Whitevale Reads

 Join our discussion on Saturday, March 2 at 7:30 PM at the WACC (Whitevale Arts and Culture Centre).

We invite you to read one or more of the five Canada Reads books shortlisted and attend the relaxed discussion, followed by a vote. There will be a draw for a $30 Indigo gift card.

The CBC discussion and vote will take place during the week of March 4 -7. Will our vote match the celebrities' vote? Will we chose the same book as a winner? We don't know ... but we know that we will have fun while participating to or listening to an animated discussion and enjoy some refreshments.

Here are the shortlisted books:

Canada Reads Link

Here are the clues for week One photos. Solutions will be given on Friday, July 21.
Send your answers to whitevaleacc@gmail.com

Have you started reading Nutshell yet?

If not, why not get a copy and start reading to be ready to share your comments at the friendly book discussion of September 16 at the WACC. It is a great read!

We are starting a Guessing Contest, asking you to match baby photos with their owners.
There will be baby photos published each week. They will be a mix of Whitevale residents and celebrities. If you wish to participate, send a digital version of one of you baby or childhood picture to whitevaleacc@gmail.com or drop an envelope with a photo labeled with your name in the side door slot of 470 Whitevale Road.

We'll draw each week from the right answers and the winner will win a $20 Indigo Chapters Gift Certificate.

Guess who are these famous people? Two men, two women. Two are Canadian, the two others American. Who are they?

Send your guesses to the WACC's email address: whitevaleacc@gmail.com 

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Told from a perspective unlike any other, Nutshell is a classic tale of murder and deceit from one of the world's master storytellers, Ian McEwan. The narrator is an embryo, the plot follows the plot of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. The first sentence set the tone: “So here I am, upside down in a woman. Arms patiently crossed, waiting, waiting and wondering who I’m in, what I’m in for.”

Trudy has betrayed her husband, John. She's still in the marital home, a dilapidated, priceless London townhouse, but John's not here. Instead, she's with his brother, the profoundly banal Claude, and the two of them have a plan. But there is a witness to their plot: the inquisitive, nine-month old resident of Trudy's womb. 

Join our Whitevale Reads’ discussion on Saturday, September 16 @7:30PM.

In the meantime, follow the Whitevale Reads Nutshell activities through the Hamlet Grapevine and on this blog waccmedia.blogspot.com

Check out the author's website

More about Michal Ondaatje

For some basic information on Michael Ondaatje's biography you can check this wikipedia link Michael Ondaatje and this British Council link Ondaatje

An excellent analysis of the book has been done by Jason, an Ondaatje enthusiast, on this youtube link Analysis of "In the Skin of a Lion"

And to get to know the author himself better, and hear his voice reading an excerpt from the book, check this link In The Skin Of A Lion

WHITEVALE READS: In The Skin Of The Lion (March- April 2017)

In the Skin of The Lion is set in the city of Toronto and surrounding rural areas during the years 1913 – 1938.

The novel brings to life the unsung and invisible manual labor that was instrumental in building the infrastructure of the city of Toronto, and landmarks such as the Bloor Street Bridge and the tunnel under Lake Ontario that now provides all of the water filtration for the city. The book stresses the contrast between the lives of the rich and the lives of the poor immigrant laborers, many of whom risked their lives in the dangerous work of building the the infrastructure of our city.

Some have argued that In the Skin of a Lion is a novel of Toronto in the same way that Tales of the City is of San Francisco or Devil in the White City is of Chicago. While the novel's main characters are deeply and skillfully described, the city of Toronto itself is just as well-developed and becomes another major character in the story.

"Then the new men arrive, the “electricals,” laying grids of wire acrosse the five arches, carrying the exotic three-bowl lights, and on October 18, 1918 it is completed. Lounging in mid-air. The bridge. The bridge. Christened “Prince Edward.” The Bloor Street Viaduct."

The book was published in 1987 and was a popular and critical success. It was Michael Ondaatje's second novel, prior to his "blockbuster", "The English Patient".

