"Edson’s vivid portrayal of the urban area, as well as the working class and underclass, creates a vision of Saint John that highlights the discrepancy between the pre-modern idyllic notion of life in Atlantic Canada and the more complicated reality of the region."


-The New Brunswick Literary Encyclopedia

Thursday, August 23, 2007

Charlie and Prin in conversation

"Do you see, Charles? Do you see what I mean? God gave us religion and we made that dirty too. We make everything dirty. It’s all dirty, everything we do. And I’m not being hopeless. It’s the truth."
"What can you do?" Charlie shrugged.
"Try to find something pretty," she said. "Even if it’s small or if it won’t last long; try and find something, anything, and then a small piece of you is truly happy, no matter how sad and dirty all the rest."
"Have you ever found anything like that?"
"All the time," she said. "I bought daisies yesterday. And a painting from an old woman in the market. It’s only small but it really is lovely."
"And you say I’m smart," he said.
"Do you like a woman with a brain?" she grinned.
"I’ve never had one before."
"Not one?"
"I’ve always done my best to avoid them."

(from The Dirty Milkman)

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