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callmejoce's review
4.0
I am an unabashed fangirl for all things Newfoundland (fussy weather, knitting traditions, and a diet of rum, potatoes, and bologna? Marry me Newfoundland!) and when I'm Queen everyone will have to visit St. John's at least once. I loved this book and I hope more people read it.
February caught my attention before it was nominated for Canada Reads in 2013. I'm sorry It took me so long to read it. It's a sweet story of family who lost their patriarch, Cal, when the Ocean's Ranger sunk in 1982.
I think the metaphor Moore creates among the O'Mara family parallels Newfoundland economic recovery apres-Crosby. John, the only son goes to Fort MacMurray to build a career in Oil and Gas (specifically Non Destructive Testing, which you can study online at SAIT! A link is below!) and the sub-tragedy of Newfoundland culture being siphoned away by the west. Moore's story is one of hope and how the family eventually puts itself together again, perhaps like Newfoundland has since the collapse of the cod fishery. It's really lovely and I looked forward to coming home to this book everyday.
I have memories of seeing Knowlton Nash explaining the news - that the North Sea had swallowed the Ocean Ranger and the poor 84 souls on board in the middle of the night on Valentine's Day. Such a tragedy - those poor families. The Ocean Ranger was Canada's worst disaster at sea since WW2.
As an aside, I thought I had read that Allan Hawco has bought the rights to turn February into a film. I was mistaken - it was Lisa Moore's Caught. I do hope someone shares this story and turns February into a film, and I hope that they cast Ryan Gosling as Cal.
The Science of the Ocean Ranger: https://youtu.be/hxyCpoyikrw
Found Photos of life on Ocean Ranger http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ocean-ranger-victim-s-photos-donated-to-the-rooms-1.2955415
Non-Destructive Testing http://www.sait.ca/programs-and-courses/full-time-studies/certificates/non-destructive-testing-foundations-course-overview.php
Book 4 of 17 in 2016
February caught my attention before it was nominated for Canada Reads in 2013. I'm sorry It took me so long to read it. It's a sweet story of family who lost their patriarch, Cal, when the Ocean's Ranger sunk in 1982.
I think the metaphor Moore creates among the O'Mara family parallels Newfoundland economic recovery apres-Crosby. John, the only son goes to Fort MacMurray to build a career in Oil and Gas (specifically Non Destructive Testing, which you can study online at SAIT! A link is below!) and the sub-tragedy of Newfoundland culture being siphoned away by the west. Moore's story is one of hope and how the family eventually puts itself together again, perhaps like Newfoundland has since the collapse of the cod fishery. It's really lovely and I looked forward to coming home to this book everyday.
I have memories of seeing Knowlton Nash explaining the news - that the North Sea had swallowed the Ocean Ranger and the poor 84 souls on board in the middle of the night on Valentine's Day. Such a tragedy - those poor families. The Ocean Ranger was Canada's worst disaster at sea since WW2.
As an aside, I thought I had read that Allan Hawco has bought the rights to turn February into a film. I was mistaken - it was Lisa Moore's Caught. I do hope someone shares this story and turns February into a film, and I hope that they cast Ryan Gosling as Cal.
The Science of the Ocean Ranger: https://youtu.be/hxyCpoyikrw
Found Photos of life on Ocean Ranger http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/newfoundland-labrador/ocean-ranger-victim-s-photos-donated-to-the-rooms-1.2955415
Non-Destructive Testing http://www.sait.ca/programs-and-courses/full-time-studies/certificates/non-destructive-testing-foundations-course-overview.php
Book 4 of 17 in 2016
bookgirl1209's review
4.0
I love the way Lisa Moore writes. I'm not sure why because when I try to explain, even to me it sounds horrible. Flashbacks within flashbacks, jumping from past to present, sometimes to two or three different pasts in the same chapter...it just doesn't sound good.
But it is.
February is the fictional story of Helen and her children who must deal with the aftermath of losing her husband in the real life Ocean Ranger disaster in Newfoundland in 1982. She continues on because that's what you do, what choice does she have?
The poetry of Moore's writing is beautiful, in the early hours after the disaster Helen knows her husband can not have survived but there are many family members who hold out hope - Helen feels that she is on the outside while those with hope are still on the inside of their grief...what a word picture.
But it is.
February is the fictional story of Helen and her children who must deal with the aftermath of losing her husband in the real life Ocean Ranger disaster in Newfoundland in 1982. She continues on because that's what you do, what choice does she have?
