Great Expectations - Softcover

Robinson, Grant C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 088984206X ISBN 13: 9780889842069

Publisher: Porcupine's Quill Inc.,Canada, 2000

Synopsis

Thom and Sophie Penmaen are typical small-town Canadian entrepreneurs whose accustomed regimen is suddenly thrown into sharp relief by the unexpected arrival in Glendaele Village of Geoffrey Bowles, emissary of the reclusive financier Galen Nicholas Aldebaan.

About this title

Review:

One of the keys to the success of this narrative is its reality, its vibrancy of setting and character portrayal, and, in particular, the consistently deft handling of the dialogue which does so much to draw the reader into the motives and emotions of the characters.'

Nothing really happens in this delightful book, except life. The affectionate bickering between Thom and Sophie, their feelings for their business and the dream that brought them to the village, even their tenuous relationships with their idiosyncratic employees - they're all the stuff of everyday living. We see ourselves in these lives, and are the better for the feelings of humanness they convey.'

Besides borrowing Dickens' title, Robinson follows in the Victorian master's footsteps by populating the book with unforgettable character names - Jake Wellcock, Rebeca Labellarte and a succession of lithography pressmen, Young Lucky, John Barleycorn and Philippe LeBoubon. They stand on the shoulders of their Dickensian antecedents: Abel Magwitch, Uncle Pumblechook and Mrs. Biddy Gargery. At the pinnacle of the name game stands the exotic Galen Nicholas Aldebaan, founder of the Pegaesean Corp. As depicted in the book, Aldebaan's career suggests that of a real-life Bay Street baron, whose younger brother has won both the Booker, and the Giller, Prize. It is one of many dry-martini-with-a-twist delights to be found in this book.'

'One of the keys to the success of this narrative is its reality, its vibrancy of setting and character portrayal, and, in particular, the consistently deft handling of the dialogue which does so much to draw the reader into the motives and emotions of the characters.'

'Nothing really happens in this delightful book, except life. The affectionate bickering between Thom and Sophie, their feelings for their business and the dream that brought them to the village, even their tenuous relationships with their idiosyncratic employees - they're all the stuff of everyday living. We see ourselves in these lives, and are the better for the feelings of humanness they convey.'

'Besides borrowing Dickens' title, Robinson follows in the Victorian master's footsteps by populating the book with unforgettable character names - Jake Wellcock, Rebeca Labellarte and a succession of lithography pressmen, Young Lucky, John Barleycorn and Philippe LeBoubon. They stand on the shoulders of their Dickensian antecedents: Abel Magwitch, Uncle Pumblechook and Mrs. Biddy Gargery. At the pinnacle of the name game stands the exotic Galen Nicholas Aldebaan, founder of the Pegaesean Corp. As depicted in the book, Aldebaan's career suggests that of a real-life Bay Street baron, whose younger brother has won both the Booker, and the Giller, Prize. It is one of many dry-martini-with-a-twist delights to be found in this book.'

Nothing really happens in this delightful book, except life. The affectionate bickering between Thom and Sophie, their feelings for their business and the dream that brought them to the village, even their tenuous relationships with their idiosyncratic employees - they're all the stuff of everyday living. We see ourselves in these lives, and are the better for the feelings of humanness they convey.' -- Verne Clemence "Saskatoon Star Phoenix"

Besides borrowing Dickens' title, Robinson follows in the Victorian master's footsteps by populating the book with unforgettable character names -- Jake Wellcock, Rebeca Labellarte and a succession of lithography pressmen, Young Lucky, John Barleycorn and Philippe LeBoubon. They stand on the shoulders of their Dickensian antecedents: Abel Magwitch, Uncle Pumblechook and Mrs. Biddy Gargery. At the pinnacle of the name game stands the exotic Galen Nicholas Aldebaan, founder of the Pegaesean Corp. As depicted in the book, Aldebaan's career suggests that of a real-life Bay Street baron, whose younger brother has won both the Booker, and the Giller, Prize. It is one of many dry-martini-with-a-twist delights to be found in this book.'--Ken Mark "Chartered Accountant Magazine "

Life Quite Ordinary, and That's Very Good

If you're looking for a summer getaway, get a copy of "Great Expectations," find a quiet spot, and enjoy.

This is a yarn in the tradition of Stephen Leacock's "Sunshine Sketches," but also one in which author Grant C. Robinson puts his own particular spin on the passing parade. The plot is straightforward. It's the people -- endearing, exasperating and often eccentric -- that make it special.

Thom and Sophie Penmaen operate a small book printing company in the southwestern Ontario village of Glendaele. They're still regarded as newcomers, having only been in the village for about fifteen years and having both come from academic backgrounds.

The print shop boasts various pieces of old equipment. Thom is the expert at keeping the temperamental machines running. Sophie knows how to keep him at his various tasks. But neither knows how to manage people. Their four employees, each a character in his or her own right, would probably unite and demand changes if only they could get along with each other.

Business isn't bad, though it would be better if their customers paid their bills on time. There's a problem with fluctuations in the electricity supply, but the Glendaele PUC successfully sidetracks Thom's complaining with its suffocating bureaucracy.

Being their own bosses means Thom and Sophie work longer hours than their employees, including weekends, and never get paid holidays. But they have that independent spirit that keeps most small business operators going against long odds.

A former poet himself, Thom takes pride in the obscure poetry books his presses turn out. He and Sophie take their dog Kit Carson for long walks along the bank of the Credit River and discuss their lives, which by and large they find to be, if not spectacular, at least reasonably fulfilling. Sophie tends to agree with their secretary, Jayne Beauregard, that Thom is bizarre, unfathomable, and possibly even hopelessly male, ' but the two

One of the keys to the success of this narrative is its reality, its vibrancy of setting and character portrayal, and, in particular, the consistently deft handling of the dialogue which does so much to draw the reader into the motives and emotions of the characters.'--Bryan N.S. Gooch "Canadian Literature "

Synopsis:

Thom and Sophie Penmaen are typical small-town Canadian entrepreneurs whose accustomed regimen...of diligent creditors, mind-numbing work days, negative cashflow, endless family feuds, quiet nights of looming deadlines, inopportune power failures and attendant local digital catastrophes ...is suddenly thrown into sharp relief by the unexpected arrival in Glendaele Village of Geoffrey Bowles, emissary of the reclusive financier Galen Nicholas Aldebaan, whose grand vision of a 'horizontally-integrated communications company' apparently, for whatever bizarre reason, includes little Penmaen Lithography. Thom and Sophie are forced to consider their future, to turn dreams into language, to talk to each other, to listen, to think and, not co-incidentally, to put a dollar value on Penmaen Lithography ...to put a price on their personal sense of pride.

About this edition

• Publisher: Porcupine's Quill Inc.,Canada
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 088984206X
• ISBN 13: 9780889842069
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 256