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Deep River Night
In the tradition of Cormac McCarthy, Russell Banks, and Annie Proulx, the much-anticipated new novel by the bestselling author of Red Dog, Red Dog is set over the course of 48 hours in a remote sawmill community where violence, complicity, and inaction run deep.
World War Two vet Art Kenning is the alcoholic first-aid man in an isolated sawmill village in the interior of B.C., where he dreads the sound of the five whistles that summon him to the mill floor whenever a worker is hurt. Traumatized by an incident in Holland, when he stood by while members of his unit committed a horrific act, he loses himself in drink, and in memories of the love affair he had with a woman in wartime Paris. But the sad comfort of his self-imposed detachment is shattered when one of the most powerful men at the mill arrives at his door late one evening to ask for his help. What unfolds over the course of that night and following day will force Art to confront acts of evil, both in the present and the past, as well as the tragic consequences of his own inaction.
.Alternating with Art's story are the stories of Joel, a teenaged runaway who owes his life to Art, Wang Po, the mill's cook and a survivor of the Rape of Nanjing, Alice, a young Indigenous girl sold from a residential school, and, Cliff, a Metis man with a hidden past. These lives, and more, intertwine to reveal a complex, morally ambiguous community where the undercurrents of violence and complicity are never far from the surface.
Writing with exquisite precision and emotional force, Patrick Lane gives us a novel whose darkness is fractured by moments of light. Deep River Night is a riveting story about the burden of bearing witness to a terrible crime
World War Two vet Art Kenning is the alcoholic first-aid man in an isolated sawmill village in the interior of B.C., where he dreads the sound of the five whistles that summon him to the mill floor whenever a worker is hurt. Traumatized by an incident in Holland, when he stood by while members of his unit committed a horrific act, he loses himself in drink, and in memories of the love affair he had with a woman in wartime Paris. But the sad comfort of his self-imposed detachment is shattered when one of the most powerful men at the mill arrives at his door late one evening to ask for his help. What unfolds over the course of that night and following day will force Art to confront acts of evil, both in the present and the past, as well as the tragic consequences of his own inaction.
.Alternating with Art's story are the stories of Joel, a teenaged runaway who owes his life to Art, Wang Po, the mill's cook and a survivor of the Rape of Nanjing, Alice, a young Indigenous girl sold from a residential school, and, Cliff, a Metis man with a hidden past. These lives, and more, intertwine to reveal a complex, morally ambiguous community where the undercurrents of violence and complicity are never far from the surface.
Writing with exquisite precision and emotional force, Patrick Lane gives us a novel whose darkness is fractured by moments of light. Deep River Night is a riveting story about the burden of bearing witness to a terrible crime
416 pages, Hardcover
First published February 13, 2018
6 people are currently reading
379 people want to read
About the author
Patrick Lane
85 books39 followersPatrick Lane was born in Nelson, British Columbia, Canada, on March 26, 1939. He has no formal education beyond high school in Vernon, B.C. From 1957 to 1968 with his young wife, Mary, he raised three children, Mark, Christopher, and Kathryn, and began working at a variety of jobs, from common labourer, truck driver, Cat skinner, chokerman, boxcar loader, Industrial First-Aid Man in the northern bush, to clerk at a number of sawmills in the Interior of British Columbia. He has been a salesman, office manager, and an Industrial Accountant. In 1968 his first wife divorced him. Much of his life after 1968 has been spent as an itinerant poet, wandering over three continents and many countries. He began writing with serious intent in 1960, practicing his craft late at night in small-town western Canada until he moved to Vancouver in early 1965 to work and to join the new generation of artists and writers who were coming of age in the early Sixties.
In 1966, with bill bissett and Seymour Mayne, he established Very Stone House, publishing the new post-war generation of poets. In 1968, he decided to devote his life exclusively to writing, travelling to South America where he lived for two years. On his return, he established a new relationship with his second wife, Carol, had two more children, Michael and Richard, and settled first in the Okanagan Valley in 1972 and then in 1974 on the west coast of Canada at Middle Point near the fishing village of Pender Harbour on The Sunshine Coast where he worked as a carpenter and building contractor. In 1978, he divorced and went to work as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg where he began his life with the poet, Lorna Crozier. Since then, he has been a resident writer at Concordia University in Montreal, The University of Alberta in Edmonton, the Saskatoon Public Library, and the University of Toronto. He taught English Literature at The University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon from 1986 to 1990, and Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, British Columbia from 1991 to 2004. He is presently retired from institutional teaching and leads private writing retreats as well as teaching at such schools as The Banff Writing Workshops, ‘Booming Ground’ at the University of British Columbia, The Victoria Writing School, and The Sage Hill Experience in Saskatchewan. He and his wife, Lorna Crozier, presently reside in a small community outside Victoria where he gardens and works at his craft.
His poetry, short stories, criticism, and non-fiction have won many prizes over the past forty-five years, including The Governor-General’s Award for “Poems: New & Selected” in 1979, The Canadian Authors Association Award for his “Selected Poems” in 1988, and, in 1987, a “Nellie” award (Canada) and The National Radio Award (USA) for the best public radio program for the script titled “Chile,” co-authored with Lorna Crozier. He has received major awards from The Canada Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The Saskatchewan Arts Board, The Manitoba Arts Board, The Ontario Arts Council, and the British Columbia Arts Board. He has received National Magazine awards for both his poetry and his fiction. He is the author of more than twenty books and he has been called by many writers and critics “the best poet of his generation.”
As a critic and commentator, he appears regularly on CBC, the national radio service in Canada, and on numerous other media outlets across Canada.
