"Nigel Spencer's translation, like Marie-Claire Blais' novel, gathers in rhythm and intensity as it draws the reader inexorably into its world. Spencer rises to the many challenges of Blais' prose with deftness and grace, teaching us to read in a new way."

The Jury: Gorvernor General's Literary Awards.

"Nigel Spencer (finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award for Translation) becomes our guide to the labyrinth of Marie-Claire Blais' fictional world. In so doing, the translator displays the same spirit of invention as the author."

The Jury--Governor General's Literary Awards.

"Nigel Spencer (finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award in Translation) becomes our guide to the labyrinth of Marie-Claire Blais' fictional world. In so doing, the translator displays the same spirit of invention as the author."

The Jury--Governor General's Literary Awards.

I thought this book was quite interestig. I would like you to e-mail me at bloodgusher666@hotmail.com if you like to read too.

This book is beautifully written. The symbolism in this book is deeper than i have ever read before. It is a very sombre novel with so much to get out. If you can read french then definitely pick this up in french because you will find all of the symbolism in this book to be at a much deeper level. this book was meant for french and unfortunately it does tend to lose some of its meaning and qaulity but it is still just as great of a story. i definitely reccomend this book. it is a great achievment of a great author. The novel seems even more interesting and intriguing when you know that she wrote it in only 13 days. it's a must!!! KH, 16

I really enjoyed spending time visiting the homes of so many famous people. Marie-Claire's tour of Cambridge, Key West, Cape Cod, and other literary dens was given with such a simple and candid freshness. She is a master of her craft & has an artistic eye, so her portraits of people are deft & sensitive. A really good read! I enjoyed it immensely...

When I read this book, it was spectacular. You could really tell what the characters where thinking and how they felt about the events of the book. At the end of the book I truley felt for these characters. That is what made this book spectacular. This is great writing and the best I have read in awhile. All I will tell you is that the ending is worth the book. I won't say anymore because I don't want to spoil this great ending for any of you out there who would like to buy this great book. In my opinion this book is a must buy.

My Uncle translated this book and I read it in one sitting. If you want a book to get lost in, then this is your best bet.

This book takes a look at the stagnant life of a Quebec family. A family who, due to the deaths of so many children, no longer care about each other. In this book, the main character, Jean, is an imaginative little boy who is dying from scarlet fever(I believe). His genius is strongly ignored by his family and, not untill he dies, do any of them realize his intelligence and worth. Jean, however, is not the whole topic of this book. It also looks at the inability to escape from this horrible situation, whereas all the characters are trapped in this stagnant world.

This is one of the darkest tales I've ever read--a sort of "Angela's Ashes" times ten. It is chilling to think that, although this is fiction, people really lived this way, in such a dark world cut off from most all human emotions, in poverty so brutal even Charles Dickens could not have imagined it. Yet in the middle of all of this blossoms Jean Le Maigre, a sort of John Keats destined to be cut down by tuberculosis in his prime. A large portion of the book is Jean Le Maigre's biography, but it is also filled with other rich characters--tough Grand-Mère, mystical Héloïse, and delightfully wicked Le Septième.

I have read this book in both its original French and Derek Coltman's translation. The translation is quite good in keeping the flavor of the original French, although at times there are words chosen in English which are stronger than they were in French.

IN AN EXCELLENT INTRODUCTION, NIGEL SPENCER, THE TRANSLATOR,CONTEXTUALIZES THESE LYRICAL, ELLIPTICAL WORKS...ALL FIVE PLAYSFEATURE FEMALE VOICES ASSERTING THEMSELVES IN PAINFUL DIALOGUE WITH MALE PARTNERS. OSCILLATING BETWEEN INTIMATE PERSONAL DETAIL AND PHILOSOPHICAL ABSTRACTION, BETWEEN TENTATIVENESS AND AGGRESSION, EACH PLAY PROBES A DIFFERENT SENSIBILITY, A DIFFERENT TENSION.

. . . THE DIALOGUE IS RENDERED EVEN MORE POIGNANT BY THE ACCOMPANYING MUSICALITY OF BLAIS' LONG POETIC LINES. . . . PERHAPS THE MOST EVOCATIVE OF ALL IS THE STUDY IN CONTRASTS, "FEVER"--A BEAUTIFULLY ORCHESTRATED DIALOGUE BETWEEN A WIFE AND A HUSBAND IN WHICH SHE UNVEILS HIS HYPOCRISY AND HER COMPLICITY AGAINST THE EXOCITICIZED BACKDROP OF MOROCCO.

