Canada Reads book panelists weigh merits of short stories

The annual Canada Reads battle of the books became a discussion of the merits of the short story form Tuesday, as an all-star panel debated whether books of connected short stories could hold the attention of readers.

Among the books being discussed are David Bezmozgis' Natasha and Other Stories, a collection of connected short stories set in Scarborough, Ont.,in the 1980s, and Gabrielle Roy's Children of my Heart, which is written in four distinct sections.

The panel, comprising winners from the first five years of Canada Reads, voted for the first time on Tuesday, in an effort to choose a book they feelshould be read by all Canadians.

The results of that vote will be known on Wednesday.

Other books under consideration are Timothy Taylor's Stanley Park, Anosh Irani's The Song of Kahunsha and Heather O'Neill's Lullabies for Little Criminals.

Jim Cuddy of Blue Rodeo, who chose the book Stanley Park, said short stories, no matter how well connected, never seem as complete in their story arc as a novel.

He comparedNatasha and Other Stories to "a collection of photographs" that freeze moments in time.

"We watch the main character and see that he's changed, but we don't see what changed him," he said.

Author Donna Morrissey, who is defending The Song of Kahunsha, agreed.

"I'm the kid who brought War and Peace to the beach. I'm not a short story person," she said.

Writer and broadcaster Denise Bombardier said she was able to read the book as a novel, until the final story was finished.

"So I had a problem at the end, thinking something is not well-made at the end," she said.

Samson praises 'small epiphanies' of short stories

John Samson of the Weakerthans praised the "small epiphanies" that come out in short stories, saying they are often lost in the novel form.

"Short stories are undervalued. Life is episodic and small moments can be gigantic."

But he wasn't keen on Children of My Heart, saying he didn't like three of the four sections of the book.

Steven Page of the Barenaked Ladies praised the description used in Roy's work, but said he felt disconnected from the book, which might be a problem of translation.

But Cuddy said he was "beguiled" by the book because of the point of view of the main character, an 18-year-old woman hired as a teacherin a small Prairie town.

"How vain she is, how she twists things around and her overblown sense of romance."

Page praised the description of food in Stanley Park, but Samson found the description of the armless, legless beggar in Song of Kahunsha unforgettable.

"He's a horrifying character and so evocative."

The Canada Reads panel begins eliminating books on Wednesday with a plan to choose a single book for all of Canada to read by Friday. The Canada Reads series airs on CBC Radio One at 11:30 a.m. (12 noon NT) and 7:30 p.m. (8 p.m. NT).