Galore by Michael Crummey

I am a notorious book buyer. I try not to laugh when customers tell me they cannot buy more books, they have three(!) at home they have not read. I have had to split my home up into the room with books I have read, and books I have not. Most of the time they are classics I have always been meaning to read, mixed with non-fiction books on topics I want to learn more about, and the ones along the way that sound interesting, so I buy them and then get distracted. Occasionally I buy books that people I trust recommend to me.

Last week I picked up a book that has been in my to read room, I remember carting this book around my last two moves at least. I cannot remember where it came from, but reading the back, this is completely nothing I would have picked up on my own, luckily for me, I picked it up as I headed out the door to work, so now I am stranded at work with only this book. And I say lucky because Galore by Micheal Crummey is a magical, fable-like story full of interesting entanglements of fascinating characters, and I am so happy to have read it.

The story takes place in Newfoundland, and spans 200 years and multiple generations of two main families. The is an interweaving of stories that can get confusing for some people who do not read fables, or multilined stories. And there is a need for a bit of suspension of belief. The book starts with the population of a town trying to deal with a whale that has washed ashore, and while cutting up the whale, they find a man in its stomach. With some confusion of bible stories the man is named Judah. The story weaves back and forth from this event. Characters in the town are drawn neither to pity, or to idolize, they are just told as people. Living in a small fishing village trying to survive season to season, and each other.

Crummey has a way of mixing fable, reality, religion, with a dash of crudeness that makes this story open up and let you dive in. Reading reviews I notice that people have trouble with the fact that the author uses dashes instead of quotation marks when characters are speaking, and they have trouble telling if the plot lines are real or the characters imagination. I believe when you read this, it should be like listening to a tale by a fire over a cup of tea. The story could be true, untrue, or partially true, but for the characters it is what they know, and you as the reader are just a guest watching the town, and generations unfold. The point is not what is real and what is fake, or the even the structure (I don't see anyone of my friends having trouble with the structure), it is sinking into this other world, and enjoying the newness that is Newfoundland, magic, coldness, and mystery all at once.

Some of the characters could be more developed, and the family tree does get a bit overwhelming, and confusing, if you read the physical book there is a handy family tree at the beginning, which I referred to a couple of times towards the end.  If you read it for what it is a story of magical realism set to entertain, and introduce people to an area that is not much written about than you will enjoy it. If you are looking for a plot line that resolves itself, and straightforward characters who have straightforward direction, this is not the book for you.

Galore has made me excited to tear through my bookcases and find other books I normally would not have picked up. I have no idea where this one came from, but I am hoping I have more.