Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature Book

Although I both appreciate Margaret Atwood as an author and also realise that she is probably the one Canadian author the most universally, globally recognised and liked, personally, I have ALWAYS found her 1972 Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature considerably more interesting and enlightening than the vast majority of her novels etc. And truly, ever since I (in so-called Senior High) first perused Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature in 1983, when we used Atwood's book as a guide and textbook in grade eleven English, which that year featured primarily Canadian fiction, drama and poetry, I have been simply amazed and in awe at how spot-on Margaret Atwood usually is with her analysis of Canadian literature themes (and that indeed, these presented themes continually seem to repeat themselves in much of both current and past Canadian literature, and both in anglophone and francophone offerings equally).

Therefore, even though Canadian literature as a whole and as an entity is of course now considerably more numerous and varied in scope than it was either in 1972, when Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature was originally published or in 1983, when it served as our grade eleven Canadian literature textbook, Margaret Atwood's musings on specifically the standard "Canadian" themes (including the unfortunate tendency of us Canadians to regularly tend to have a rather dismally low level of self esteem in particular with regard to the merits of our literary achievements as a nation) are as relevant and as commonly encountered now as they were then (and with in particular the thematics of nature as a potential monster, of artistic paralysis, of death and generational family dysfunction very much, very often being as much part of today's Canlit cannon as they were in the past). And yes indeed, if you do desire a well-written, academically sound, astutely observational but nevertheless also basically and for the most part penned and conceptualised for lay, for everyday readers (and thankfully thus not for primarily individuals with advanced university graduate degrees) introduction to Canadian literature and its main and often recurring themes, I do wholeheartedly and warmly recommend Margaret Atwood's Suvival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature (but of course also with the necessary caveat that although as mentioned above, the Canadian literature themes portrayed and analysed are both universally Candian and also relevant for today's Canlit, since Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature was published in 1972, the specific literary examples Margaret Atwood uses to cement and point out her findings, views will naturally be pre 1972).