Peacefully employed on an uninhabited island, Teddy Bear, a translator of comic strips, lives in the company of his faithful dictionary, his marauding cat, Matousalem, and the Prince, his tennis ball machine. Convinced that the translator's happiness is in jeopardy, his boss helicopters in a few solitude-seeking companions: the lovely and elusive Marie, the aging nudist Featherhead with her extroverted Chihuahua in tow, Professor Moccasin, the somewhat deaf comic book scholar, the irritable Author, the Ordinary Man, and the Organizer, sent to "sensitize the population." The feverish pitch of the island's discordant chorus rises with the spring tides. Jacques Poulin's hilarious philosophical fable is an existential masterpiece.
This whimsical book features a myriad of fascinating characters whose interplay gives the work a poignant satirical aspect. Very visual as well as well written, it gives the reader an insight into the worlds of journalism, cartoons, Canadian culture and economy. It would make an excellent movie.
Exercises in Space
Published by Thriftbooks.com User , 20 years ago
I first read "Les Grandes Marées" or "Spring Tides" in University as part of a course in French Canadian Literature at UBC. If I was, admittedly, initially rather jaded by the material we covered, this book presented me with a whole new perspective, not only on life, but on what French-Canadian literature and society can be. I have since read and re-read this book, most recently on a bus from Madrid to Warsaw, and it never fails to provoke conflicting emotions within me- I invariably derive a sense of profound well-being, followed by the deepest sense of helplessness, but always, always, close the book never wanting it to end. So why am I looking to buy the English version? Well, I would like to give it to my mother for Christmas this year. The CBC is doing its "Canada Reads" and another Poulin clasic, "Volkswagen Blues" is on offer... and seeing that title drew me back to "The Spring Tides" and the beauty and longing and loss that it evoked in me... A wonderful novel.
ThriftBooks sells millions of used books at the lowest everyday prices. We personally assess every book's quality and offer rare, out-of-print treasures. We deliver the joy of reading in recyclable packaging with free standard shipping on US orders over $15. ThriftBooks.com. Read more. Spend less.