20 - Friday, July 15, 1988 - North Shore News

Two works by

contemporary greats

© Proud Empires
by Austin Clarke
¢ A Woman Run Mad
by John L'Heureux

BOOKS NOW has a double
treat this week: the latest
works by two of the most
accomplished novelists of
contemporary literature,
Austin Clarke and John
L’Heureux.

Clarke’s Proud Empires (Viking
Penguin; 224 pp.; $19.95 in hard-
cover) is a touching and enlighten-
ing story of a young man coming
of age in the midst of the political
tensions and machinations of
1950s Barbados.

The central character is known
simply as ‘‘Boy’’ to friends and
family, a bright adolescent vying
for the honor of a single scholar-
‘ship awarded annually to the
country’s top student.

Son of a poor fisherman, Boy is
an object of both pride and envy in
a village peopled with a richness
and diversity of characters who
seem almost too real to be confin-
ed to the written page.

It is through Boy’s eyes that the
reader experiences this strange
world of black Barbados; it is
through Clarke’s mastery of his
writing that the sights, sounds and
smells of this fictional stage
assume the feeling and texture of
reality.

While political patronage is
hardly unknown in Canada, the

“platancy of the practice in Boy’s
realm is‘astounding: daily. he
overhears his village’s adults
predicting the sudden reappearance
of valued foodstuffs on store .
shelves as the election approaches;
nightly, plots and shifting
allegiances occupy every conversa-
tion in the focal point of political
scheming, the Rum Shop. There
the principal characters weigh not
the merits of politicians and parties
but their largesse in rewarding the ©
faithful and their punishment of
non-supporters.

There are so many undercur-
rents, suggested but not overtly
stated, in Proud Empires; danger,
intrigue and the musky if elusive
sexuality of the village’s inhab-
itants flow in tendrils that insinu-
ate themselves into every facet of
the people’s lives.

Ambition, fear and desire are
the chief ingredients of a potage
which mires its makers in a seem-
ingly inescapable viscosity. Only
Boy has the ability and perhaps the
opportunity to break free of the

7

meniscus which enthralls those
around him,

A Woman Run Mad may be
John L’Heureux’s finest novel to
date. It is a tale of obsession and
madness, of the extremities of
love, hate and human folly.

MIKE
STEELE

book reviewer

Set in modern Boston, the story
opens with the pivotal character, a
writer by the name of Quinn,
observing an attractive woman
shoplifting a handbag from one of
the city’s finer stores. Intrigued, he
follows her home.

This is but the first of many
visits Quinn will pay to the resi-
dence, graduating from passive
observer to lover while he deceives

B.C. Best Sellers

FICTION
Figures in brackets indicate
last week’s position
1. (1) Icarus Agenda ....Ludium
2. (2) Zoya
3. (4) The King
of Murgos
4. (3) Rockstar
5. (6) The Last

6. (7) Prelude to
Foundation

7. (5) Memory Board

8. (-) Alaska

9, (9) Treasure .

tO. (-) Love in the Time
of Cholera

Mitchener
Kussler

NON-FICTION
1. (1) Brief History

. (2) Moonwalk
. (4) Art of the Deal... .Trump
. (5) Spilsbury’s

Coast ....White/Spiisbury
. (-) The Power of

y'
. (6) What’s Next...... Erdman
. (7) Light Hearted
Cookbook
. (8) Elizabeth Takes

Lindsay

As compiled by
United Communications Research

RUN
I JOHN |
CBEOREUY

his wife, Claire, into believing that
he is in fact researching a novel.
Quinn is no more successful at
concealing the truth than he is at
writing, and Claire inevitably
discovers the truth behind the
charade.

Quinn’s affair with the uninhib-
ited and sexually adventurous
Sarah does have a disquieting side
though: it seems that her instability
may have its roots in a murder
committed several years ago, a
murder that turned a former lover
into a (literally) castrated victim.

L’Heureux’s Quinn is an inter-
esting choice of character as the
novel’s protagonist: insecure, self-
ish and self-deluding, Quinn exhib-
its many of the weaknesses and in-
securities that are too often the
writer’s lot. One rather suspects
that L’Heureux has cbjectively
identified his and other writers’
flaws in fleshing out the unfaithful
Quinn, a man for whom one feels
not a shred of sympathy or liking.

There is a subtle shift of em-
phasis on the characters as the
story progresses. While initially
Quinn holds our attention and
Claire seems a weak and shadowy
creature, it is she who ultimately
emerges as the stronger of the two,
gaining in substance as Quinn
wanes, :

L'Heureux earns top marks for
A Woman Run Mad, constructing
a tight plot, highly believable
charactegs and a most shocking
and unexpected ending.

While earlier works have gained
a great deal of critical praise, it is
with A Woman Run Mad (Viking
Penguin; 258 pp.; $24.95 in hard-
cover) that the author has created |
a work which is not only technical-
ly good, but also of broad enough
appeal to enter the domain of
mainstream literature.

A

“ y - @
Entertainment
Friday and Saturday Nights

This Weekend
: the i
Terry Edmunds Band i
The Bistro at

(Fettaureat

457 Chadwick Court
North Vancouver
(Seabus Terminal)

987-4610

ARIES (March 21-April 20):
pred You’re quite active this
week, as countless demands

are made on your time and attention.
Work is at the centre of it.

TAURUS (April 21-May
we 20): Be ready to adjust
whatever isn’t working pro-

perly, whether it’s in your private life
or your work itself.

GEMINI (May 21-June 20):
TH Close ties and associations,
both at home and away from

home, have your absolute attention.

CANCER (June 21-July 22):
mies In order to enter into new
associations or new = ar-

rangements, you will first have to
stabilize home-related concerns, once
and for all.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22):

Your potential to increase

your income has you quite
fascinated. See to it that it doesn’t
dominate you completely now.

ae VIRGO (Aug. 23-Sept. 22):
A fresh approach will, in-
deed, open the door to a new

opportunity. However, you must
add financial balance to the package.

LIBRA (Sept. 23-Oct. 22):
rawad Allow yourself enough
leeway, so that you can ef-
fectively prepare the stage. Then,

give the performance of a lifetime by
midweek,

SCORPIO (Oct. 23-Nov.
Cie 22): After a variety of con-
cerns are out of the way,

you're ready to launch a new
endeavor by week’s end.

yy) SAGITTARIUS (Nov. 23
Dec. 21): Flexibility and
understanding help you this

week, especially if they are applied
to your general working environ-
ment. Secret calls come through.

CAPRICORN (Dec, 22-Jan.

19): Put your ideas and con-

cepts in order, taking your

usual] care with details. It’s the fine
oint that helps you now.

Ed AQUARIUS (Jan. 20-Feb.
18): Reconstruct a former
scheme or plan — and see if

it still applies. All it may now require

is a bit of updating.

war | PISCES (Feb. 19-March 20):
eam | You're able to come out
ahead of the game — if you

refuse to play a game. Have the facts
at hand and go from there.

All You Can Eat.

Pizza

Night

Yes, all the mouthwatering Boston Pizza you can eat!
Choose from our deluxe, pepperoni, or Hawaiian only.

S495

Mon. §- 10:00 pm

E

DA

Pasta Pizzazz
ight

N ig
A whole plate of fresh pasta for just $3.50 after 5:00 p.m.

$350

Tues. 5- 1:00 am

4

Our succulent ribs served with Garlic Toast and your
choice of spaghetti or Boston spuds. 2 for only

Thurs. 5-1:00 am

All offers dine in only. Not to be used with other promotional offers.

‘Remember, Beverage Specials Nightly’

,