The land of my fathers
My Fathers Land are memoirs of Wayne Johnston , first published in 1999 under the English title Baltimore's Mansion. A memoir published by Alfred A. Knopf in Toronto .
In this great Newfoundland novel, Charlie and his son Arthur seem to have a secret. Wayne, Charlie's grandson, wants to find out. But his father Arthur holds tight. Nevertheless, the author makes an attempt to confide the secret to the reader.
The fathers
Wayne Johnston mainly tells about the life of his father Arthur Reginald Johnston , known as Art . Stories from the life of the blacksmith Charlie Johnston from Ferryland occupy a special place in the family memories . This is Wayne Johnston's paternal grandfather. The supporting role among the three fathers is played by the maternal grandfather, a former fisherman from Goulds with the family name Everard (p. 57).
The other family members are - as the book title suggests - mentioned in passing: the two grandmothers Nan (also: May ) Johnston and Lucy Everard as well as Wayne's siblings - the brothers Brian, Ken and Craig (p. 206) and the sister Stephanie (p. 277).
Episodes from the life of his dear mother Genevieve Johnston, b. Everard, the author has narrated into touching stories (p. 202). Wayne Johnston describes parents as poorer than the poorest of the poor (p. 165).
Art , born in 1928 (p. 282), should become a fisherman according to his father's will. The farrier's profession has no future (p. 48). So father teaches him to fish. Kind of wants to get away from fishing. At the beginning of September 1948 (p. 233) he began studying at the Agricultural University in Truro , Nova Scotia (p. 146). When his father died in January 1949, his brother telegraphed him: Come home (p. 272). Art has no money and won't be able to return to Newfoundland until May. He doesn't work long as an agricultural technician in St. John's . Agriculture is almost impossible on the rough island. Art finds a job at the Fisheries Research Station in the Canadian Department of Biology (p. 149) and becomes an official at the Federal Fisheries Agency (p. 161). From 1992 to 1998 Art and Genevieve stayed with a son in Alberta . There Art suffered a heart attack in 1992 and a stroke in 1998 (p. 292). Still, Art returns to Newfoundland, and Wayne sets up a welcoming committee at St. John's Airport to mark the occasion.
Art is a bitter opponent of the confederation with Canada. July 22, 1948, on which the Newfoundlanders voted in a referendum with a narrow majority for the confederation with Canada, is an unlucky day for him (p. 22).
Charlie , born in 1894, works as a fisherman from 4 a.m. on weekdays and as a blacksmith for the rest of the day from 9 a.m. Charlie dies of a heart attack on January 14, 1949 in his forge (p. 236).
Wayne
Opinions divided on the confederation with Canada around 1948 in Newfoundland. Wayne's fathers and their families are supporters of the state independence of Newfoundland and thus opponents of the Confederation (p. 269). For Wayne, who was born in 1958, the state of Newfoundland is just a story (p. 269). So he acts more as an observer, who tells of the deep-seated bitterness of his father with good-natured sympathy.
Wayne, who lived mostly in Toronto from 1980 to 1992 (p. 272), got a call from his father in 1992. The parents want to move to Alberta to live with Wayne's brothers. Art explains: The Newfoundland that I knew no longer exists (p. 271). Wayne arrives in Newfoundland in time to say goodbye to his parents before they leave for Alberta, 3,000 miles away (p. 277).
The country
It is undisputed that the description of some of the Newfoundland journeys by sea and land are the narrative highlights of the book. Four big trips should be mentioned.
The new anvil
With a single blow of the hammer , Charlie's old anvil shattered (p. 43). In their horse and cart, Charlie and Art ride the 40 miles from Ferryland to St. John's. Charlie is picky. A time-consuming tour takes you through the foundries in St. John's until the right new anvil is found. It is charged and the return journey is started immediately. Because a long line of horses is waiting in front of the forge on a leash at the gate and wants to be shod. During the stop in the fishmonger's shop - Charlie takes large packs of oats or flour (p. 54) with him - it becomes clear what the reader had already suspected. Charlie doesn't even have the money to buy the hungry species a peppermint bar or jelly candies (p. 53). The transaction is carried out cashless via the payment in kind system (p. 54). Charlie, poor as a church mouse for all his work, is dependent on the merchant's arbitrariness: will he get new credit ?
