'When the Birds Bring the Sun': Cape Breton is waiting with eyes wide open
Alistair Macleod's most famous collection of short stories, "The Red Gift Lost in the Sea Wind," is certainly a veritable masterpiece. In the cold Cape Breton, the streets and alleys of Cape Breton are cold and hard, and there are eye-catching broken wine bottles within a few steps. Those are people who are forced by the cold and boring to "save" themselves with spirits. The "aftertaste" of drunkenness among Cape Breton men. For a long time after reading "The Red Gift Lost in the Sea Breeze", when I think of this collection of novels with a somewhat awkward title, I can't help but swing back and forth in the track built by Mr. Macleod with his novels. I want to find out whether it was the harsh living environment in Cape Breton that made Alistair Macleod a success, or whether it was Alistair Macleod’s talent that made Cape Breton, located in a corner of Canada, a world-famous literary institution. Where do enthusiasts pay attention?
What is unforgettable after reading it must be a masterpiece. So, what is so good about "The Bloody Gift Lost in the Sea Breeze"? As my favorite Irish writer Colm Tóibín said, "McLeod's novels present a sentimental poetry and a violent conflict between family and destiny, blood ties and self-exile." The best novelists are often the best readers of novels. In just one sentence, Colm Tóibín hit the shining point of Alistair Macleod’s novels: sentimental poetry, family destiny and blood ties. A violent conflict with self-imposed exile. The flash point of the novel illuminates the daily life in Cape Breton; that daily life is really unbearable to look at. The broken wine bottles scattered on the frozen streets are illuminated by the pale Cape Breton winter sun. There was a chilling light.
So, keep "The Red Gift Lost in the Sea Wind" somewhere handy, but dare not pick it up from time to time and read the previous paragraph, Alistair McLaughton used The castle built by words is cold to the bone.
So, when I learned that Alistair MacLoughton’s second collection of novels was called "When the Birds Bring the Sun", I happily thought that it could warm the heart. Really enjoy McLaughton's literary talent.
What about the facts?
Let’s try to get a glimpse of the whole story based on the novel that is used as the title of the book.
The gray deerhound was saved by him from the brink of death. He took great pains to raise the puppy in a handmade box abandoned by others at his door to a giant dog that could go into heat, including ignoring the dislike and opposition of his family. It was he who found the "husband" for the big gray dog. He didn't expect that the big gray dog would leave without saying goodbye after becoming pregnant. He thought he was no longer separated from the big gray dog in this life.
That summer, he took his two sons to the beach to pull a net for fishing. From a distance, he saw a big gray dog running towards him. The big gray dog, who is already a mother of six children, was so excited when she saw her old owner that she pounced on him. The big gray dog forgot that he could no longer bear its weight when it left him. As a result, it knocked him down. On the ground. The six children of the big gray dog thought he had attacked their mother, so they rushed towards the big gray dog like a whirlwind to help the big gray dog. "They bit him angrily, biting his face, tearing his jaw apart and tearing out his throat." , I don’t know whether it was out of bloodthirsty, sense of responsibility or just long-term hunger. The big gray dog turned to them, bit them, howled at them, went crazy for their ignorance, and angrily tried to drive away the six blood-stained dogs... "In just a minute or two, he died. He died of the joy of seeing the big gray dog again after a long separation, and he died of the bite of the six children of the big gray dog who could make mistakes.
Regretful sadness is the feeling shared by all readers who read "When the Birds Bring the Sun", right? Why is it sad? It goes without saying; why is it regretful? Tragedy is caused by kind-hearted people and greyhounds who repay their kindness. So, we died of innocent anger because of the good intentions, with nowhere to vent.
No matter where we have nowhere to vent, we readers who are watching the fire from the other side will turn the pages of "When the Birds Bring the Sun" because it is a story no matter how hard it is.
What about his two sons in the story? Two sons who watched their father being bitten to death by a pack of dogs could not get rid of the shadow left in their hearts by this incident. One slit his own throat with a fishing knife and fell into the sea, and the other got drunk with others in a bar. Being beaten to death in a fight - "Just like that, the gray dog of death entered our lives", Macleod wrote. In this case, why is this tragedy not named "the gray dog of death"? Ever since our ancestors adopted a gray deerhound, generations of family members have been interacting with people with gray hair or gray dogs. How can such a story be called "When the Birds Bring the Sun"? I don’t believe that Alistair MacLoughton, who wrote “The Red Gift Lost in the Sea Wind,” would make the mistake of not being on topic. Fortunately, “When the Birds Bring the Sun” is not long, so I will read it from beginning to end. , this time, I stared at this sentence in the novel: "We can close our eyes and plug our ears, but such behavior has no meaning. If we really hear the groping and scratching sounds of claws, even if Even if we are afraid, we should keep our eyes open." The reason why Alistair Macleod's novel can be called a masterpiece is not because he described his hometown as barren, harsh climate, and rough and stubborn people living there, but because he described Cape Breton as a No matter how piercing the description of the wine bottle dregs on the frozen ground is, the Bretons in his novels can always open their eyes and look directly at the wine bottle dregs that shine with a pale light. Such Cape Bretonians, no matter what, always have a bird in their hearts that can bring the sun.
"When the Birds Bring the Sun" contains 7 novels by Alistair MacLeod. In addition to "When the Birds Bring the Sun", the other six titles are "There's a Time for Everything", "Summer's End", "The Dogs of Winter", "The Song Is Perfect", "Fantasy" and "The Year Ahead" spring". Judging from the title alone, although Macleod's description never left Cape Breton, it did not stay in winter. However, no matter spring or autumn, they in Cape Breton are always struggling to survive. However, no matter how difficult the days were, they in Cape Breton did not close their eyes and surrender to life. They believed that the birds with sunshine were flying, although the speed was a bit slow.