A Map of Glass by Jane Urquart


finished 7/26..... contemp fict. Can. ............ rating 7

After a preface, this book is divided into 3 parts the first and last of which concern Sylvia, a woman with a very mild form of autism whose deceased lover, Andrew, was afflicted with Altzeimer's. After reading about the details of his death in the newspaper she goes to see the man who found him.
Then comes part two which consists of Andrew's journals about his family history. And after that the reader is taken back to the story of Sylvia and Jerome, the young man.

The two stories don't seem to really fit together except for the themes which are basically about change, how the environment is shaped by man but man shapes the environmen and this is perforated by the sense of mysticism which underlies both sections.

The first time I read this book I was so interested in the sections related to Sylvia that almost skimmed the middle section. After reading it I checked some of the details in the second section for historical interest. They appeared to be a bit mixed up but it wasn't a big deal. Then I read in two places (at least) that the center section was by far the best part.

I figured I must have missed something so I reread the center section, "The Bog Commissioners" fairly carefully. THis time I got hooked in and agreed it was by far the stronger section. This part is like an old bardic saga in miniature. It covers 3 generations (5 if you skip one and get to Andrew) of timber, shipping and barley barons in the Prince Edward County area of Lake Ontario. It's one of those good story-well told things. It's amazing that Urquart got so much into so few pages - only 140 in all. No wonder I was confused the first time round.

The thing that was hard about the whole book is that the two stories didn't really mesh. Urquart tried to get them together but except for the focus on mysticism and artists, change and the effect of the environment on the characters - there wasn't much. Also there was an incredible amount of artistry in the styles.






Posted: Sat - July 28, 2007 at 01:00 AM        

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