He has appeared at literary festivals around the world and has read and published his work in many countries including England, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, China, Japan, Chile, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Russia. His poetry and fiction appear in all major Canadian anthologies of English literature. A critical monograph of his life and writing titled "Patrick Lane,” by George Woodcock, was published by ECW Press.
In 1966, with bill bissett and Seymour Mayne, he established Very Stone House, publishing the new post-war generation of poets. In 1968, he decided to devote his life exclusively to writing, travelling to South America where he lived for two years. On his return, he established a new relationship with his second wife, Carol, had two more children, Michael and Richard, and settled first in the Okanagan Valley in 1972 and then in 1974 on the west coast of Canada at Middle Point near the fishing village of Pender Harbour on The Sunshine Coast where he worked as a carpenter and building contractor. In 1978, he divorced and went to work as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Manitoba in Winnipeg where he began his life with the poet, Lorna Crozier. Since then, he has been a resident writer at Concordia University in Montreal, The University of Alberta in Edmonton, the Saskatoon Public Library, and the University of Toronto. He taught English Literature at The University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon from 1986 to 1990, and Creative Writing at the University of Victoria, British Columbia from 1991 to 2004. He is presently retired from institutional teaching and leads private writing retreats as well as teaching at such schools as The Banff Writing Workshops, ‘Booming Ground’ at the University of British Columbia, The Victoria Writing School, and The Sage Hill Experience in Saskatchewan. He and his wife, Lorna Crozier, presently reside in a small community outside Victoria where he gardens and works at his craft.
His poetry, short stories, criticism, and non-fiction have won many prizes over the past forty-five years, including The Governor-General’s Award for “Poems: New & Selected” in 1979, The Canadian Authors Association Award for his “Selected Poems” in 1988, and, in 1987, a “Nellie” award (Canada) and The National Radio Award (USA) for the best public radio program for the script titled “Chile,” co-authored with Lorna Crozier. He has received major awards from The Canada Council, The Ontario Arts Council, The Saskatchewan Arts Board, The Manitoba Arts Board, The Ontario Arts Council, and the British Columbia Arts Board. He has received National Magazine awards for both his poetry and his fiction. He is the author of more than twenty books and he has been called by many writers and critics “the best poet of his generation.”
As a critic and commentator, he appears regularly on CBC, the national radio service in Canada, and on numerous other media outlets across Canada.
He has appeared at literary festivals around the world and has read and published his work in many countries including England, France, the Czech Republic, Italy, China, Japan, Chile, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Russia. His poetry and fiction appear in all major Canadian anthologies of English literature. A critical monograph of his life and writing titled "Patrick Lane,” by George Woodcock, was published by ECW Press.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
December 25, 2017
A story that appears to chronicle the life of a first aid man in a small community. The story highlights the downfalls of war, addiction and all that accompanies small town life.
I'm giving this book a 3 star rating, my reasoning as follows; I liked the story in this book, as it was interesting. It takes place in the past and times were different then. The story has relatable material to today (addiction, specifically), which gave the story something for the reader to relate to. However, I found this a much slower read and it seemed to take me quite a while to read this book. This book didn't really pick up for me until about two thirds into the book, after which, it read at a faster pace. Overall, a decent book.
I'm giving this book a 3 star rating, my reasoning as follows; I liked the story in this book, as it was interesting. It takes place in the past and times were different then. The story has relatable material to today (addiction, specifically), which gave the story something for the reader to relate to. However, I found this a much slower read and it seemed to take me quite a while to read this book. This book didn't really pick up for me until about two thirds into the book, after which, it read at a faster pace. Overall, a decent book.
January 14, 2018
He'd known what they were going to do. How did doing nothing make him the better man?
“What have I done?”
And there was a howl in him, and he knew it would break him if he ever let it out. He opened his mouth and far off he heard the sound of an animal crying and he wanted to help, but he didn't know how.
Deep River Night primarily focuses on Art Kenning: suffering PTSD from his service in Europe during WWII, it is now 1962 and Art dispels his ghosts with whisky and the opium he shares with Wang Po; another broken man on the run from his memories of the Rape of Nanjing back in China. The two unlikely friends have met at a remote logging camp in the B.C. Interior, where Wang Po is the camp cook and Art the first-aid man, and while the camp is teeming with loggers, sawyers, and labourers who brawl and carouse, Art and Wang Po keep themselves separate; chasing the dragon and quietly relaying their nightmares to one another. Art is mostly plagued by the memory of a time when his inaction led to tragedy, and when modern day events put him in a position to choose between doing what's right and doing what he's told, the past and present collide just as Art's mental state and addiction-raddled body feel too weakened to respond. Author Patrick Lane is primarily known as a poet, and the words and atmosphere of this book reflect that fact to his credit, but I found the plot to be a bit too crafted for me; too deliberate and maybe not entirely credible in its events and characterizations. Still, I loved the words and am rounding up to four stars to reflect my enjoyment of the reading experience. (Usual caveat: I read from an ARC and these quotes might not be in their final forms.)
The mill chains clanked and the treads of his tank ground through the mud of Holland. He wasn't on the push into Holland. There was no farm, no mother, no girl called Godelieve, no pig, no fire, no Tommy. And Paris was a dream too. There were no tanks anymore, no Marie. He was the first-aid man in a sawmill up the North Thompson River. He could feel the split wood under his hand. The film of sap sucked at his fingers. But the sounds of the chains in the mill banging were the treads of their Sherman Firefly on the road to Antwerp, the far-off rapids in the river the waves eating the beaches along the North Sea.
