Red Dog, Red Dog by Patrick Lane

Lane is a respected poet here in Canada and was first published back in 1966.  Now 69, he has released his first full-length novel, which is long-listed for the Giller Prize.  The book was an easy read although I did find the dialogue awkward in places.  His work as a poet is evident, and although beautiful, his endless descriptions could be a bit long winded, and I felt distracted from the story.  I have this same problem reading Dickens. 

Lane paints an honest picture of the Canadian West from the late 19th Century through to the late 1950’s.  The story of the Canadian West is not so different from that of the American West - full of brutality, unspeakable racism and poverty, rampant alcoholism and drug use, murder, child abuse, and shame.  The author makes it clear from the start of the book that emotionally, he was going to make it hard on us, and that’s what I’m after in a book.