The sunny days are perfect for relaxing, but there’s no need to put your brain on vacation. Here are four suggestions from our columnists for entertaining and thinking in the sun, one theme at a time. This week, childhood.
Young man
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Young manby Karl Ove Knausgaard
Young Karl Ove playing in a vacant lot. Waiting for the bus with his friend Geir. Dancing a slow with Anne Lisbet. Some might say that not much happens in this novel by Norwegian author Karl Ove Knausgaard. I see it more as an account of the abundant details of childhood written with a manic precision that is dizzying. This book is the third of six volumes that make up Knausgaard’s autobiography entitled My battle. You either love or hate this unique literary project that delves into the life of a man with hyper-realism. For my part, I consumed these books like a hard drug, hypnotized by the author’s evocative power.
Philippe Mercure, The Press
Young manby Karl Ove Knausgaard, Gallimard editions (pocketbook), 542 pages
A summer without a point or a hit
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Pier-Luc Funk in A summer without a point or a hitby Francis Leclerc
The film A summer without a point or a hitby Francis Leclerc, inspired by the novel of the same name by Marc Robitaille. The story takes place in the summer of 1969, the summer of the first moon landing, the Woodstock festival and the arrival of the Expos in Montreal. “These days, everything is becoming modern. The old days are over. My mother is changing. My father spends his time not changing,” remarks the central character, a young baseball player played by Pier-Luc Funk. A funny, human and intelligent look at the joys and challenges of adolescence. Watch with a box of Cracker Jack.
Alexander Pratt, The Press
A summer without a point or a hitby Francis Leclerc, starring Patrice Robitaille and Pier-Luc Funk. Available for rental and purchase (e.g.: AppleTV).
Where I hide
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Where I hideby Caroline Dawson
I am one of the many fans in mourning for Caroline Dawson, who left us on May 19th. I was touched by her words, her look, her voice, her way of placing herself, in life, in death, on the side of the humiliated. In Where I hide (Remue-ménage), a fabulous first novel, which is unfortunately also the last, she tells without evasion, at the height of a child, the life of a refugee family in Quebec. At a time when the foreigner is too often a statistic or a scapegoat, this is an essential work by an unforgettable author.
Rima Elkouri, The Press
Where I hideby Caroline Dawson, Remue-ménage editions, 208 pages
The little astronaut
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The little astronautby Jean-Paul Eid
“Memories, no matter how hard we try to hold on to them, they always end up slipping through our fingers.” Faces blur, eyes become blurred. So, once a year, Juliette returns to her childhood neighborhood in Montreal. “So that her face doesn’t fade.” That of her little brother, Tom. Poignant, but never miserable, the comic strip The little astronautby Jean-Paul Eid, is an ode to life, that of a different child. Major Tom, this little astronaut who never really managed to touch earth. Even without the author’s sublime drawings, the podcast version, offered on Ohdio, touches the heart. A masterpiece.
Isabelle Hachey, The Press
The little astronautby Jean-Paul Eid, Pastèque editions, 156 pages
Listen to the audio version of the comic strip The little astronaut