A Number of Things: Stories of Canada Told Through Fifty Objects By Jane Urquhart

A Number of Things: Stories of Canada Told Through Fifty Objects By Jane Urquhart Hardcover 1443432067 9781443432061 Poetry A Number of Things: Stories of Canada Told Through Fifty Objects National Bestseller From one of our nation’s most beloved and iconic authors comes a lyrical 150th birthday gift to Canada. Jane Urquhart chooses 50 Canadian objects and weaves a rich and surprising narrative that speaks to our collective experience as a nation. Each object is beautifully illustrated by the noted artist Scott McKowen, with Jane Urquhart conjuring and distilling meaning and magic from these unexpected facets of our history. The fifty artifacts range from a Nobel Peace Prize medal, a literary cherry tree, a royal cowcatcher, a Beothuk legging, a famous skull and an iconic artist’s shoe, as well as an Innu tea doll, a Sikh RCMP turban, a Cree basket, a Massey Harris tractor and a hanging rope, among an array of unexpected and intriguing objects. Bringing the curiosity of the novelist and the eloquence of the poet to her task, Jane Urquhart composes a symphonic memory bank with objects that resonate with symbolic significance. In this compelling portrait of a completely original country called Canada, a master novelist has given all of us a national birthday bouquet like no other.

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I had missed learning about the history of Lester B Pearson who had helped create the first Peacekeeping force of the United Nations leading to his Nobel Peace Prize and appreciated reading this in the Medal chapter. A number of things to do at home Urquhart incorporated her own family history in these 50 things which provides insight into her Irish Canadian heritage The beauty of the 50 Things is that it inspires the reader to consider Urquhart s choices Would the reader choose the same items What would they describe What is meaningful to their own history of Canada There are no right or wrong answers and the author challenges Canadian s to research their own list of 50 unique items with a goal of having a greater understanding of our wonderful country This is a fantastic walk through Canadian history and would be a great book to keep close at hand to discuss.

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Interesting facts at the dinner table I found myself reading sections aloud and sharing details with my own family and realizing how important it is for Canadians to continue their knowledge of this great country beyond what is learned in highschool history classes It would have made a much bigger book but I find myself wishing that there were 150 items representative of 150 years Urquhart shared that Canada is always under revision and probably will remain a work in progress as long as it exists. A number of things literature fiction is about 5 5I liked the idea of understanding Canada through 50 objects I had very high expectations from this book My problem was I found it very biased towards her own background Many of the objects are very Canadian.

