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kappafrog's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I almost gave up on this book because I was so grossed out by all the hygiene and dental details early in the book. However, I'm glad I stuck with it. Baxter turned out to be a really endearing main character, and I liked getting to know him better. He was so sweet with Esme. I loved that he was interested in science fiction, and reading about his struggles due to his race and sexuality was really compelling. At first I thought the writing style was over-wrought, but once I got into the rhythm of it, it really worked with the hallucinatory journey Baxter was on. I loved the ending too.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Racism, Homophobia, Medical content, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death of parent, Body horror, Grief, Hate crime, and Racial slurs
Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Suicide, and Blood
paronomaniac's review against another edition
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Homophobia, and Sexual content
annemaries_shelves's review against another edition
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
What an absolutely beautiful book!
I fell in love with Mayr's writing and her characters. The way she plays with words and evokes imagery is something I haven't come across in a while (if ever, considering all the nuances to an author's writing) and I was utterly delighted.
Baxter is such a memorable character, and I wanted to stay in his head for longer than 210 pages (likely because it's my preferred limited third person and not first person POV). His sense of humour, obsession with dentistry, friendliness with Esme (a 4/5yo insomniac grieving the loss of her mother), his bookish habits (same), etc. made for such a fascinating person.
While I had some understanding of what life might have been like for Black and queer folks in the 1920s, I didn't fully appreciate how that intersected with the absolutely appalling/ridiculous work conditions. Even people with more privileges had a rough go of it with the limited labour laws and protections we now enjoy today. Porters had to pay for any stolen linens etc. They earned demerit points and could be fired easily based on the word of passengers who had no sense of reality or compassion. I found the experiences Baxter had as a closeted gay Black immigrant man were starkly and effectively contrasted against various passengers and colleagues he had. Speaking of the passengers, some of them were just ugh awful - but all of them felt like people you'd meet today, almost 100 years later.
My one critique is I wish the 'train stuck on the tracks for several days' plot point (mentioned in the summary on the back of the book) was longer. I kept waiting for it, and it really only happened in the last 50ish pages of the book. I think we could have had an extra 20 pages to expand this section and arrive at the ending (which I liked overall - it wasn't traumatic or too fairytale ending happy either).
Overall, I absolutely recommend this book - it won the Giller for a reason. And I savoured the first 120 pages (reading it over many days in bits and pieces) and marathoned the last 90 pages in one sitting. Both methods are a great way to consume this book, but if I had to recommend one method, it would be to read it in larger chunks. I think you will feel more immersed in the setting and Baxter's POV that way.
I fell in love with Mayr's writing and her characters. The way she plays with words and evokes imagery is something I haven't come across in a while (if ever, considering all the nuances to an author's writing) and I was utterly delighted.
Baxter is such a memorable character, and I wanted to stay in his head for longer than 210 pages (likely because it's my preferred limited third person and not first person POV). His sense of humour, obsession with dentistry, friendliness with Esme (a 4/5yo insomniac grieving the loss of her mother), his bookish habits (same), etc. made for such a fascinating person.
While I had some understanding of what life might have been like for Black and queer folks in the 1920s, I didn't fully appreciate how that intersected with the absolutely appalling/ridiculous work conditions. Even people with more privileges had a rough go of it with the limited labour laws and protections we now enjoy today. Porters had to pay for any stolen linens etc. They earned demerit points and could be fired easily based on the word of passengers who had no sense of reality or compassion. I found the experiences Baxter had as a closeted gay Black immigrant man were starkly and effectively contrasted against various passengers and colleagues he had. Speaking of the passengers, some of them were just ugh awful - but all of them felt like people you'd meet today, almost 100 years later.
My one critique is I wish the 'train stuck on the tracks for several days' plot point (mentioned in the summary on the back of the book) was longer. I kept waiting for it, and it really only happened in the last 50ish pages of the book. I think we could have had an extra 20 pages to expand this section and arrive at the ending (which I liked overall - it wasn't traumatic or too fairytale ending happy either).
Overall, I absolutely recommend this book - it won the Giller for a reason. And I savoured the first 120 pages (reading it over many days in bits and pieces) and marathoned the last 90 pages in one sitting. Both methods are a great way to consume this book, but if I had to recommend one method, it would be to read it in larger chunks. I think you will feel more immersed in the setting and Baxter's POV that way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Classism, and Homophobia
choicepotatoes_yetagain's review against another edition
reflective
slow-paced
3.5
3.50 - enjoyable
---
you should absolutely judge this book by its cover
you should absolutely judge this book by its cover
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism
Minor: Grief, Vomit, and Homophobia
serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
The Sleeping Car Porter takes us across Canada, from Montreal to Vancouver, over the course of four days, with Baxter, a Black man who wants to become a dentist and is working as a sleeping car porter in order to save enough money to fund his studies. The trip is eventful, with a mudslide trapping the train in the mountains for a time, making the journey much longer than expected.