The poetry of Moore's writing is beautiful, in the early hours after the disaster Helen knows her husband can not have survived but there are many family members who hold out hope - Helen feels that she is on the outside while those with hope are still on the inside of their grief...what a word picture.
rebecca_labrador's review
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ereiny5's review
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.0
An informative/emotional read on loss, grief, perseverance, and hope. I liked that no one was ever too old
This was well researched, and I learned a lot about the Ocean Ranger sinking and the effects it had on the families and community. Moore captured the attitudes of the company/workers/culture really well. The writing itself also was well done.
Pet peeve of not using quotation marks when someone is talking...
This was well researched, and I learned a lot about the Ocean Ranger sinking and the effects it had on the families and community. Moore captured the attitudes of the company/workers/culture really well. The writing itself also was well done.
Pet peeve of not using quotation marks when someone is talking...
byp's review
4.0
I like the depictions of grief in this book, and although I initally balked at the setting, I found myself interested in the Newfoundland community.
mrs_tea's review
4.0
Moore is brilliant at weaving the past and the present together seamlessly. I did find the story lacking at times, digressing away from the main story, however, it was a beautiful depiction of loss and love.
categj's review
5.0
During a violent storm out in the North Atlantic, on Valentine’s Day in 1982, the Ocean Ranger, a self-propelled, semi-submersible oil rig, was hit with a huge wave and damaging the deck. The rig sank the next day, and all 84 men aboard perished.
Lisa Moore’s novel, February, has at its centre this real-life tragedy — how this event impacts the families and the community of the small town in Newfoundland.
This novel is a beautifully written story of death, loss, love, memory and grief. The story weaves back and forth between past and present, with all threads either coming from or leading towards the tragic event of 1982, when Helen lost her husband, Cal, to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Even though grief is a highly unique and individualistic emotion, Ms. Moore expresses Helen’s grieving process in a way that we can all relate to in poignant and personal ways. Helen’s feelings and state of mind ring true. The winding and meandering narration, flowing from Helen’s present (in 2008) to the time of the tragedy (in 1982) and the time before and after the event, feel familiar, the way our thoughts travel back and forth remembering times and places in our own past and present.
Through Helen’s eyes and her feelings, we feel the impact of Cal’s death on the family — their three daughters and, particularly, their son, John, who grows up wary of relationships and terrified of water.
Water, of course, plays an important part in this novel and Moore uses water in various descriptive ways in the book. Boiling kettles, an overflowing bathtub, rain, a mirror breaks in the honeymoon suite — it "buckled, or bucked, or curled like a wave and splashed onto the carpet and froze there into hard, jagged pieces", an orgasm "like a spill of icy water" subtly remind us of that fateful night in 1982.
Lisa Moore’s novel February is passionate, beautiful, sad but at the same time, uplifting. A story about love and loss, and the strength that we find within to carry on, to remember and to live.
I loved this book and can’t wait to read some of Ms. Moore’s other work.
Lisa Moore’s novel, February, has at its centre this real-life tragedy — how this event impacts the families and the community of the small town in Newfoundland.
This novel is a beautifully written story of death, loss, love, memory and grief. The story weaves back and forth between past and present, with all threads either coming from or leading towards the tragic event of 1982, when Helen lost her husband, Cal, to the depths of the Atlantic Ocean.
Even though grief is a highly unique and individualistic emotion, Ms. Moore expresses Helen’s grieving process in a way that we can all relate to in poignant and personal ways. Helen’s feelings and state of mind ring true. The winding and meandering narration, flowing from Helen’s present (in 2008) to the time of the tragedy (in 1982) and the time before and after the event, feel familiar, the way our thoughts travel back and forth remembering times and places in our own past and present.
Through Helen’s eyes and her feelings, we feel the impact of Cal’s death on the family — their three daughters and, particularly, their son, John, who grows up wary of relationships and terrified of water.
Water, of course, plays an important part in this novel and Moore uses water in various descriptive ways in the book. Boiling kettles, an overflowing bathtub, rain, a mirror breaks in the honeymoon suite — it "buckled, or bucked, or curled like a wave and splashed onto the carpet and froze there into hard, jagged pieces", an orgasm "like a spill of icy water" subtly remind us of that fateful night in 1982.
Lisa Moore’s novel February is passionate, beautiful, sad but at the same time, uplifting. A story about love and loss, and the strength that we find within to carry on, to remember and to live.
I loved this book and can’t wait to read some of Ms. Moore’s other work.
christie_esau's review
5.0
I am actually shocked (but probably shouldn't be) at how beautiful this book is. Harrowing and incredibly sad a lot of the time, but also a startlingly accurate portrait of grief and family and growing older. Highly recommend.