Childhood by André Alexis

Childhood Reviews

• 
  Allison

  To put it as succinctly as possible, I thought the writing in this book was great, the characters were unlikeable, and the story was annoying. Tom is dumped on his cantankerous, volatile grandmother as a baby, experiences a loveless childhood until her death, when his mother Katarina returns to reclaim him. He then experiences a confusing adolescence with his mother and Henry Wing, a gentle and peculiar man who adores his mother and gives Tom free reign in his large library and laboratory. Tom now lives a peculiar adulthood in Henry's house, following a strict regimen of sleeping, waking, eating, reading and writing. He mentions a "you" whom he allegedly loves, to whom he is telling the story of his life.
  I find the process of memory interesting. How we remember and mis-remember, different people having conflicting accounts of the same event, this kind of thing is interesting. It seemed to me that for every period of his life, Tom would say "I don't remember much of these years" or "I remember so little of this period it might as well have been lived for me". This is not interesting. This is obvious and unnecessary to say. Perhaps the lack of affection shown to him in his formative years by his strange and demanding grandmother explains his detached, rather cold view of others. Certainly it's not surprising that he would be ambivalent towards his mother, but he doesn't give the reader enough to form an independent opinion. I found his attitude towards Henry, the man who never treated him with anything but tenderness and respect, annoying also. It's not uncommon for children to view permissive adults with a certain contempt, but later when Henry is older and infirm and asks for his help he doesn't show any more affection. The narrator may be troubled, but he comes across largely as a cold fish, and while that may have been the point, it left me cold as well.
• 
  Erika

  Although slow at times, this novel was touching and beautifully written. At certain times, I found myself wondering what the plot of the story was, as I often do in "reminiscing" novels. However, there were many philosophical ideas and a story of growth, which I found interesting. I wouldn't recommend this book to readers who love action-thrilled novels that make you keep turning the page for hours on end, but if you would like some gentle reading and thinking about life, then definitely read this book.
• 
  Micha

  This book got more enjoyable after meeting the author and learning some of the tricks from it. Like how he constantly fears that he is "falling into poetry" when he is at his most scientific, but then you learn that the whole book is structured like a sonnet with fourteen chapters, the final word of each chapter rhyming in accordance with the sonnet structure. Sorry, but that is bad-ass in my books.
• 
  JennieWithTheBooks☮️(◕‿◕✿)

  I have to admit that there is something to be said for an author who can so easily manage to take me on a journey between the past and the present. Andre Alexis is very clever at it. The honesty and maturity of the novel made for a very delightful, although short and somewhat sad, read.
  I loved the use of poetry and the almost charming quality that the author gave Thomas MacMillan(his main character) as he is remembering his childhood as an older person. The remembrance of an unusual childhood for Thomas and how we come to perceive the world through many of his experiences, is revealed through a letter created from images in his memory from his early life.
  Would you say he is neurotic? Definitely. Psychotic? Possibly. Whatever it is, Thomas seems potentially dangerous. For at least the first half of the novel you might say he isn’t an overly likable character.
  A period of intense self-examination for him, seems to be prompted by the deaths of his mother and Henry, the only father-like figure that he has ever really known. Actually though it seems that this character has never really “KNOWN” anyone. He seems socially-challenged BUT for the first time in his adult life, he’s contemplating the possibility of a serious relationship of his own, BUT all of his self-examination is leaving him with several key questions about life and love.
  “Did I know anything at all about anyone?”
  “Can one love what one doesn’t know?”
  Clearly, he’s come to the conclusion that one CAN’T love what one does not know, and that if he, himself, is to have any chance at love, he must let someone (preferably Marya) know him. Some insight (BTW, he’s a little obsessive/paranoid almost, he’s got a routine based on time) has led him to believe that his developing relationship with Marya, whom he has known for about a year, could be in trouble. One might suspect that his difficulty with intimacy could be the root of the trouble. As the reader, you only gradually come to recognize this as he sets out to show himself to Marya, (and basically understand himself as well) through the printed word.
  I think the author tries to show us that Thomas seems to feel the key to interpreting himself, lies in his childhood and so he makes an all-out effort to explain himself by recounting, in a LONG letter to Marya, what he remembers of it. That’s his way of letting Marya GET TO KNOW HIM. I think the author has you doing quite a bit of reading between the lines. There’s no wallowing in self-pity or outright placing the blame on any one particular family member or individual by Thomas. His pain is revealed only indirectly and so is his plea to be understood in light of these experiences.
  The further Thomas gets into his letter to Marya, the distance established between Thomas and us the reader diminishes. His gradual return to a more normal state of mind(if there really is such a thing for any of us), a sort of understanding of his past, the emergence of a gentler personality, and the amusing fact that he is often, intentionally or not, extremely funny makes you start to like him and root for him. In the end, you begin to love Thomas, in all his messy, obsessive complexity, because in spite of everything, HE HAS OPTED FOR HOPE. You come to realize how much personal courage he has because he is determined to reach out, attempting to break a cycle of coldness and distance.
  I liked the book but had a strange unsatisfied feeling when I was finished. I wanted to know more about Henry, Katerina, Thomas & Marya.
  I will most definitely read more of Andre Alexis’ books. I enjoyed his writing style.
• 
  Kev Ali Stair