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I realize that this book isn t for everyone it is presented as an overview of 50 items that represent Canada but really it is like 50 things that represent Jane Urquhart s Canadian experience Luckily for me the things that are important to her seem to overlap significantly with my own experience This wasn t quite what I expected when I picked it up as I thought that it was a book of short stories inspired by items But what it actually is is so much better non fiction vignettes spiced with personal anecdotes each one beautifully illustrated with a detailed etching Not every Canadian will agree that the fifty objects chosen are the best to describe our country but most I think will have to agree that Urquhart s things are indisputably quintessentially Canadian Canada150 Jane Urquhart A wonderful blend of all the things I love and the things I am concerned about when it comes to the country I love Urquhart s narrative about 50 things is brilliant personal reflective and inspiring Reading it was like meeting up with a friend for coffee and chatting about shared memories This is a big county yet it s small and connected coast to coast to coast Jane Urquhart I really wanted to dive into this book and devour it being a proud Canadian and allI found it wasn t a book to be read all in one sitting so I had it beside my bed in hopes of reading and enjoying a few of the stories in small batches Well I have had it for 15 weeks and it needs to go back to the library as unread as it was 12 weeks ago I found the few stories I did read to be rather dry and not engaging enough for me I have put it my try again list but at this point it s for patriotic reasons only I think the concept is wonderful Jane Urquhart An interesting collection of fifty items and anecdotes designed to represent different aspects of Canada There were some genuinely fascinating stories although I m not sure they were things the majority of Canadians would have chosen and it did feel as if Quebec French Canadians were somewhat underrepresented What really bothered me though was the superior tone of the book In an attempt to make things easier to relate to I m guessing Urquhart included many personal references Sometimes it worked but talking so much about her family history in the country was a bit much and often saying things like her grandfather saw this or her uncle was there added nothing at all to the story For those of us with a less lengthy or illustrious history in Canada it felt snobbish and was very off putting I almost quit reading several times and it took a lot longer to read than it should have Jane Urquhart This is a great concept fifty objects around which a narrative is written to animate some aspect of Canadian history For the most part the object were intriguing loved the Staffordshire dogs Brock s hat the grave and black rock Some other objects were a stretch mountain spirits and Old Walt The research was well done Who knew about Lawren Harris s ancestry or the plight of the Irish immigrants to Montreal There are some very important lessons here are valuing diversity environmental protection and immigration the scratchboard artwork by Scott McKowen was fabulous looked like old woodcut prints I also like checking out items on the internet like the hotel tiger and frozen faces But I felt that Urquhart would have been well advised to be less personal Too often she wrote about the connection to her family or inserted her opinion which detracted from the project for me Jane Urquhart A Number of Things: Stories of Canada Told Through Fifty ObjectsShe is the author of seven internationally acclaimed novels entitled The Whirlpool Changing Heaven Away The Underpainter The Stone Carvers A Map of Glass and Sanctuary Line. A number of thingsvilla The Whirlpool received the French Prix du Meilleur Livre tranger Best Foreign Book Award Away was winner of the Trillium Book Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award The Underpainter won the Governor Generals Award for English language fiction and was a finalist for the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize The Stone Carvers was a finalist for the Giller Prize and the Governor Generals Award and was longlisted for the Booker Prize A Map of Glass was a finalist for a regional Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Bo She is the author of seven internationally acclaimed novels entitled The Whirlpool Changing Heaven Away The Underpainter The Stone Carvers A Map of Glass and Sanctuary Line. Literature fiction a number of things to say The Whirlpool received the French Prix du Meilleur Livre tranger Best Foreign Book Award Away was winner of the Trillium Book Award and a finalist for the prestigious International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award The Underpainter won the Governor General s Award for English language fiction and was a finalist for the Rogers Writers Trust Fiction Prize The Stone Carvers was a finalist for the Giller Prize and the Governor General s Award and was longlisted for the Booker Prize A Map of Glass was a finalist for a regional Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best Book. Pdf a number of things to read She is also the author of a collection of short fiction Storm Glass and four books of poetry I Am Walking in the Garden of His Imaginary Palace False Shuffles The Little Flowers of Madame de Montespan and Some Other Garden Her work has been translated into numerous foreign languages. Book a number of things synonym Urquhart has received the Marian Engel Award Calgary s Bob Edwards Award and the Harbourfront Festival Prize and is a Chevalier dans l Ordre des Arts et des Lettres in France In 2005 she was named an Officer of the Order of Canada. A number of thingsy things to do Urquhart has received numerous honorary doctorates from Canadian universities and has been writer in residence at the University of Ottawa and at Memorial University of Newfoundland the University of Toronto and the University of Guelph She has also given readings and lectures in Canada Britain Europe the U. Book number the same as passport number In 2007 she edited and published The Penguin Book of Canadian Short Stories and in 2009 she published a biography of Lucy Maud Montgomery as part of Penguin s Extraordinary Canadians series. A number of things epub online Urquhart lives in Northumberland County Ontario Canada and occasionally in Ireland site_link site_link National Bestseller From one of our nation s most beloved and iconic authors comes a lyrical 150th birthday gift to Canada Jane Urquhart chooses 50 Canadian objects and weaves a rich and surprising narrative that speaks to our collective experience as a nation Each object is beautifully illustrated by the noted artist Scott McKowen with Jane Urquhart conjuring and distilling meaning and magic from these unexpected facets of our history The fifty artifacts range from a Nobel Peace Prize medal a literary cherry tree a royal cowcatcher a Beothuk legging a famous skull and an iconic artist s shoe as well as an Innu tea doll a Sikh RCMP turban a Cree basket a Massey Harris tractor and a hanging rope among an array of unexpected and intriguing objects