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8:17 pm, Rue Darling
Stories are sacred. I'm unsure about a lot of things in life, but I know stories are sacred. Stories are the only eternity an agnostic like me can believe in...
Quebec film-maker Bernard Émond's novel, brought to life in an award-winning feature film, makes its English debut in this fast-faced translation by John Gilmore.
Written in the crisp, punchy style of a hardened journalist, 8:17 pm, rue Darling is the story of Gérard and his struggle to stop drinking and make amends to the world. When tragedy strikes and Gérard is mysteriously saved, he sets off looking for answers and a new meaning for his life. His quest takes him from the city morgue to a deer hunter's festival in rural Quebec, from AA meetings and a locked psychiatric ward, to a brush with Montreal's criminal underworld. Bitingly humourous at times, introspective at others, Gérard's story is a look at life and love from the point of view of someone who has lost everything except the will to survive.
... For once in my life, I was going to make a good story out of the news. So I wouldn't drink. So I wouldn't kill myself.
_____________
Translator John Gilmore is a former Montreal journalist and the author of Swinging in The Story of Jazz in Montreal.
Quebec film-maker Bernard Émond's novel, brought to life in an award-winning feature film, makes its English debut in this fast-faced translation by John Gilmore.
Written in the crisp, punchy style of a hardened journalist, 8:17 pm, rue Darling is the story of Gérard and his struggle to stop drinking and make amends to the world. When tragedy strikes and Gérard is mysteriously saved, he sets off looking for answers and a new meaning for his life. His quest takes him from the city morgue to a deer hunter's festival in rural Quebec, from AA meetings and a locked psychiatric ward, to a brush with Montreal's criminal underworld. Bitingly humourous at times, introspective at others, Gérard's story is a look at life and love from the point of view of someone who has lost everything except the will to survive.
... For once in my life, I was going to make a good story out of the news. So I wouldn't drink. So I wouldn't kill myself.
_____________
Translator John Gilmore is a former Montreal journalist and the author of Swinging in The Story of Jazz in Montreal.
134 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
38 people want to read
About the author
Bernard Émond
10 books4 followersBernard Émond (born 1951) is a French-language Canadian director, screenwriter and author particularly noted for his spiritual films and documentaries on the human condition.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
May 18, 2020
Started bc Kiera was reading for school but then school closed, due to covid-19, with the book in her locker. They finally were able to retrieve their things last week and I decided to finish the book. Didn't actually remember much, so re-read from the beginning!
February 9, 2020
Pas une histoire classique! C’est le moins que l’on puisse dire pour ce petit livre. Scénario et personnages complexes.
October 24, 2017
Ummm... what happened to the ending?
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May 12, 2016I really enjoyed this book. I do not own the original version (française). I will now read Trente Arpents in its original version and I will list it in Babelio where my virtual library is.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews