I was impressed by Miriam Toews' A Complicated Kindness. Though a fairly dark novel, it looked at coming of age in a really unique way. I'm curious to know how much of the story reflected Toews' own upbringing and how much of it was fiction.
I was extremely taken with the way Toews' emphasis wasn't on "Mennonites" specifically or overtly, but, as a Mennonite, there seemed to me to be a lot of "commentary" on the ways of Mennonites, and not just the kind in the Nickels' church.
The Nickels weren't really that "Mennonite" in the way Rhoda Janzen's family was, talking about borscht and frugality. In fact, the only really overtly Mennonite mention in A Complicated Kindness seems to be Nomi's mentions of Menno. ACK kind of seemed like it was halfway between Searching for Intruders and Peace Shall Destroy Many on a scale of overt Mennoniteness.
At least in terms of my own experience, Nomi Nickel portrayed a coming of age that I felt mirrored my own in ways, though mine lacked the drugs and sex of Nomi's. Her struggles with hell, the conflict between her sister and parents, her reaction to The Mouth, and dealing with abandonment were all themes that reflected my own experience growing up Mennonite in a generation that feels as though it differs greatly from my parents'. Toews explored these themes tenderly and effectively through Nomi.
Nice post, Annie. It's interesting that the Nickels aren't really that culturally Mennonite, but seem to have a lot of the same questions and struggles that many modern-day Mennonites (youth especially) have. I agree that Toews does a great job of portraying these aspects. I think that it's much more of a coming of age novel than a Mennonite novel though.
ReplyDeletegood post-The Nickels aren't really that Mennonite, especially Tash, Trudie, and Nomi who were excommunicated. But one of the problems mentioned in the book was that Ray could not choose between Trudie and the church. It didn't seem like he practiced his faith very much so I am not sure how strong his faith was but something added tension to his loyalties so that Trudie left so Ray wouldn't have to choose between her and the church.
ReplyDelete"I'm curious to know how much of the story reflected Toews' own upbringing and how much of it was fiction."
ReplyDeleteMe too! I have to admit, I was shocked when I found out that a lot of people (incl. a girl in my Mennonite history class) think of A Complicated Kindness as a loosely-veiled memoir. It's so intense and stylized it's hard for me to see why people would even want to start down that thought-path. I've avoided reading bio info on Toews because the idea kind of disturbs me (probably because it does resemble her teen years then I'd have to drag out all the memoir theory we learned this past semester.)
Spoiler alert! - Biographical info forthcoming: There's some connection to MT's life, but much of the novel is substantially changed. For instance, her father was a meek but beloved teacher who took his own life after retirement, but this was when MT was an adult. MT's mother and sister did not disappear, and her mother has been a great source of support to her. She was close to her sister, who struggled with depression, and lost that battle last year. However, this had not happened at the time MT wrote the novel. MT did grow up in Steinbach, Manitoba, which is the model for East Village. There's plenty of fiction in this novel, but emotionally it rings true. All writers dig from the well of their own experience, and all of MT's novels have autobiographical elements, but they are not close enough to truth to be memoir. However, if you're interested in her memoir, Swing Low, told in her father's voice, I'd recommend it for an interesting blend of fictional technique with supposed memoir. It will also make the Mel of ACK much more understandable. So in that sense, Nomi's father's character is still based on MT's father's character. MT wrote Swing Low after her father's suicide, and ACK after Swing Low. I think both books are works of mourning.
ReplyDeleteWhoops--I meant Ray of ACK. Mel is the name of MT's real father. I guess that shows that there's enough cross-over between real life and fiction here that even I can get confused!
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