I really love the short stories in this book, where fiction and non-fiction mesh so beautifully together.
But it wasn't love at first sight as I was quite bored at the first story- Man and Boy, which talks about the love between an elephant, Jumbo and his keeper at the London zoo. Jumbo was bought by the infamous PT Barnum but refused to enter his crate to cross the ocean to America. Wasn't too exciting to me as the story was mainly an imaginary covnversation between the keeper and the elephant.
The book travelled through various periods and in various cities in north America, such as wickenburg in Arizona, Chicago, Yukon, etc.
I liked the story of a couple (Jane and Henry) who was separated from each other, as the husband had gone first to Quebec to seek work. They conversed through letters and one sensed the bitter sweetness of a long distance relationship and also the tension. One particular passage which I thought was rather amusing was when Jane felt that she needed Henry more than he needed her. Henry similarly felt the same and that Jane was probably enjoying her new found independence, away from him. Both did not realize just how miserable the other was and both felt a sense of resentment towards each other when they thought such thoughts.
When Jane finally managed to reach Canada soil after an arduous journey at sea, her husband contracted cholera right before he was to meet her at the dock. When he was hospitalized, all he could think about was what her reactions would be when she didn't see him. How she and the two children were going to survive on foreign land with no skills.
She didn't know the reason for her husband's no show and only learnt of his death 3 months later. She married someone else within a year of his death. And I think it is mostly out of a need to survive rather than love. Rather sad story.
The story "snowblind" was also pretty good. It talks about the Yukon goldfields and the miners. It is pretty much a game of roulette for these miners as one has to pick a random spot and start panning for gold. When one is out of luck, all the hard work and money would be for naught. The story tells of two men mining together through the winter, when they suffered from scurvy, the cold, etc. Alas, when spring came they realized all their efforts had been wasted and that they couldn't repay the loan to the storeowner who had given them the equipment on credit. One of the partners eventually gave up on gold mining and took on a job at the store.
What Remains was also rather sad. It talks about two female famous sculptors who had lived together almost all their lives and who self-admitted themselves into a nursing home after they fell ill in their eighties. Frances the fiesty one suffered from dementia and couldn't remember Florence; this broke Florence's heart. The story talked about their youth and also of Frances' best work -a sculpted lion at the entrance of Queen Elizabeth way in Toronto. One day at the nursing home, Florence noticed Frances sculpting an imaginary lion and decided to bring her to see her original masterpiece. They finally managed to get permission to leave the home and also found someone who was willing to bring them. Upon reaching queen e way, Florence excitedly called out to Frances to look at the majestic stone lion. But Frances remained quiet and only stared at her lap. It was only then that Florence realized that Frances had gone blind and she had not even noticed that. Devastating.
The afternote said that Florence later developed dementia too and the two close friends died within 3 weeks of each other in 1968.
Beautiful but sad story.
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