Present Books Toward The Lesser Blessed
| Original Title: | The Lesser Blessed: A Novel |
| ISBN: | 1550545256 (ISBN13: 9781550545258) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Literary Awards: | Deutscher Jugendliteraturpreis for Jugendbuch (2001) |
Richard Van Camp
Paperback | Pages: 128 pages Rating: 3.86 | 1149 Users | 138 Reviews
Describe Containing Books The Lesser Blessed
| Title | : | The Lesser Blessed |
| Author | : | Richard Van Camp |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 128 pages |
| Published | : | April 6th 2004 by Douglas & McIntyre (first published 1996) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Canada. Young Adult. Contemporary |
Chronicle During Books The Lesser Blessed
A fresh, funny look at growing up Native in the North, by award-winning author Richard Van Camp. Larry is a Dogrib Indian growing up in the small northern town of Fort Simmer. His tongue, his hallucinations and his fantasies are hotter than the sun. At sixteen, he loves Iron Maiden, the North and Juliet Hope, the high school "tramp." When Johnny Beck, a Metis from Hay River, moves to town, Larry is ready for almost anything. In this powerful and often very funny first novel, Richard Van Camp gives us one of the most original teenage characters in fiction. Skinny as spaghetti, nervy and self-deprecating, Larry is an appealing mixture of bravado and vulnerability. His past holds many terrors: an abusive father, blackouts from sniffing gasoline, an accident that killed several of his cousins. But through his friendship with Johnny, he’s ready now to face his memories—and his future. Marking the debut of an exciting new writer, The Lesser Blessed is an eye-opening depiction of what it is to be a young Native man in the age of AIDS, disillusionment with Catholicism and a growing world consciousness. A coming-of-age story that any fan of The Catcher in the Rye will enjoy.Rating Containing Books The Lesser Blessed
Ratings: 3.86 From 1149 Users | 138 ReviewsCritique Containing Books The Lesser Blessed
Sometimes I when I finish a book I am reminded that this is the reason I even read books at all. This book is one of the most masterful pieces of fiction I have ever read or seen. This is a revelation. This is a masterpiece. I met Richard Van Camp about six years ago, at the Strathcona Branch of the Edmonton Public Library. I used the library as an office, and sat in the same cubicle area almost every week day. Every few weeks, I would be there at the same time as Van Camp, who would beMy introduction to Richard Van Camp. His writing is accessible and honest, and despite the bleakness of growing up native in northern Canada, he keeps hope alive amidst the dark lives of his characters.
I enjoyed The Lesser Blessed, an original book and debut novel written by Richard Van Camp and published in 1996. It is the coming of age story of Larry, a teenage male of the Dogrib tribe in the North West Territories, Canada. The novel was later adapted and released as an independent film with the same name in 2012.It was more of a young adult book than I was expecting and to some degree, it reminded me of an indigenous version of the television series Degrassi High. It was also raunchier than
I met Richard Van Camp recently at an early childhood education conference and decided I had to read his book. It is hard to believe that such a nice, funny man, and writer of beautiful children's books, could write such a raw, dark, disturbing novel. This coming of age story about a native teen growing up in the fictional town of Fort Simmer, NWT (based on Van Camp's home town of Fort Smith), deals with drugs, alcoholism, abuse, promiscuity and tragedy. It is not for the faint of heart, and
So I've been trying to think of a better word than "feverish" to describe the feeling of reading this book, because I think that word is trite and cliche.. but I really can't. It's fitting; especially because this book has a good amount of drug use and therefore drug-induced haziness and it thus feels kind of deluded and cloudy. Which is apt because, this is a book that deals with adolescence, which is fitting to be portrayed as being a confusing, disorienting, druggy, kind of time.That style
Turns out this novel involves high-school-aged teens in a community in Northern Canada. Added to the usual themes of coming of age, raging hormones, girls, sex, and parents are issues of gasoline sniffing, drugs, alcoholism, poverty, whitey vs native. Told from the point of view of Larry, a Dogrib, the picture painted is not pretty. The narrative is violent, depressing, drug-filled, and despondent. Children grow up fast in this environment. We read about suicide rates in Northern communities,
I dont have words for this. I gulped it down like a starving animal. Richness and beauty and horror and joy, steady and unlikely and unwieldy.
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