lazygal's review against another edition
5.0
Takes place in the 50s-today, and is the story of an Inuit girl with (you guessed it) consumption. She's sent South for treatment, and then after five-six years returned to her family. Problem is, she no longer really belongs... but then, many no longer really "belong" because of the change from an almost nomadic existence on The Land to reliance on whites and housing/labor/niceities. Very interesting look at the tension between all that.
The ending was a bit contrived, though, and loses some of the power of the first 7/8 of the book.
The ending was a bit contrived, though, and loses some of the power of the first 7/8 of the book.
dannb's review against another edition
4.0
Especially liked the medical essays "sprinkled" through the book. While I admire those who live in this arctic environment, I am happy to be under a blanket in a warm and toasty house reading this one! Thought-provoking, sometimes annoying (by the characters)worth the read.
emmkayt's review against another edition
4.0
Victoria is sent away from her Inuit family to the south for tuberculosis treatment as a child, ultimately spending six years away from the north. When she returns, she remains something of an outsider in her small community, marrying a white man and yearning for news of the outside world. Life changes dramatically over the years chronicled in this novel as the Inuit give up their nomadic lifestyle and settle in Rankin Inlet, and diamond mining divides the community.
Sometimes I got the sense that the author wanted to do too much and follow too many threads and characters - I had a feeling that the novel morphed a few times while it was being written. In particular, there is a portion at the end that feels like it may have been an attempt to spell out ideas that could have been left as more subtle themes, or which may have resulted from a previous iteration of the tale that now no longer quite fit (although, again, was interesting). But it had a richness to it and layers that I enjoyed thinking about. So I fell somewhere between 'liked' and 'really liked.'
Sometimes I got the sense that the author wanted to do too much and follow too many threads and characters - I had a feeling that the novel morphed a few times while it was being written. In particular, there is a portion at the end that feels like it may have been an attempt to spell out ideas that could have been left as more subtle themes, or which may have resulted from a previous iteration of the tale that now no longer quite fit (although, again, was interesting). But it had a richness to it and layers that I enjoyed thinking about. So I fell somewhere between 'liked' and 'really liked.'
yosafbridg's review against another edition
3.0
Here i go again, trudging through more arctic tundra cold...what can i say? It's a bit of an addiction. I'm not sure what it is about these books that draws me in so thoroughly, other than an evocation of my childhood, and a connection with my lost eskimo foster sister. There is also something about the epic nature of cold, and for that matter many kinds of endurance books (but cold especially~and have i ever told you with my obsessive reading of mountain climbing account books?) This time it's Consumption by Kevin Patterson (his first novel, or so i'm told.) This is really not cheery stuff, but i still found it a good read. The action itself covers about a generation of life in the Canadian Yukon starting when industrial western world truly began its encroachment on that land and its peoples in the early sixties and ending a little after the turn of the century.
The focus constantly shifts between a number of main characters, mainly centering around Native American Victoria and her family: her white husband Robertson; their children, Emo, Marie, and Justine; her parents; the village doctor Keith Balthazar; two village teachers; as well as the rest of the eskimo village in Rankin Inlet. Amanda, Balthazar's niece in New Jersey is included, although i often had to wonder why~maybe to show his connection (or lost connections to the white world). Maybe to show the disconnectedness in families? She did allow a shoutout for one of my favorite bands (and one that is quite nostalgic for me) The Monks and their album Bad Habits so that's always a plus. I did like her story i just sometimes wondered what it was doing there.
Victoria is sent away as a child to a Montreal sanatorium for because she is consumptive. When the pills don’t work she must have surgery then she is sent to a foster family. When she finally returns to her village she is almost a stranger to her family and has nearly lost her language. She feels more comfortable with the white men than with her own people.
This book is interspersed throughout with Dr. Balthazar’s medical notes which provide a fascinating picture of epidemiology among other medical topics if you’re into that sort of thing, with i am (by the by, consumption~so called because of the way it seems to consume its victims from the inside, is what we now call tuberculosis~just in case you didn't know.)
Although Robertson is at first somewhat tolerated for his attempt at learning the people’s ways when he is part of the South African conglomerate wishing to (and eventually succeeding in) bring a diamond mine to town things come to a head. Most of the characters in this book are quite tragic and most come to a tragic end (not to give it away or anything) The reading can get a little dense at times (and i wish some of the Inuit terms had received a little more gloss than they did~though a bit of contextual intuition can go a long way) but i found it well worth the time i put into it.
