New Releases by Timothy Findley

Mars 1945, un palace abandonné des Alpes autrichiennes, un écrivain, disciple d''Ezra Pound et, comme lui, zélateur du fascisme, entreprend de couvrir les murs et les plafonds du récit de sa prodigieuse existence. Aux échos de la Chine de 1924 vont se succéder ceux de l''Angleterre et de la France de 1936, puis des Bahamas en 1942. Dans cette fresque décadente et perverse, des personnages insensés, souvent empruntés à la réalité, comme Ribbentrop, Hess, Lindbergh, Hemingway, et surtout ceux qui vont devenir le duc et la duchesse de Windsor, se croisent et se mêlent. Voici un roman époustouflant où, pour une fois, c''est la fiction qui prend sa revanche sur la réalité : car la littérature, c''est la vérité.

À la fin des années 1960, Hooker Winslow, jeune garçon de onze ans, passe son été dans une maison cossue de la campagne canadienne. Livré à lui-même entre une mère qui ne quitte plus sa chambre, un père paralysé par l’échec de son couple, et un frère aîné qui se réfugie dans l’alcool et la poésie, il observe les événements qui se succèdent au cours d’un été qui s’achèvera tragiquement. Huis-clos familial dévastateur, emmurement des êtres dans le silence, désagrégation des sentiments jusqu’à la folie... l’auteur nous mène avec habileté dans un roman à couper le souffle, qui illustre magistralement la défaite de la parole. Paru en 1967, Le Dernier des fous est le premier roman de Timothy Findley (1930-2002), auteur de Guerres, chefs-d’œuvre qui a obtenu le prestigieux prix du Gouverneur général en 1977. Il se place parmi les plus grands écrivains du XXe siècle. En 1996, il a été fait Chevalier de l’ordre des Arts et des Lettres.

On a summer evening in Stratford, Ontario, the errant thrust of a gardener’s spade slices a telephone cable into instant silence. The resulting disconnection is devastating. With the failure of one call to reach the house, an ambitious young actor becomes the victim of sexual blackmail. The blocking of a second call leads tragically to murder. And when a Bell Canada repairman arrives to mend the broken line, his innocent yet irresistible male beauty has explosive consequences. In Spadework, Timothy Findley—a master storyteller and playwright, has created an electric word-play of infidelity and morality, set on the stage of Stratford, Ontario—Findley’s home territory. In this insider’s fictional portrait of Canada’s preeminent theater town, intrigue, passion and ambition are always waiting in the wings. He peoples the town with theater makers, artists, writers, and visitors, both welcome and unwelcome— and with lives that are immediately recognizable as “Findleyesque”—the lonely, the dispossessed and the sexually troubled whose foibles confound their families, their friends and even their pets. A story that ripples with ever-widening repercussions, a sensual and completely absorbing read, Spadework is another Timothy Findley winner.

Sono le prime ore del mattino del 17 aprile 1912 nel giardino della casa al numero 18 di Cheyne Walk, a Londra, quando il dottor Greene accerta che l’uomo in pigiama bianco e vestaglia di seta blu, che giace riverso sull’erba ancora fredda e umida, è tecnicamente morto. L’uomo si chiama Pilgrim e qualche ora prima, dopo aver attraversato il giardino con in una mano il cordone di seta della sua veste da camera e, nell’altra, una robusta sedia Sheraton, si è impiccato all’acero più alto del parco. Prima di apporre la propria firma al certificato di morte, Greene decide, tuttavia, di rivolgersi all’illustre collega Hammond, che prontamente accorre e, dopo un rapido esame del corpo, non può che convenire che Pilgrim è «morto come può essere morto un uomo». Mezz’ora dopo, però, il cuore dell’uomo riprende a battere, e poco più tardi ritorna anche il respiro... Deciso, con ogni evidenza, a morire e, con altrettanta evidenza, incapace di farlo, Pilgrim si rifugia nel più assoluto mutismo, al punto che alla bella ed enigmatica Lady Sybil Quartermaine, la sua più cara amica, non resta che condurlo alla clinica psichiatrica Burghölzli di Zurigo, dove conduce le sue originali ricerche Carl Gustav Jung. «Ho vissuto molte vite, dottor Jung... Vidi la prima rappresentazione di Amleto e l’ultima recita dell’attore Molière. Fui amico di Oscar Wilde e nemico di Leonardo...» Le confessioni del suo singolare paziente penetrano a fondo nell’animo e nella mente di Jung. Chi è Pilgrim? Un mitomane profondamente malato, un geniale millantatore oppure la vittima di una strana maledizione? E chi è, a sua volta, lui, Carl Gustav Jung, con quella sua personalità piena d’arroganza e d’intuizione, di compassione e di disumanità? Romanzo ambizioso, fantastico, metafisico, nel quale fanno la loro apparizione personaggi come Henry James, Oscar Wilde e Monna Lisa, L’uomo che non poteva morire può essere letto come uno straordinario racconto sulla nascita dell’Europa del XX secolo, oppure come un romanzo sull’eterno conflitto tra distruzione e creazione, o, infine, come una magnifica storia sugli abissi insondabili dell’identità umana.