  I hate that I never find this book on the Canadian Best shelf at Chapters. It definitely belongs there.
• 
  Zen

  I sometimes think Andre Alexis is too much author for me. This is the fourth of his books I have read and I think I understand about 60-70% of their content. Not that I don't like his books, it's that I can't keep up with all the references. Part of Childhood is written in French, there are references to many other books (fiction and non-), poetry, math, graphs of love, it's all here. Which adds many layers to the story, but unless you are as learned and clever as Alexis, you really miss something.
  
  Childhood is a long letter written by Thomas MacMillan to someone he doesn't identify until the end. Thomas is trying to make sense of his rather unusual and chaotic childhood and himself. As he states (p.197): "It is complex in that the writing I do brings me a little closer to the dead but no closer to the living. It brings me closer to myself at times, but I have not always been my favourite place . . .". Thomas can be unlikeable, but then so can his grandmother Edna, with whom he spent his first 10 years. And so can his mother Katarina, who comes back into his life after his grandmother's death, and remains somewhat a cypher for most of the book. And to a lesser extent, so can Henry Wing, the only father figure whom Thomas has throughout his life, who has his own eccentricities.
  
  A meditation on family, memory and love, short but deep and difficult, you really have to be in the mood to process all this. I have not given up on Alexis and will be reading the fourth book in his quincunx Days by Moonlight.
• 
  ChrisVK

  For the most part I enjoy his writing style but, for what I thought would be a fast read, I had a hard time keeping with it... and an even harder time picking up the book again. The story seems to drag on. I forced myself to finish the book and in the end found myself thinking... meh.
• 
  Shonna Froebel

  Difficult read
• 
  Yolanda Miller

  Thomas MacMillan Closed Off From the World, But It’s Just His Childhood
  
  
  Andre Alexis Trinidadian-born, winner of the Trillium Award debuts: long and tragic memories of growing up. In a Southern Ontario town in the 1950s and 1960s, Thomas Macmillan, a book-loving boy begins exploring love as he watches the lives of his parents Katarina and Henry slip away.
  Through his descriptive diary-like journal, he introduces his family. Edna MacMillan, Thomas's erratic grandmother; her mood is so unpredictable, that it’s safe to say she has a Bipolar Disorder. From time to time, Thomas is scared to be in Edna’s presences because she is usually drunk from dandelion wine. Katarina MacMillan, the mother who has low self-esteem ever since her father died and falls for abusive men. Another person who has a great impact on Thomas’s life is Mr. Mataf, the man who might be his father leaves, who him at the roadside. They show him that life isn't going to be easy unless you work hard for it. Despite all of the pain, they cause, he soon realizes that love exists when Henry Wing, a biologist who creates encyclopedias comes into his life.
  Years after Thomas's grandfather died, Edna passed away. Out of the blue his mother, Katarina, the women he has heard many stories about turns his life upside down when she shows up at their front door. Katarina and Mr. Mataf bring Thomas on an unforgettable journey to Montreal, but things don't go according to plan when they end up in Ottawa where Henry comes into the picture.
  Issues arise in Childhood, especially child abuse. Every adult in Thomas’s life either hit, ignores or makes him feel worthless. Thomas has lived with Edna and Katarina, women who are still grieving over his grandfather's death, taking out their guilt and anger on him. After all the things his relatives have caused, Thomas blames himself for everything bad in his life, wondering if he could have done something differently.
  This beautiful, well-written fiction novel filled with footnotes, agendas and short poems as he searches for the nature of love. Alexis dug deep to show the struggles and long-term effects of child abuse and depression. Only a novel as good as this can be relatable to many people in this society.
  I’m looking forward to reading more books from Alexis. This book is highly recommended for teens who are interested in romance because when Thomas when he narrates it creates an impressive new voice.
• 
  Tamara Evans

