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codexqueen's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.25
eososray's review against another edition
4.0
I am a fan of convoluted, crazy, dense and confusing stories if they are done well. As in, with great characters and stellar writing.
This book is definitely all those things.
This book is definitely all those things.
julesdotmp3's review
adventurous
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
5.0
perhaps one of the greatest canadian novels of all time? lush and sweeping and detailed and funny with an incredible ear for dialogue. i will happily excuse the blatantly made up names on the muster roll. i'm only so sad it took me this long to finally read it!
lrogers287's review
4.0
I read a significant number of Richler's books in my 20's. I found I wanted to move into the worlds he created and meet these people - the ultimate testament of a good book. This was my favorite, though not by much.
jakebittle's review against another edition
Never been prouder to be a Jew of a Canadian descent.
al07734's review
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
All in all, it was a pretty entertaining read. The constantly switching perspectives (if you have the mental bandwidth) can be kind of fun but not enough for the unnecessary amounts of bigotry, hemophilia, racism, etc. that the characters say. Honestly it seems like Richler was told to write a "raunchy" novel so he filled it with characters saying as many slurs as possible.
If this was a movie it would not pass the Bechdel test. Even the "strongest" female characters had their biggest regrets about not keeping the man. However, the book was convoluted in a manner that was fun to read, and I genuinely really enjoyed it. This ended after the first instance of the n-word.
If this was a movie it would not pass the Bechdel test. Even the "strongest" female characters had their biggest regrets about not keeping the man. However, the book was convoluted in a manner that was fun to read, and I genuinely really enjoyed it. This ended after the first instance of the n-word.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexism, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Antisemitism, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, and Alcoholism
Uses the n-word casually and unnecessarilyjuliapappo's review against another edition
5.0
indeed, he was!
embroiling jewry into every major canadian historical event of the past 200 years (not to mention the international ones!) is pure chutzpah. it's this quality that makes mordecai richler so riotous and touching to me - in everything he wrote, he goes all in. the gurskys are larger than life, yet even in the final pages richler draws them back to montreal - to the family mansion in westmount, no less.
in the second grade, i was assigned to present to the class on any canadian province of my choosing. my dad is originally from montreal - my family left for toronto in the early 70s - so of course i had to pick quebec. for more than half my time in front of the class, all i could do was go on about mordecai richler. the jacob two-two tv show had recently taken over my life, and at home i would look up to find my dad's copy of barney's version on his bookshelf, listening as he would go on about how good the film adaptation of duddy kravitz was to me.
being jewish in toronto can at times feel like being a montreal jew, twice removed. the city looms large in the collective memory, both of my family and of canada itself - listening to stories of my dad growing up in snowdon, going to the cinema and the deli beside it, feels as definitive to me as reading richler's characters trudge up and down st. urbain. you know the exact spots to go, which bakeries have the best bagels, who attended which public school, and all the gossip of mcgill alumni, even if they are six hours away. the city has been idolized as a key originating point for so long that it feels intrinsic to canadian jewish identity, and seeing richler give the same treatment to the rest of the country and it's tales is an absolute delight.
gursky spans generations, and the points of genealogy can be hazy at best. but instead of seeming lackadaisical, it feels true to life. moses berger's unrelenting research to fill in the gaps of such an infuriating family is compounded by complications even further than the circumstances - rampant alcoholism, mysterious disappearances, and relationships so fragmented it's a wonder the whole mctavish enterprise can stay afloat. it's well deserving of its 540 pages - for all its cyclicity, revisionist history, and undeniable personality.
embroiling jewry into every major canadian historical event of the past 200 years (not to mention the international ones!) is pure chutzpah. it's this quality that makes mordecai richler so riotous and touching to me - in everything he wrote, he goes all in. the gurskys are larger than life, yet even in the final pages richler draws them back to montreal - to the family mansion in westmount, no less.
in the second grade, i was assigned to present to the class on any canadian province of my choosing. my dad is originally from montreal - my family left for toronto in the early 70s - so of course i had to pick quebec. for more than half my time in front of the class, all i could do was go on about mordecai richler. the jacob two-two tv show had recently taken over my life, and at home i would look up to find my dad's copy of barney's version on his bookshelf, listening as he would go on about how good the film adaptation of duddy kravitz was to me.
being jewish in toronto can at times feel like being a montreal jew, twice removed. the city looms large in the collective memory, both of my family and of canada itself - listening to stories of my dad growing up in snowdon, going to the cinema and the deli beside it, feels as definitive to me as reading richler's characters trudge up and down st. urbain. you know the exact spots to go, which bakeries have the best bagels, who attended which public school, and all the gossip of mcgill alumni, even if they are six hours away. the city has been idolized as a key originating point for so long that it feels intrinsic to canadian jewish identity, and seeing richler give the same treatment to the rest of the country and it's tales is an absolute delight.
gursky spans generations, and the points of genealogy can be hazy at best. but instead of seeming lackadaisical, it feels true to life. moses berger's unrelenting research to fill in the gaps of such an infuriating family is compounded by complications even further than the circumstances - rampant alcoholism, mysterious disappearances, and relationships so fragmented it's a wonder the whole mctavish enterprise can stay afloat. it's well deserving of its 540 pages - for all its cyclicity, revisionist history, and undeniable personality.
mwill's review
dark
funny
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
gracklefan's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0