Carl Jung encounters a remarkable man who seems to have lived for millennia in this “exhilarating . . . mystifying and expertly crafted” novel (Publishers Weekly, starred review). On April 17, 1912—ironically, only two days after the sinking of the Titanic—a figure known only as Pilgrim tries to commit suicide by hanging himself from a tree. When he is found five hours later, his heart miraculously begins to beat again. Pilgrim, it seems, can never die. Escorted by his beloved friend, Lady Symbol Quartermaine, Pilgrim is admitted to the famous Burgholzli Psychiatrist Clinic In Zurich, where he will begin a battle of psyche and soul with Carl Jung, the self-professed mystical scientist of the unconscious. Slowly, Jung coaxes Pilgrim to tell his story—one that seemingly spans 4,000 years and includes such historical figures as Leonardo da Vinci and Henry James. But is Pilgrim delusional? Are these his memories merely dreams . . . or is his immortal existence truly a miracle?

Here is the powerful, haunting "Lemonade,"where a young boy''s world is shattered by his mother''s self-destruction, and eleven other stories, including "Dinner along the Amazon,"an unusual journey into the complexities of contemporary relationships. Introduction by Frances Itani Frances Itani is the bestselling, award-winning author of Deafening. She has also published five acclaimed short story collections, three poetry collections, and a children''s book. Frances Itani lives in Ottawa.

In the final days of the Second World War, Hugh Selwyn Mauberley scrawls his desperate account on the walls and ceilings of his ice-cold prison high in the Austrian Alps. Officers of the liberating army discover his frozen, disfigured corpse and his astonishing testament—the sordid truth that he alone possessed. Fascinated but horrified, they learn of a dazzling array of characters caught up in scandal and political corruption. The exiled Duke and Duchess of Windsor, von Ribbentrop, Hitler, Charles Lindbergh, Sir Harry Oakes—all play sinister parts in an elaborate scheme to secure world domination.

Mars 1945... Dans un palace perdu au cœur des Alpes autrichiennes, un écrivain américain, grand admirateur d''Ezra Pound dont il partage la fascination pour le fascisme, entreprend de tapisser le plafond et les murs de la " prodigieuse " histoire de son existence. Aux bruits et à la fureur de la Chine de 1924 vont succéder les échos de la France et de l''Angleterre de 1936, puis ceux des Bahamas de 1942. Une fresque décadente et perverse pleine de tumulte et d''orages, où les enfers personnels tiennent lieu de paradis perdus, traversée par des personnages imaginaires maudits et cruels et par d''autres, empruntés à la réalité, comme Ribbentrop, Hess, Lindbergh ou Hemingway. Deux d''entre eux, deux êtres étranges et somme toute fascinants retiennent aussi l''attention : les futurs duc et duchesse de Windsor. Un roman inoubliable où la fiction l''emporte sur la réalité. Elle ne l''imite pas mais la crée. On y croit comme on adhère à la vérité. C''est tout l''art époustouflant de Timothy Findley.

En 1939, peu avant qu''éclate la Seconde Guerre mondiale, Charlie Kilworth, jeune accordeur de pianos, interroge son passé. Qui fut son père ? Compte tenu des problèmes psychiques de sa mère, comment assumer de devenir à son tour père ? Il décide alors d''entreprendre une lente et douloureuse réappropriation de l''histoire de sa famille. Peu à peu, le personnage de sa mère, Lily Kilworth femme sujette à des crises d''épilepsie qui étaient la terreur de son entourage, dans une famille qui dissimulait au grenier et dans sa mémoire les traces de la folie d''autres ancêtres, émigrés irlandais - devient le centre du roman. Toutes les figures de l''intolérance familiale, de la marginalisation et de l''exclusion se succèdent. Progressivement, dans une fresque ample et admirablement construite, Timothy Findley brosse le portrait d''une famille canadienne de l''Ontario du début du siècle à la Seconde Guerre mondiale, hantée par la folie de Lily.