. . . READING THESE ENIGMATIC MUSINGS SET AMIDST HIGHLY VISUALIZED BACKGROUNDS OR SETS, ONE PARTICIPATES IN THE EQUIVOCAL, TENUOUS RELATIONS BETWEEN MEN AND WOMEN, SPEECH AND SILENCE, OPPRESSSION AND FREEDOM. AS BLAIS, THROUGH THE VOICE OF HER TRANSLATOR, SO ELOQUENTLY PUTS IT: "BUT HERE I AM, AND HE LISTENS. IT IS LATE. AT LEAST, HE SEEMS TO LISTEN."

Blais' drama, undergoing a new resurgence of interest, mostly in the U.S. (U. of Miami., Washington, etc.,) is seeing increased performance in both English and French.

WINTERSLEEP presents the unique shorter, or "chamber", plays of an intimacy and a subtlety that are unique and may suggest new directions for the modern theatre, especially for directors who are not afraid to blend different media and life-size puppets with live actors, and evoke fluid and shifting states of consciousness.

I like Margaret Atwood -- after reading LADY ORACLE, I wanted to read this book, especially after having seen parts of the movie years ago.

While Ms. Atwood is a fine writer, she really lost me toward the end of the book. Her prose had become so arcane and abstruse that I simply couldn't make it throught the last few chapters. Also, the action unfolds WAY too slowly: Just when the main character (I can't remember her name now) is about to happen upon an important clue concerning her father's disappearance, the action veers off to another direction. It's as if Ms. Atwood had a bad case of ADD while writing this book.

I think the main character's father's body was found at the bottom of that bay or whatever body of water was close at hand --I THINK. I was so lost and confused at that point that I had lost all track of what was happening. This would have been a much more effective novel if it were faster-paced and not hampered by such cumbersome prose.

"Surfacing" is the second Atwood book I've experienced, and to be honest, I found her narrative style in this one more accessible than in "The Handmaid's Tale". The first 165 pages evoke a cynicism rooted deep in the apathy of 1970's North American culture, especially from a Canadian perspective. While Americans may find the references to the "flag-waving Yankees" the narrator loathes so much a bit distasteful in the light of recent events, the book must be taken as a narrative of one woman's personal struggle. While many of the narrator's opinions may find readers slightly offended, they provide a vehicle for her own personal frustration. The last few chapters seem a bit far-fetched compared to the others, but then again, I don't recommend reading the entire book in one sitting for that very reason. Though turned off by some elements of "weirdness" (the very same reason I didn't get into "The Handmaid's Tale"), I found "Surfacing" to be one of the most psychologically-challenging novels I've read, and perhaps the discomfort I felt while finishing the last page is post-magical-realism at its finest-- "There's no way this could happen...I think. Well...maybe?"

Try it out for yourself, but please don't judge its value on a few anti-American references. Remember, she's Canadian, and the book was written in the 70's.

I have a feeling that those who rated this book with three or less stars have no idea what the book is about. If you're searching for a bit of fluff, this is not the book to turn to. Although it isn't a difficult read, it also is not a shallow one. In fact, Margaret Atwood's searing and relentless eye for detail is in its earliest stages here. Any fan will appreciate _Surfacing_.

In _Surfacing_, Margaret Atwood addresses the issue of identity as reflected by the artifice around you - both in the people you know and the person you are instructed to become. Nothing in this book is what it seems, but rather, it is a clever facade meant to impart meaning to the reader.

The nameless narrator of _Surfacing_ engages in a deep journey into the wild bush of Northern Quebec, which becomes a metaphor for her process of recovering self and identity. The land is used as a backdrop for the renunciation of a distorted self-image. What this book ultimately does is provides us with insight into how we also function as individuals and just what is it that makes us who we are? Is each human being just a pastiche?

Atwood gives you four fascinating characters that are peeled apart to the core and, even though it is only the main protagonist that goes through a physical journey in finding herself, we also witness the psychic journeys of those around her and realize what it means to be a man, woman, artist, a mother, father, wife, husband, and sister. No role is left untouched.

_Surfacing_ is also a very entertaining book and can be read on many levels. Highly recommended!