Babble Book Club today 7:30pm EST: The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupre
Our newest selection The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupre comes courtesy of Sarah Kathryn York, a Torontonian author, and published by Coteau Books , an independent publisher out of Sasketchewan.
Quill and Quire give a positive review of the book stating:
York manages to convey more magic and wonder than sadness, using biographical and historical research to recreate the lives of marginalized people like ranch hands, retired fighters, and circus freaks. She portrays Edouard as gentle, shy, handsome, and multilingual, and more intelligent than contemporary journalists gave him credit for being.
and giving prominence to these fundamental questions York raises in her story:
What is the relationship between the body and the life lived? And why are we simultaneously attracted to and repulsed by people who are exceptionally different from us?
This looks like an interesting read with a lot of techinical writing elements to it as well! And, as discussed in the selections thread, I am considering the final discussion date of Tuesday September 25 7:30pm EST/4:30pm PST. How does that work for everyone?
Happy reading!
Ms. C picked up a copy for me last night. What a teeny-tiny book!
Really! Well that bodes well for all of us finishing it!
How many pages we talking here?
From Quill and Quire
interesting.
It seems like there will be a lot of intricate details written within this book that maybe don't necessarily move the plot, but accentuate the story nonetheless. A Tarantino or Paul Thomas Anderson movie of Canadian books.
It's teeny-tiny as in the physical dimensions. Smaller than a traditional paperback.
Ah.
Wonder if that has any significance?
I'll let you know when I start reading it.
Haha thanks Caissa!
I also feel less intimidated by the fact that you don't think 206 pages is "teeny tiny"
FREE BOOKS!
rabble.ca and Coteau Books are giving away two free copies of The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupre!
Respond to business[at]rabble[dot]ca with (1) the correct answer to the trivia question and (2) your complete Canadian address and you could win!
Our trivia question is: What was author Kevin Chong trying to parallel in his attempts to explore the nature of beauty and family in his novel Beauty Plus Pity?
Good Luck!
We still have one free copy of The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupre up for grabs!
Take a stab at the trivia question and respond to business@rabble.ca for a chance to win!
What was author Kevin Chong trying to parallel in his attempts to explore the nature of beauty and family in his novel Beauty Plus Pity?
Yay! Author Sarah Kathryn York will be joining us in the book lounge on Tuesday September 25 7:30 p.m. EST to discuss her novel The Anatomy of Edouard Beaupre!
Been doing some reading up on the Willow Bunch Giant aka Edouard Beaupre and apparently he lifted an 800lb horse. I'm skeptical, unless this man was secretly Pippi Longstockings that is.
My book has been delayed in arriving, so I haven't started yet, but I am interested to see how this book tackles the myth and the reality of Edouard Beaupre.
I finished it. Despite having voted for it, I don't think it is my favourite BBC selection.
That's fair Caissa.
What are some of the reasons it wasn't your favourite, or you perhaps didn't like it?
I just didn't find the plot as compelling as the other works of fiction we have read.
It was an okay read and I don't regret having read it.
What do you think would have improved the story for you?
I have not been able to start reading it because my copy is delayed in the mail unfortunately, but I have read that the author took the unsensationalized route of the narrative focusing more on the concept of what it means to be 'human' as opposed to focusing on the story of a giant. Is that true?
Grr, I am still waiting on my copy of this book. Looks like another power read is in my future.
Hey everyone, our discussion with author Sarah Kathryn York is coming up on this Tuesday 25 7:30pm EST! Hope everyone got a chance to read up and is excited to come to the discussion!
Sarah will be answering all your questions for one hour on Tuesday and is very excited!
If you are unable to make it on Tuesday, feel free to drop your questions in the thread or facebook group and we will make sure they get to Sarah on Tuesday!
See you then!
TODAY is our discussion with author Sarah Kathryn York who will be joining us at 7:30pm EST right here!
Sarah's tale of Edouard Beaupre weaves fiction and biography together to explore the humanity of this famed Canadian giant and his effect on those around him. Everyone is encouraged to ask their questions and leave comments for Sarah who will be here for one hour to provide the answers!
Looking forward to the conversation and hearing from everyone tonight!
Also, to gear up for the conversation, a quick video of Sarah Kathryn York discussing her novel as well as the research process that went into it and how english as a subject continues to evolve for her.
Interesting video.
The time is awkward for me today, since I will likely be commuting home or just about to start it, but I'd like to get in on the discussion action if I could. I'll check up on the goings on later!
The thing that most interested me about this book was the conceit of storytelling-as-anatomy. York draws this explicitly to our attention with the 206-bones/206-pages tidbit, and the chapter headings. I'd like to hear more about the connection between the body and the story that body tells. I like the idea of the tension between a body and the life inside it, but with "anatomy" figuring so prominently in the book, I feel like the story a body tells, particularly so fleshy a body as Eddie's, through its scars and sutures and tumours, to be critical to this novel. Especially since York herself is doing a kind of a literary autopsy with Edouard's corpse. Is writing a kind of anatomical detective work, or what?
I also like the points where the massive body of Edouard is missing -- one of the most emotional moments comes when his father is not allowed access to his son's body--yet his connection to Eddie is rarely stronger. On the contrary, it's Edouard's empty coat, empty bed and empty shoes, which have the largest impact.
@catchfire bummer the time is awkward -- time zones are so difficult to plan and accomodate!
Would love if you could pop by, but either way we will get those questions asked. Had a few similar ones myself and I bet a lot of others have overlapping ones too. Thanks for leaving your questions!
Give us an extra minute -- we're having technical difficulties!
Hi everyone, our techinical difficulties are being a bit strange, so what we are going to do for the moment until we can fix things, is I will relay the answers from sarah onto babble for you guys!
Sorry about the strange format for right now!
Okay so here we go makeshift style!
First off: thank you Sarah Kathryn York for joining us tonight!
Sarah:
Hi everyone. Thanks so much for inviting me to the club and for having me. I'm thrilled and appreciate your time and patience with this technical business!"
first question to get the ball rolling:
Why did you decide to tackle the story of the Willow Bunch Giant and create a fictionalized biography? What drew you to the story of Edouard Beaupre and presenting him as more than a pathological giant?
Hi Sarah!
Pleased that you could join us tonight! Welcome :)
Boo to technical difficulties! Great first question. I wondered the same thing the whole time I read.
Sarah:
Thanks, everyone.
I was taken by Edouard's story for a number of reasons, and I really wanted to shake up this constant narrative of him as a giant, as reductive in that way. I wanted to find out who he might have been, to get into his story, to discover what other narratives were out there.