Customer Reviews

Loved And The Lost

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After reading this book, I have a newfound appreciation for this author. The way he juxtaposes racial segregation with a relationship between two caucasians, one who has a unique fondness for negroes in a very prejudiced 1950's Montreal, leaves readers spellbound. After awhile, you feel as if you are in the book yourself, looking on as the characters and the plot develop. By the time I made it to the climax of the story, i was in tears, and I felt every emotion that the characters in the book felt. This truly is one of Morley Callaghan's best novels, and deserves the governor General's award that it received, if not more than that.

After reading this book, I have lost total respect for this author (Morley Callaghan). The book is highly redundant, and I think that it should be discredited from his list of works. I have read a few of his books over the year such as Such is my Beloved and More Joy in heaven, and this book by far has been the worst. He tries to capture the essence of a segregated society in 1950's Montreal, as well as a love story, which I was led to believe was between a Caucasian male and an afro-canadian female, but instead he told a story of a caucasian female that was unaccepted by both races, and that repeated its events throughout the book. This unexpectedaspect, which I suppose was there to change things up, in a way cheapened the story. A variation of the events leading up to the climax would have made for a better plot. Overall, this book did not deserve the governor generals award that it received, and truly is not one of Callaghans best works.