What It Takes To Be Human - Softcover

Bowering, Marilyn

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1904559263 ISBN 13: 9781904559269

Publisher: Arcadia Books Ltd, 2007

Synopsis

The day after World War II is declared in Canada, Sandy Grey's father, a fundamentalist preacher, won't give him permission to fight. When Sandy's attempt to oppose his father and his upbringing turns violent, he is incarcerated in an asylum for the criminally insane. There he meets Karl, a German; Winchell, a veteran of the Spanish Civil War; Bob, a homosexual who is singled out for favours by a brutal asylum attendant; along with Russians, Chinese and a few hated Japanese. Unsure how to convince his doctor that he is sane, or of how he fits into the world within a world that is the asylum, Sandy is determined to uncover an historical miscarriage of justice in the hope that it will, by analogy, prove his innocence. "What It Takes To Be Human" exposes the acute parallels between those who are incarcerated and those whose lives are being torn apart by distant conflict.

About this title

About the Author

Marilyn Bowering is an award-winning Canadian novelist, poet and playwright. Her second novel, Visible Worlds (1997), was shortlisted for the prestigious Orange Prize, and nominated for the Dublin IMPAC Prize. It was praised by the Independent as "a tour de force ... a wonderful piece of storytelling" and by the New York Times Book Review as "a vast, sprawling feast of a book". She lives in British Columbia.

Review

"A great novel ... There were times when I had to put it down, to close its cover and step away, to allow my mind to wrap around its ideas--to stand at a distance from the story of Alan Maccauley and Sandy Grey and grasp the gravity of their plight, the sheer insanity of war and the injustices perpetrated on those who lack ability to prove their innocence... Bowering does not seek moments to be brilliant: those moments just arrive"-Globe & Mail, Canada "This is no ordinary thriller... and the euphoria and optimism of the ending feel like a dream. It is harder to believe than to disbelieve; yet believing, against all logic, that happiness is possible is a large part of what it takes to be fully human"-- Quill and Quire, Canada "Sandy is a wonderfully drawn character who wins our empathy immediately and pulls us into his compelling story with ease... A psychologically complex story that does justice to its provocative title... There is a richness of language and imagery throughout, and Bowering renders Sandy's inner state with often gut-wrenching vividness ... What Bowering seems to suggest is that at least one aspect of being fully human is an openness to words and their ability to save and to heal"--National Post, Canada

About this edition

• Publisher: Arcadia Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1904559263
• ISBN 13: 9781904559269
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 320