On the Eighth Day

by Antonine Maillet, Wayne Grady (Translator)

Overview

In On the Eighth Day, Antonine Maillet imagines a solution to the world's problems: a wider and more exuberant world, with its right more left and its left more right, created on "the day when everything is dared and anything is possible." She spins a tale of two brothers — a giant carved from an oak tree and a scamp shaped out of bread dough — born one remarkable night when magic made wishes come true. Thrilled to have a son to call their own, Mr. Goodman and Mrs. Goodwife play favourite and bicker over which creation is the better child, causing a rift in the family.

To ease the fighting, John-Bear and Big-as-a-Fist decide to set off to seek their fortunes. But first they must visit their godmother, Clara-Galante, to receive their inheritance. A witch who lives deep in the woods, she gives them three wishes and some kind words, before sending the heroes "out into the world to follow their curious destiny beyond the hills on the horizon," left foot first for good luck.

Wending their way through unforgettable lands — the Timeless Village, the Upside-Down Town, the Path of the Vicious Circle — the lads make many strange friends, who, peculiar as they are, seem strangely familiar. But, wherever Life leads them, Death lurks close behind.

A wonderful picaresque akin to a cheerful Gulliver's Travels, a comic Pilgrim's Progress or an Acadian Wizard of Oz, On the Eighth Day is a fast-moving tale starring richly developed characters in a funny and poignant road story in which allegory gains power by taking a back seat to enchantment.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780864924544
Publisher:	Goose Lane Editions
Publication date:	04/28/2006
Edition description:	First edition
Pages:	276
Product dimensions:	5.52(w) x 8.44(h) x 0.66(d)

About the Author

Antonine Maillet, a native of Bouctouche, New Brunswick, has spent her life conjuring the impossible into being. She is the author of wry and wildly inventive adult fiction, children's books, radio and television scripts, and more than a dozen plays.

Maillet's sparkling imagination, versatility, and commitment to giving Acadian culture a voice have been recognized at home and abroad. She was the first non-citizen of France to win the prestigious Prix Goncourt, which she received for Pélagie-la-Charette. Her now classic monologue La Sagouine won the Chalmers Canadian Play Award; Don l'Orignal won the Governor General's Award for Fiction; and On the Eighth Day, Wayne Grady's rollicking translation of Le Huitième Jour, won the Governor General's Award for Translation.

Wayne Grady is an award-winning author and translator. He won the Governor General's Award for his translation of Antonine Maillet's On the Eighth Day.

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

"The voice of [Maillet's] narrator is what carries us along, and this voice — these voices — are so strong that I can actually hear them." — Audrey Thomas, The Globe and Mail

Editorial Reviews

"A highly readable book, close in style to the mock-heroic tone of Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Grady's rhythmic recasting is faultless and his translation is boundlessly inventive."

University of Toronto Quarterly

"The book's strength lies in its vibrant and pithy characters and its rare startling scenes."

Weblog Français Ottawa

"The voice of [Maillet's] narrator is what carries us along, and this voice — these voices — are so strong that I can actually hear them."

The Globe and Mail - Audrey Thomas

"The book's strength lies in its vibrant and pithy characters and its rare startling scenes."

Weblog Francais Ottawa

"A highly readable book, close in style to the mock-heroic tone of Swift's Gulliver's Travels. Grady's rhythmic recasting is faultless and his translation is boundlessly inventive." — University of Toronto Quarterly

"The book's strength lies in its vibrant and pithy characters and its rare startling scenes." — Weblog Français Ottawa

From the Publisher