The one thing I can say confidently about the novel Monkey Beach is that it is a total mystery, and that I cannot verify to any one person that it is a good or bad read.
At first I approached this book like any other we have to read for school- cautiously, and with a scholarly eye, trying to figure out how to read it and enjoy it while picking up on the important things.
After a few chapters, I fell into a good rhythm with the book, even if it was a bit misleading after reading the back description.
The general feeling I get from students who have read it is that there was a lot of flipping back and forth in Lisamarie’s mind between her past and present. I was expecting to read a story about Lisamarie’s missing brother, but instead, I found a coming-of-age story; a series of Lisamarie’s memories relived to let readers see into her past.
When I was attending the Trent Reads seminar, one student explained her confusion with the book. “I’m reading about this story as she’s five years old, and then suddenly she’s on a boat smoking,” the student recalls. “I was like, what, you’re five!” Many more people I have talked to also said the same thing: the constant switching between past and present was annoying at times.
For me, the real attraction to the book was the way it effortlessly mixed gothic themes with Haisla culture. Underneath the nostalgic, rebellious teenage girl’s story was a real horror element. On one hand, there is a story of girl growing up a rebel, a girl with wit and sarcasm, one many readers could connect to. Then there is the darker side of the story, subtle hints of lurking ghosts and creatures that whisper from the trees. Robinson blends them well; there are relatable moments and the right amount of laughter to the overall gloomy tale. There a few heavy themes that are shocking to read about in this book. Robinson touches on death, disfigurement, racism, grief and sexual abuse.
But to stray away from the “English” side of things, in my mind it was a fairly easy read, a bit difficult at first, and one that takes you for a bit of a ride.
The ending was a topic of discussion I enjoyed at the Trent Reads session. “I’d like to think that Lisamarie lives and her brother does too, and they have a happy ending,” one wishful student said. Others were skeptical, either thinking Lisamarie died or her brother Jimmy did. The professor explained to us that when Eden Robinson came to Trent in 2007, the writer refused to explain the ending to those asking, and said she wouldn’t even tell her own family. So, the mystery still remains.
Meghan Condon, whose short talk last February persuaded Trent’s students, faculty, and staff to select Monkey Beach for Trent Reads, argued that the novel is a good choice because it is “exactly the kind of book that students will encounter at their years at Trent.” She notes that “Robinson’s narrative encourages active reading and reflection as she brings together her characters and the pieces of their lives fall into place.”
I wish more people actually read the book. Many I have talked to either did not start, or only got halfway through. But I talked to other students who finished and liked it, and respect it for its difference from other things they have read. That is the point of Trent Reads: to expose you to different books by great Canadian authors and to get students to talk about them, give them something in common. But if you happen to pick up this book, be prepared for a rollercoaster of emotions. Ultimately the best way to describe this book would be from author Sherman Alexie’s review: “Tough, tender and fierce.”