Art is so messed up that his mind is constantly thrown back into the past: he is walking through the camp but also in Holland as the Canadians advance; in Paris on leave. This device is used a bit too often for my taste, but does eventually lay out everything in Art's present and past that cause his moment of crisis at the narrative's climax (which is part of what felt too deliberate to me). While we are mostly in Art's head, the POV does shift to other characters, and although this provided a lot of foreshadowing for what I thought was going to be the climax, things don't quite go the way I expected , and ultimately, most of these extra characters just felt...extra. (I did appreciate the character of Alice – a 14 year old Native girl bought from the Brothers at a Residential School to work as an indentured servant at the camp store – whose own PTSD explores a topic that needs exploring in our own time, but as other reviewers have said, like the few other female characters in this book, Alice didn't quite feel like a real person.)
Looking at Patrick Lane's bio and list of other works (born in Nelson, British Columbia, he has worked in First Aid “in the northern bush” and has written a book about his own addiction and recovery), it's easy to believe that the author intimately understands Art's character and the setting of the B.C. Interior; this writing was the most believable, and the detail of logging and addiction and the bush was precise and engaging, and therefore, valuable. And as a poet, Lane used many turns of phrase that gave me pause:
The cat was sitting on the windowsill finishing off the mouse she had caught in the field. The tiny bones crunching in her jaws were a distant clicking, an insect sound, the kind of tolling sticks might make in a land without bells.
It was the word-by-word crafting that I enjoyed here more than the overall story, but that provides for its own kinds of pleasure. Four stars feels like a generous rounding up, but also feels like the appropriate rating.
Currently reading
December 4, 2017Art, the first aid man, is haunted by the war. He has flashbacks. It is 1960 in a small village by the mountains in BC, CANADA. The local sawmill is the economic engine to these peoples' world. The first chapter has a realist feel to it. This is not a fantasy or Harry Potter magic hour. Indian girls are bought and sold & little girls are raped by their Daddy. Art is a whiskey man who enjoys a little opium on the side. He is a multi-cultural kind of guy, a pal of the China man cook, Wang Po. People come to Art for help because Art is a good man, a man of experience. Addiction seems to be a theme that will run through this novel. So far the story maintains good readability.
November 13, 2018
So in this book, a teenage boy lurks at the window of a young woman who is literally locked in a shed attached to a house. How did she get there you ask? She was purchased from a Residential School. Everyone in town knows what he's doing and no one stops him because Alice clearly does not matter to them. Not to mention the fact that no one stopped her purchase in the first place, or the fact that she's made to work in a public place where men literally leer at her as they eat sandwiches.
Also in this book, the protagonist is called to assist a woman named Irene after she has completed an act of self-harm in a remarkably troubling scene. The author then decides to spend pages inside the mind of the first-aid man who tries to rationalize her behaviour with zero input from the woman herself. Readers don't hear from her. And no, this has nothing to do with the complete lack of plot up to this point in the novel. This means the scene can only be viewed as gratuitous violence and misogyny. Of all the troubled and troubling men we meet in the novel up to that point, why on earth did it have to be an isolated woman in such deep despair? For no discernible reason, AND without any response from her. Then, readers suffer through descriptions of the act as an "offering" to her husband and more pages on another character we have never met who dies by suicide in a river. The entire scene is framed with images and stories from the first-aid man's past because of course, a woman's suffering can only be told through the eyes of the men around her. 2018, people. This book was published in 2018. I don't care when it was set. Patrick Lane should know better than to write something so offensive.
The difference between describing misogyny and perpetuating it is simple: do the women speak? Do they have the opportunity to share a thought or emotion? Or are their thoughts, emotions, and very existence predicated through the eyes and opinions of male characters?
At times, the writing is poetic. More often than not, it's bizarre. What on earth does this sentence mean: "Irene McAllister had made of herself a long thinking." I have no clue. Ultimately, I'm not willing to read 250 more pages of women being treated as punching bags, or as the object of a leering pervert who cannot keep from having erections in public, or sold to the friends of a soldier, or dismissed as a "woman like that" which, apparently, is equated with drama or worthlessness? I can't even tell.
I am appalled by this book. I kept waiting for someone to stand up to these abusive, manipulative, disgusting men and no one did. DNF at 35%.
Also in this book, the protagonist is called to assist a woman named Irene after she has completed an act of self-harm in a remarkably troubling scene. The author then decides to spend pages inside the mind of the first-aid man who tries to rationalize her behaviour with zero input from the woman herself. Readers don't hear from her. And no, this has nothing to do with the complete lack of plot up to this point in the novel. This means the scene can only be viewed as gratuitous violence and misogyny. Of all the troubled and troubling men we meet in the novel up to that point, why on earth did it have to be an isolated woman in such deep despair? For no discernible reason, AND without any response from her. Then, readers suffer through descriptions of the act as an "offering" to her husband and more pages on another character we have never met who dies by suicide in a river. The entire scene is framed with images and stories from the first-aid man's past because of course, a woman's suffering can only be told through the eyes of the men around her. 2018, people. This book was published in 2018. I don't care when it was set. Patrick Lane should know better than to write something so offensive.
The difference between describing misogyny and perpetuating it is simple: do the women speak? Do they have the opportunity to share a thought or emotion? Or are their thoughts, emotions, and very existence predicated through the eyes and opinions of male characters?
At times, the writing is poetic. More often than not, it's bizarre. What on earth does this sentence mean: "Irene McAllister had made of herself a long thinking." I have no clue. Ultimately, I'm not willing to read 250 more pages of women being treated as punching bags, or as the object of a leering pervert who cannot keep from having erections in public, or sold to the friends of a soldier, or dismissed as a "woman like that" which, apparently, is equated with drama or worthlessness? I can't even tell.
