is accepted for publication, something which drives a wedge between Morag and Brooke. Morag would like to have children but Brooke always says it is not the right time. Then Morag meets Jules on a street, invites him back to her and Brooke's apartment and Brooke is rude to Jules. Morag realizes she has to leave Brooke and goes off with Jules who she stays with for a few weeks before moving to Vancouver. Morag and Jules have sex and Morag tells Jules she doesn't want to take any precautions. After she gets to Vancouver Morag realizes she is pregnant. When her daughter is born she names her Piquette after Jules' sister who died during WWII when the Tonnerre shack caught on fire. Morag lets Jules know about Pique's birth but she raises Pique by herself. Morag starts to become more well-known as a writer and after some years she moves to England with, of course, Pique. Jules came to Vancouver once and stayed for a while with Morag so he has met Pique but, in reality, Pique does not have a father figure. When Morag has moved back to Canada and there could be an opportunity for a relationship it never happens until Pique leaves home at age 18. Then she tracks down Jules who supports himself by singing and playing guitar in small coffee shops. Pique is also a musician and Jules shares with her some of his own songs that tell about his family's history. In this way Pique becomes acquainted with her paternal heritage and she continues to explore that. Morag knows that she has to let Pique go her way as she had to do herself. At the end of the book Morag goes to look at the river which seems to flow both ways. "Look ahead into the past; and back into the future, until the silence."
Ten years separated the writing of The Stone Angel from the writing of The Diviners. They were also written on different continents. Laurence was living in England when she wrote The Stone Angel but she was back in Canada by the time The Diviners was written. I think there are significant differences between the two books. For one thing, The Stone Angel had Biblical underpinnings but I couldn't really detect anything like that in The Diviners. For another, the central character in The Diviners is a middle-aged woman with a still young daughter but Hagar Shipley in The Stone Angel was 90 years old and her surviving son is also quite old. Many people have called The Diviners Laurence's outstanding achievement. It certainly is a mature work and has become an exemplar of Laurence's ability as a writer.
Morag Gunn is a succesful writer living in a small rural area in Ontario. She grew up in Manawaka in Manitoba where she lived with Christie and Prin Logan who were no relation to her but who agreed to raise her when her own parents died of polio. Christie was the town garbage man and he was a veteran of the First World War. He had served with Morag's father and he credited her father with saving his life. Prin, his wife, was morbidly obese even when Morag came to live with them. There was not much money in the household and Morag was poorly dressed when she started school. Naturally she was the butt of many jokes and remained an outsider all the time she lived in Manawaka. In her class was a Metis boy, Jules Tonnerre, who was also an outsider. His family lived in shacks in the river valley and his father provided for Jules and his siblings by hunting and trapping. Perhaps it was inevitable that Morag and Jules would be drawn to each other but World War II intervened with Jules going off to fight. After the war Morag had saved enough money to go to college where she met, fell in love with and married one of her professors. Brooke Skelton takes a job in Toronto and Morag becomes a stay at home wife while trying to launch a writing career. She manages to write one book which is accepted for publication, something which drives a wedge between Morag and Brooke. Morag would like to have children but Brooke always says it is not the right time. Then Morag meets Jules on a street, invites him back to her and Brooke's apartment and Brooke is rude to Jules. Morag realizes she has to leave Brooke and goes off with Jules who she stays with for a few weeks before moving to Vancouver. Morag and Jules have sex and Morag tells Jules she doesn't want to take any precautions. After she gets to Vancouver Morag realizes she is pregnant. When her daughter is born she names her Piquette after Jules' sister who died during WWII when the Tonnerre shack caught on fire. Morag lets Jules know about Pique's birth but she raises Pique by herself. Morag starts to become more well-known as a writer and after some years she moves to England with, of course, Pique. Jules came to Vancouver once and stayed for a while with Morag so he has met Pique but, in reality, Pique does not have a father figure. When Morag has moved back to Canada and there could be an opportunity for a relationship it never happens until Pique leaves home at age 18. Then she tracks down Jules who supports himself by singing and playing guitar in small coffee shops. Pique is also a musician and Jules shares with her some of his own songs that tell about his family's history. In this way Pique becomes acquainted with her paternal heritage and she continues to explore that. Morag knows that she has to let Pique go her way as she had to do herself. At the end of the book Morag goes to look at the river which seems to flow both ways. "Look ahead into the past; and back into the future, until the silence."
Ten years separated the writing of The Stone Angel from the writing of The Diviners. They were also written on different continents. Laurence was living in England when she wrote The Stone Angel but she was back in Canada by the time The Diviners was written. I think there are significant differences between the two books. For one thing, The Stone Angel had Biblical underpinnings but I couldn't really detect anything like that in The Diviners. For another, the central character in The Diviners is a middle-aged woman with a still young daughter but Hagar Shipley in The Stone Angel was 90 years old and her surviving son is also quite old. Many people have called The Diviners Laurence's outstanding achievement. It certainly is a mature work and has become an exemplar of Laurence's ability as a writer.
Journal Entry 3 by gypsysmom at -- Bus Stop (See Notes For Details) -- in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada on Monday, July 1, 2019
Released 4 yrs ago (7/1/2019 UTC) at -- Bus Stop (See Notes For Details) -- in Winnipeg, Manitoba Canada
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
I left this book inside the shelter at St. Mary's Road and Frederick Avenue. This release is for the 2019 Canada Days release challenge which aims to distribute books written by Canadians or set in Canada into the wild. This book by Manitoba's own Margaret Laurence is the last of the Manawaka cycle which started with The Stone Angel.
When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.
When you find a BookCrossing book it is yours to do with what you like. You can read it and keep it or pass it on or if you don't think it is your kind of book pass it on to someone who might like it or release it in a spot for someone else to find like you just did. Whatever you choose it would be great if you could write a short note letting us know what new adventures the book is on.
