Reviews for...

Since Daisy Creek
For Art's Sake

Since Daisy Creek   by W.O. Mitchell

May 1st and 2nd, 2005     A Christmas gift from my loving, book-addict Mother.

This is the first book that I've read by the well loved Canadian author. His style of writing was not easy to get accustomed to, and he started the tale without preamble. Regardless of that, after nine pages I was hooked.

The story in general, is a personal journey, back to life, and living. But it's not clear during the main body of the work; only in the last ten pages or so, was I aware of the change which had taken place in the protagonist. The characterisation is good, and more than good. It runs deeply in these people. And I really ended up cheering for the protagonist, and hopping for things to work out.

The setting and atmosphere must have also been well created, because I was many times confused, (in my reality,) thinking of the bear, and realizing it wasn't real. Or dreading when I'd meet this or that annoying person again, -and realizing I only ever met them through the pages anyhow.

Besides that, the only other complement that comes to mind, is to say that I don't think anyone BUT an English teacher could have written this book. (WO Mitchell is a Professor.) The ... lectures and thoughts of the protagonist could not have been created by one who didn't know. I'm not being at all clear, am I? The ... nuggets of information about writing, and the principles that must be followed by his writing students, and the concepts of how to teach, and how to write, are so, SO REAL.

Ah, yes: also there is clever, make-you-think humour in there. The whole book is clever, in fact. And I came away with the distinct impression, that it was written by a highly intelligent person. -And also felt that it was written for intelligent people to read. (And enjoyed that feeling, of being someone intelligent.)

Now, all I need to do, is decide if I'm going to read the first couple chapters again, (because, as I said, the first time through, I couldn't understand what was going on.) Good Good Good book. Good Good Good author. Mmmm HHHmmmmm.

For Art's Sake   by W.O. Mitchell

March 2007     A Christmas gift from my loving, book-addict Mother.

This was an interesting form for a mystery book to take: One with no violence, and no... direct mystery, for us. We know from the beginning the motives, the idea, the planning, and the execution of it. The story is told through the perspective of the Criminal. (If one considers them criminals. No -they most certainly are, for breaking and entering, and yet... they are not Proper criminals, are they?) The mystery of this mystery novel is, "Will they get caught?" But even there, it's nothing Hidden from the reader: we are given an equally full view of the detectives on the case, their actions, and their thoughts. (Knowing the thoughts and movements of both sides is not enough to know the outcome though: There's such fine bits of timing, and small details that could change everything.)

And then there's the nature of the crimes. They also set this apart from most, if not all, crimi-books. (Criminal Mystery Books, -or something like that.) No Murder, no Bank robbery, no Jewelry theft... They steal art. High class, expensive, valuable art, yes, but still, only art. That's not the half of it though... because it's not done on a hire basis, or for their personal wealth. It's for... -But you should read the book! So I won't tell.

Let's get on to the characters. The lead male, our protagonist, is nice, kind, and believable... -except then for the whole art theft part. It seems like a too wild idea for this quiet, older, art teacher. Breaking and entering? Stealing Millions of dollars worth of artistic pieces? It's hard to swallow this story. It makes a Great story! That's for certain, but at the expense of believability.

The dog is also over the edge, in my opinion. I know that there are very intelligent dogs out there in the world, but the way this one is described leaves me critical; I just can't believe that such a dog would ever exist. Still though... I can mostly forgive it, because he adds another nice touch to the story.

The rest of the characters have varying degrees of importance to the story, and corresponding amounts of our empathy and good will. I like the way that the inspector in head of the investigation ends up being the first to believe their true motives. (And in the end feels that she can't blame them.) Oh! One more half believable character! The Prison Warden; The way it's the presence of our protagonist, which finally makes him a gentler, kinder man. It's true, that for every person who changes, there will be one person or event which becomes the final catalyst for that change. (The prison warden could very well meet One new inmate, and at last sees that he's being too cruel to them all.) But that it should be Our Protagonist... feels far fetched. (Guessing that the prison would have four or five new people ever month, or even Week. How many per year then? And how many years had the warden been head of the prison?) It's still mostly believable. -just not totally.

So, the plot moves nicely forward, and despite having all motives and plans revealed, we wonder what is going to happen. And then what will happen next. The characters are nice, even if some seem contrived for the sake of a better story. So do I like this one more than his Daisy Creek? It's too hard to say; they're a bit too different. I think I got more wrapped up in this one though: wondering what was going to happen next.