I am appalled by this book. I kept waiting for someone to stand up to these abusive, manipulative, disgusting men and no one did. DNF at 35%.
March 12, 2018
As reviews come in, I predict that Deep River Night will be getting its fair share of 3 star reviews. It's a dark and unforgiving book with no leeway for humour or interpretation, really. I expected some more poetic language from poet Patrick Lane, but this novel seemed quite traditional in its narrative form. In the end, it's a chiseled look at a town-turned-refuge for those trying to escape their past woes... of course, predictably their woes even find them here! You can really read a book by its cover here. Grey, grey, grey...
I was sitting next to someone reading a book while finishing this one off and they were laughing and I thought to myself, "Oh how I miss laughing with a book..." (Don't expect to even giggle throughout these 400 pages).
I was sitting next to someone reading a book while finishing this one off and they were laughing and I thought to myself, "Oh how I miss laughing with a book..." (Don't expect to even giggle throughout these 400 pages).
January 9, 2018
Late morning light angled through the window above his head. It burned across the wall and carved itself into an ancient newspaper from 1914, glued there by a man who was going to a war he would not return from, by a light he could not reach, a wound made from nothing but a star.
Are you ready for a lighthearted romp about the goodness of humanity and our capacity for love?
Then this probably ain't the book for you.
DEEP RIVER NIGHT is as uneasy as the title suggests, delving into topics including (but not limited to) paedophilia, racism, PTSD, rape, self-harm, murder, and addiction. For the most part, it offers no reprieve.
Most of the narrative was divided between tormented WWII veteran Art, and teen runaway/ the romantically confused Joel. Other chapters were given to Wang Po, a survivor, immigrant, and cook; Alice, a young First Nations girl who suffered through residential school and virtual slavery; and Cliff, a biracial man haunted by his heritage and Alice's situation.
Sound heavy? It is.
If there was a grand checklist of issues people might potentially face, I reckon you'd find almost all of them in this book. I enjoyed the moral ambiguity this brought, but I found myself wishing Lane had chosen fewer focalizing characters. Especially since the chapters were not equally distributed, it felt jarring to spend so long in Art's mind, only to be thrown into the head of a secondary character like Cliff. Joel's love triangle, whilst problematic in its own right, was a good contrast to Art's increasing fogginess, and I felt the story only really needed these two POVs.
The setting itself was great. Having travelled through northern British Columbia myself, I understand the desolate sense of isolation it inspires. It's the kind of place that invites broken people, people who have nowhere else to run to, people who have been disillusioned. It wasn't quite as atmospheric as it had potential to be, but nevertheless, I got a good sense of this unnamed town.
Lane's writing struck a good balance between literary and readability. Occasionally, I did find myself skimming. I think this is because although the story is undeniably emotional, it lacked . . . something. The sense of urgency increased towards the end, although
DEEP RIVER NIGHT is troubling, carefully handled, and steeped in ideas of morality and forgiveness (and the lack thereof). I did find the first half to be a chore, and it wasn't as powerful as I believe it could have been, but nevertheless, Lane is clearly a powerful writer. There are lots of triggering issues explored here, so I would urge you to be mindful of that before picking up DEEP RIVER NIGHT.
**I received this book through a Goodreads Giveaway**
Are you ready for a lighthearted romp about the goodness of humanity and our capacity for love?
Then this probably ain't the book for you.
DEEP RIVER NIGHT is as uneasy as the title suggests, delving into topics including (but not limited to) paedophilia, racism, PTSD, rape, self-harm, murder, and addiction. For the most part, it offers no reprieve.
Most of the narrative was divided between tormented WWII veteran Art, and teen runaway/ the romantically confused Joel. Other chapters were given to Wang Po, a survivor, immigrant, and cook; Alice, a young First Nations girl who suffered through residential school and virtual slavery; and Cliff, a biracial man haunted by his heritage and Alice's situation.
Sound heavy? It is.
If there was a grand checklist of issues people might potentially face, I reckon you'd find almost all of them in this book. I enjoyed the moral ambiguity this brought, but I found myself wishing Lane had chosen fewer focalizing characters. Especially since the chapters were not equally distributed, it felt jarring to spend so long in Art's mind, only to be thrown into the head of a secondary character like Cliff. Joel's love triangle, whilst problematic in its own right, was a good contrast to Art's increasing fogginess, and I felt the story only really needed these two POVs.
The setting itself was great. Having travelled through northern British Columbia myself, I understand the desolate sense of isolation it inspires. It's the kind of place that invites broken people, people who have nowhere else to run to, people who have been disillusioned. It wasn't quite as atmospheric as it had potential to be, but nevertheless, I got a good sense of this unnamed town.
Lane's writing struck a good balance between literary and readability. Occasionally, I did find myself skimming. I think this is because although the story is undeniably emotional, it lacked . . . something. The sense of urgency increased towards the end, although
DEEP RIVER NIGHT is troubling, carefully handled, and steeped in ideas of morality and forgiveness (and the lack thereof). I did find the first half to be a chore, and it wasn't as powerful as I believe it could have been, but nevertheless, Lane is clearly a powerful writer. There are lots of triggering issues explored here, so I would urge you to be mindful of that before picking up DEEP RIVER NIGHT.
