Looking Back - As For Me and My House

Looking Back... In an effort to transfer my book journal entries over to this blog, I'm going to attempt to post (in chronological order) an entry every Friday. I may or may not add extra commentary to what I jotted down in these journals.

As For Me and My House by Sinclair Ross
Fiction
1977 New Canadian Library (First published in 1941)
Finished in March 1997
Rating: 2/5 (Fair)

Publisher's Blurb:

“It’s an immense night out there, wheeling and windy. The lights on the street and in the houses against the black wetness, little unilluminating glints that might be painted on it. The town seems huddled together, cowering on a high tiny perch, afraid to move lest it topple into the wind.”

The town is Horizon, the setting of Sinclair Ross’ brilliant classic study of life in the Depression era. Hailed by critics as one of Canada’s great novels, As For Me and My House takes the form of a journal. The unnamed diarist, one of the most complex and arresting characters in contemporary fiction, explores the bittersweet nature of human relationships, of the unspoken bonds that tie people together, and the undercurrents of feeling that often tear them apart. Her chronicle creates an intense atmosphere, rich with observed detail and natural imagery.

As For Me and My House is a landmark work. It is essential reading for anyone who seeks to understand the scope and power of the Canadian novel.


My Original Notes (1997):

Interesting book. I didn't love it, but I didn't hate it either. Very depressing. Set in Horizon, a small prairie town in Saskatchewan. 1930s. Diary form by Mrs. Bentley (no first name!) who is married to Philip Bentley, a minister. Philip is a frustrated artist. Mrs. Bentley is a talented pianist. Self-destroying passion for her husband.

• False-fronted town
• Wind-ravaged prairie
• Mirrors
• Garden (dying) 
• Philip = God ("creator")

My Current Thoughts:

I only have a vague recollection of this book. I do remember that it was depressing and since I no longer own the book, I doubt I'll ever read it again. Have you heard of this book or author? Here's a little bit about him, as noted on Wikipedia:

Ross was born on a homestead near Shellbrook, Saskatchewan. When he was seven, his parents separated, and he lived with his mother on a number of different farms during his childhood, going to school in Indian Head, Saskatchewan. He left school after Grade 11 and in 1924 the sixteen-year-old Ross joined the Union Bank of Canada which became part of the Royal Bank of Canada a year later. At first he worked in a number of small towns in Saskatchewan then moved to Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1933 and Montreal, Quebec in 1946, after spending four years in the Canadian Army during World War II. He would remain with the Royal Bank until his retirement in 1968, after which he spent some time in Spain and Greece before moving to a nursing home in Vancouver, British Columbia, where he lived until his death.

As For Me and My House, set in an isolated town in the Prairies during the Great Depression, was published in 1941. At first not much noticed, it went on to become a Canadian literary classic which set the precedent for the genre of Canadian prairie fiction. He wrote three more novels during his lifetime as well as a few anthologies of short stories, none of which became as well known as his first novel. He is known to have destroyed manuscripts of novels that his publisher rejected, including a sequel to Sawbones Memorial.