Customer Reviews

Volkswagen Blues

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

 

 

Je suis professeur de littérature francophone à l'université de Veracruz, et celui-ci est un livre qui s'adapte à mes propos pédagogiques et littéraires. C'est un parcours par l'Amérique du nord et par l'histoire. Si vous aimez les romans contemporains bien écrits, je vous le recomande. Génial, structure, personnages, intrigue, narration, parallélisme entre présent et passé.

This book is a rather pleasant and easygoing book about an unmarried couple who travel from Canada through the United States, including the Oregon trail. The most interesting part of the book is the relationship between the man and the woman. The writing style is simple and straightforward, and the story manages to keep one entertained throughout.Translator's Kiss

I first read this in my French IV class & was interested in reading the English version just for fun. I very much enjoyed the book & am glad I purchased it.

Mon nouveau livre de chevet. Beautiful & definitely one of the best novel I ever read.Also available in English,

I use this as back up to my french version (originally is in french). The story is a little slow, but it discusses deep human feelings as our main characters traverse across North America. I'd give it 3.5 stars.

A 40-year-old French-Canadian writer from Montreal set out to find his long lost brother, whom he had not seen for 20 years. The only trace he had was a 15-year-old postcard from a small town in Quebec. At the beginning of his quest, he picked up a hitchhiker, a young Métis girl. Together, driving an old Volkswagen minivan, they traced the footsteps of the French explorers from the St. Lawrence to St. Louis, Missouri and then headed west along the Oregon Trail. This turned out to be a journey of self-discovery as well as a history lesson for the writer where he learned about the plight of the Native Americans through the eyes of a Métis.

With translated work, one has to wonder how much of the style of the writer actually came through in the translation. Regardless, this English version was a really nice, easy read where I was drawn into the narrator's quest very quickly: Where did the brother go? What happened to him and what became of him? However, it was very clear soon into the book that the process of how one reaches a goal is often as, if not more, rewarding as achieving the goal itself. This book was short-listed as one of five books in CBC's Canada Reads program in 2005. I would recommend this to anyone who is interested in exploring Canadian literature or who just wants a good read.

good book; understated book; easy read, but understanding is a whole different thing; similar to ZEN & THE ART OF MOTOCYCLE MAINTENANCE; my French IV students will get a chance at this book this spring

This book was the first Poulin I have read. Eventually I read all of them, but this one is his best. Read it slowly, dream along, savour every page. I found some of his other books a bit hard to crack, but not this one. This is something everyone can (and should) enjoy. Beautiful.