**I received this book through a Goodreads Giveaway**
February 22, 2018
I was happy to have the chance to read this, as I'm a fan of Patrick Lane's poetry, but haven't read any of his other work. Well, just as I suspected, I loved this novel for the same reasons I love his poetry - there is (to me) an honesty to his writing, a bare-bones, don't-hide-the-ugly-truth honesty. Obviously, I can't know what his writing process is, but I do know what the result looks like to me, which is: it looks like he laid each word down, one at a time, slowly and deliberately, making sure that each single word was the exact right word, before moving onto the next word. It is that precise. And how I do love precision in writing.
As for the novel itself, well, one of the things I really appreciated about it is that it is certainly an accurate representation of an alcoholic (the main character is an alcoholic). My father, step-father, and a lot of other family members are hard-core alcoholics, and my partner of 10 years is also one, so, unfortunely, I think I have a pretty good idea of a lot of the characteristics of alcoholics, and, yup, the main character here in the book is a real-life as any alcoholic I know. Of course, that makes sense, because I believe Patrick Lane either was (or still is?) an alcoholic himself.
The novel drew me it. I sat in bed at night, reading, when the house was quiet, and, after a while, I forgot that I was reading printed words, because the writing was so smooth, and pulled me in so much, that it seemed more like I was watching a movie unfold before my eyes. The writing came to life. It let me enter another world. I love novels that have the ability to do that - lift you out of your life, and transport you into another one. Beautifully written. Engaging. True-to-life, multi-faceted characters. Read it!
As for the novel itself, well, one of the things I really appreciated about it is that it is certainly an accurate representation of an alcoholic (the main character is an alcoholic). My father, step-father, and a lot of other family members are hard-core alcoholics, and my partner of 10 years is also one, so, unfortunely, I think I have a pretty good idea of a lot of the characteristics of alcoholics, and, yup, the main character here in the book is a real-life as any alcoholic I know. Of course, that makes sense, because I believe Patrick Lane either was (or still is?) an alcoholic himself.
The novel drew me it. I sat in bed at night, reading, when the house was quiet, and, after a while, I forgot that I was reading printed words, because the writing was so smooth, and pulled me in so much, that it seemed more like I was watching a movie unfold before my eyes. The writing came to life. It let me enter another world. I love novels that have the ability to do that - lift you out of your life, and transport you into another one. Beautifully written. Engaging. True-to-life, multi-faceted characters. Read it!
January 27, 2023
This book was a bit slow to draw me in, but I was soon engrossed in the characters whose lives cross paths during the post war era at a Kamloops British Columbia sawmill. Themes include the effect of WW2 on veterans, mill-town life, immigrant experience, and the treatment of native peoples–with all their lives flowing, churning, and colliding like the mighty Thompson River that flows thru the region.
January 11, 2018
This is a really depressing book, but probably accurate for the time period and location of it. It's also really lyrical and kind of rambling in places, but I guess that's to be expected since the author is a poet. I liked Art, and the author really got into the mindset of an alcoholic with drug problems, he knows he should stop, he tells himself he'll stop, and nothing changes. I read this book in black and white, if that's possible, it just seems like in a place this bleak, there would be no colour. Definitely not a light read, but a good read.
I won this from a goodreads giveaway.
I won this from a goodreads giveaway.
June 27, 2018
Grim story, sometimes gripping and sometimes uneven, evocative of place but occasionally ponderous. In many ways, it could be read as a dissection of toxic masculinity.
December 20, 2017
just recieved my copy of Deep River Night and I am so excited about starting this book. It looks so good! - Merry Hill
December 21, 2017
This book was good. It's book that you can sit down and read quite easily and possibly quickly if you aren't interrupted a great deal. I think it also paints a decent picture of small town life and the people that live there.
*won as a GoodReads Giveaway*
*won as a GoodReads Giveaway*
March 24, 2018
This story was very dark, disturbing, detailed and difficult to read. Not the type of book I normally read. It was full of traumatized, suffering, addicted, and/or depressed main characters. You get a good taste of what it was like for survivors of war - what they witnessed, did, and the horrific sights they saw. It takes place somewhere in northern B.C., in a small, isolated village.
Art Kenning is a World War II vet that is suffering from PTSD and works as a first aid man for the local sawmill. His alcoholism and drug use is causing great interference in his life, and he is struggling.
Joel, is a 16 year old teenager who has run away from a difficult family life and has his eyes on a couple of local girls (Myrna and Alice) that are of interest to him, and he has become somewhat obsessed with them. He also loves to follow certain townspeople and keep an eye on what they are up to.
There are other characters that join in the story and cause some very troubling situations; that are very realistic and possible for life in a small, isolated town. Everyone has inner demons, secrets, and a disturbing past, sometimes with a history of abuse.
Alice's story was especially disturbing for me because of her situation and how she came to be in this small town.
The writing is excellent. The descriptions are so well done that you are able to easily bring yourself into the life of the characters with nothing left to the imagination. Perhaps this is why the book is so difficult to read. As you read you feel embedded in the life of the characters and I found that I had to take many breaks just to breathe deeply and collect myself. Not many authors can write this well!
The picture on the cover of the book is very interesting with a sideways landscape of trees, mountains and wood from a sawmill. Very suitable!
Thank you Goodreads and Penguin Random House Canada for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
Art Kenning is a World War II vet that is suffering from PTSD and works as a first aid man for the local sawmill. His alcoholism and drug use is causing great interference in his life, and he is struggling.
Joel, is a 16 year old teenager who has run away from a difficult family life and has his eyes on a couple of local girls (Myrna and Alice) that are of interest to him, and he has become somewhat obsessed with them. He also loves to follow certain townspeople and keep an eye on what they are up to.
