- Paperback: 265 pages
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing PLC; New edition edition (30 Jun 1999)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0747544069
- ISBN-13: 978-0747544067
- Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.6 x 1.8 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 2,712,022 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
This novel is set in a small town in Canada, close to the US border, in the 1950s and 60s. The unsentimental narrator Thomas introduces an unusual group of characters: Edna MacMillan, Thomas' volatile Trinidadian grandmother; Katarina, his elusive mother; and, Henry, a black Chinese man.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
Format:Hardcover
I enjoyed reading this novel well enough. It flowed quite satisfactorily and built up a pleasant tension which seemed to promise a revelation at the end. Unfortunately, for me, the "punchline" was not insightful enough to reward the effort of reading the whole book.
The novel centres on the early life of Thomas, who has been abandoned by his mother and left with a grandmother who also abandons him, through death. The story is told by a forty-ish Thomas, who addresses it to a significant other who is not identified until the very end of the novel. An intriguing enough device, but at the end of the story one is left still wondering much about this person, and about what happened Thomas between the end of the phase of his life which he describes and point at which he started to describe it.
This "hole" ruined it for me really. Although the author seems to be making the point that the past can never be really regarded as finished I do think that he might have made a better job of finishing this novel!
The novel centres on the early life of Thomas, who has been abandoned by his mother and left with a grandmother who also abandons him, through death. The story is told by a forty-ish Thomas, who addresses it to a significant other who is not identified until the very end of the novel. An intriguing enough device, but at the end of the story one is left still wondering much about this person, and about what happened Thomas between the end of the phase of his life which he describes and point at which he started to describe it.
This "hole" ruined it for me really. Although the author seems to be making the point that the past can never be really regarded as finished I do think that he might have made a better job of finishing this novel!
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
Sparse and poignant
18 Jan 2001
Format:Paperback
Childhood by Andre Alexis McClelland & Stewart Inc. 1998
The story follows the life of Thomas MacMillan from early childhood until the death of his mother, Katerina, and Henry Wing, one of his mother's lovers. The main characters are superbly drawn while Thomas remains for us only a wispy image generated by his thoughts.
The love of Henry for Katerina is constant, undemanding and rises above the everyday demands of mere mortals. Katerina, on the other hand moves by her own light and one is never sure if she is capable of loving and one wonders too what has caused this strange disconnectedness.
There are wryly funny sections and clear bright narrative bits that draw the reader in. At the end one realizes that the story is touchingly sentimental while being questioningly honest. I liked the book but had a strange unsatisfied feeling when I was finished. I wanted to know more of Henry, Katerina and Thomas.
Adelightful first novel that weaves the past a present toget
31 May 1999
Format:Hardcover
I found this a very clever book , that weaves the past and present together . The remmbrance of an unusual childhood and how we come to perceive the world through many experienes, is revealed through snpshots of his life. I loved the use of poetry and almost magical quality the writer imparts to his rembering his childhood as an older person.
The narrative exists, but subtley.
19 May 1998
Format:Hardcover
Alexis presents a well crafted novel that meanders between the past and the present, the truth and illusion. His use of the French language, poetry and allusion is skilled, though at times intimidating. Overall, the honesty and maturity of the novel made for a very delightful, if too short, read.
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