BooksCanadian

Tatouine

Its a long way from a basement apartment in a Montreal suburb to a new life on a fictional planet in this novel by Jean-Christophe Rhel.

Jean-Christophe Rhel, translated by Katherine Hastings and Peter McCambridge

CBC Books Posted: Aug 31, 2020 5:43 PM EDT | Last Updated: January 6, 2021

Orange desert background, title written in white font across

It's a long way from a basement apartment in a Montreal suburb to a new life on a fictional planet, but that's the destination our unnamed narrator has set his sights on, bringing readers with him on an off-beat and often hilarious journey.

Along the way, he writes poems, buys groceries at the dollar store and earns minimum wage at a dead-end supermarket job. In between treatments for his cystic fibrosis and the constant drip-drip-drip of disappointment, he dreams of a new life on Tatouine, where he'll play Super Mario Bros and make sand angels all day.

But in the meantime, he'll have to make do with daydreams of a better life.(FromQC Fiction)

Tatouineis on theCanada Reads2021 longlist.

Jean-Christophe Rhel is a writerfrom Quebec. He has written several collections of poetry.Tatouineis his first novel, and it is his first book available in English.

Katherine Hastings is a translatorand copyeditor from Quebec. She also translated the novelsThe Electric BathsandThe Unknown Huntsman, both by by Jean-Michel Fortier.

Peter McCambridgeis an editor and translator from Quebec. His translation ofSongs for the Cold of Heartby Eric Dupont was a finalist for the 2018 Scotiabank Giller Prize.

From the book

My bed takes on the shape of my body. When I walk, I take on the shape of the sidewalk. When I speak, I take on the shape of all the garbage I spout. I run through my list of meds. There are so many, all of them keeping me alive. Good job, meds. But today I've run out of some. I call the lab at the drugstore. The pharmacist knows me well. She always opens with, "What can I do for you, love?" I reel off my list like it's a grocery order. Colistin bananas, Advair Diskus with lettuce, and a syringe loaf. Yes, thank you, that's very kind. I go up to the kitchen. It doesn't look like Norm is home. I peer out the window, take a look to see if there are any birds around, think ofReturn of the Jedi. I go read up about Jedi knights online. There are all kinds of books and parallel stories set before, during, and after the movies. I explore the hundreds and hundreds of made-up planets, species, spaceships, weapons, and types of food. I'd like to eat Lamta. I could be brushing up on socialism in postwar Germany or reading the philosophical works of Kierkegaard, but instead I'd rather know that the Jedi High Council sits on the planet Coruscant. I make myself two slices of toast with Norm's Cheez Whiz. I don't think of his teeth. I promise myself I'll go buy some groceries and drop by the pharmacy. I have another look for birds. There's got to be at least one.

FromTatouineby Jean-Christophe Rhel.Translated from French by Katherine Hastings and Peter McCambridge2020. Published by QC Fiction.

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