Montreal and Toronto have long battled for the title of Canada's Greatest City. What began as a heated hockey rivalry has since spun-off into other spheres of influence: demographics, economics, ideologies, lifestyles and the arts. And though the "Big Smoke" has held the upper-hand in recent years - due in large part to Quebec's political and sociological "difficulties" - the ongoing push and pull between the two metropolitan heavyweights continues to be as enlightening as it is entertaining, exemplifying the country's brilliant diversities.
Amidst this cultural tension, two strong literary works have recently emerged to shine some light on their respective milieus, highlighting both the ties that bind us together and the things that tear us apart.
Jean Barbe is a Montreal-based journalist and author, whose last book, How to Become a Monster , won the Prix des Librairies du Quebec in 2005. His latest work, How to Become an Angel, touches on some of the same themes and emotions of its predecessor, but with a different perspective.
" Monster was very dark, and in that way reflected where I was at in my life at that time. In retrospect, I can now see how it may have also captured the sour mood of Quebecers after so many years of division. Angel is a little different in that the élan of the book is somewhat more luminous and joyful. Again, that says something about where I am at these days, and perhaps also where the province now finds itself."
How to Become an Angel is the story of Francois, a young journalist living and working in the awkward environs of post-referendum, mid-1980's Montreal. He and his room-mates, Fred and Provencal, are savouring their first taste of freedom after university; hosting house-parties in their Plateau loft, cruising the city, drinking to excess, exploring their sexuality, sleeping long hours and staying up late to discuss politics and philosophy.
When Francois oversees a contest for his newspaper editors, he is swarmed with letters from readers nominating local Samaritans for a good-will award. He becomes taken with several similar stories that describe a life-changing encounter with a unique man. Francois then seeks out the stranger for both professional and personal reasons.
"This is a story of friendship amidst a life without religion,' says Barbe. "As such, the characters develop a civic spirituality that reflects my own personal vision, which is about being formidable – getting up after one has fallen down. The idea of the angel captures our capacity to rise above our condition."
Barbe admits that the challenge of good writing is to convey these big ideas in ways that are not always apparent.
"Good art should never reveal itself and it should not be forced. My job is mostly to get out of the way and allow for the work to write itself. Because of that, I do not see myself as an artist, but rather as more of an artisan – a craftsman – and it is in the subtle details of Angel that readers will find a bigger picture."
By contrast, Barry Callaghan's latest anthology of short-stories, Between Trains, is filled with bold, brash characters that capture the urban essence of Toronto's big-city streets. Being the son of Canadian literary giant Morley Callaghan, he says, has entitled him to a unique perspective on telling tales.
"My dad once told me that interesting people make for interesting stories and I have always tried to write with that in mind. Thankfully, I have met so many amazing personalities over the course of my life, that I've never been short on material."
The protagonists that prowl the pages of Between Trains are never short on conflict, wrestling both with themselves and the world around them; a performing artist comes to terms with the death of his parents, Auschwitz survivors seek to escape the past in the normalcy of modern living, a soldier confesses his killings to a priest.
Though Callaghan says that his newest work was written in a four-month flurry of activity this past winter, he admits that many of the stories had been hibernating for much longer.
"During the time when I was putting together both Raise You Five and Raise You Ten I had collected bits and pieces of plots and characters that stood on their own, waiting to go somewhere. Hence the title of the book, which perhaps reflects a certain grey area where we exist during those quiet periods in our lives where very little is happening on the outside. I find those links very intriguing, especially as I get older."
It would appear that many critics have found the collection of those moments intriguing as well, with comparisons being made to Hemingway's style of suggested emotional turbulence bubbling just below the waterline of everyday experiences.
"A good piece of fiction will always offer you more than meets the eye; what's going on beneath the surface of things? What are the thoughts and feelings that trigger these characters to be the way that they are and to do the things that they do? What are the unconscious forces that motivate us as individuals and as a society?
"Over time I have learned as a writer that it is not my place to reveal these inner details, but rather to conceal them in a way that will entice the reader to think and participate in the story."
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