There are other characters that join in the story and cause some very troubling situations; that are very realistic and possible for life in a small, isolated town. Everyone has inner demons, secrets, and a disturbing past, sometimes with a history of abuse.
Alice's story was especially disturbing for me because of her situation and how she came to be in this small town.
The writing is excellent. The descriptions are so well done that you are able to easily bring yourself into the life of the characters with nothing left to the imagination. Perhaps this is why the book is so difficult to read. As you read you feel embedded in the life of the characters and I found that I had to take many breaks just to breathe deeply and collect myself. Not many authors can write this well!
The picture on the cover of the book is very interesting with a sideways landscape of trees, mountains and wood from a sawmill. Very suitable!
Thank you Goodreads and Penguin Random House Canada for giving me the opportunity to read this book.
January 23, 2018
Thank you to Patrick Lane and McLellan & Stewart for the free advance copy!
Art Kenning is a troubled WWII vet living in the BC interior and working as a first aid man for a saw mill. He is deeply troubled by the trauma he witnessed during the war and self-medicates with booze, morphine and opium, living half in the present and half in the past. Joel is a runaway working at the mill. Wang Po is the mill's chef. Alice is an indigenous woman sold from a residential school. Their lives progress and intersect over the few days in which this novel is set and Art is forced to confront the trauma of his past while dealing with new trauma in the present.
I didn't love this novel. I found the pacing to be extremely slow and the writing to be off-putting. The narrative would shift with little warning and it made the story quite difficult to follow. Art's train of thought was particularly hard to follow and I found it hard to really get into his storyline at all. Also the random bits of poetry scattered throughout the novel didn't feel woven in at all and really just tore me out of the story.
I also didn't love the author's treatment of the women in the story. Some of it was probably unavoidable given the time period and setting, but some of it was just...not great.
Overall, I just couldn't get into this one and found it to be pretty boring, which considering the subject matter was surprising. I wouldn't recommend it.
Art Kenning is a troubled WWII vet living in the BC interior and working as a first aid man for a saw mill. He is deeply troubled by the trauma he witnessed during the war and self-medicates with booze, morphine and opium, living half in the present and half in the past. Joel is a runaway working at the mill. Wang Po is the mill's chef. Alice is an indigenous woman sold from a residential school. Their lives progress and intersect over the few days in which this novel is set and Art is forced to confront the trauma of his past while dealing with new trauma in the present.
I didn't love this novel. I found the pacing to be extremely slow and the writing to be off-putting. The narrative would shift with little warning and it made the story quite difficult to follow. Art's train of thought was particularly hard to follow and I found it hard to really get into his storyline at all. Also the random bits of poetry scattered throughout the novel didn't feel woven in at all and really just tore me out of the story.
I also didn't love the author's treatment of the women in the story. Some of it was probably unavoidable given the time period and setting, but some of it was just...not great.
Overall, I just couldn't get into this one and found it to be pretty boring, which considering the subject matter was surprising. I wouldn't recommend it.
October 30, 2020
I was attracted to this book because of the Canadian Landscape. I'd never read anything from Patrick Lane but am glad I did. He is immensely poetic and writes about life in a small dead end logging town in BC. There are many characters and they all come to life gradually.. some more than others. What stood out to me was the trauma and coming of age that unfurled throughout in at least two of the characters. At some moments I wondered how realistic it is for some of the characters to orally recount their nightmares, but how else would the author do it? The story builds momentum near the end and craftfully builds in a means of facing trauma with a grain of hope near the end. Tough read for graphic content but definitely worthwhile.
December 23, 2017
I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways and have chosen to give my honest opinion about it.
At first I had difficulty understanding this book, however, the fruits of patience and sticking through with the story really paid off, as it was incredibly interesting seeing how the main characters reacted to their problems and how they were all really interconnected in this community. The setting itself is unique, with decent pacing and distinct characters, I definitely found it a good read.
At first I had difficulty understanding this book, however, the fruits of patience and sticking through with the story really paid off, as it was incredibly interesting seeing how the main characters reacted to their problems and how they were all really interconnected in this community. The setting itself is unique, with decent pacing and distinct characters, I definitely found it a good read.
January 4, 2022
Fairly good read set in a logging community in BC in the 1960s. The central character in which the story of the town is interwoven are Art, a WWII vet who is the community's first aid man who struggles with PTSD and memories of the past as well as alcoholism and opioid addiction; Wang Poo, the sawmill's cook and survivor of the Rape of Nanjing; as well as Joel, a teenage who was rescued by Art. Often times dark, but I felt it painted a true picture of the type of community.
I won an advanced reading copy of this novel from the publisher as part of the Goodreads Giveaways program.
I won an advanced reading copy of this novel from the publisher as part of the Goodreads Giveaways program.
January 24, 2018
This was a beautifully written story set over a 48 hour period. It follows Art, a first aid man at a remote logging camp, as he struggles with demons of his past and present, and Joel, a young man who Art rescued from freezing. The writing drew me in and I could feel the pain and the struggles of the characters lives. A richly told story with a lot of difficult subject matters.
I highly recommend.
I highly recommend.
January 25, 2018
I received this book through Goodreads giveaway. I thoroughly enjoyed this book from the first page to the end. The main character and storyline is around Art, the first aid man and WWII veteran. Other important characters are Joel, Alice, and Wang Po. Through these characters, the author relates a lot of history from that time period. Some of it was Canadian, but Europe and China as well. There is no doubt the author is a poet as his writing reflects that. I would recommend this book.
March 5, 2018
This was a Goodreads Giveaway win that caught my attention by drawing similarities to the writings of Cormac McCarthy and others.
