{"id":12683,"date":"2011-12-06T19:11:01","date_gmt":"2011-12-07T00:11:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/spacingmontreal.ca\/?p=12683"},"modified":"2013-01-21T11:47:44","modified_gmt":"2013-01-21T16:47:44","slug":"montreal-lit-returning","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2011\/12\/06\/montreal-lit-returning\/","title":{"rendered":"Montr\u00e9al Lit: Returning"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Spacing Montreal is pleased to present this column exploring Montreal’s literary landscape, written by Gregory McCormick, Director of Programming for the\u00a0Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

I love Pointe-Saint-Charles. It\u2019s one of those neighborhoods where one can walk down the street and feel history all around. Not the history of movers and shakers, not the men of industry or past glories of our city but the common person\u2019s history: generations of kids who\u2019ve grown up and whose games have changed from kick the can to marbles to video games in basements. Mothers in aprons yelling dinnertime from porches to the neighborhood packs of kids, fathers lounging in easy chairs or tinkering with cars out front. \u00a0It\u2019s not posh history like Westmount. It doesn\u2019t have the long gentrified avenues like many of the Plateau. But it has an esprit<\/em> all of its own. Though I think of Point St-Charles as an anglo or bilingual neighborhood, Dany Laferri\u00e8re reminds us that one can\u2019t generalize about any neighborhood in modern Montreal:<\/p>\n

DERNIER MATIN<\/p>\n

Je ne sais trop pourquoi
\nj\u2019ai eu tant envie de voir ce matin
\nmon ami Rodney Saint-\u00c9loi au 554, rue Bourgeoys.
\nAppr\u00e9ciez l\u2019ironie de ce nom de rue
\npour une modest maison d\u2019\u00e9dition de gauche
\ndans ce quartier ouvrier de Pointe-Saint-Charles.<\/p>\n

M\u2019attendaient en haut de cet escalier raide
\nle large sourire de Saint-\u00c9loi
\net un saumon cuisant \u00e0 feu doux
\nsur un tapis de fines rondelles
\nd\u2019oignon, de tomate, de citron et de poivron rouge.<\/p>\n

[\u2026]<\/p>\n

Nous voil\u00e0 assis,
\nSaint-\u00c9loi et moi.
\nL\u2019un en face de l\u2019autre
\nTous deux venus d\u2019Ha\u00efti.
\nLui, il y a \u00e0 peine cinq ans.
\nMoi, il y a pr\u00e8s de trente-cinq ans.
\nEntre nous trente interminables hivers.
\nC\u2019est le chemin difficile qu\u2019il devra prendre.<\/p>\n

Then later, when he leaves Montreal for a trip home (the subject of his 2009 novel L\u2019\u00c9nigme du retour), he juxtaposes those early, warm and flavorful images against more familiar images:<\/p>\n

On dernier coup d\u2019oeil par le hublot de l\u2019avion.
\nCette ville blanche et froide
\no\u00f9 j\u2019ai connu mes plus fortes passions.
\nAujourd\u2019hui la glace m\u2019habite
\nPresque autant que le feu.<\/p>\n

L\u2019\u00c9nigme du retour shows us how an outsider experiences the process of becoming an insider, in much the same way that Pointe-Saint-Charles tells the story of those who lived and never achieved power or influence. Laferri\u00e8re\u2019s tale chronicles the process by which this city and its streets infect a newcomer and change the way he or she views the rest of the world.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spacing Montreal is pleased to present this column exploring Montreal’s literary landscape, written by Gregory McCormick, Director of Programming for the\u00a0Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. I love Pointe-Saint-Charles. It\u2019s one of those neighborhoods where one can walk down the street and feel history all around. Not the history of movers and shakers, not the menContinue reading “Montr\u00e9al Lit: Returning”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5075,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[102],"tags":[6883,6137,125,6882,28,6343],"class_list":["post-12683","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-spacing","tag-director-of-programming-for-the-blue-metropolis-international-literary-festival","tag-gregory-mccormick","tag-montreal","tag-rodney-saint-eloi","tag-spacing-montreal","tag-the-blue-metropolis-international-literary-festival"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMontr\u00e9al Lit: Returning - Spacing Montreal<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/spacing.ca\/montreal\/2011\/12\/06\/montreal-lit-returning\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Montr\u00e9al Lit: Returning - Spacing Montreal\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Spacing Montreal is pleased to present this column exploring Montreal’s literary landscape, written by Gregory McCormick, Director of Programming for the\u00a0Blue Metropolis International Literary Festival. 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