Wednesday, November 6, 1991 — North Shore News - 23

A tale of salvation

Unknown Soldier. George Payerle. Macmillan. Price: Negotiable Probably for economic reasons,
Macmillan remaindered Unknown curry. It has much to offer any diner who
enjoys interesting and unusual dishes.”

OV. 11 ought to be the most important public Soldier within a year of its publica- .
N holiday in fhe calendar since it’s when we pause to oh They had upbeat products to North Shore News, July 17, °91
officially celebrate ‘‘the day peace broke out'’ oad vuch, vand who'd want to read EXPERIENCE IT!
and, for a whole 60 seconds out of the 68,200 in one day about an emotionally crippled old Brin in this ad for °
out of 365 days a year, remember the millions of human soldier from a war whose flesh and ONE FREE “DINNER ENTREE

lives iost in two world wars. blood sacrifice was already
atrophying into comfortably and When a second ines r sed tap oF “Si0.00). greater value

Paradoxically, there are never : . conveniently dead history? Not valid with any other promotional discount.
any anti-war or anti-nuclear mar- : You'll have to hunt around used Not valid with buffet. Maximum 2 coupons per dinner party.

chers in this quintessential peace tS #1 bookstores to find a copy, but | Valid to Nov. 30, 1991.
ik

parade; only annually dwindling Unknown Soldier will more than
ranks of aging men and women in repay the search.
blue berets and blazers whose t- tt will make you see those faces
medals, ribbons and i insignia speak 1; under the berets in. a more am- a.
a coded language most of us can- E : “¥.. iguous and troubling light; not as 7” Go tan” :
not read. hildren of th : os —— uniforms, not as abstract symbols + 2 Heconmended ‘Where to Eat in Canada” "89, ‘90, "91.
For the children of the post-war John Moore of a vague patriotism, but as real
baby-boom, listening to The Last humzn beings for whom having NORTH [NORTH VANCOUVER 684.9775
Post is like being in a church BOOK REVIEW survived the Holocaust often [weer SSS
where the congregation is singing proved a heavier cross to bear
a hymn you don’t know. hour of the eleventh day” of a than the temporary terror of batile
if wwe observe The Minute Of man’s life. or the silence of a nameless grave.
Silence at all, we'll probably go for :
cappuccino, brunch or a bit of
light shopping afterward.
. The last place we’re likely to
. head for is the bar at a Legion post
on its busiest day of the year,
packed with old warricrs reliving
past battles and mourning com-
trades who didn’t come back.
- One person who did venture in-
to those Legion bars more than
once a year and who did listen to
the beery ramblings of the
‘4orgotten soldiers’ is Vancouver
writer George Payerle.
Born in 1945, Payerle became
, obsessed by his discovery that
scores of men carry with them
the ghosts of a war that ended just
‘days before his birth.’
_ The result of that obsession was
a remarkable novel, Unknown
. Soldier, animated by its unforget-
table central character, Sam Col-
ister.
- Collister is one of those who
fought to make the world safe for a

social order increasingly at odds Ss >
ith the old-fashioned values that = - ae In Ae ki
sent hirn off to war in the first < me) ane

place.

vcrowelg eae he on We've put our full selection of in stock

parlor rounder; the guy who joins wallpapers and borders on sale. Every current in
your table uninvited, buys a round : . :
and ticks you off when you don’t : stock pattern IS priced at $7.99, $8.99, or $9.99

Saee ae Ment pone 7 per single roll, including many new arrivals.

On the face af it, Collister would =
be better: off if his bones were set . .
in cement under the Tomb of The y = Q
a © Unknown Soldier, which is :
a: precisely Payerle’s point. : :
When the novel was published : : .

in 1987, Beaiie y correct” crit-
ics were guick to slag it, citing . 40
Collister’s sexist attitudes and SINGLE SINGLE 2 SINGLE
BB anachronistic rage at a world that : os
MS had let him down.

‘Few ov them seemed to

recognize a painstakingly crafted a
portrait of'a real Second World : . Ps
War vet who had the misfortune “ i

Stress syndrome made beserk ,
Vielnam vets a stock character of fj ; SAVE EVEN MORE
Hy sree poaaced : CH A SELECTION |

- Fewer still recognized that

Unknown Solder contains ome OF SPECIAL BUYS me sui
ng done in this country since : AND CLOSEOUTS FROM < ieee aa
: ee :
WAN

Malcolm Lowry was tossing gin
bottles into’the Dollarton mud.

: Haunted by a grisly and incum-
‘prehensible act of love ina

“nameless Belgian battlefield, Col - IX " : en ——
ister is one of the legion whase . : —., “4
wounds are the worse for being wy lo ma a i
: irivisible and the revelation and 4 a
urgation of his pain is as ex- : a
Tuciating to witness as the a
emoval of a buin victim's ban- a HOURS:
‘dages. = 1629 Lonsdale Avenue Monday-Thursday: 7:30am-5:30pm

Unknown Soldier is ultimately a : ”
ovel of reconciliation, of salva- Across from SuperValu Friday: 7..s0am-9:00pm
Saturdzy. 9:00am-5:30pm

ion literally at “the eleventh i 2:
, - N. VANCOUVER 985-6815 Sundays & Hulidays: 10:00am-5:00pm