Reviews

Pastoral by André Alexis

queenstaves's review against another edition

Excellent prose. Not for me. 

neeuqdrazil's review against another edition

3.0

This is very much what it says on the tin - a pastoral novel, in multiple senses of the word.

It's structured based on Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony. It's pastoral (having to do with the country) literature. And it's about a priest, and his pastoral (caring for his parish) duties.

It was delightful, and difficult, and the characters were not really big full of life characters, but sketches, used to make points. And that's exactly what their purposes in the novel is.

coslyn's review against another edition

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Terrifyingly close read into my own struggles and reflections regarding Faith, God and the Land we inhabit.

steller0707's review against another edition

medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

libraryadvokate's review against another edition

funny mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

vishmili's review against another edition

3.0

A fine little story filled with too many threads but in the end, Alexis did a well enough job in its closing pages to remind me of the poetic quality contained therein. Mostly though, the book felt shallow, as if told from afar, the characters mere names on a page and the story's strange details and choices weirdly ridiculous - but overall still mundane. I think Alexis succeeds stylistically (in pace and descriptive prose) but ultimately fails at plot and characterization. This book is dim compared to Fifteen Dogs, but at least was much better than The Ring. Alexis should keep to narratives about animals, not people.

karenchase's review against another edition

4.0

This is a really lovely book. I can't remember how I found it -- I think it was a series of links from other books, probably here on Goodreads. I know I had to order it to my local library, since they had all the other volumes in the series, but not this one, which is the first. I thought it sounded like a neat little story, and it is, but I realized after I wrote it, by skimming a few reviews and stuff, that it was conceived in the style of the pastoral (that's not just the title), and I had to look up what that meant. According to wikipedia, it "places the complex life in a simple one." And it also involves spirituality, the spiritual quest, and sheep. This book has all of that. It follows Father Pennant, a newcomer to the priesthood and to the small rural Ontario town of Barrow, and Liz Denny, who has lived in Barrow most of her life. Father Pennant becomes fast friends with the caretaker of his vicarage, Lowther, who exposes the priest to miracles that are designed to test his faith and help Lowther determine whether Pennant is an appropriate shepherd for Lowther's impending death. Liz Denny seeks out Father Pennant's guidance when she must decide whether to go through with marrying her longtime sweetheart, who is openly seeing another woman, and can't understand why neither woman wants to share him. That's pretty much all that happens in this book, but the themes of faith, love, and determinism run deep, and provoke thought, without getting bogged down in a lot of conflict or theology. It is apparently the start of a series that approaches stories within specific genres (I think the next one, Fifteen Dogs, is what twigged me to the series, as it is based in Greek mythology, which is a subgenre that I've been steeped in lately), but do not share any throughlines. I fully intend to carry on.

lezreadalot's review against another edition

4.0

Of course, it’s wonderful to contemplate Nature, but without the miraculous the earth is only a coffin.

  
I do think I need to revise my list of things I don't like in fiction/writing. I always go on about how much I dislike omniscient POV, and I really truly do, but something about the way it's employed in literary fiction and classics just always works for me. I would be tempted to say it's because there's no abrupt head-hopping (the thing I hate most) but that's not always true! This was such a well-crafted piece of fiction. Went into it completely blind, as is my wont, and even though it ticked almost none of my usual boxes, I really enjoyed it. We're following a pastor who has just moved to a small town, the relationships he builds with some of his parishioners (including the caretaker at the parish and a young woman in an unwilling love triangle) and the strange events that take place around him. Or are they miracles? I loved the descriptions of the land, the beauty of the landscape, the pastoral. Very interesting writing, the way we'd flow from character to character. It has a magical realism sorta vibe without ever really going there? I love when books get weird, and this does, in a really particular way. It's very thoughtful and slow, but I felt engaged the entire time. I don't particularly like reading about religious characters, but this was sublime. And I loved Lowther so much; I want to travel back to uni days and write an essay about him.

Listened to the audiobook as read by the author; enjoyed it a lot. I'll definitely be reading more from Alexis. Even though I wanted a little more from the ending of this, wanted it to go a bit longer, I just adored the craft and the writing and the style. Super interesting.

Comfort came from the continuity of submission. Kneeling, praying, he was himself at his most open and at his most genuinely human: ignorant, hopeful, humble in the face of the unknown.

aidanhailes's review against another edition

3.0

Even with the caveat that it was a stylistic exploration, this was the most Canlit thing I've read in a long time. And boy, I just couldn't.

lllois1's review against another edition

adventurous funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0