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May 2010: Karen Joy Fowler: Sarah Canary
- Thread starter Libra
- Start date
joderu95
New Member
Okay, so I nominated the book as a sly way of sneaking, what I thought was some of my favorite genre material, into the, otherwise more literature based, Book of the Month section. I had read that Sarah Canary was a really good example of a science fiction first contact novel and I had recently read some good short fiction by the author so I thought I'd give it a try. Although the title character is mysterious and she could very well be an alien I suppose, there wasn't anything more explicit to get me thinking along those lines. She never, for example, used extraordinary healing powers to save the dying, warned of an impending catastrophe or abducted some poor soul for testing in outer space. She just walked around, mostly wherever she felt like, in a quiet way and would occasionally do some babbling. (To be fair I do seem to remember reading the author saying something like she liked the idea of an alien visiting the planet but not having to be focused on human beings as the most interesting life form and that it could just as easily be, say, Sea Lions.)
Without being able to picture the main character as an alien I tended more to picture her a simply a feral girl coming out of the wilderness. This made the book more of a typical historical fiction novel for me and that was still okay because I like historical fiction at times, but even more so because of the setting. I grew up in the Tacoma/Steilacoom area and am familiar with (although not too familiar) Western State Hospital in which part of the book takes place. This and the early scenes on Puget Sound helped keep my interest in the book. I didn't know beforehand the book was set in my part of the U.S. but it certainly was the main thing that kept my interest.
Besides being able to relate to the setting and generally having an appreciation for 19th century frontier stories, I really liked the historical anecdotes dispersed throughout the book in between chapters. Fowler said that the oddities of history are what make it interesting for her and I agree.
Without being able to picture the main character as an alien I tended more to picture her a simply a feral girl coming out of the wilderness. This made the book more of a typical historical fiction novel for me and that was still okay because I like historical fiction at times, but even more so because of the setting. I grew up in the Tacoma/Steilacoom area and am familiar with (although not too familiar) Western State Hospital in which part of the book takes place. This and the early scenes on Puget Sound helped keep my interest in the book. I didn't know beforehand the book was set in my part of the U.S. but it certainly was the main thing that kept my interest.
Besides being able to relate to the setting and generally having an appreciation for 19th century frontier stories, I really liked the historical anecdotes dispersed throughout the book in between chapters. Fowler said that the oddities of history are what make it interesting for her and I agree.
Libra
Active Member
When I started reading it ,all I could think of was *weird* but going forward it became more interesting. Poor Tom eh? or was he prepared for what was going to happen?
Edit:Not a specific genre either and love the Emily Dickinson quotes.Sarah takes us on a journey without saying much.
Mo
Edit:Not a specific genre either and love the Emily Dickinson quotes.Sarah takes us on a journey without saying much.
Mo
Libra
Active Member
I finished it and I agree with you,not really a specific genre,it's all over the place.The only thing that was not normal was her swallowing the watch...but then again not so abnormal in these days.lol
More of a historical fiction which I did enjoy.Gave me a picture of what it was like between different cultures and races.More about people relations and history than SF.
I also read http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/f53/karen-fowler-standing-room-only-20349.html#post294137to try and get some idea of her writing.
More of a historical fiction which I did enjoy.Gave me a picture of what it was like between different cultures and races.More about people relations and history than SF.
I also read http://www.bookandreader.com/forums/f53/karen-fowler-standing-room-only-20349.html#post294137to try and get some idea of her writing.