Book Review - The Strangers

BY KATHERENA VERMETTE

BY BIANCA DUBOIS

CW: Addiction, Alcoholism, Abortion, Suicidal Thoughts, Child Death, and SA Disclaimer: Spoilers for The Break

The Strangers by Katherena Vermette is a companion novel to her critically acclaimed debut novel, The Break. This novel revisits Phoenix, one of the stronger characters in The Break, and delves into the women’s lives in her family. Like her previous novel, Vermette describes the realities of being Indigenous in a world that wants to erase them.

The Strangers follows a similar format to The Break, where we follow three generations of women in the Stranger family for five years, including Margaret, Elsie, Phoenix, and Cedar Sage. We see how their shared and individual trauma has devastated their family. Each of these women is deeply connected and torn apart by the judgment of the white world surrounding them and each other.

The book opens a couple of months after the conclusion of The Break with Phoenix in a detention centre for the crime she committed in the previous book. She is pregnant and about to give birth to her son. Cedar Sage, Phoenix’s sister, lives with her father, stepmother, and stepsister in the suburbs of the south end of Winnipeg after years in the foster care system. Elsie, their mother, is grieving and struggling to overcome drug addiction and alcoholism. Margaret, their grandmother, is embittered at her past failure to become a lawyer and take care of what is left of her family.

Vermette does a fantastic job giving each character a very distinct and clear voice throughout the novel. Although it is clear, they are painfully similar in their trauma. They all experience and struggle with internalized racism and misogyny, making it difficult to support each other and overcome their barriers. I felt incredibly connected to the characters in this story, with Phoenix learning about her indigenous culture and Cedar Sage finding her way in life. Their lives felt real, and all their tribulations were challenging to read. This book is hopeful yet truthful and was an experience to read.

“Margaret used to think this was normal, that all families were made up of so many sad stories. But as she got older, it seemed only Indians, Métis, who had sorrow built into their bones, who exchanged despair as ordinarily as recipes, who had devastation after devastation after dismissal after denial woven into their skin. As if sad stories were the only heirloom they had to pass on.”

Throughout the novel, Vermette explores many themes affecting indigenous peoples. However, the most prevalent is the theme of children being taken away from their family, and culture permeates through this book as Sparrow, Phoenix’s newborn son, is taken away from her after giving birth. Just like Phoenix and Cedar Sage being taken away from their mother at a young age. This cycle of distance and removal is emblematic of Canada’s history of separating Indigenous children from their families and culture.

I am glad that Vermette wrote this follow-up to The Break. It was a beautiful book that introduced me to new perspectives and helped me understand indigenous women’s experiences. I cannot say it was nice to revisit these stories because they are devastating to read, but I will rate this book 4/5 stars and recommend it to all Canadians. ◆

Photo from penguinrandomhouse.ca

IS THIS IT RETROSPECTIVE

BY AMMAR MOORAJ

Photo from pitchfork.com

Every now and then records are released that define their genres and scenes for the years to come. Miles Davis’ “Kind of Blue”, Sex Pistols’ “Nevermind The Bollocks Here’s The Sex Pistols”, Joy Division’s “Unknown Pleasures”, Nirvana’s “Nevermind”, and of course the album which would define 2000s rock, The Strokes’ “Is This It”. Now, twenty years later, I want to do an autopsy. Where did it come from, where has it gone and what made it so great to begin with? The nineties were, for a time, dominated by a post-punk genre called grunge, first popularized by Nirvana. But after Kurt Cobain’s death, pretty much every other grunge band either collapsed in on itself or purposefully faded into obscurity and away from the limelight that they never wanted. Pop-rock and pop-punk were finding a lot of mainstream commercial success, but their fan bases tended to be white suburban early-teens and preteens. It was in this brief moment where The Strokes’ caught people’s attention with “Is This It”. Well… sort of. That’s one narrative of what happened, and while it is compelling it’s also a little romanticized. But there is some degree of truth to the idea that “Is This It” pushed indie rock into the limelight.

The Strokes were formed in 1998 around the social connections of the charismatic lead singer Jullian Casablancas. It began with just him, guitarist Nick Valensi and drummer Fabrizio Moretti but would later include Nikolai Fraiture and Alebrt Hammond Jr., all of whom were friends of Casablancas from the various prestigious private schools he attended. They would find some early success in 2000 with some demos and eventually the EP Modern Age, but it was in 2001 with their full length LP “Is This It” that they would find real success. A 9.1 from Pitchfork, four stars from Rolling Stone, recommendations from NME and a place on everyone’s top ten albums of the year.

Its release resulted in the explosion of what’s since been called the garage rock revival, the post-punk revival, the new-wave revival and the new rock revolution. What you may notice about all those different titles is that they’re conflicting in their reference to what exactly these bands were reviving or doing. The reality is there is very little connec-

tion between the acts supposedly part of this scene. Bands like The Strokes, The White Stripes and LCD Soundsystem share about as much in common with each other as any other musical act that uses an electric guitar. While the idea that there was any sort of cohesive indie rock scene in the early 2000s is pretty ridiculous, ultimately The Strokes did become the face of indie rock for a while. They became key inspirations for their contemporaries like The Arctic Monkeys and their influence can still be clearly heard in modern indie rock. Any time you hear those bright, surf and blues inspired bubblegum indie rock acts like Declan McKenna, Arlie, Wallows, HAIM etc. you’re hearing the influence of The Strokes. So, what about the album itself? The best way I can describe it is that listening to “Is This It” feels like watching a classic John Hughes coming-of-age movie. It’s the experience of being young condensed into a tight thirty-six minutes. With chugging power chords reminiscent of surf-rock, bass lines that sound like they’re straight out of the newwave, bluesy guitar solos and the most charismatic vocals you will ever hear on record the album flies by with an adolescent urgency. As soon as the album opens with the title track “Is This It” a momentum is set in place that really never stops. Every track feels like a highlight and when it ends it feels satisfying but too soon. You’re left wanting more but knowing what you got was just perfect. Casablancas’ charisma instantly hooks you. He’s like music’s Ferris Bueller; he instantly comes across as cool and confident, the person we all wanted to be in highschool. Yet, it’s the playful counterpoint and melodies between the bass and two guitars that give every track so much replay value. Maybe I’m biased when I say this, after all the album did soundtrack my entire high school experience, but I think it’s about as close as you can get to a perfect album. Short, sweet, nostalgic and fun. This is music you make memories to.

So, it is with twenty years of hindsight that I say “Is This It” is a must listen album. It was important when it dropped, it’s important today and above all else it’s simply incredible. ◆

Photo from nme.com