Bringing the curiosity of the novelist and the eloquence of the poet to her task Jane Urquhart composes a symphonic memory bank with objects that resonate with symbolic significance In this compelling portrait of a completely original country called Canada a master novelist has given all of us a national birthday bouquet like no other A Number of Things Stories of Canada Told Through Fifty ObjectsThis book consists of a series of short stories about things of significance to Canadians The story about Lady Macdonald is well worth reading even if you don t read anything else in the book It is hard to believe what she did She is an amazing woman You will have to read the story to find out what happened Jane Urquhart I loved this book In these fifty stories of fifty objects Urquhart presents little treasures of Canada So moving inspirational known and unknown Powerful and simple The illustrations by Scott McKowen deepen the stories of Canada past present and looking towards the future Brilliant. A number of thingsy things to do IN THE ROYAL BRITISH COLUMBIA MUSEUM IN Victoria there is an important piece of what the curator calls museum theatre A reconstructed Haisla mask partly burnt lies beside the following statement by a Kitamaat woman My grandmother told me that when Christianity came her uncle went down to the beach and burned everything He had heard that the Lord will not received you if you still look to your treasures. Book a number of things in one day AS A MOTHER NOTHING IS MORE TERRIFYING to contemplate or thinkably tragic to experience than the death of your child But if you are on the cusp of extinction one of the last mothers of your culture burying one of the last children this appalling sorrow expands to even greater proportions. Book number the stars This is a magnificent country in which to live for all kinds of reasons Yes there are flaws in the system inequalities and injustices But we have the tools to address these problems and an openness to the idea of attempting to change for the better In the end I came to realize how much I love Canada and how fortunate I am that my ancestors were among the waves of refugees and immigrants who for several hundred years now have arrived on its shores I also came fully to understand the great debt we settlers whether multi generational or brand new owe to the First Peoples of Canada whose territories and ways of life were and continue to be undeniably altered by our presence Jane Urquhart reading Away I was thrilled to receive an advanced reader copy of A Number of Things Stories of Canada Told Through Fifty Objects by Jane Urquhart This literary celebration of Canadian history will be released in time to honour Canada s 150th birthday Urquhart s narrative is combined with detailed illustrations drawn by Scott McKowen who also contributed by providing his own suggestions for the 50 things. A number of things book summary An overall theme of gratitude and appreciation was shared for the indigenous people who first inhabitated this beautiful land Themes of resilience perseverance and hard work represented the challenges of building a life in Canada Although the items became the titles and the pictures the descriptions meandered and ended up describing other Canadian objects within the original story For example the chapter on Rope described Louis Riel who was charged with treason and hung to death in 1885 yet is now widely regarded as both a hero and that found of that province Manitoba The chapter Samplers told the story of a specific piece of needlework being passed through generations to Canada s own winner of a Nobel Prize in literature Alice Munroe Each story is packed with history and appreciation for Canada It was surprising to learn in the chapter Cowcatcher that Prime Minster Sir John A MacDonald had a spirited wife who chose to ride the cowcatcher of a train during their trip to the West Coast Looking for excitement and a better view she shocked the conductor by asking to ride the final 600 miles on the front of the train Sir John A declined to share this trip and could only be persuaded to join her for 30 of those miles Following the trip The Yoho and Glacier national parks were created to preserve the beautiful terrain. Epub a number of things to do The Cherry Tree represented the terrible internment of Japanese Canadians during WW2 referenced Joyce Kogowa author of Obasan which is a book on the CBC s 100 Novels That Make You Proud to Be Canadian list that also includes Urquhart s novel Away The history and pride for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police was described by the Horse chapter telling the tale of Nero a challenging equine that was described as fierce yet beloved and who remains preserved at the RCMP heritage centre in Saskatchewan I also enjoyed reading about the history of Stratford and the building of a hub for Shakespeare in the chapter Memorial along with the reference to the philanthropy of Andrew Carnegie who provided financial support for their library and many other s across Canada Somehow chapter by chapter but they were told so much through her own eye and history that I found it hard to expand An example is with the canoe All Canadians know why the canoe is important to Canada and is a symbol of Canada but she spoke so much about her grandfather that it seemed as though she missed an opportunity to give other historical context or stories. Book a number of things in one day I am giving this book as a Christmas present to someone else I am happy they will get to experience it but a little disappointed that it did not live up to my expectations Jane Urquhart This book is a complete pleasure Award winning author Jane Urquhart explores Canada s diversity and history with reference to fifty objects In the course of it she also describes something of her own family s history which lends an intimacy and casual tone that might otherwise have made this a somewhat dry tome. A number of things pdf online But the most amazing part of the book is the illustrations by Scott McKowan Using a technique called scratchboard in which the artist scratches through a black surface to reveal white below his drawings are simply wonderful Jane Urquhart

A Number of Things: Stories of Canada Told Through Fifty Objects By Jane Urquhart
1443432067
9781443432061
English
248
Hardcover
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. A number of things to do at home Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for sending this free copy in exchange for a review Jane Urquhart 3. Literature fiction a number of things to write In the intro Urquhart speaks to diversity and honouring indigenous so eloquently We have so much to learn and to atone She does not look away, A number of things literature fiction genres My favorite objects were the one she shared a very little or no personal connection story with I did enjoy the Innu tea dolls the burnt mask and the Turban chapters. A number of thingsx inc Each description is relatively short so they are quick to read Urquhart s prose is lovely so clear and fresh.Recently she was named the 2007 Banff Distinguished Writer.S.A. and Australia.Last story ENDS the book Framing.It BEGINS with this story of the Beothuk