The Icelandic Canadian - 01.03.2005, Síða 40

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THE ICELANDIC CANADIAN
Vol. 59 #3
Her life, while outwardly successful, was
inwardly dry and muted. She is called
toward a world where she may feel vibrant
and alive.
The unpleasant character of Adam
Ainsworth, in It’s Raining Gently All Over
The World, is also consciously seeking
change. Retired from the Saskatoon Police
Force, Ainsworth is looking to leave the
“accumulation of sad detail” behind. His
ego has traveled with him, however; his
cold behaviour at this story’s end leaves no
doubt that he will add to his pile of discon-
tent.
In The Secret Source of Tears, John
Henry has not gone looking for change; it
has come for him. Having lost his wife to
Alzheimer’s, he has retreated to a world of
memory. But the betrayals of memory—of
his wife’s deprivation and death, of his
inability to capture the past through her
belongings—force John Henry toward the
future.
Carla George, in Pleasures Liberty
Cannot Know, understands that change
cannot release her from herself. A down-
trodden, but determined little girl has
grown into a downtrodden, but deter-
mined woman. The cracks of her youth
will continue to trip her in later life. You
may plan on liberation, but “wherever you
take yourself, it’s still you and you’re just
following a bend in the river.”
The idea of the past resurfacing to
claim our present is captured by Gunnars
in two wonderful images from The Swans
of Chesapeake Bay. Elise, originally from
Normandy, describes the enormous sink-
holes that have appeared there. Chalk quar-
ries, long abandoned, have been forgotten
and their locations built upon. Heavy rains
have eroded the pillars that once supported
these caves and their collapse swallows the
shocked inhabitants of the present. More
striking is Elise’s comparison of the past, of
memory, to the waters of an estuary: “The
freshwater from the land and the saltwater
from the sea: they meet, they layer them-
selves, they circulate in levels and wander
into each others’ territory.” There is no
boundary to distinguish between the two.
These unseen currents link the
moments of life; it is from these connec-
tions that Gunnars’ characters learn to
muster hope and determination. In
Dreaming of the Coliseum and Angels
Hide Their Faces (both featuring writers as
protagonist), the importance of this con-
nection is understood. There is meaning in
the randomness of ordinary experience. By
registering these moments, we can see the
possibilities that arise as we move though
our days. To connect in life, even briefly,
with others, with our pasts, is to bring
meaning to madness.
Gunnars takes the title of this collec-
tion from a poem quoted in her story Code
Pink And Denim. The poem is by the
Metaphysical poet George Herbert and its
choice seems significant. From lives con-
trolled by realities beyond immediate per-
ception, Gunnars’ characters learn to find
strength in the present. There is but one
day to live and its beauty and possibility is
here and now.
Kristjana Gunnars has the ability to
bring her readers close to her characters.
They seem familiar even as one is just
entering their story. Gunnars evokes a
‘small world’ feeling through the light pas-
sage of characters between her stories (a
feeling certainly familiar to those in the
Icelandic Canadian community), but this is
not where the familiarity lies. The reader
does not identify with this diverse group
because their experiences are necessarily
those we may understand. We identify
with Gunnars’ characters because their
longing to craft hope for the future, despite
the debris of the past, is one desire we all
may claim.
Rev. Stefan Jonasson
ARBORG UNITARIAN CHURCH
GIMLI UNITARIAN CHURCH
9 Rowand Avenue
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3J 2N4
Telephone: (204) 889-4746
E-mail: sjonasson@uua.org