[OXU]⋙ [PDF] Touch A Novel Alexi Zentner 9780393079876 Books

Touch A Novel Alexi Zentner 9780393079876 Books

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Touch A Novel Alexi Zentner 9780393079876 Books

I had not seen any reviews about this book and bought it based on Amazon recommendation (got it right this time!). Wow, what can I say that others haven't said already. This is highly original multi-layered story of love and death set in the harshest environment. Brave humans with goodness and hope battle against the sinister, seductive woods and rivers of nature filled with the violence of nature and spirits. Stephan, the grandson of the village's founder, has returned to his childhood home and tells his family history while he sits vigil at his mother's death bed. The author captures the beauty, mystery and fables of northern Canada, the undying dreams and romance of youth, the realization of middle-age and weaves a hypnotic spell. I could not put this book down. The characters twine into your heart as you go back and forth to discover the secrets and tragedy of this family's battle against the wilderness and it's deadly magic to settle this town. There is the death of Stephen's sister and father, the shame of his grandfather's murder and the incredible longing and sorrow as family members are lost to early death or old age. One of the best fantasy novels I have read in a long time, like no other in theme and setting.


Tags : Touch: A Novel [Alexi Zentner] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <strong> A sublime haunting, a ripping yarn, and a killer debut. ―J. Robert Lennon</strong> In Sawgamet,Alexi Zentner,Touch: A Novel,W. W. Norton & Company,0393079872,Canada;Fiction.,Clergy,Clergy;Fiction.,Domestic fiction,Families;Canada;Fiction.,Fantasy fiction,American First Novelists,Canada,FICTION Literary,Families,Family Life,Fiction,Fiction - General,FictionFamily Life,FictionGhost,Ghost,Literary,Literature & literary studies

Touch A Novel Alexi Zentner 9780393079876 Books Reviews

Touch is an outstanding novel that tugs at the heart and stimulates the imagination. The story is gut-wrenching in places and utterly believable, written so beautifully that as I read through parts of it, I could imagine myself covered in snow and trapped beneath the old mill. This tale is woven artfully from start to finish, with lyrical writing and jaunts into the realms of mythology. It is a simple story of a priest come home to care for his dying mother. As he sits beside her, he remembers the tragedies and triumphs of three generations of his family. It is truly a family saga that delves into haunting mythological creatures that inhabit the woods of a Canadian town founded by the grandfather of the narrator. A wonderful, imaginative, heart-warming tale of love and redemption!
The novel is the reminiscing from Stephen, and Anglican priest, who has returned to his hometown, Sawgamet, in Canada, to be at his mother's side as she dies.

He recounts the stories, of Jeannot, his grandfather, who started the town of Sawgamet. Along with his grandfather there are stories of his father, Pierre, a logger, his sister Marie, and all of the people that come in and out of their lives.

There are tales of surviving the harsh winters, or in some cases, not surviving. But the bleak landscape and unrelenting weather are made magical with the addition of creatures and spirits. The contrast between the harsh realistic life and the magical creatures, works incredibly well.

At times, the shifting around of the stories and characters was a bit confusing, but it was so engrossing, I just kept reading, and became adept at recognizing who and what was being talked about.

A lovely book to be completely absorbed in.
The moment that I read the first chapter, I was captivated and held fast by this book. I rushed to read, but I read deliberately absorbing the story.
I enjoyed this tale of mysticism and the highs and sorrows of this family and their story. I am going to read Alexi's future novels.
Alexi Zentner's form reminded me of the painting technique developed by Seurat Trying to make painting more scientific, he placed dots of pure color adjacent to one another so that the perceived color was not on the canvas but rather mixed in the eye of the observer. Similarly, I found myself integrating into a whole the separate bits and pieces, past and present, natural and supernatural, which Stephen Boucher presents as they occur to him, seeing how for him, and us, the past coexists with the present and how awareness is made of dreams and imaginings as well as facts, recent and remembered, and that the present moment of awareness is the inseparable unity of all this.

Another divergence between our common perspective and that of the book is in the radical, sudden, and completely unforeseen and unexpected departures from the anticipated immediate future, often with unimaginable and profoundly tragic effects. Yet the survivors manage to persevere. While the frontier setting provides a rich set of possibilities in this regard, the same sorts of things do occur, albeit less frequently, even in our modern, comfortable, controlled environments. And we too manage to persevere; As Macbeth said, "Come what come may, time and the hour runs through the roughest day."

Along with the enjoyable prose, I found the unique form of Touch and its story content to be engaging and even transforming, so I gave it five stars. (And with this title, it would seem a perfect book for the newest ;)
I had not seen any reviews about this book and bought it based on recommendation (got it right this time!). Wow, what can I say that others haven't said already. This is highly original multi-layered story of love and death set in the harshest environment. Brave humans with goodness and hope battle against the sinister, seductive woods and rivers of nature filled with the violence of nature and spirits. Stephan, the grandson of the village's founder, has returned to his childhood home and tells his family history while he sits vigil at his mother's death bed. The author captures the beauty, mystery and fables of northern Canada, the undying dreams and romance of youth, the realization of middle-age and weaves a hypnotic spell. I could not put this book down. The characters twine into your heart as you go back and forth to discover the secrets and tragedy of this family's battle against the wilderness and it's deadly magic to settle this town. There is the death of Stephen's sister and father, the shame of his grandfather's murder and the incredible longing and sorrow as family members are lost to early death or old age. One of the best fantasy novels I have read in a long time, like no other in theme and setting.