  “Childhood” is a book that is unsure of what it wants to be. On the one hand, the book tells the story Thomas McMillan, a forty year old man coming to grips with the unsteady relationship between him and his deceased mother.
  
  The book is divided into three parts: History, Geography, and Housekeeping. The first part of the book focuses on Thomas being abandoned by his mother and living with his Trinidadian grandmother is a small town in Ottawa Canada. Thomas’ is saddened by his mother’s absence but at the same time, he accepts that life he has been given. The first part of the book ends when his mother, Katarina, returns to claim him after the death of his grandmother.
  
  The second part of the book, Geography, focuses on Thomas’ life after leaving Ottawa and his experience getting to know his mother. While Thomas has an idealized image of us mother in his head from stories told be her former friends, he soon discovers that the woman he is traveling with in a master manipulator and is only out to take care of herself.
  
  As the novel progresses, Katarina (also known as Kata) and Thomas eventually end up at the home on Henry Wing, a friend of Katarina’s who is referred to as a black man with chinese blood. Since the extent of Kata and Henry���s relationship is never made clear, Thomas assumes that they are in love and the biggest portion of the book focuses on Thomas’ and Kata’s time living with Henry. The second part of the book ends with the death of Kata and Henry.
  
  The third and last part of the book, Housekeeping, brings
  the reader to Thomas in the present day and we watch as he copes with the death of two pivotal people in his life. The book ends with Thomas in a relationship and trying to not let the mistakes of his mother impact his current life.
  
  Overall, this book was slow read which leaves the reader finishing the book feeling unfulfilled.
  
• 
  Summer

  Andre Alexis’s “Childhood” is a novel written with a peculiar lens of nostalgia and a blasé bittersweetness that left me thinking about life’s mysterious ways in general.
  It’s a slow and non-energetic read, however I still experienced moments of laughter, tears, and chills. It captures the wispiness of memory, and unavoidable generational hallmarks that we all may experience.
  The main characters are (I believe) intentionally unlikable, except for Henry. The narrator reminisces to a certain “you” - which reveals an ending theme of growth and communication.
  There are many references and parts written in French. I don’t mind this, because I got to practise my French and learn new things.
  Although imagery is not abundant in this book, I particularly liked the descriptions of places and things. It inspired a nostalgic spark of my own.
  The plot is difficult to place, but one may relate with Thomas as they experience his emotions and epiphanies that arise when pondering the past and full circles. I hope and intend to read more of André Alexis in the future.
  
  One of my favourite quotes from this novel:
  
  “… there were no words for the confusion I felt. Watching you step from the curb, I was myself and my mother and my grandmother. After all, I came from somewhere” - André Alexis
  
  A quote this novel reminded my of:
  
  “Where we come from is who we are, but we choose everyday who we become.” - J. D. Vance
• 
  Magdelanye

  
  I don't know if one ever forgives oneself for what others have done to you. p71
  
  AA is somewhat of a trickster and the evidence is here in this, his debut novel which I sincerely hope is not at all biographical. For it is a wretched childhood indeed for young rascal Thomas, first in the care of his reluctant grandmother, who raises him on pablum and plum pudding and dandelion wine, and withholds the letters sent by her daughter, his mysterious mother;and then with his mother who, even when she is intensely scrutinized, remains a disturbing enigma, to both Thomas and the reader.
  
  The trickster transforms these sorry elements into strength of character and allows the resilient protagonist and narrator, Thomas himself, to retain his innocence and the readers empathy despite his casual confessions of manipulative and spiteful behavior, he is a scrupulous mostly reliable recorder.
  
