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January 16, 2005
Reading: Jacques Poulin, Volkswagen Blues (1984)
Texte à l'endo
"-Quand partons-nous sur la Piste de l'Orégon? demanda-t-elle brusquement.
-Vous n'avez pas envie qu'on se sépare? dit l'homme au lieu de répondre.
-Non, dit-elle.
-Pourquoi?
Elle alla chercher le petit tabouret en simili cuir, elle tendit sa brosse à l'homme et s'assit en lui tournant le dos.
-Parce que je suis attachée au vieux Volkswagen, dis-t-elle.
L'homme se mit à lui brosser les cheveux délicatement, à petits coups, comme il l'avait vu faire plusieurs fois.
-Le vieux Volks peut tomber en ruine à n'importe quel moment, dit-il.
-On verra, dit la fille.
-Vos cheveux sont doux. Ils sont noirs comme le poêle, mais je n'en ai jamais vu d'aussi doux.
-Merci. Quand est-ce qu'on part?
-Vous pensez vraiment que Théo est allé sur la piste de l'Orégon? demanda l'homme.
-Oui, c'est ce que je pense, dit-elle.
"
Suggested by (Not That Paul Martin) Paul W. Martin who's using it in his English 086 course.
[1] Jacques Poulin, Volkswagen Blues, Roman. http://www.100meilleurs.com/books/book.asp?BookID=1035
Roch Carrier has nominated Volkswagen Blues for the Ottawa Publich Library's Canada Reads "Battle of the Books" 2005 contest. The nomination reads
Volkswagen Blues is a road story about a writer named Jack, in search of his brother, Théo. Jack picks up a hitchhiker, a young aboriginal woman, La Grande Sauterelle (named for her long, grasshopper-like legs) and her cat, Chop Suey. Together, they cut a circuitous trail from Montreal to San Francisco, and explore the history of European contact with the native people of the Americas. Their journey, written in a prose that has the half-sung and half-said quality of myth, also becomes a metaphor for the history of the French in North America. En route, the reader is introduced to a number of interesting and entertaining characters, including Sam Peckinpah, Saul Bellow, Al Capone and Auguste Renoir. Like many great novels, Volkswagen Blues is the journey of a man struggling to learn more about himself.
A fun, playful book. Even with brief visits to the web to check for sites, references ("Which Renoir painting is that?"), and distractions (I can't think of Ferlengetti without thinking of "Coney Island of the Mind"), it was just an afternoon's read, an interruption from Musashi.
A good choice for a literature course at an environmental university; not sure if it should be on a "Canada Reads Next" list, but it would be a good nomination for Oprah!
Posted by sjc at January 16, 2005 9:43 AM
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