Recommendations for October 2016

Please drop in at the WACC to borrow these movies and books.
(WACC is open on Thursday 6-8PM, Sat 10-12 and Sunday 2-4PM)

Movies: 

Brigitte’s Suggestions: 

The Life of Others

Directed by Florian Henckel Von Donnersmarck

in German with English subtitles

This movie won the Oscar for Best Foreign Language Film 2006. It is a dramatic, spell binding movie. Before the collapse of the Berlin wall, the secret police of East Germany, the Stasi, was monitoring suspected opponents and intellectuals. A secret police agent ordered to bug and monitor a famous and charismatic playwright, witnesses a drama of love and betrayal and makes a life-changing decision. 

Take the time to slowly get into the charged atmosphere of this film, and you will be caught in this spell-binding and thought-provoking story.

In Bruges

Written and directed by Martin McDonagh

in English and French

As stated in the back of the DVD: “Colin Farrell and Ralph Fiennes star in this edgy, action-packed comedy, filled with thrilling chases, spectacular shoot outs and an explosive ending you won’t want to miss”. 

All I can say is that, although I dislike violent movies, this one is smart and funny with talented actors who play the sarcastic tone to the hilt. I loved it!

Bill and Ted’s excellent adventures

Directed by Stephen Herek

A classic silly teen movie where a young Keanu Reeves (Ted) plays a “ditzy dude” from San Simas, California, who ends up travelling through time with his buddy Bill to meet historical figures for their high school history presentation.

Zoolander (directed by Ben Stiller) and Dodgeball (directed by Rawson Marshall Thurber): 

Two big successes with Ben Stiller who plays a narcissic and ridiculous male model in Zoolander and an enthusiastic and ridiculous dodgeball player in Dodgeball. Both are somewhat crude but hilarious and have reached cult status.

Patricia’s Pick: 

Seducing Doctors Lewis  

This comedy is a Canadian Tale of a small village along the Quebec coast suffering the economic and social decline due to the vanishing fish stocks. A company looking for a suitable workforce to operate a new fish canning factory, informs the village that they need a permanent doctor in order to qualify.  The local residents work together to transform the village in order  to entice a doctor and so the movie goes along its way with wit and an ounce or two of innovation.  There are parallels here to Whitevale and the movie is reminiscent of Waking Ned Devine.  English Subtitles.

Books

Brigitte’s Suggestions:

Disgrace  by J. M. Coetzee

A dark story, harsh but compelling, (and short) written by Nobel prize winner J.M. Coetzee, which forces the readers to reflect and examine their assumptions on racism and on family relationships. Set in the violent and complex context of South Africa, the novel is centered around Professor David Lurie, who at 52, has to leave his job after an affair with one of his student. and subsequently reconnects with his daughter, Lucy. The violent incident they then experience brings the tension and sense of disgrace to a new level. I found their instinct to survive and resilience in front of their desperate situation fascinating and the skill of the author kept me wanting to read this dark and realistic tale to its last word.

Recommended by Brigitte 

The Imperfectionists by Tom Rachman

This book, made up of short stories linked together to form a coherent narrative, is a delight to read. It describes the intricate daily events in the  newsroom of an English language newspaper in Rome. Through the years, and through quirky slices of life snippets, we follow the fate of the journalists, editors and owner and the eventual demise of the newspaper, in the era of technology. The various characters are eccentric, but real at the same time. A fun and witty book!

Recommended by Brigitte

Betty’s Recommendation:

Beautiful Mystery  by Louise Penny (and any book by this author)

Louise Penny is a Canadian author of a series of mystery novels entered on the work of Chief Inspector Armand Ganache of the Sûreté du Québec. Her books are well-written, entertaining and thought provoking at the same time. This particular novel is set in a monastery, known for its world famous singing monk community. The choir director is murdered and Ganache and his colleague Beauvoir discover that the harmony of the place was just an appearance. A satisfying read and , according to the Globe and Mail, “a powerful literary novel in its own right”.

Don’s Disappointment:

On The Road   by Jack Kerouac

Over the 3 years from 1948 to 1951, Kerouac travelled with Neal Cassidy and a few  other friends. From the journals documenting this period, he wrote “On the Road” in 1951. The version of the book found on the WACC’s Shelf is based on the original scroll of tracing paper where he wrote his first draft. There is a long preface and the “novel” starts only on page 108.  Don found it a bit disappointing compared to his expectations from a previous reading a long time ago. But this is undoubtedly a must read, written by an iconoclast who has left his mark on Western Beat culture with his style of “spontaneous prose” and is thought to be the precursor of the hippie movement.