Jordan Tannahill

The meat of this thing was a bit all over the place. I enjoyed the live production of this but I think that script itself was weaker than the wonderful set design, lighting, and acting I viewed. It's a coming of age story wrapped up in some kind of techno-horror, and further framed by an... underdeveloped environmentalism theme. I think the latter could have been lessened for a more impactful story, but even then, I think I'm a bit too old for some teen supernatural plot. Also... In what world are Canadian suburban kids having grand, drug and alcohol-fuelled benders? Like? The character's situations were often all a bit too college-level for believability.… (altro)

I found this title on the 2021 Giller Prize shortlist and so chose it for my latest audiobook. It was disappointing.

Claire Devon, a middle-aged high school teacher, starts hearing a low-frequency noise that no one else hears. She can find no obvious source for the sound which has negative health effects. Eventually she finds others who can also hear the hum; the group meets regularly and, as their personal and family lives disintegrate, finds a sense of community. Claire, for instance, alienates her family and friends with her behaviour but forms a close bond with Kyle, one of her students who also hears the humming sound. The outside world, however, views the group with suspicion; it is seen as a cult.

Claire is a problematic character. The book is framed as her memoir in which she gives her version of events. She claims she is being as objective as possible, but I could not but wonder how reliable a narrator she is. Claire is not a likeable character. She makes fun of friends who have religious faith. She gives her daughter Ashley a vibrator for her 14th birthday. She is very self-obsessed; she claims she loves her daughter more than life, but her actions don’t always suggest this is true. Claire is also not realistic. She is supposedly logical and rational but soon buys into the belief that the hum makes the listeners special and can even bring them to a euphoric state. Some of her decisions indicate very poor judgement. For example, she spends time with Kyle outside of school and then seems amazed when her job is at risk.

Other characters are also not realistic. Claire’s husband Paul and daughter Ashley quickly dismiss Claire’s complaints about the hum. She has physical symptoms like nosebleeds, insomnia, and headaches, yet her family does little to help her and eventually just abandons her. Ashley is particularly detestable, though her selfishness reminded me of Claire’s self-centredness: the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. Claire’s family abandons her so one can understand her need for another family, but the bond among the group members seems to develop very quickly even though they react differently to the hum and have conflicting views as to what they should do about it. They are soon referring to themselves as a family, though the ending suggests that the bond is not very strong.

It would not be a stretch to suggest that the book reflects the current political situation in the United States where Republicans and Democrats seem to live in very different realities. Conspiracy theories and extreme beliefs are tearing apart families and communities in reality, just as they do in the novel, sometimes with catastrophic consequences. I could think of many parallels between one group member’s paranoia and insistence on arming himself and the behaviour of some Americans who feel their ideas of themselves and their country are threatened.

I did not enjoy the book. I found Claire’s constant self-justifications annoying; in fact, much of the book is repetitive. Several times, I turned off my iPod because I just didn’t want to listen to anymore of her whining and self-pity. I can’t understand why this book was nominated for as prestigious an award as the Giller Prize.

Note: Please check out my reader's blog (https://schatjesshelves.blogspot.com/) and follow me on Twitter (@DCYakabuski).… (altro)

The listeners
Claire Devon is a well adjusted wife of 20 years to Paul and a mother to their teenage daughter Ashley. One day she starts to hear a hum that none of her family members can hear. She’s a high school English teacher and the hum begins to interfere with her ability to sleep, to lead a normal life and keep her job. Because she becomes involved with a student Kyle who also hears the hum, she is fired. She discovers a local self- help group whose members are all traumatized by the impact of the hum on their lives. The head of the group Howard, a former university professor and his yoga instructor wife host meetings at their home. These meetings grow from once a week to many per week as they all feel support and friendship from the other members. Paul and Ashley move out of the house, Claire gets more deeply involved in the group and with Kyle. Eventually things come to a tragic end when the media reports that the group is a sex cult and the police intervene. Unfortunately, two people are killed, the group disbands. Months later a possible cause for the hum is reported in the media and life returns to normal.
I enjoyed the first part of the book but then half way through I started skimming the content. It’s well written, good characters and plot, just a little underwhelming.… (altro)

On a Saturday in January 2017, Jordan encounters the prone body of his mother lying on her bed and is caught between two possibilities: “a) You are asleep. b) You are dead.” In that instant, in the space between the intention and the action, the perception and the understanding, between living and dying, his life effectively passes before his eyes. Constantly he is recalled to the “You” that either is or was his mother, but his reflections extend well beyond his direct encounters with this woman as he traces his steps from budding theatre performer to avant garde gay artist. In the process he considers art, theory, philosophy, gender studies, computer science, and cosmology. Heady stuff, perhaps, but it all boils down to what “You” are if “You” are no longer “You.”

Jordan’s is a millennial life, he having been born in 1988. But the philosophical, emotional, and sexual issues he considers are not time-bound. And for the most part they are dealt with an assured, fluid form of presentation. Though the presentational form is often antithetical to narrative drive. It can come across a bit like a lecture. Equally disconcerting is what I’ll call the accusatory second person. There are numerous novels written in the second person. This novel is actually written in the first person. But Jordan is constantly addressing himself to “You”, his mother who may be alive or dead. Whenever Jordan is recounting an incident in his life that involves his mother, the accusatory “You” arises. You did this. You said that. You disagreed with me. It can wear thin. At some point perhaps it seems to cross over into whining. I understand the stylistic motivation here. I’m just not sure it offers sufficient benefit for its cost.

Ultimately, if you are moved by the character of Jordan, you’ll find this a compelling and possibly thought-provoking read. I’d caution, however, that citing numerous philosophers does not in fact constitute grappling with the issues they are dealing with. Nor does it, by itself, transform literature into the, perhaps sought after, philosophical novel.

Gently recommended.… (altro)