review 1: Richard Ford is one of the few old, white, L.L. Bean male writers still writing that has any type of popularly left. In "Canada", Ford shows you how you can be dazzling and boring at the same time. Dell Parsons shoegazes through 420 pages, trying to explain something that he was too young to understand when it happened, and the in the end, it leaves the reader with a feeling that if he does not feel a connection to the chess enthusiast and English teacher, then you have wasted your time. There are many interesting things that do not get explored, like the footnote about how his twin sister never really adjusted to what her parents did, so how was he able? His sister's story would have been much more interesting than Dell's, but there is a time when a author is so deep int... moreo the pocket of his comfort, the narrator being a teacher at the end being such a stretch for someone who has used literature to make a living, that he does not consider the better stories that he does not tell. Even still, the writing is decent, and I made it through the whole thing. I won't suggest it to anyone else though. review 2: I really enjoyed this book. You know from the outset that the protagonist's parents have robbed a bank and he spends over a hundred pages getting to the robbery, but the story never flags. The main character, Dell, is like most of us - he accepts events as they happen, reacting as the situation dictates but mostly trying to adapt. I found it a fascinating book. Very slow-paced and methodical, but the reader stays interested throughout. A thoughtful read. less
