#barometer rising

[booksaboutufos]

Reading Log #15 - Barometer Rising by Hugh MacLennan

March 25, 2019

Review: 3/5

MacLennan, H. (1941). Barometer rising. New York, NY: Duell, Sloan & Pearce.

Summary

During the week of the Halifax Explosion in 1917, Penny and her family are worried that her cousin Neil has been killed while serving in the infantry, under the disgrace of desertion. In reality, Neil has returned to Halifax to clear his name of the tarnish imposed by Colonel Wain. As the week progresses, the explosion draws nearer as the family members attempt to reunite.

Relation

Barometer Rising is Hugh MacLennan’s first published novel and viewed as one of the quintessential books in the New Canadian Library. It was contested by the Manitoba School Trustees Association in 1960 for possessing “vulgarity in the use of language” in the novel. 

Appeal

As an important cornerstone in Canadian literature, Barometer Rising is an important novel to give setting to the East Coast of Canada in a crucial point of the nation’s history. 

Audience/Readership

The book is relatively accessible for all audiences and will mostly serve the interests of those looking for period drama. Those over the ages of 13 will enjoy the book the best.

Filed under controversial or challenged books

[joannemerriam]

[firstactproblems]

It was a strange characteristic Murray had often observed in Americans, that nothing ever excited them quite so much as the repairing of a disaster, provided it were big enough.

Hugh MacLennan, Barometer Rising Even 75 years ago, this defining characteristic of Americans, their duality towards self-sufficiency and generosity in spirit was noted.

[thatbookgurl]

Even though his world was composed now of nothing but chance, it was unreasonable to believe that a series of accidents should ultimately matter.

Hugh Maclennan, Barometer Rising

[floatingstories]

"Must be a lot worse around here in peacetime, though. The war's done a lot for Halifax." No, Murray thought, any more than the war has done a lot for physics or chemistry. The war and the prospect of wars to come is what keeps the place fundamentally the same through the years.

- Barometer Rising, Hugh Maclennan

[lstanley]

This day was at the zenith of the season; it should have been the longest day of the year. Yet they seemed unable to hoard it for themselves, and because they could not decide what to do and were afraid to confess what they wanted to do, they wasted the daylight with aimless walking.

Hugh MacLennan (Barometer Rising)

[postmodernismruinedme]

Its is also remarkable how many times "TOLD YOU" is written in my notes about Barometer Rising.

Perhaps it is the first great Canadian novel, but it may also be our most predictable soap.

[onewordnoe]

Reading my way through the holidays, part one

So classes are finished for the semester, with only one take home test due next week, but I've already gotten started on my plan to read a ridiculous amount of not-school books over the next four weeks. First up was "Barometer Rising" by Hugh MacLennan:

"In the winter of 1917, Penelope Wain is convinced her lover, Neil Macrae, is dead - killed in action while serving overseas. That he apparently died in disgrace does not alter her love for the soldier, who, unbeknownst to her, had returned to Halifax to clear his name, only days before a catastrophic explosion in the Harbour will forever change their lives."