- Hardcover: 848 pages
- Publisher: Random House Canada; 1st Edition edition (Sep 2 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0679314296
- ISBN-13: 978-0679314295
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 17 x 5.3 cm
- Shipping Weight: 1.4 Kg
- Average Customer Review: 3.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #202,138 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
Review
“Mesmerizing scenes worthy of a national epic... Its meticulous construction and control contain a breadth of incident and characterization seen only in the most ambitious and imposing novels.”
—The Globe & Mail
“Kenneth J. Harvey, Atlantic gale, continues to astonish. And in Blackstrap Hawco, he has given Newfoundland, not to mention the world, something very great indeed.”
—National Post
“ A masterpiece... brutal, poignant, stunning, infuriating, heartbreaking and hopeful, hard to read and harder still to put aside.”
—The Chronicle Herald
“Blackstrap Hawco is an ambitious book, far-reaching, deliberately complex, blunt, ruthless and lyrical.”
—The Telegram
“Brilliant... a loving tribute to the uniqueness of Newfoundland.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
"There are moments that are literally awe-inspiring and writing so skilled it almost brought me to tears... more ambitious than any Canadian novel in recent memory."
—The Vancouver Sun
“Easily the best book of the year and an instant classic.”
— Ottawa Xpress
“By virtue of its sheer size and scope, it’s a deep source of impression, reflection and consideration.”
— The Globe & Mail
—The Globe & Mail
“Kenneth J. Harvey, Atlantic gale, continues to astonish. And in Blackstrap Hawco, he has given Newfoundland, not to mention the world, something very great indeed.”
—National Post
“ A masterpiece... brutal, poignant, stunning, infuriating, heartbreaking and hopeful, hard to read and harder still to put aside.”
—The Chronicle Herald
“Blackstrap Hawco is an ambitious book, far-reaching, deliberately complex, blunt, ruthless and lyrical.”
—The Telegram
“Brilliant... a loving tribute to the uniqueness of Newfoundland.”
—Winnipeg Free Press
"There are moments that are literally awe-inspiring and writing so skilled it almost brought me to tears... more ambitious than any Canadian novel in recent memory."
—The Vancouver Sun
“Easily the best book of the year and an instant classic.”
— Ottawa Xpress
“By virtue of its sheer size and scope, it’s a deep source of impression, reflection and consideration.”
— The Globe & Mail
Book Description
Fifteen years in the making, this book is the one Canada’s “heavyweight champ of brash and beautiful literature” was meant to write. An epic masterwork about Newfoundland’s working class, Blackstrap Hawco spans more than a century in gorgeous and widely varied prose, reminding us that even when writing about the degradation of identity and language, Harvey does it magnificently.
Named in a moment of anger, Blackstrap Hawco is heir to an island dominion picked over by its adoptive nation. From the arrivals of the indentured Irish to the Victorian drawing rooms of the English merchants, from the perilous seal hunt to the raucous iron ore mines, from a notorious disaster at sea to the relocation of outport communities, the family legend might be all his people have left to live for. But as Blackstrap Hawco – a novel that will consume you in its dazzling swirl of voices, legends and beautiful hearsay – testifies, a story this haunting, this powerful, might just be enough.
Named in a moment of anger, Blackstrap Hawco is heir to an island dominion picked over by its adoptive nation. From the arrivals of the indentured Irish to the Victorian drawing rooms of the English merchants, from the perilous seal hunt to the raucous iron ore mines, from a notorious disaster at sea to the relocation of outport communities, the family legend might be all his people have left to live for. But as Blackstrap Hawco – a novel that will consume you in its dazzling swirl of voices, legends and beautiful hearsay – testifies, a story this haunting, this powerful, might just be enough.
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Most helpful customer reviews
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Loved this Book!,
By
This review is from: Blackstrap Hawco (Hardcover)
Blackstrap Hawco, by Kenneth J. Harvey, is a mammoth size book. At over 800 pages, it is an epic novel of a Newfoundland family. Harvey uses actual historic events brilliantly to weave the fictitious story of the Hawco family. The story of Blackstrap's life is tragic. It's as if he is watching his life unfold without any control over what will happen to him. The story is told from the perspective of different characters in the novel which gives the read a full understanding of the complexity of the family members. It also goes back to the first generation of Hawcos who arrived in Newfoundland. The book is also not told in chronological order. While this might appear to be disconcerting, it works beautifully and only serves to keep the reader more intrigued in how the story actually unfolds. I really enjoyed this book and recommend it to anyone interested in the history and culture of Newfoundland or anyone interested in great Canadian fiction.
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ummmm....,
By
This review is from: Blackstrap Hawco (Hardcover)
Weird. Challenging. Weird. About 200 pages too long. But I couldn't put it down.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Irony of Life on the Rock,
By Ian Gordon Malcomson (Victoria, BC) - See all my reviews (HALL OF FAME) (TOP 10 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)
This review is from: Blackstrap Hawco (Hardcover)
In this lengthy and complex novel, Harvey describes the history of modern Newfoundland in a cross-section of interwoven experiences involving the extended history of the Hawco family. Nothing is straightforward in this doleful tale. The many unhappy and unsettling events from the past are filtered through the mind of the novel's main character, Blackstrap Hawco, as he considers their impact on a desolate present and an uncertain future. This multilayered story is both dark and intensive. It indirectly brings together some very powerful developments in the lives of Hawco's many ancestors as they eke out a challenging existence on the Rock Newfoundland. Some have survived mine disasters; others have lived out the indignity of the dole; a few have succumb to the rigors of the seal hunt; an increasing number have become the victims of a lost innocence; and many are surviving to see the decline of family values. As Hawco reflects on a former way of life in the outports, he discovers that once brought Newfoundlanders together in islandic solidarity against the cruel, grasping mainlander has vanished. Those beautiful virgin forests that once covered Newfoundland with a sense of economic security have been raped and pillaged by the big forest companies. The present generation of Islanders have no concept of loyalty to family, friends, or home-grown heroes. While the ghostly reminders of Newfoundland's unhappy and tumultuous past slip away, a new generation has already begun to move full steam ahead into a troubling future. Blackstrap is truly a man caught in a time warp with nowhere to go. Harvey's colorful references to a Newfoundland of the last century are effectively balanced by the constant barrage of television images of the late-breaking news hitting the homes of Bareneed. While the book may come across as unbearingly long and disjointed, it does have one unifying feature: the kaleidoscope of events and impressions on which the narrative is based is seen mainly through the troubled mind of Blackstrap. With this novel, Harvey, in my estimation, succeeds in bringing Newfoundlanders up-to-date with how the epic events of the island's history still shape the perilous uncertainties of its future. Outrage at how the British robber barons of the past exploited the island has now become a growing concern for what is left of Newfoundland culture is slowly succumbing to the evils of a modern world. Reading Harvey should remind the reader what it is like to live in a society that has basically said good-bye to the past.
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