Define Based On Books A Complicated Kindness
| Title | : | A Complicated Kindness |
| Author | : | Miriam Toews |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Anniversary Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 253 pages |
| Published | : | August 17th 2005 by Counterpoint LLC (first published September 30th 2004) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Cultural. Canada. Contemporary |
Miriam Toews
Paperback | Pages: 253 pages Rating: 3.65 | 20684 Users | 1345 Reviews
Explanation During Books A Complicated Kindness
In this stunning coming-of-age novel, award-winner Miriam Toews balances grief and hope in the voice of a witty, beleaguered teenager whose family is shattered by fundamentalist Christianity."Half of our family, the better-looking half, is missing," Nomi Nickel tells us at the beginning of A Complicated Kindness. Left alone with her sad, peculiar father, her days are spent piecing together why her mother and sister have disappeared and contemplating her inevitable career at Happy Family Farms, a chicken slaughterhouse on the outskirts of East Village. Not the East Village in New York City where Nomi would prefer to live, but an oppressive town founded by Mennonites on the cold, flat plains of Manitoba, Canada.
This darkly funny novel is the world according to the unforgettable Nomi, a bewildered and wry sixteen-year-old trapped in a town governed by fundamentalist religion and in the shattered remains of a family it destroyed. In Nomi's droll, refreshing voice, we're told the story of an eccentric, loving family that falls apart as each member lands on a collision course with the only community any of them have ever known. A work of fierce humor and tragedy by a writer who has taken the American market by storm, this searing, tender, comic testament to family love will break your heart.
List Books In Pursuance Of A Complicated Kindness
| Original Title: | A Complicated Kindness |
| ISBN: | 1582433224 (ISBN13: 9781582433226) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Travis, Naomi "Nomi" Nickel, Raymond "Ray" Nickel, Natasha "Tash" Dawn Nickel, Gertrude "Trudie" Dora Nickel, Hans "The Mouth" Rosenfeldt, Lydia "Lids" Voth |
| Setting: | Manitoba(Canada) |
| Literary Awards: | Scotiabank Giller Prize Nominee (2004), Governor General's |
| Literary Awards: | / Prix littéraires du Gouverneur général for Fiction (2004), Canadian Booksellers Association Libris Award for Fiction Book (2005), Canadian Library Association Young Adult Book Award (2005), CBC Canada Reads (2006) McNally Robinson Book of the Year Award (2004) |
Rating Based On Books A Complicated Kindness
Ratings: 3.65 From 20684 Users | 1345 ReviewsJudgment Based On Books A Complicated Kindness
As I read Miriam Toews' A Complicated Kindness, I couldn't stop thinking about Richard Dawkins' assertion that religion is child abuse.Looking around at our neighbours and friends, ourselves and our parents, it is easy to laugh off this idea. We may see our churches doing good works in the community; they may be providing relief for Haiti or some other disaster struck land; they may be providing shelter for the homeless or the physically abused; their beliefs and morality may be providingThis is a goddamn masterpiece and anyone who loves Catcher in the Rye will love this even more. Stunning. Toews murders on every page.
I always fall in love with Toews's characters, in this case it's Nomi, a rebellious Mennonite teenager with a dry sense of humor whose family and home furnishings keep disappearing. Nomi lives in the "world's most non-progressive community", East Village, a small deeply religious town in Canada that practices shunning and attracts tourists from around the world who want to witness the simple life first hand, but Nomi's fantasy is to hang out in Greenwich Village with Lou Reed.I read this as
Miriam Toews's third novel - and the first one I've read - won the Governor General's Award for Fiction and was nominated for the Giller Prize; it also won the 2006 edition of Canada reads, the first book by a female novelist to do so. A Complicated Kindness is narrated by the sixteen year old Nomi Nickel, a Canadian girl living in a small town of East Village in Manitoba, near the American border, during the 1970's and 1980's. Young Nomi daydreams about living in New York City, the "real" East
I find most portrayals of confused teenagers depict them as rebellious and rude. I love how in this novel Towes depicts Nomi as a nice person. She is confused as most teenagers are, and this confusion is only compounded by the Mennonite community that surrounds her and the fact that both her mother and sister have mysteriously departed. I also loved that Nomi was honest with herself. She acknowledges what she doesn't know, she (sometimes) acknowledges when she does or says stupid things. She
How do you get out of a bad situation if you don't even know it's bad? Or what if you don't know what else is out there? Toews tells her story through the eyes of Nomi Nickel, a 15 year old girl living in the small Mennonite community of East Village, MB. Here, when you finish with high school, you can work at the Mennonite tourist museum or at the local chicken slaughterhouse. Death is the ultimate goal and many Mennos wish it would come sooner. The fear-mongering Menno preacher, 'The Mouth,'
(A slightly edited version of this review appears at The Rumpus.)I started reading A Complicated Kindness on my last day in Barcelona. I ran away to Barcelona because of a girl. Also Id been grumpy and mopey for the previous month or so, due to the whole uncertain future thing, so really the whole disappointment with the girl just kind of tipped me over the edge. I figured I could fritter my money away while moping in Edinburgh, or I could fritter it away travelling.Id never really bothered to
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