As a big fan of McCarthy's work, I was a little leery of the claim, but Lane's Deep River Night fully delivers. It's dark poetic prose immediately draws you into the characters, who pull no punches with their haunted pasts and flawed nature. Well worth reading if you enjoy this genre of literature.
As a big fan of McCarthy's work, I was a little leery of the claim, but Lane's Deep River Night fully delivers. It's dark poetic prose immediately draws you into the characters, who pull no punches with their haunted pasts and flawed nature. Well worth reading if you enjoy this genre of literature.
April 24, 2018
A cast of characters at a deteriorating logging camp face conflicts against lush descriptions of the
rugged landscape. Art, the first aid man, fights addiction and ghosts from the war as paralleled by
the camp cook who has his own demons that he has left behind in China. This with the arrival of a residential school victim, Alice, who is purchased to help at the store, and a grizzly bear who plays a part in a brutal discovery at the dump. A convincing novel of the logging life.
rugged landscape. Art, the first aid man, fights addiction and ghosts from the war as paralleled by
the camp cook who has his own demons that he has left behind in China. This with the arrival of a residential school victim, Alice, who is purchased to help at the store, and a grizzly bear who plays a part in a brutal discovery at the dump. A convincing novel of the logging life.
May 11, 2018
This was a Goodreads Giveaway. 3.5 stars. Overall - I enjoyed reading this book. I found the prose beautiful and would recommend it for that alone. As for the story - it was interesting but dark. It is a relatively slow - moving book with lots of description. I especially appreciated all the passages describing the natural landscape. I would recommend this book if you enjoy reading poetry and are more interested in the beauty of language than a fast-paced read.
January 16, 2018
Won as a goodreads giveaway. A bit of a slow read, found it hard to get in to at first, but does pick up half way through. Having lived in a small BC town for many years, I felt it was an accurate description of the relationships and behaviour that would have taken place back in this time period. An enjoyable read for those who don't mind a slow journey
September 13, 2018
Beautiful, haunting prose. I listened to the audio book and the narrator had a sensitive, warm way of storytelling. Perfect for this book. The writing carries you along - in the stream of the story. I could listen to this again. Interesting, touching, lots of great detail about British Columbia logging and history of the interior.
December 11, 2018
A beautifully written reflection on trauma, despair and living in an isolated community. But, be warned, this book can be hard to get through and I struggled to finish it because it really does go from tough subject to even tougher subject for 400 pages.
Thank you to McClelland & Stewart for sending along a review copy.
Thank you to McClelland & Stewart for sending along a review copy.
December 29, 2017
This is a beautifully written and sweet/sad/melancholic novel. It is not a quick, unputdownable read, but takes time and patience to get through. I really did enjoy it and I would like to thank Patrick Lane and goodreads for this contest give-away. I would give this 4.5 stars.
March 2, 2018
An interesting read about life in a small lumber camp in the late 1950's. The interactions between Art a WWII vet, Wang Po the camp cook, young adult Joel a labourer, Emerson a youth, and a number of others in their daily lives. A pretty accurate depiction of life in a small isolated community.
February 12, 2018
2/5. I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via the Goodreads giveaway.
Set in the 1950s, "Deep River Night" tells the story of a sawmill community outside of Kamloops, British Columbia.
Told in three loosely alternating perspectives, we are introduced to three main characters. First, we meet Art Kenning, a WWII vet and the sawmill's first aid worker who is having an increasingly hard time surviving with his war time memories. Self-medicating with whiskey and opium, Art is dragged between the past and the present in between his calls to help community members and their injuries. While Art's memories of the war are tragic, these parts are often confusing as it's difficult at times to follow the transition from present to past.
Next, we are introduced to Joel, a teenage runaway who was saved by Art and offered a position in the sawmill. Joel is a typical teenage boy, and spends his time thinking about his two teenaged loves- Myra, his "girlfriend", and Alice, who he stares at every day and stalks at night. Joel's frequent agonizing over the two, as well as his disturbing behaviour with Alice made his parts the least enjoyable for me.
Finally, we meet Wang Po, an immigrant from China who works as the sawmill's cook. Wang Po survived his own war in China, and attempts to help Art deal with his trauma's. Wang Po enjoys art, and is saving to bring his wife to Canada as well. For me, Wang Po's chapters were the most interesting, although they are unfortunately also the shortest and most infrequent.
Interspersed between these three men's chapters, the author also includes random chapters told from the points of view of more minor characters, such as Alice, Cliff and Claude.
This book attempts to tell an important story, and includes many important points. Racism (against Wang Po, and especially against Alice), violence against women and poverty are all identified but never truly explored. As well, I felt that the book was overly wordy, and found myself able to skim whole paragraphs of unnecessary descriptions.
Overall, this wasn't quite the book for me; however, I would recommend this to greater fans of historical fiction or someone looking for a book set in the unique British Columbia setting.
Set in the 1950s, "Deep River Night" tells the story of a sawmill community outside of Kamloops, British Columbia.
Told in three loosely alternating perspectives, we are introduced to three main characters. First, we meet Art Kenning, a WWII vet and the sawmill's first aid worker who is having an increasingly hard time surviving with his war time memories. Self-medicating with whiskey and opium, Art is dragged between the past and the present in between his calls to help community members and their injuries. While Art's memories of the war are tragic, these parts are often confusing as it's difficult at times to follow the transition from present to past.
Next, we are introduced to Joel, a teenage runaway who was saved by Art and offered a position in the sawmill. Joel is a typical teenage boy, and spends his time thinking about his two teenaged loves- Myra, his "girlfriend", and Alice, who he stares at every day and stalks at night. Joel's frequent agonizing over the two, as well as his disturbing behaviour with Alice made his parts the least enjoyable for me.
