Personal reflection

Reading “The Last of the Crazy People” by Timothy Findley, has opened my eyes in the variety of Canadian fiction novels. This novel provided new vocabulary and writing styles for me to learn and become more comfortable with. I feel that reading this novel strengthened me as a writer because Findley used proper sentence structure consistently. One of my weaknesses while I write is using proper and strong sentence structure. The more I read, the easier I will learn how to write properly and more sophisticatedly. This novel provided plenty of examples which I could learn from. My understanding of Canadian identity has been altered because of reading this novel along with a select few. This novel was written just like any American author would write. I was also not aware of many Canadian authors, but I realize we write just as well as an American or British author. When you read a Canadian novel and you are familiar with land marks, territory, etc., it is easier to connect with the story because you can picture it in your mind. I find that in the novels I have read by Canadian authors they usually always describe the setting similar to how I pictured it for the region the story is taking place in. The novels by Canadians are just as creative in setting, character development, writing style etc. Novels written by both American and Canadian authors can be both enjoyable and dreadful.

This novel that Findley wrote is a series of events that could literally happen. Everyone lives in a family with some sort of dysfunctional behaviour. Many children become fed up with their parents and guardians but don’t necessarily kill them. A reader that is struggling with family scenarios could really sympathize with Hooker and understand to an extend, why he killed them. This novel taught me what humans are really capable of when driven to the point of madness especially by the people you love. I learned that I enjoy a novel more, when the author makes one of the characters are very vulnerable and the reader can see inside of them. Understanding the character’s thoughts and feelings allows me to feel sympathy for them. I can see and feel their pain and want to continue reading to see how they will handle the situations. I wait to see if the outcome is the same as I predicted. This novel did not conclude the way I anticipated! As I finished the chapter I found the ending odd, somewhat of a cliffhanger, but I could have been satisfied if that is how Timothy Findley chose to end the story. The epilogue changed the entire story. Saying the ending was unexpected would be an understatement. I believe it changed the entire story because the way Hooker was portrayed through out the novel allowed the reader to feel sympathetic. This was all preparation for the epilogue because once that is read, I still felt sorry for Hooker and understood why he did that. I found it a tad wordy at the beginning, not really holding my interest but once I was well onto half the book I enjoyed every single page tilt h e very end. I quite enjoyed this ISU because I read another wonderful book but a fellow Canadian, and I also learned much about Canadian literacy and the author through my research.