The focus constantly shifts between a number of main characters, mainly centering around Native American Victoria and her family: her white husband Robertson; their children, Emo, Marie, and Justine; her parents; the village doctor Keith Balthazar; two village teachers; as well as the rest of the eskimo village in Rankin Inlet. Amanda, Balthazar's niece in New Jersey is included, although i often had to wonder why~maybe to show his connection (or lost connections to the white world). Maybe to show the disconnectedness in families? She did allow a shoutout for one of my favorite bands (and one that is quite nostalgic for me) The Monks and their album Bad Habits so that's always a plus. I did like her story i just sometimes wondered what it was doing there.
Victoria is sent away as a child to a Montreal sanatorium for because she is consumptive. When the pills don’t work she must have surgery then she is sent to a foster family. When she finally returns to her village she is almost a stranger to her family and has nearly lost her language. She feels more comfortable with the white men than with her own people.
This book is interspersed throughout with Dr. Balthazar’s medical notes which provide a fascinating picture of epidemiology among other medical topics if you’re into that sort of thing, with i am (by the by, consumption~so called because of the way it seems to consume its victims from the inside, is what we now call tuberculosis~just in case you didn't know.)
Although Robertson is at first somewhat tolerated for his attempt at learning the people’s ways when he is part of the South African conglomerate wishing to (and eventually succeeding in) bring a diamond mine to town things come to a head. Most of the characters in this book are quite tragic and most come to a tragic end (not to give it away or anything) The reading can get a little dense at times (and i wish some of the Inuit terms had received a little more gloss than they did~though a bit of contextual intuition can go a long way) but i found it well worth the time i put into it.
ziola's review
4.0
Life in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, a place I've never been and might never go, but find fascinating nonetheless. It's the kind of place, way up North, where things have changed from a traditional way of life (with some Hudson's Bay presence in certain months) to a "modern" way of life, with villages (instead of nomadism), ATVs (instead of dogs), houses (instead of igloos), satellite TV (instead of seal oil lamps), and chef boyardee (instead of cariboo and seal and whale and char). Consumption certainly doesn't glamorize the old ways, but neither does it glamorize the new. Things are hard up there and always have been. Now they're just a different hard.
But despite all this, for some reason I didn't find the book depressing. Instead I want to see the ice fill Hudson's Bay and the narwhals and belugas pop up for air.
But despite all this, for some reason I didn't find the book depressing. Instead I want to see the ice fill Hudson's Bay and the narwhals and belugas pop up for air.
betsybookwyrm's review against another edition
2.0
I learned a fair bit about Canadian culture and the recent history of the far north, but otherwise it seems to be a fairly standard story of post-colonisation culture clash.
janeinbc's review
3.0
A very interesting story with a large cast of characters. The descriptions of the Arctic and the Inuit practices were the best parts of this novel for me. I felt that there were so many narrative threads and some plot points occurred in such quick succession that I was left, as the reader, with not enough time to process with them. The conclusion of the book seemed long and dragged a bit for my liking. However, I would recommend this novel for anyone interested in a story about the Arctic and the Inuit people and how modernization has altered the landscape and the Inuit way of life.
penny_literaryhoarders's review
4.0
Doing a re-read of Consumption for the CBC Goodreads Monthly Group Read.
Just as wonderful as the first read - perhaps maybe more so because of reading it slowly and in a group setting. A fantastic story that has been a bright spot in otherwise fairly dull reading for much of this month.
Just as wonderful as the first read - perhaps maybe more so because of reading it slowly and in a group setting. A fantastic story that has been a bright spot in otherwise fairly dull reading for much of this month.
jooniperd's review
3.0
I am going with 3-stars for now, but I am still thinking on this book. It was a bit of a slow build... then a whole whack of crazy activity (almost too much, really)... then.... a bit of a fizzle. In the acknowledgments, Patterson notes that this book was actually, originally, a collection of essays he had been working on. His editor wrangled the essays into novel form. This helped me a bit - at times I did feel that things were pieced together, or not flowing too well. The strongest aspect of the novel was how Patterson conveyed such a sense of place, and wonderful depictions of Canada's North. Patterson works as a doctor, and his training and experience certainly came through, adding interesting layers to the story in his depiction of Dr. Balthazar. Unfortunately some plots holes were left and the way some story lines played out left me a bit disappointed and wondering how else things good have gone. Overall, though, I am glad I read this book, and I am enjoying hearing comments and opinions from others who are also reading it as part of a group read here on GR.
More...