The tear in the spleen
On March 12, 1947, Charlie and Art cut blocks from the ice on a frozen pond in a deeply frozen pond for their refrigerator in the basement. Customers from Ferryland willing to pay should also be supplied with the two-horse sleigh. In the dark on the way back, Art falls down a slope with his horse and truck. Fortunately, Art is not hit by the ice blocks and can climb up to the waiting father on his own. Art hurt himself inside. He can only make the way home by clinging to the healthy horse while marching (p. 145).
On the railroad
Art takes the teenage Wayne on a train ride across the island and back. A traverse is after all 638 miles long (p. 117). The train needs exactly one day for a tour, if it doesn't get stuck in the snow. On the way, Art drinks ginger ale and rye whiskey (p. 127) and successfully searches for a dispute with the supporters of the Confederation.
Swell
From 1971 Art made inspection trips on Belle Bay along the south coast of Newfoundland. The drunken captain maneuvers Art safely between the high wave crests from fish factory to fish factory in a storm. When one of the factories is about to be closed due to inadequate hygienic conditions, Art is insulted by the angry population as a city snob and Canadians . While the spies (p. 186) are fleeing to Belle Bay , Art maintains his composure and is bombarded with dead fish (p. 185). Art seems to pull all low pressure areas on his head on his inspection trips . Even later, after Art took early retirement at the age of 55 (p. 224), when younger officers took over the life-threatening inspections by sea, he remained an obsessive barometer knocker (p. 194).
The mansion
In the spring of 1627 Lord Baltimore , owner of the Ferryland colony, moved into his mansion in the coastal town of the same name. The wintering will be a disaster. The lord withdrew to England the following year and died there on June 28, 1632. Remains of the manor house are under the ruins of Charlie's forge (305). The deeper meaning of these homely memories (272), which in the original have Baltimore's mansion in the title (mansion), is rooted precisely in that contrast: The Lord sets off to England after the extremely harsh winter, whereas the Johnstons cling to the forge. Sticking to the homeland expresses itself u. a. in the stubborn opposing attitude of the Johnstons on the Confederation issue.
The secret
Wayne suspects Art is keeping a family secret. Charlie told the son about this in private on the beach when he said goodbye to his father before starting his studies. Wayne observes Art's strange behavior after special occasions. During a family gathering, for example, Art railed against those "anti-confederation opponents" who would have voted for the confederation in the seclusion of the voting booth and then publicly appear as anti-confederation opponents. After such occasions Wayne, if he has the courage, asks his father what was on the beach between him and Charlie. Art does not reveal the secret. But the reader knows more. It looks as if Charlie did the incomprehensible in the protection of the voting booth: Secretly put his cross for the confederation with Canada on the ballot paper (p. 290).
The myth
The location of the action is predominantly Avalon , the peninsula on Newfoundland that bears the name of the better known place hidden in the mist, Avalon in Britain . When the protagonists approach the isthmus between Avalon and the main island of Newfoundland, the mostly billowing mists force them to retreat. Arthur Reginald named Charlie his son after Arthur . And Reginald means king.
Quotes
- As long as you don't leave an island, it is the world (p. 143).
- Bedivere asks Arthur: What should become of me now that you are leaving me and leaving me here alone among my enemies? (P. 315)
German editions
- Wayne Johnston: The land of my fathers, German by Gerlinde Schermer-Rauwolf and Robert A. Weiß. Hoffmann and Campe, Hamburg 2003, ISBN 3-455-03687-2 ; btb, Munich 2005, ISBN 3-442-73355-3
Awards
- 2000: Charles Taylor Prize for literary non-fiction (RBC Taylor Prize)
Individual evidence
- ^ Wayne Johnston wins literary award for Mansions , CBC News, May 8, 2000
- ^ RBC Taylor Prize