Customer Reviews

Smith and Other Events: Tales of the Chilcotin

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Paul St. Pierre does for ranchers in British Columbia what James Herriott does for animals in Yorkshire. He has a knack for turning some of the most insignificant events of daily life into interesting stories. His characters start out as impulsive oddballs, but by the end of the story they become quite rational folks. This is one of those books that sneaks up on you. The first time I read it I thought it was entertaining, but nothing to visit again. But every once in a while one of the characters from the book pops into my mind and I dwell on the character and story for a few days. I usually re-read it every couple of years (I have a worn 1987 edition, now in retirement.)

When you read enough western literature you regretfully start finding fine books by fine writers that are no longer in print and will no doubt stay that way, which unfortunately is the case with this one. St. Pierre's stories in this collection are just wonderful - wryly humorous and sharply detailed in their understanding of his characters' behavior, motives, and feelings. Set mostly in the Chilcotin of British Columbia, the stories take place in the 1950s and share the same dozen or so characters - ranchers and their families, Indians, a cowboy or two, and a storekeeper. The longest story, "How to Run the Country," involves a handful of politicos in Vancouver who persuade a local rancher to run for office. The author, having served a term as a Member of Parliament himself, tells this story with considerable apparent delight as he interweaves the complex ironies of political careers and ambitions.

My favorites of the bunch include the premature funeral for an old Indian from the local reservation, the long suffering of a ranch wife who literally spills the beans on her husband, an elderly recluse's long-distance romance with a young woman, a mid-winter trip to town that evolves, thanks to a cowboy's gambling winnings, into a days-long bacchanal in a hotel room, and a husband and wife's indecision about whether to sell the ranch. Smith, the title character, is vividly drawn, perfectly believable, and as likable as he can be obtuse. The others, his wife Norah, sons Sherwood and Roosevelt, Arch McGregor, Morton Dilloughboy and his son Abel, cowboy Henry James, Ol Antoine the Indian patriarch, Frenchie and Frenchie's wife (who gets her own story), and Ken Larsen, whose arch-conservative values are no obstacle to his loyalty to the Liberal Party, all of them are equally memorable. Find a copy, kick off your boots, and enjoy.

Paul St. Pierre is a treasure discovered twenty years ago in Steve Bodio's book review column in GRAY'S SPORTING JOURNAL. St. Pierre was a man of parts, not unlike Roderick Haig-Brown: a life both of letters and public service. For fans of "western" fiction, a glimpse into the Chilcotin country with be a welcome breath of (cold) fresh air, with memorable unrepentant characters, both native and white, rendered with a sharp eye and sharper wit. I just bought a copy for my cousin, a horseshoer of refined literary tastes, recovering from hip replacement surgery. I envy his titanium-reinforced arse: he gets to read for the first time what I've read many times over in the past two decades. Quote from St. Pierre's website: "Likes hunting, bird dogs, fishing, reading and travelling. He drinks, smokes and gambles but none with any regularity and it can be said he has no bad habits." My kinda person. His story "The Education of Phyllysteen" should be required reading in every teacher education class in every college of education in the land.