  There was something pure in my thieving, something so far beyond my ability to understand, it was as if I wasn't stealing at all. p179
  
  There is little that is lyrical is this childhood but if you just look over there you just may detect a free floating joie de vivre.
• 
  Charlie Barber

  A gentle, meandering novel that attempts to construct the meaning of childhood mundanity in retrospect. On the surface, a man thinking back to the formative years of his pre-adolescence; but more deeply, a meditation of generational disappointment, the inability to communicate, and the dissonance in being an adult remembering things as a child trying to understand adults. It’s a complicated mess, using the present to inform the past.
  
  Alexis’s prose is variable - beautiful in a way that becomes extravagant, measured in a way that can feel calculated. When it succeeds, however, it’s exceptional.
• 
  Ronald Lett

  I couldn't tell if this was autobiographical or not: I got that much into the place and time of the story. As person who was born in Trinidad, but raised in the U.S., learning French from a young age, this book was so close to my identity that it has earned a permanent place on my shelves. He even got the constantly shifting parentage right. And wow, that was some genuine Trinidadian and French Canadian dialogue, slang, colloquialisms, and all. The legitimacy imbued into each page is what really brings the novel to life.
• 
  Gillian

  I got this book out of a box of library discards. It had an old-style sign out card inside and it had never been signed out. I felt really sorry for it so I read it. I wish I could say I liked it, but I didn’t. I found it boring and nothing really happened and I didn’t care either way about any of the characters. The writing style was nice, but I just wish he had something to say.
• 
  Donald Schopflocher

  Enigmatic and poignant fictional autobiography replete with unusual images, memorable characters, strange lists and sequences, poetic language. Incompleteness is the primary theme; all of the characters including the narrator seem fleeting, hollow, without a strongly developed identity.
• 
  David

  "I loved you then, and I still do now."
  I stole this quote from a song I love.
  This book is going to be bouncing around my skull for much longer than it took to read. That Andre can package the profound in such a digestible package is simply put: impressive.
• 
  Nick

  ...
• 
  Katherine Pederson

  Didn't finish - I found the subject matter too heavy.
• 
  D.A. Brown

  Shifting times is difficult. Getting inside the head of a challenging character is, too. All accomplished with ease in this, Alexis' first book. Loved it. Stuck in my head well after finishing it.
• 
  Carol

  Beautifully written, tough reading 📚
• 
  Craig Saunders

  I loved this novel, though I never managed to unpack all its mysteries. Would get five stars, but for the knowledge that his writing gets even better with time.
• 
  Sue Nieuwenburg

  Interesting, a bit quirky.
• 
  Kathleen Craig

  I found this book to be a gentle read, like you're listening to someone tell you about how they grew up.
• 
  Matthew White Ellis

  a nice, relaxing read.
• 
  CATHERINE

  This just didn't resonate with me. I wanted to go and live with Henry and his library, otherwise nothing else really held my interest.
• 
  lord paloma von cap

  I genuinely believe that this man may be a genius. On the same note, I’m not sure why this novel has so little reads. It’s saddening.
  
  I really enjoyed reading this story, especially after finishing Alexis’s most popular novel, 15 Dogs. I do tend to be able to connect with book characters concerningly easily, and hand out 5 stars as if they were pennies, but I totally believe this book deserved it. I really enjoyed that it felt as if were written for Alexis and not an audience. 15 Dogs felt a lot more novel-y, in the sense that the author didn’t expand on a lot of curious topics in order to focus on maintaining a medium-paced, enticing plot. Childhood threw this out the window and elaborated on anything and everything, which I loved.
  
  Ignoring the odd Marya thing at the end, which flew completely over my head, I adored this book. (I also appreciated the lack of a wait time on OverDrive :))
• 
  Sidewalk_Sotol

  A boy growing up in the Canadian countryside. A mother who appears out of nowhere. Ottawa. An eccentric, but amateur academic and guardian.
  
  Told from the perspective of Trinidadian-Canadian Thomas McMillan, a man who tries to make sense of his mother and of the unusual man who was her lover with only fleeting and sometimes unreliable memories. Somehow, the author spends pages writing about emptiness and makes it all seem interesting.