Skip to main content

CBC's 100 Best Canadian Novels ~ A Complicated Kindness by Miriam Toews


This a story about a 16-year-old girl living through the collapse of her family in a strict Mennonite community. Nomi's older sister leaves town. Nomi's mother leaves soon after. Her father is dealing with his own despair, leading to selling all their furniture and driving around all night and basically disappearing into himself. Nomi's despair exhibits through her rebellion against her community . . . drugs, drinking, quitting school and church.

Surprisingly this novel sounds just too sad to read but the author gives Nomi a voice that is brisk, biting and sardonic.  It really is a good read.


"One of the major themes in A Complicated Kindness is the practice of the ban, or shunning, common to Mennonite and related Christian communities. This form of excommunication is at the heart of what led to the breakup of the Nickel family. Originally a way to avoid bloodshed, the pacifist tactic of shunning is, as Miriam Toews’s title suggests, “a complicated kindness.” By excluding those who come into conflict with the community, shunning can destroy the relationship between neighbors and, as in the case of the Nickel family, cruelly divide family members." http://www.enotes.com/topics/complicated-kindness/themes

I recommend this book.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Week #2 Challenge: Paper . . . and I mean ALL of your paper.

Annual Organization Challenge Week #2   How did you make out with last week's challenge? Did you find your work table? Here's this week's challenge: Your challenge this week is to  S.P.A.C.E.  your paper - - and I mean ALL of your paper: cardstock, patterned paper, specialty papers, and all those SCRAPS! SORT:  Bring all of your paper to one area. Sort it all into piles: KEEP, SELL, DONATE, TRASH PURGE:  bag up, and assign a price to paper bundles that you want to SELL at a garage sale or online, and put the bags in the garage sale box. Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up the DONATE pile and immediately make arrangements for drop-off/pick-up or put  in your vehicle. ASSIGN:  separate your paper into categories that make sense to you. For example, you may want to divide it simply into cardstock and patterned paper. If you have a huge stash of paper, you may want to divide it by colour, theme, or manufacturer. **Another way to...

Journal Prompt ~ One Thing You Do Really Well

Name one thing you do really well . . .  One thing I do really well is solve crossword puzzles.

Craft Space Get Organized Challenge #2

How did you make out with last week's challenge? Did you find your work table?  Quite a few people sent me photos over Facebook and email.  Thanks so much!  I'm glad you are all enjoying playing along. Here's this week's challenge: Week #2 Challenge: Paper . . . and I mean ALL of your paper . Your challenge this week is to S.P.A.C.E. your paper - - and I mean ALL of your paper: cardstock, patterned paper, specialty papers, and all those SCRAPS! Step 1 SORT: Bring all of your paper to one area. Sort it all into piles: KEEP, SELL, DONATE, TRASH. Step 2 PURGE: bag up, and assign a price to paper bundles that you want to SELL at a garage sale or online, and put the bags in the garage sale box. Throw out the TRASH pile. Bag up the DONATE pile and immediately make arrangements for drop-off/pick-up or put in your vehicle. Step 3 ASSIGN: separate your paper into categories that make sense to you. For example, you may want to divide it simply into cardstock and patterned ...