Finally, we meet Wang Po, an immigrant from China who works as the sawmill's cook. Wang Po survived his own war in China, and attempts to help Art deal with his trauma's. Wang Po enjoys art, and is saving to bring his wife to Canada as well. For me, Wang Po's chapters were the most interesting, although they are unfortunately also the shortest and most infrequent.
Interspersed between these three men's chapters, the author also includes random chapters told from the points of view of more minor characters, such as Alice, Cliff and Claude.
This book attempts to tell an important story, and includes many important points. Racism (against Wang Po, and especially against Alice), violence against women and poverty are all identified but never truly explored. As well, I felt that the book was overly wordy, and found myself able to skim whole paragraphs of unnecessary descriptions.
Overall, this wasn't quite the book for me; however, I would recommend this to greater fans of historical fiction or someone looking for a book set in the unique British Columbia setting.
April 16, 2021
This haunting and sometimes difficult to read novel deals with many fundamental societal and deeply human issues with action that takes place in the space of forty-eight hours. Set in 1960, it tells the story of Art Kenning, the alcoholic and opium-addicted first-aid man in a dilapidated sawmill village in BC's interior. Forced to witness unspeakable brutality during his time in the WW2, Art carries the war around in his head, unable to come to terms with the inhumanity he witnessed. Yet the small town he finds himself in turns out to be just as brutal as war-torn Europe, its secret acts of violence, blatant racism and sexual predation, all concealed under a thin veneer of small town respectability. It's a place where a young, indigenous girl can be bought from a residential school as if she's a saleable commodity, to work in the town store during the day and be locked up at night like a dog. Featuring an interesting array of characters: Art's main confidante, Wang Po, the mill's cook and a survivor of the Rape of Nanjing, Joel, a teenage runaway who owes his life to Art, the wondrous Myrna, Joel's girlfriend and numerous others who bring the town to life. Lane's beautiful sense of place and sensitivity to nature compel the reader on, and while this novel dwells heavily on the cruelty that men inflict on women, the book is not without hope in the basic goodness of humanity.
February 1, 2018
Thank you to McClelland & Stewart (publisher) and Patrick Lane for giving me the opportunity to win a copy of this novel as a Goodreads Giveaway. Prior to winning and reading this novel, this is the type of novel I would have looked at but likely never purchased if I saw it at a bookstore, as I'm typically a fan of chick-lit reads. After reading this novel, however, I cannot wait to read more by Patrick Lane. This novel has opened me up to a new genre of books.
The book tackled many difficult issues that I've heard about and gave them a personal feel through the use of the characters. It is a heavy read in the way that it tackles so many heartbreaking issues. It caught my attention from the first chapter and kept me interested throughout.
To me, there are two main characters in this book. Art Kenning is a first aid man in a small sawmill village in B.C. who became an alcoholic after experiencing the horrors of World War II . As the reader, we get to revisit some of the terrible moments he experienced at war, which I found both shocking and interesting. Second, Joel is a teenage runaway who now works in the village after being saved by Art, who found him almost frozen to death. Mixed within the stories of the two main characters are the stories of other secondary characters throughout the village. It tells of their lives and tales of woe. The book transitions between the points of views of various characters. I have read books in which multiple character transitions can get confusing, but Lane does so in such a way that it flows seamlessly from one chapter to the other. The novel also goes from past to present to get readers to understand the realities of what Art experienced during the war. These past reflection stories were some of my favourite parts of the book, as it made me better understand some of the sorrows of war on a personal level. The book is heartbreaking and eye opening at the same time.
A secondary character whose tale got my attention was that of a young Indigenous girl named Alice who was sold from a residential school. It outlines the complex and heartbreaking reality of her being taken away from her parents at such a young age and all that she experienced at the hands of the "Sisters" running the school.
I did find the book had a lot of very in-depth description of locations and scenery that could have been taken out. This caused me to skim some sections of the book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend other readers to give it a go, even those who wouldn't typically select this genre of book.
The book tackled many difficult issues that I've heard about and gave them a personal feel through the use of the characters. It is a heavy read in the way that it tackles so many heartbreaking issues. It caught my attention from the first chapter and kept me interested throughout.
To me, there are two main characters in this book. Art Kenning is a first aid man in a small sawmill village in B.C. who became an alcoholic after experiencing the horrors of World War II . As the reader, we get to revisit some of the terrible moments he experienced at war, which I found both shocking and interesting. Second, Joel is a teenage runaway who now works in the village after being saved by Art, who found him almost frozen to death. Mixed within the stories of the two main characters are the stories of other secondary characters throughout the village. It tells of their lives and tales of woe. The book transitions between the points of views of various characters. I have read books in which multiple character transitions can get confusing, but Lane does so in such a way that it flows seamlessly from one chapter to the other. The novel also goes from past to present to get readers to understand the realities of what Art experienced during the war. These past reflection stories were some of my favourite parts of the book, as it made me better understand some of the sorrows of war on a personal level. The book is heartbreaking and eye opening at the same time.
A secondary character whose tale got my attention was that of a young Indigenous girl named Alice who was sold from a residential school. It outlines the complex and heartbreaking reality of her being taken away from her parents at such a young age and all that she experienced at the hands of the "Sisters" running the school.
I did find the book had a lot of very in-depth description of locations and scenery that could have been taken out. This caused me to skim some sections of the book. Overall, I really enjoyed this book and recommend other readers to give it a go, even those who wouldn't typically select this genre of book.
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