From the winner of the 2002 Giller Prize comes Austin Clarke's much anticipated new novel, "More". At the news of her son's involvement in gang crime, Idora Morrison collapses in her rented basement apartment. For four days and nights, she retreats into a vortex of memory, pain, and disappointment that unravels a riveting dissection of her life as a black immigrant to Toronto. Idora has lived in Canada for 25 years. She has struggled to make ends meet and her deadbeat husband Bertram has abandoned her for a better life in America. Left alone to raise her son BJ, Idora does her best to survive against very difficult odds. Now that BJ has disappeared into a life of crime and gang warfare, she recoils from this loss and tries to understand how her life has spiraled into this tragic place. In spite of her circumstances, Idora finds her way back into the light with a courage that is both remarkable and unforgettable. Perhaps the most political of all of Austin Clarke's novels, "More" is a powerful indictment of the iniquities of racial discrimination and the crime of poverty. It is in many ways a companion volume to the award-winning "The Polished Hoe.” While his previous novel was a metaphorical history of slavery, "More" is an allegorical story about the complexities of race in modern western culture. "More" is an extraordinary story about oppression and redemption and hope. From one of our masters of the novel form, this is very much a book for our times.
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It is in Clarke's ability to capture the interior tumult of a strong mind alone, alive, grasping at threads of sanity and virtue when all other resources of cultural and social capital are closed to her, that we feel the powerful fit of Clarke's poetic monologue to the mundane reality of racialized urban existence.
(Globe & Mail)
Reading Clarke has become, primarily, a sensual experience...In More, he explores such seminal themes as social estrangement and the dream deferred...The climax, when we get there, is biblical in its resonance.
(Toronto Star)
"[More] tackles the shame, anger, and frustrations of black immigrants dealing with prejudices prevalent not only in their new country, but also within their own communities...Clarke is able to use Idora's story to give his personal State of the Union on race, poverty, and immigration in Canada."
(Montreal Gazette)
"At its heart, More is an anti-valentine to a culture and city that squeeze the hope and ambition out of immigrants who hope to better their lives and instead wind up worse off than they would have been had they stayed in their Third-World island Nations."
(Edmonton Journal)
(Globe & Mail)
Reading Clarke has become, primarily, a sensual experience...In More, he explores such seminal themes as social estrangement and the dream deferred...The climax, when we get there, is biblical in its resonance.
(Toronto Star)
"[More] tackles the shame, anger, and frustrations of black immigrants dealing with prejudices prevalent not only in their new country, but also within their own communities...Clarke is able to use Idora's story to give his personal State of the Union on race, poverty, and immigration in Canada."
(Montreal Gazette)
"At its heart, More is an anti-valentine to a culture and city that squeeze the hope and ambition out of immigrants who hope to better their lives and instead wind up worse off than they would have been had they stayed in their Third-World island Nations."
(Edmonton Journal)
From the Back Cover
At the news of her son BJ's involvement in gang crime, Idora Morrison, a maid at the local university, collapses in her basement apartment. For four days and nights she retreats into a vortex of memory, pain, and disappointment that becomes a riveting exposé of her life as a Caribbean immigrant living abroad. While she struggled to make ends meet, her deadbeat husband, Bertram, abandoned her for a better life in New York. Left alone to raise her son, Idora has done her best to survive against immense odds. But now that BJ has disappeared into a life of crime, she recoils from his loss and is unable to get out of bed, burdened by feelings of invisibility.
As she summons the strength to investigate her son's troubles—and her own weaknesses—the book quietly builds to its crescendo. Eventually Idora finds her way back into the light with a courage that is both remarkable and unforgettable.
More zeroes in, with laserlike intensity, on the interior life of an extraordinary "ordinary woman," showcasing Clarke's skill as a writer of inimitable force.
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Customer Reviews
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I read this book for a course entitled, "Space, Power and Citizenship". Having read Clarke's "The Polished Hoe", I was expecting something similar but instead I found myself immersed in my own city (Toronto ON). Like James Joyce, Clarke takes the reader inside a character's direct, felt experience. Clarke creates a voice for for his protagonist, Idora, that is vivid and tragic but still holds on to her sense of humour. Clarke's use of diasporic nostalgia to address Idora's continuous feelings of "otherness" enacts critical race theory and illuminates hegemony. If you want to learn what multiculturalism is really about, read this novel to understand differentiated citizenship and lived experience.
1 of 3 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover
I looked forward to this book with anticipation based on the authors previous work.
It was interesting and enjoyable to see my neighbour used as a backdrop in a novel and I would love to read more books that do so.
However the book falls well short of the mark. The writing is bloated and under whelming. The book moves at a snails pace and I struggled to finish it.
I do look forward to future releases from the author but this snooze fest is best skipped.
It was interesting and enjoyable to see my neighbour used as a backdrop in a novel and I would love to read more books that do so.
However the book falls well short of the mark. The writing is bloated and under whelming. The book moves at a snails pace and I struggled to finish it.
I do look forward to future releases from the author but this snooze fest is best skipped.
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