{"id":256,"date":"2006-05-10T00:38:07","date_gmt":"2006-05-10T04:38:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/s265039441.onlinehome.us\/philpaine\/?p=256"},"modified":"2018-08-22T21:51:45","modified_gmt":"2018-08-23T01:51:45","slug":"14554-%c2%a0%c2%a0-michel-tremblay-quarante-quatre-minutes-quarante-quatre-secondes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/?p=256","title":{"rendered":"14554. (Michel Tremblay) Quarante-quatre minutes, quarante-quatre secondes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"PARIS<\/a>Michel Trem\u00adblay is a giant in Cana\u00addian lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, but anglo\u00adphone read\u00aders are gen\u00ader\u00adally only famil\u00adiar with his plays. Les Belles-Soeurs<\/em> (\u201cThe Sis\u00adters-in-Law\u201d) trans\u00adformed french-lan\u00adguage the\u00adatre in Cana\u00adda. He was def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly a van\u00adguard, writ\u00ading vivid\u00adly in a col\u00adlo\u00adquial Cana\u00addian, and explor\u00ading new sub\u00adject mat\u00adter. Over the years, Trem\u00adblay built up a huge cor\u00adpus of work, includ\u00ading many nov\u00adels and tele\u00advi\u00adsion dra\u00admas in addi\u00adtion to the plays, a \u201ccom\u00e9die humaine\u201d from the sinews of Mon\u00adtreal. Trem\u00adblay is an odd\u00adity, an open\u00adly gay author who is best known for his under\u00adstand\u00ading of women. Sat\u00adis\u00adfy\u00adingly com\u00adplex roles for female actors are hard to find on the stage, and Trem\u00adblay has earned their grat\u00adi\u00adtude and respect.<\/span><\/p>\n

This is the first of his nov\u00adels that I\u2019ve read. The main char\u00adac\u00adter is a singer whose career stalled after a sin\u00adgle album. The book focus\u00ades on the peri\u00adod in the ear\u00adly 1960s when Montreal\u2019s music scene was espe\u00adcially vital. F\u00e9lix Leclerc, Gilles Vigneault, Monique Leyrac, Cl\u00e9\u00admence Desrochers, Claude L\u00e9veil\u00adl\u00e9e and oth\u00aders were cre\u00adat\u00ading fab\u00adu\u00adlous songs, many of them with extra\u00ador\u00addi\u00adnar\u00adily beau\u00adti\u00adful lyrics*. Trem\u00adblay inter\u00adweaves his\u00adtory and fic\u00adtion del\u00adi\u00adcately. The prose style is very, very Cana\u00addian, anchored in real speech and real thought, with\u00adout any affec\u00adta\u00adtions. The peo\u00adple are com\u00adplete\u00adly believ\u00adable. The sto\u00adry is struc\u00adtured as an album: ten songs, ten sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions, ten med\u00adi\u00adta\u00adtions on what might have been. It explores some\u00adthing hard\u00adly touched on by writ\u00aders, the soul search\u00ading of a life that is nei\u00adther trag\u00adic nor tri\u00adumphant, but caught, like most of us are, some\u00adwhere in between.<\/span><\/p>\n

*Per\u00adhaps the most famous song from that peri\u00adod was Gilles Vigneault\u2019s \u201cMon Pays\u201d. This is some\u00adwhat of a digres\u00adsion, but the lyrics of that song might con\u00advey the inten\u00adsity of feel\u00ading in the music of that time, and it is cru\u00adcial to under\u00adstand that to appre\u00adci\u00adate Tremblay\u2019s novel.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mon pays ce n\u2019est pas un pays, c\u2019est l\u2019hiver<\/em>
\nMon jardin ce n\u2019est pas un jardin, c\u2019est la plaine<\/em>
\nMon chemin ce n\u2019est pas un chemin, c\u2019est la neige<\/em>
\nMon pays ce n\u2019est pas un pays, c\u2019est l\u2019hiver <\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Dans la blanche c\u00e9r\u00e9monie<\/em>
\nO\u00f9 la neige au vent se marie<\/em>
\nDans ce pays de poudrerie<\/em>
\nMon p\u00e8re a fait b\u00e2tir maison.<\/em>
\nEt je m\u2019en vais \u00eatre fid\u00e8le<\/em>
\nA sa mani\u00e8re, \u00e0 son mod\u00e8le<\/em>
\nLa cham\u00adbre d\u2019amis sera telle<\/em>
\nQu\u2019on vien\u00addra des autres saisons<\/em>
\nPour se b\u00e2tir \u00e0 c\u00f4t\u00e9 d\u2019elle.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mon pays ce n\u2019est pas un pays, c\u2019est l\u2019hiver<\/em>
\nMon refrain ce n\u2019est pas un refrain, c\u2019est rafale<\/em>
\nMa mai\u00adson ce n\u2019est pas ma mai\u00adson, c\u2019est froidure<\/em>
\nMon pays ce n\u2019est pas un pays, c\u2019est l\u2019hiver.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

