Spit Delaney's Island: Selected Stories (New Canadian Library)

By Jack Hodgins

Book Overview

Jack Hodgins' first book, published originally in 1976, is once again in print -- in a new edition. Winner of the Eaton's Book Prize and nominated for the Governor General's Award, Spit Delaney's Island, a collection of short stories, put Vancouver Island on the map as a Canadian literary locale and set Hodgins off on his literary career. Often compared to Faulkner's fiction of the deep South, Hodgins' stories develop through people who seem to live at the edge of the world, always in danger of falling off that edge. There is Spit himself, the keeper of a steam locomotive that has been exiled to Ottawa for display; there are loggers, country wives, bookstore owners, and people who "live up the mountain" in isolated communes. Hodgins' prose brings Vancouver Island to life in its touch, its taste and the sound of its dialects -- a determinedly real world. At the same time he imbues his people with a sense that there is something more that they cannot see but which they sense and strive towards -- a mystery or even magic that they can almost touch but which remains forever elusive.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1553801113
• ISBN13: 9781553801115
• Release Date: February 2011
• Publisher: Ronsdale Press
• Length: 200 Pages
• Weight: 0.70 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.0" x 8.9"

Customer Reviews

Jack Hodgins' Island

Okay, first off, I stole the title of my review. It was the title of a piece that Canada's National Film Board made about Jack Hodgins and his work, particularly Spit Delaney's Island. One of the most important measures of a book is whether you understand and care about the characters. By the time you finish Spit Delaney's Island, you will feel like you know the folks who inhabit the stories, and you will be saddened by their tragedies and overjoyed by their triumphs. Hodgins peoples his stories with characters that could have come from your own life, or at least that you will wish did.The stories in this volume, and indeed much of Hodgins' work, are set on the section of Vancouver Island where the author grew up. Their stories rise organically through Hodgins clear, exquisite prose. These are not loud stories, but they resonate with the strength of precise observation and the wonderful talent to tell a tale in which the reader cannot help but empathize with and indeed root for the characters.If you enjoy this book, you should also check out the Barclay Family Theatre, and selection of stories by Hodgins.