The writer Alain Farah is living in two time periods, and he feels out of place in both. At the opening of his story, we find ourselves at McGill in 1962 and 2012. But the real problem lies elsewhere: on campus, a psychiatrist is conducting dangerous and unethical experiments on his patients. The writer’s uncle, Nab Safi, knows something about it, but soon he won’t be around to tell his story.
And so begins an investigation in which time, place, memory, and people collide. A mother in the Lebanese ghetto bets her son in a game of dice to settle her debts. Dinosaurs are resurrected. An odd gun will be used to determine the outcome for those who truly believe. A torn old photo and a gothic swimming pool lead to the disturbing depths of Ravenscrag, a mournful manor with 36 chambers…
Ravenscrag is an intriguing and truly original blend of retro science fiction and autobiography. It’s about resilience, literature as remedy, and ultimately, it’s a novel about survival through storytelling.
The writer Alain Farah is living in two time periods, and he feels out of place in both. At the opening of his story, we find ourselves at McGill in 1962 and 2012. But the real problem lies elsewhere: on campus, a psychiatrist is conducting dangerous and unethical experiments on his patients. The writer’s uncle, Nab Safi, knows something about it, but soon he won’t be around to tell his story.
And so begins an investigation in which time, place, memory, and people collide. A mother in the Lebanese ghetto bets her son in a game of dice to settle her debts. Dinosaurs are resurrected. An odd gun will be used to determine the outcome for those who truly believe. A torn old photo and a gothic swimming pool lead to the disturbing depths of Ravenscrag, a mournful manor with 36 chambers…
Ravenscrag is an intriguing and truly original blend of retro science fiction and autobiography. It’s about resilience, literature as remedy, and ultimately, it’s a novel about survival through storytelling.
| Published By | House of Anansi Press Inc — Jan 24, 2015 |
| Specifications | 208 pages | 5.25 in x 8 in |
| Keywords | Literary; Montreal; Quebec; McGill University; 1960s; contemporary; Science fiction; MK Ultra; Human Experiments; Lazer Lederhendler; |
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Excerpt |
| Written By |
Alain Farah is the author of Quelque chose se détache du port, a book of poems which was shortlised for the Prix Emile-Nelligan, and the novels Matamore no 29 and Pourquoi Bologne, a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. He is assistant professor at McGill University. |
| Written By |
|
Alain Farah is the author of Quelque chose se détache du port, a book of poems which was shortlised for the Prix Emile-Nelligan, and the novels Matamore no 29 and Pourquoi Bologne, a finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award. He is assistant professor at McGill University. |
Long-listed, 2016 Sunburst Award for Excellence in Canadian Literature of the Fantastic, 2016
“Alain Farah’s intriguing novel works not despite its complexities, but because of them.” —Quill & Quire
“True to its own vision, [Ravenscrag takes] some pleasure in pushing boundaries” —Maclean’s Magazine
“…a page-turner to the very end.” —Publishers Weekly
“… this is a novel that’s out there on its own. You really should read it.” —Montreal Gazette
“a useful snapshot of a current of literature being published in Québec at the moment” —Quebec Reads
“This swift, Montreal-set fiction splices genres and historical eras with such nerve that it rolled onto best-of-the-year lists everywhere from the Governor General’s Awards to La Presse and Le Devoir when it appeared in its original French in 2013.” —The Georgia Straight
“[T]hrilling… Ravenscrag gives over with wild abandon to imagination and paranoia as defining traits.” —The Mookse and the Gripes
“[A] perfectly bizarre novel…I want to read it again.” —Magnificent Octopus blog