59 - Friday, May 24, 1985 - North Shore News

MARRIOT

A NEW achievement for North Vancouver poet
Anne Marriott is an attractive book of short stories
A Long Way to Oregon published by Mosaic Press.

Two small figures fade into
the distance, almost lost in
the immensity of the land-

Representing the work of scape.
years, each of the stories has The first story gives the
been previously: published; book its title. “‘A Long Way
some have won prizes, and to Oregon’? was first
several have been read on published under the title
the CBC program An- ‘Stopover’. It is a saga of
thology. hardship, incest, guilt, and
The glossy cover, done in finally hope that is built up
impressionist style, is muted only to be cruelly destroyed.
shades of green and grey The descriptions are graphic:
with a hint of brown, is the ‘She caught the flesh in
work of Michel Chemiakine. handfuls, siuffed it inside

A MAN in black corners Sneaky Fitch in the Presentation
House production of The Death and Life of Sneaky Fitch.
The good folks of Gopher Gulch want to keep the code of
the West alive if that means the death of ‘‘that yellow-
bellied, lily-livered, good for nothing polecat,”’ Fitch. The
play runs May 23 through June . and reservations can be
made at 986-1351.

her greying old corset.’’ The
flashbacks are skillfully
worked into the thread of
the narrative. The ending is
undefined, but the unlikely
heroine of the tale somehow
rises above the hopelessness
of her situation.

As with some of her poet-
ty, Marriott’s story ‘‘The
Ride’? is told from the
perspective of a young girl
on a visit to the prairies dur-
ing the Depression. It is easy
to regard this story as the
author’s own perception of
the life of one prairie family.
The descriptions of ‘‘dry
drifts against the paintless
farmhouse, sagging barns

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and sheds’’ and the
“wind...slapping a loose
piece of siding against the
wall’ are familiar to people
who shared those experi-
ences. Once again we have a
woman trying to rise above
her environment, welcoming
visitors to a meal of
potatoes, bread, and onion
gravy, suffering the effects
of constant child-bearing but
still able to joke about
maybe getting to a doctor
and getting ‘‘fixed up as
good as new.”’ There is the
“extremely pretty’? but pa-
thetic daughter Rosella with
her tattered dress, her
strange relationship with her

poste

Changes

of scene
PAGE 61

‘tweasel-looking’’ father,
and her obsession with
painting over and over the
same rose wreath on tiny
tablets that resemble tomb-
stones. it is a glocmy story
but true to the time and
place.

“A Dream of Blood’’, the
winner of the Okanagan
award in Canadian Author
& Bookman, is a gem. A
troubled boy in a second-
rate boys’ school watches as
the actions of a sadistic
headmaster lead to a
tragedy. Blood seen by the
boy becomes part of a recur-
ring dream in which he sees
his father killed. The in-
teraction of the boys and the
adults is masterfully shown.
Marriott’s ear for dialogue is
apparent here as in all her
work,

Some of the tales feave
much to the reader’s imagi-
nation. I found the resolu-
tion of ‘‘Death of the Cat"
and “Mrs. Absalom’ the
most sati,factory. ‘On a

Join

All under one root.

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Local poet publishes second book

Sunday Afternoon’’,
although based on an actual
episode, ends in a flight of
fancy that strains the imagi-
nation.

Marriott is a master of
character delineation and of
description, whether of peo-
ple or places. She can make
a sympathetic character out
of someone without a single

attractive feature. These-

stories will make you think;
you will find yourself going
back to reread them and find
something new each time.

Besides Canada, A Long
Way to Oregon is being
distributed in the United
States, the United Kingdom,
Australia and New Zealand.
To quote from the cover,
“This volume will further
enhance Anne Marriott’s
considerable literary repuia-
tion as an important and in-
novative writer."’

The book is available in
local book stores and
libraries.

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of us. Vancouver City Savings Credit Union.

Contest ends May 31, 1985. .

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