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Winner of Governor-General’s award for fiction

HIS 1S not a beak; this
is a monument.

A stone diary that stands
for everything that a life was ~—
and was not. What Carol Shields
achieves in this novel is a sort of
apocalyptic rnundaneness, if you
can imagine.

The Stone Diaries is an account
of one woman's life, Daisy Good-
will, from the moment of her ig-
nominious birth to her death.
Throughout, Shields’ writing has

*the permanence and terseness of a
tombstone inscription.
‘She is incapable of writing a bad

* sentence.

The opening chapter could
almost stand on its own as a com-
prehensive account of Daisy's

~ mother’s short life, as mutely self-
contained as her own daughter's.
“The witness to Mercy Goodwill’s

Barbara Black
BOOK REVIEW

same time detachedly as Sheilds
explores the limitations of biogra-
phy and autohiography.

The point we arrive at is: the
overall account of someone's per-
sonal life may not amount to poet-
ry, but the living of it is, As Shields
says, ‘When we think of the past
we tend to assume that people

were simpler in their functions,

went before us were every bit as
wayward and unaccountable and
unsteady in their longings...”

In the end, Daisy's life is not
reducible to some lofty eulogy,
nor to her collected recipes. Her
life takes on different meanings
when viewed from different peo-
ple’s perspectives,

Even for Daisy herself, there are
moments of clarity and moments
of obscurity, That is the story.

Beautifully written, but heavy,
like the stone in the first chapter
which weighs down Mercy
Goodwill’s pudding.

But it is a heaviness with
substance, a high-grade rnarble.
Ignore the comment on the back
cover that likens Shields to
Margaret Atwood,

There is more warmth and hu-
manity here. Shields’ writing can
stand on its own. That's why she

1315 Powell Street Vancouver

ys

as)

_ untimely death stands dumb-
---founded in her kitchen, looking at
~~ her huge, lifeless shape. '
“. Shields writes, “The mysteries,
‘. secrets, and lies of their separate
“ tives dance like atoms across a
_- magnetic field so that the room,

__ this simple low-ceilinged country
‘kitchen, is charged with the same
kind of vibrancy that recedes a

cyclone.” bo
“ Unhappily, Daisy's birth coin-
cides with her mother’s death, and
_ She will live her life not as a real
“orphan, but a spiritual one. As she
“lies, a tiny bundle on the kitchen
a table, ‘she perceives her mother for
“ ‘both'the first and last time: “...
however hard I try | can be sure of
".‘nathing else in the world but this
the fact of her final breath, the
_ > .merest trace.of it lingering in the
“room like snow or sunlight, burn-
“> ing, freezing against my sealed
“:-yelids and saying: open, open.”
oy Daisy’s life then unfalds, but
‘with it an underlying feeling of
terrible inauthenticity.” We
- view her life.from the first and
“third person, intimately, but at the

Good place to”
~ take in a game
“From page 34°

freshly shredded Romano cheese. . ~ a aT : SRA TIS OTT ; LETTE a
The chicken strips were lessim- | Ua ae : ee Nt a ery ‘ WIBLE: ."
: pressive. They were coated in an pa ae S* ae 3 :
, overly peppery breading. The ac-
“ companying sauce was advertised
as spicy, but was bland.
My steak and mushroom pie,
«,~ served with an interesting spring
” greens salad, had several thick
chunks of steak between its crust 4
and went well with the Beck beer. ice eaters
“The non-alcoholic beverages ape ety
served at Lifestyles are pretty con-
vincing substitutes, but they do not
.~ have the complexity and custom-
vary afterburn of their alcoholic
counterparts.
_ They also do not pack the cus-
-tomary caloric wallop (two-thirds
less calories than alcoholic drinks)
“and morning-after side effects.

The Ariel Cabernet retained

some oak overtones, but had no
’ finish — basically grape juice with,
as the hepcats say, attitude.

We sampled Lifestyles soon after
it opened, so it had that hesitant
new-restaurant feel to it.

Staff were extremely pleasant
and attentive but tentative and
stiff, and the bar's atmosphere is ©
markedly different from that of a
regulation bar. Like the beverages
served, the edges are softer and

- more pleasant, the impact less un- ree
predictable. at RISTMAS

Lifestyles features clear heads SLIGHTS
and clean living. Onwards into the :
"90s.

received this year’s Governor-
General's award for English-
language fiction.

and shaped by forces that were
primary and irreducible. ... But
none of this is true. Those who

pint

Bundle up the entire family, .. . friends and neighbors ... pick a favorite night and join in the
revelry as residents and visitors alike marvel at the CAROL SHIP OF LIGHTS.
Festivities can include a variety of entertainment and visual experiences ranging from choirs
and carollers singing traditional holiday songs, to street entertainment; from the lighting of

Christmas trees and candles, flashiights and bonfires.

Atall iocations, donations of new toys and food are gratefully accepted on behalf of the.
North Vancouver Christmas Bureau and the West Vancouver Santa Claus Fund.

Presented by
The City of North Vancouver, The District of North Vancouver and
the District Parks Department, '
The District of West Vancouver, North Vancouver Recreation Commission,

Ambleside Tiddlycove Lions Club
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PEPPYs
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