Customer Reviews

Introducing Sinclair Ross's As for Me & My House: A Reader's Guide (Canadian fiction studies)

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Whether As For Me and My House can be considered one of the "great Canadian novels" is somewhat questionable, but there is no denying that it is a profound, complex and evocative work of literature.

Set during the Great Depression, the story revolves around the domestic life of the Bentleys, who have come to a small, isolated Saskatchewan farm-community of Horizon, where Philip Bentley has taken on role of being the town's new minister.

Ministering is something that Philip, in fact has little desire to do, and is instead obsessed with painting, to the point where his wife--through whose perspective the story is told--is neglected. There relationship is essentially broken, but the reasons for this are not simple, and this essentially is the focus of the story.

Throughout the novel, Mrs. Bentley--who is never named because the work is written in the form of journal entries--continuously explores their history, their personalities and the effect of their confined lifestyle upon themselves and one another.

Over the course of their residence in Horizon she comes to realize that the break-down of their relationship, is not so much the fault of Philip's conduct, as we are first led to believe, but fact that both have allowed themsleves to become victims of circumstance.

As For Me and My House is definitely a work worth studying, but like I initially stated, I question whether it can really be considered one of the great Canadian novels.

As For Me and My House provides a descriptive tale about a preacher and his wife during the depression. Written by the hand of the wife, who remains nameless, the book incorporates vast imagery to help portray the feeble lifestyle they were trapped within. Mr. Bentley, unable to motivate himself to move beyond his unsatisfying profession as a preacher, lives in unhappiness, bringing his wife into oppression with him. Animal imagery is prevalent, as the town and its people are described in such terms. They all cower and protect themselves; with the exception of Judith, who "scales the wind" at the beginning until she discovers her own sexuality and becomes the earth....Can air continue to have 'life' when submersed into the ground?

I ordered this book because of a list on the Web. It listed books selected as worthwhile reading. It was and I am glad I stuck to it BUT it was slow and boring in some spots. There were periods that I found myself during chores during my appointed reading times. I did feel strong emotions come through in the main characters but many times, I wanted to shake both of them or light a fire under them. Writing "back in the day" was much, much different from todays action from page one. Much more introduction and a heap more of words. Very stiff and v.ery formal. A hard read

Through the journal entries of Mrs. Bentley, we are given a beautiful and complex novel of great importance in Canadian Literature. As a story of life during the depression, this book perfectly captures the trials of prairie life during this era. As Mrs. Bentley describes events in her journal entries, we are given a chance to not only accept the text at face value, but to read between the lines. Mrs. Bentley tends to say more by what she doesn't write than what she does. All in all, an incredible book and one which everyone should read.