The writing was really effective in immersing the reader in Baxter’s world. I loved the way it highlighted the difference between the public and the private. The public and professional way Baxter responded to the passengers contrasted with his honest and often unflattering thoughts and opinions about them, while the public parts of the train which the passengers enjoyed juxtaposed with the behind the scenes view of places like the linen closet and the porter’s dining and sleeping areas which were considerably less glamorous. I also enjoyed the way Mayr let the passengers’ conversations and actions reveal their true characters and the way in which Baxter observed more than the passengers may have been aware of and thus knew things about them they may wish he didn’t.
Mayr captured the challenges of Baxter’s working life brilliantly, particularly the exhaustion suffered by being constantly on call, the hallucinations which resulted, and the subservient and demeaning way he was treated by many of the passengers who seemed to think he was beneath them and not worthy of basic civility, doubtless a result of both class and race. The difficulty of remaining polite yet the necessity of doing so in order to earn essential tips as well as retain his job also stood out.
The company treated its porters in a very punitive manner, exacerbating already challenging working conditions - fining them for items stolen by passengers, giving them demerit points based on customer complaints, seemingly with no investigation or right of reply, which would lead to dismissal once a certain number were accrued and spying on them via spotters. Reading this was a salutary lesson on problematic workplaces and the necessity of unions. As an employee Baxter was very vulnerable and this came through strongly. It would take just one passenger to upend his dreams.
Baxter’s identity as a closeted gay man made him extra vulnerable. Flashbacks to an incident from his past showcased the real world consequences of his sexuality, while on the train some passengers, possibly unknowingly possibly just thoughtlessly and carelessly, placed him in situations that were extra risky for him because of his sexuality.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Mayr did a great job depicting the everyday working reality of a man on the margins of Canadian society and immersing the reader in that world.
The writing was really effective in immersing the reader in Baxter’s world. I loved the way it highlighted the difference between the public and the private. The public and professional way Baxter responded to the passengers contrasted with his honest and often unflattering thoughts and opinions about them, while the public parts of the train which the passengers enjoyed juxtaposed with the behind the scenes view of places like the linen closet and the porter’s dining and sleeping areas which were considerably less glamorous. I also enjoyed the way Mayr let the passengers’ conversations and actions reveal their true characters and the way in which Baxter observed more than the passengers may have been aware of and thus knew things about them they may wish he didn’t.
Mayr captured the challenges of Baxter’s working life brilliantly, particularly the exhaustion suffered by being constantly on call, the hallucinations which resulted, and the subservient and demeaning way he was treated by many of the passengers who seemed to think he was beneath them and not worthy of basic civility, doubtless a result of both class and race. The difficulty of remaining polite yet the necessity of doing so in order to earn essential tips as well as retain his job also stood out.
The company treated its porters in a very punitive manner, exacerbating already challenging working conditions - fining them for items stolen by passengers, giving them demerit points based on customer complaints, seemingly with no investigation or right of reply, which would lead to dismissal once a certain number were accrued and spying on them via spotters. Reading this was a salutary lesson on problematic workplaces and the necessity of unions. As an employee Baxter was very vulnerable and this came through strongly. It would take just one passenger to upend his dreams.
Baxter’s identity as a closeted gay man made him extra vulnerable. Flashbacks to an incident from his past showcased the real world consequences of his sexuality, while on the train some passengers, possibly unknowingly possibly just thoughtlessly and carelessly, placed him in situations that were extra risky for him because of his sexuality.
Overall I really enjoyed this book. Mayr did a great job depicting the everyday working reality of a man on the margins of Canadian society and immersing the reader in that world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Racism, and Classism
clemrain's review against another edition
emotional
informative
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Sexual content, Homophobia, and Racism
Moderate: Violence, Torture, Grief, Alcohol, Medical content, Death, and Emotional abuse
Minor: Alcoholism and Death of parent
bookishplantmom's review against another edition
informative
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I really enjoyed this novel. The story comes together through a series of vignettes, accumulating over a few days as the train makes its way across the country. I thought having the story unfold in this way was compelling. Baxter is a great MC and seeing his mental state shift progressively as the run goes was engaging. I felt for him and wanted him to reach his goal. I thought the book offered a very important perspective on the realities of railway porters and the intricacies they had to navigate given the social context of de facto segregation and racism in Canada at the time. A great book!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism and Homophobia
agnesg's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Homophobia, and Racism
jenn_reads's review against another edition
I didn't like the editing/format style of dialogue, it was really hard to follow and keep up with who was speaking. (Dashes at the start of a line instead of quotation marks)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism and Racism
Moderate: Homophobia
Teethspec_tacles's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Homophobia and Outing