| Lancette Arts Journal Founded in 2000 |
Book Reviews From our Archives |
August 2005 |
The Vancouver Stories - West Coast Fiction from Canada's
Best Writers with an introduction by Douglas Coupland,
Raincoast Books,
338 pages, paperback, $24.95, ISBN 1-55192-795-0
By Alidė Kohlhaas
The Vancouver Stories - West Coast Fiction from Canada's Best Writers is an easy-to-read, sometimes quirky book of short stories. It opens with a piece by poet and writer Pauline Johnson (1861-1913), followed by Ethel Wilson (1888-1980), and Malcolm Lowry (1909-57) before it swings into the stories of more contemporary writers. The book's introduction is by Douglas Coupland. He, more than anyone else, has spun an image of Vancouver as a laid-back place that doesn't have much in common with the rest of the country to the point that its citizens have become to believe in it. Of course, Coupland also has one of his stories featured in the collection.
I picked this book as a reading choice for two reasons: 1. Vancouver was once home, and still is for much of my family, and 2. because I just spent a few weeks there getting re-acquainted with the place, where I found myself in a totally alien atmosphere.
Many of the stories reflect the curious mindset that inhabits the locals. You can feel it while walking along the streets of downtown Vancouver and through the West End, the defining places of the city. There truly is this belief in the minds of its inhabitants, and those living . . .
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