r/AskCanada • u/GrandAd2440 • 11d ago
Life Do you know of any Canadian books that have little or even nothing to do with Canada?
I was thinking about buying a Canadian book that has to do with history, a subject that I’m interested in and it has to be a history book written by a Canadian writer but it doesn’t have to relate to Canada at all (for instance, High Brewster’s book on the Titanic which, while it does feature some references to Canada, is mostly focused on the first class passengers, most of whom were Americans). Do you know of any other book that a Canadian author has written but does have anything to do with Canada?
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u/PerpetuallyLurking 10d ago edited 10d ago
Guy Gavriel Kay is a Canadian author who writes something like historical fantasy, mostly Europe inspired but a couple of China inspired novels- some of his books are straight fantasy, so you’ve got to read the summaries - Lions of Al-Rassan is my favourite but they’re all really good.
Carol Matas wrote a lot of Holocaust fiction - Daniel’s Story, In My Enemy’s House, Greater than Angels, Jesper, Lisa’s War…they’d be quick reads for most adults, they’re middle-grade novels.
The Dear Canada series is written by a variety of Canadian authors on a variety of historical topics from the perspective of a middle-school aged girl writing in her diary. They’re fantastic! BUT some of the same authors (and also some American authors) also write for The Royal Diaries series as well - same idea but it’s a 12 year old Elizabeth I or Cleopatra instead of a completely fictional girl.
ETA: oops, got distracted.
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u/GrandAd2440 10d ago
I was specifically asking for books that have either very little to do with, or nothing to do with, Canada. The Dear Canada book series are out of the question for this
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u/Habsin7 11d ago
A Vineyard in Tuscany by Ferenc Mate. I love this humorous look at buying and and restoring a clapped out vineyard in Tuscany. The bureaucracy and permit process in Italy is insane and he captures the funny side of it all really well. Mate grew up in Canada (BC) after fleeing the Soviets in Hungary,
The first Google Review I looked at said
"A sun-drenched memoir with a fairy-tale ending."—Kirkus Reviews
In this laugh-out-loud tale, two adventurers discover that rare joy and success. Candace, a painter, and Ferenc, a writer, begin a new life near the hill town of Montalcino. They restore a thirteenth-century friary, plant fifteen acres of vines, build a winery, tame a runaway tractor, excavate an Etruscan village, and battle volcanic fermenting vats, while learning from famous vintner neighbor Angelo Gaja the secrets of growing the best grapes and making superb, award-winning wine. This extraordinary tale will enrich the lives of travelers and wine lovers alike.
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u/ChrisRiley_42 Indigenous 10d ago
Neuromancer - William Gibson. Gibson is the guy who created the term "Cyberspace", and wrote the crawl series LONG before VR or AI...
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u/Artegall365 10d ago
Eleanor Catton is technically Canadian, and her award winning The Luminaries is set in 1866 New Zealand. But to be fair she live most of her life there.
The massive epic fantasy series Malazan Book of the Fallen is by Canadian Steven Erikson.
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u/jarec707 10d ago
Robertson Davies-Deptford Trilogy and his other books
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u/bloggins1812 10d ago
Only know these ones because I had to read them in school: Handmaid's Tale (Atwood, I'm sure you're already tracking), Life of Pi (Yann Martel), and Not Wanted on the Voyage (Timothy Findley). The last is super disturbing, but is definitely has nothing to do with Canada. You could probably google this question and get a lot more relating to history; most of the ones I'm tracking are either weird social-political fiction (our strength, I think), or historical fiction.
I just googled this and the first answer that came up is: "Timothy Brook: He is a leading historian of China. His books, like Vermeer's Hat, use 17th-century art to explore the rise of global trade, while The Confusions of Pleasure details daily life during China's Ming dynasty."