Word: maclennan
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...Hugh MacLennan's Montrcal is the city peopled by the progency of the Old Guard, a class that survives on the economic legacy of the Calvinists yet is strangely separated from them. His characters, unlike their parents, are not blind to the effects of the Depression; they achieve a kind of amateur class-consciousness...
...core of each of MacLennan's people is a fear that perhaps he abuses his freedom--a suspicion that the Old Guard's standards of morality are rules that one must follow to assure the happy life. And we are left with a sense that no one can escape the guilt of his birth...
...MacLennan tells his story from the point of view of an introverted, slightly vain, mildly successful man of public affairs--George Stewart...
...MacLennan's narrative technique is brilliantly planned and assured; his insights into the motivations of his characters are clear and sometimes exciting. Always is evident the sure hand of a facile writer...
...major value of the book--to this Montrealer, at least-seems to lie in MacLennan's incredible sympathy for his characters and their city. If in advanced middle age they now appear flabby and indifferent as they quietly sip Dewar's Best-Ever-Bottled, they exist, at least. MacLennan has explained how hard knocks made them the way are. Hard knocks always arouse sympathy, particularly if the victims are people you know...