Cast size: large.

Timothy Findley is on the bestseller lists — again. Pilgrim, hisnewest and most ambitious novel yet, has gone like a bullet to the upperechelons of all the Canadian lists. Findley fans are out in full force, and manywill be looking for another Findley fix. Inside Memory: Pages from a Writer’sNotebook will satisfy the craving with equally wonderful doses of memories,love and laughter. Now repackaged in the popular new PerennialCanada imprint, InsideMemory invites the reader to share Findley’s life and work. Drawing fromhis personal journal entries and eclectic reflections, recollections and even anout-take from one of his early novels, the award-winning author shares hisextraordinary life with his readers. From his early days as an actor in London’s West End, through to histransition to a writer, Findley entertains with the fascinating people and reallife settings that have shaped his life. At the same time, he reveals thecreative landscape of his mind and his work, a journey that shows how memoryinforms and infuses every aspect of his books. Above all, Findley tells greatstories, showing once again that he is a true master of his craft.

A gift from Stone Orchard: Timothy Findley''s poignant collection of country-life writings. Timothy Findley and his companion William Whitehead freely admit they were innocent romantics when they purchased Stone Orchard farm over three decades ago. Both in the early stages of their writing careers, they reasoned that nothing could be more conducive to a writerly muse than a gently tumbling-down farmhouse nestled among the rolling hills of the southern Ontario countryside. And they were right. Since that first day they laid eyes upon Stone Orchard and its 50 acres of lawns, perennial gardens, fields of rippling grasses and dense, green woods, it has become much more than a home and a workplace. It has become a refuge for Tiff and Bill, an enduring haven of friendship and love for family, friends and neighbors. And, as they say, if only the walls could talk ... The walls have never talked so eloquently or endearingly as they do in From Stone Orchard, a collection of Timothy Findley''s Harrowsmith columns - revised and expanded - plus new writings, all on life at a 19th-century farm just outside of Cannington, Ontario. Here are tales of the farm''s past, both distant and recent: the comic coincidences leading to the naming of the swimming pool, and why Margaret Laurence would never dip her toe in it. Or the night dinner party guests went outside in the twilight, dressed like royalty, to watch a herd of majestic deer pass through the gardens. On the eve of their departure from Stone Orchard - it being time for Tiff and Bill to move on - Findley''s writings achieve a new poignancy, as a piece of our literary heritage is remembered with humor, affection and magic. Beautifully designed and packaged with lovely woodcut drawings, From Stone Orchard will be a cherished keepsake for Timothy Findley''s legions of loyal fans, as well as a treasured gift for anyone whose dreams transport them into the charming landscape of country life. HarperFlamingoCanada

""You Went Away is Timothy Findley''s latest storytelling masterpiece, a richly evocative and haunting novella of war-time love, infidelity and the ideals of love. In his trademark, effortless recreation of past lives and loves, Findley instantly transports us to 1942 Canada and the imploding marriage of Mi and Graeme Forbes. As the war edges closer, Mi fears her hard-drinking husband''s philandering ways but finds herself magnetized by a dashing young R.C.A.F. pilot who handles a Spitfire and motorcycle with equal aplomb. In a time defined by laughter and loss, Mi and Graeme struggle with their own betrayal and loss and the delicate, almost invisible threads of hope that entwine them all."--Chapters.indigo.ca.

The body of wealthy Calder Maddox is found on the beach, the stately Aurora Sands Hotel supplies the suspects, and amateur sleuth and photographer Nessa Van Horne investigates a grisly murder and man''s inhumanity to man.

Uncovering the bizarre and triumphant story of his mother''s madness, Charlie Kilworth begins to understand her fears and her need to escape as well as her compulsion to help the walking wounded. When he begins to forgive her for his own strange childhood he arrives at the resolution of his quandries about fatherhood.

The Trials of Ezra Pound is a stark portrayal of Ezra Pound at the end of his public life. Based upon the preliminary hearings of the trials held in Washinton, D.C. in late 1945 and early 1946, Timothy Findley reveals what the original transcripts do not - Pound''s emotionally charged interpretation of the events and his self-destruction. By letting Pound pace impatiently between time and place, Findley conducts a rare dramatic dance in The Trials of Ezra Pound - he takes the trial beyond one courtroom and into the realm of all humanity and it is here, in the light of Ezra Pound''s harsh contradictions, that Findley asks the reader not to judge, but how to judge.