CanadianContent discussion

Hi all - although the poll does not close for another hour or so, I am fairly confident that unless we have a bunch of last minute votes, we will be reading Zoe Whittall's book Holding Still for as Long as Possible.

Hi everyone - I know that @Diane has read this but has anyone else? I too found, that this was a younger target audience. It was filled with a lot of drama and I struggled with the way the character of Josh shared information from his job when health care has requirements for confidentiality. I would hope that paramedics don't really text details of their patients during their shifts.

I did wish to learn more about the characters and their challenges - especially Josh who was transgender but this was only touched on (ie. Amy's videos). thoughts?

I finished this the other day. I had trouble relating to the characters because they were so young and their concerns seemed somewhat trivial to me (but I was going through personal stress while reading and that definitely affected my reaction to them). I think "drama" is a good way of putting it. I could absolutely see others really enjoying this book, but I was a bit too old for it.

That's an interesting point about Josh. I guess I had expected the transgender content to be approached as more of an "issue." But I think these particular characters represent a younger generation in which gender and sexuality is more fluid or at least recognized as being on a continuum. Because it wasn't as much of an issue for them, it wasn't treated as an "issue" in the book.

This was the first book by Zoe Whittall I've read. I'm glad I read it and would like to read more by her, but maybe a book with older characters! :-)

I did enjoy it, but couldn't relate to it that well because of the generational difference but I think it was quite good at depicting a lot of "kids" of that generation, trying to figure out what it means to be an adult, coming to terms with adult responsibilities, still in the university party mode a lot of the time.

I liked that, although most of the characters were gay or transgender in Josh's case, their sexuality wasn't really made part of any of the issues. It just *was*, this is who they were and these characters pretty much had the same problems as straight characters of that age group.

Josh was probably the one who was the most "adult", holding down a very responsible job, and up until the book, was in a long term relationship. Possibly that's because of the road to his transition which is never easy. Sounded like he had rejection from his father though had a sympathetic sister and...aunt, I think? I guess you would tend to be more mature than the average person your age. Yes, the texting of patient details was not very responsible but you might very well see that between partners just the same. Maybe what happened near the end of the book was karma!

I liked Josh. Billy was a bit too damaged/neurotic for me to like, Amy a bit too needy and Roxy, she was ok if not very responsible.

Here is an interesting article about Whittle that talks of her previous and most current novels. I hadn't realized that she had won "a Lambda Literary Award in the transgender fiction category for her empathetic portrayal of the character Josh" and love that "She describes herself as a consummate reader who, before she could write, dictated stories to her mom."

http://www.quillandquire.com/authors/...

It occurred to me this morning that it's strange that while I found it a bit difficult to relate to the twenty-something characters in this book, I just finished a book from the POV of a 14-16 year old and *loved* it! Totally relatable!

I read a letter written to a local free newspaper here, The Coast, (https://www.thecoast.ca/halifax/lette... titled "Impartial isn't fair") where the author says "Here, (i.e. Canada) I'm not a gay person. I'm just a person."

That kind of sums up how I felt about this book. It was about people who just happened to be gay and it was nice to read a book that didn't really focus on the sexuality of the characters, it focussed on their relationships, their jobs, their problems, just as any book does. That's not to say books shouldn't make an issue of someone's sexuality or ethnicity if that's what the book is about but that's not what this was about and I think it would have felt too preachy if she'd thrown that in there. It was just as it should be. It shows that everyone has the same problems getting to grips with being an adult, regardless.

@Diane - interesting perspective and I wonder if I had trouble relating as I was not so in to the party/bar/drinking scene that provided some of the setting of this book.

I found them very self absorbed and some were immature and I think that's still reflective of the age group in a lot of cases. I did a bit of partying at that age but i married at 23 and was no longer part of it. My friends were all starting careers and/or starting families so my circle of friends was totally different.

@Diane - It would be interesting to have feedback from readers in the age group of the characters!

Yes it would. Overall I liked the book and I think it's very worth while. It didn't speak to me on several levels but that shouldn't take anything away from it's merit.