Along with Louis Hémon's Maria Chapdelaine and Pierre Vallieres' White Niggers of America, Two Solitudes is essential reading for anyone who wants to attempt to understand twentieth-century Quebec. MacLennan's book is one of the pillars of Canadian fiction. A mixed francophone/anglophone Quebec family provides a trope to investigate the quite different experiences and perceptions of french-speaking Quebecers and the anglophone "others", both within the province and beyond it. Covering the period between the end of the First World War and the beginning of the Second, MacLennan's book covers economic, linguistic, religious, and social experiences. My wife suggested that it is the "most boring book I've ever read", but I found it moved along at a nice pace. It became, however, very depressing in the second half. This reflects the reality of the times, however.
Entirely aside from this review, I was MIGHTY pleased to find a first edition of this book in a used store delete bin for $1. What a score. Even if it's not worth much in terms of trade value, it's a beautiful, pristine little piece of Canadiana.
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