Pro-Israel ralliers buy wine to stymie boycott – Canadian Jewish News
 New Zealand Herald |
Pro-Israel ralliers buy wine to stymie boycott
Canadian Jewish News, Canada John Begley, general manager of the Summerhill LCBO, said about 500 people walked through the doors at the Summerhill LCBO to purchase Israeli wine. “I can tell you that I had not only stock of Israeli kosher wine to meet our normal demand, … Video: Inside Story-Netanyahu's cabinet meeting-5 April 09-Part 1 Jewish groups clash at LCBO |
Blackberry Wine: A Novel
Joanne Harris’s first novel, Chocolat, was set in the sleepy French village of Lansquenet, where enchantment, romance, and soft-centered truths issued from the local confectioner’s shop. She returns to the same location for Blackberry Wine. But as the title suggests, she’s shifted her focus from food to drink, choosing a half-dozen bottles of homemade plonk as the catalyst for her “layman’s alchemy.” And even the narrator is no human being but a faintly tannic Fleurie 1962: “A pert, garrulous wine, cheery and little brash, with a pungent taste of blackcurrant!”
There are, of course, some less vinous characters in the novel. Harris’s protagonist, Jay Mackintosh, is a former literary star, now sadly stalled. He spends his time writing second-rate science fiction, leading a hollow media life, and drinking: “Not to forget, but to remember, to open up the past and find himself there again.” Yet the nice, expensive wines don’t do the trick. Instead, six “Specials”–a gift from his old friend Joe–function as Jay’s magical elixir. Like Proust’s lime-blossom tisane, they give him the gift of his memories but also unlock his future, which encourages him to flee the rut of his London life and buy a house in Lansquenet.
As Jay settles in, he contemplates his childhood friendship with Joe, whose idiosyncratic outlook was the inspiration for his only successful book. Meanwhile, he becomes involved in village life, encountering some familiar faces from Chocolat. Caro and Toinette, the snooty troublemakers, soon put in an appearance, and Josephine, the bar owner and battered wife of the earlier novel, becomes a real friend. But it’s a new character, the enigmatic Marise, who becomes the focus of Jay’s attention–and who helps to restore his literary joie de vivre. This feat of resurrection makes for a hugely enjoyable read. It also goes one step further in adding Lansquenet to the map of imaginary destinations, where daydreams can come true with intoxicating frequency. –Eithne Farry
Customer Review: It just didn’t work for me
I loved Chocolat and the Lollipop Shoes and had just finished the even better Five Quarters of the Orange when I picked up Blackberry Wine. Unlike the others, this was a real struggle to get through. The characters seemed shallow and one-dimensional, as though they needed more work. The plot didn’t really develop until well into the novel (it didn’t start to get in the least bit interesting until about two thirds of the way in) and even then, it was weak. I think that one of the biggest mistakes was to set it in the same village as Chocolat, making vague references to the events of that novel and giving some of the characters cameos in this one. While I am glad that I made it to the end, this is one book I won’t be reading again.
Customer Review: Mixed feelings
Although I found the characters somewhat flat and frankly disliked a couple of them such as Kerry, I thoroughly enjoyed being transported to Joe’s and Jay’s gardens and homes and — through Harris’ magical pen — found myself believing in those “talking” wine bottles as living things. On the whole, I enjoyed the process of getting to the denouement, but felt somewhat disappointed at the way the plot ends were all tied up on the last few pages. I got hooked on Harris with her Gentlemen and Players and, though I didn’t feel Blackberry Wine was quite up to the standard of the former, I still have a bunch of her other books stacked on my nightstand ready to be read.
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