Roch Carrier's La Guerre Trilogy

Book excerpt: The A List edition of one of the major achievements in recent Quebec literature — Roch Carrier’s La Guerre trilogy is a vital, moving, and assured portrait of life in Quebec. This volume includes: La Guerre, Yes Sir! A surrealist fable set in rural Quebec during WWI. Canadian Literature greeted its first appearance in these terms: “It is the French-Canadian writer Roch Carrier who comes closest to the significance, power, and artistry of Faulkner at his best ... He might well be able to do for French Canada what Faulkner did for the American South." Floralie, Where Are You? In the second installment, Carrier reaches back to the wedding night of the Corriveau parents, whom we first meet in La Guerre, Yes Sir!. Once again, a single night expands until it becomes a world in itself. But this time it is a very different concoction, mingling desire and guilt, nightmare and fantasy, as Anthymo drives Floralie back to his village through the forest. Is It the Sun, Philibert? In the final installment, Young Philibert hitchhikes down to Montreal to make his fortune, and meets a different world. As he scrambles from job to job, he discovers a new Quebec — urban, industrial, and dedicated finally to the death of the person. In this moving trilogy, Roch Carrier’s savage vision comes across with great urgency and Sheila Fischman’s fluid translations sing with vivacity and grace.