De mon grand pays solitaire<\/em>
\nJe crie avant que de me taire<\/em>
\nA tous les hommes de la terre<\/em>
\nMa mai\u00adson c\u2019est votre maison.<\/em>
\nEntre mes qua\u00adtres murs de glace.<\/em>
\nJe mets mon temps et mon espace<\/em>
\nA pr\u00e9\u00adparer le feu, la place<\/em>
\nPour les humains de l\u2019horizon<\/em>
\nEt les humains sont de ma race.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mon pays ce n\u2019est pas un pays, c\u2019est l\u2019hiver<\/em>
\nMon jardin ce n\u2019est pas un jardin, c\u2019est la plaine<\/em>
\nMon chemin ce n\u2019est pas un chemin, c\u2019est la neige<\/em>
\nMon pays ce n\u2019est pas un pays, c\u2019est l\u2019hiver<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Mon pays ce n\u2019est pas un pays, c\u2019est l\u2019envers<\/em>
\nD\u2019un pays qui n\u2019\u00e9tait ni pays ni patrie<\/em>
\nMa chan\u00adson ce n\u2019est pas une chan\u00adson, c\u2019est ma vie<\/em>
\nC\u2019est pour toi que je veux pos\u00ads\u00e9der mes hivers<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

This is very hard to trans\u00adlate. The words blow like a snow\u00adstorm in French, and a lit\u00aderal trans\u00adla\u00adtion can con\u00advey the ideas, but not the emotion:<\/span><\/p>\n

My coun\u00adtry is not a coun\u00adtry, it\u2019s winter.<\/em>
\nMy gar\u00adden is no gar\u00adden, it\u2019s the plain.<\/em>
\nMy road is not a road, it\u2019s the snow.<\/em>
\nMy coun\u00adtry is not a coun\u00adtry, it\u2019s the winter.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

In the white ceremony,<\/em>
\nwhere the snow weds the wind<\/em>
\nIn this land of pow\u00adder crystals<\/em>
\nMy father built his house.<\/em>
\nAnd I will be faithful<\/em>
\nTo his man\u00adner, his example<\/em>
\nMy guest room should be filled<\/em>
\nAnd oth\u00aders will come from dif\u00adfer\u00adent seasons<\/em>
\nTo build next to it.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

My coun\u00adtry is not a coun\u00adtry, it\u2019s the winter.<\/em>
\nMy refrain is not a cho\u00adrus, it\u2019s a blizzard.<\/em>
\nMy house is not a house, it\u2019s the frost.<\/em>
\nMy coun\u00adtry is not a coun\u00adtry, it\u2019s the winter.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

From my vast lone\u00adly land<\/em>
\nI\u2019ll cry out just once before going quiet,<\/em>
\nTo all the men of this Earth:<\/em>
\n\u201cMy house is yours.<\/em>
\nBetween these four walls of ice<\/em>
\nI set aside this time and space<\/em>
\nFor all human\u00adity, from all horizons<\/em>
\nBecause all humans are my race.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

My coun\u00adtry is not a coun\u00adtry, it\u2019s winter.<\/em>
\nMy gar\u00adden is no gar\u00adden, it\u2019s the plain.<\/em>
\nMy road is not a road, it\u2019s the snow.<\/em>
\nMy coun\u00adtry is not a coun\u00adtry, it\u2019s the winter.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

My coun\u00adtry is not a land, no, the reverse<\/em>
\nOf a land, nei\u00adther coun\u00adtry nor fatherland<\/em>
\nMy song is not a song, it\u2019s my life.<\/em>
\nIt\u2019s for you that I want to pos\u00adsess my winters.<\/em><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Michel Trem\u00adblay is a giant in Cana\u00addian lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture, but anglo\u00adphone read\u00aders are gen\u00ader\u00adally only famil\u00adiar with his plays. Les Belles-Soeurs (\u201cThe Sis\u00adters-in-Law\u201d) trans\u00adformed french-lan\u00adguage the\u00adatre in Cana\u00adda. He was def\u00adi\u00adnite\u00adly a van\u00adguard, writ\u00ading vivid\u00adly in a col\u00adlo\u00adquial Cana\u00addian, and exploring \u2026<\/p>\n

Read more \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-256","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bu-reading-2006"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=256"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9629,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/256\/revisions\/9629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=256"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=256"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.philpaine.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=256"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}