The French novel of Quebec /

These two volumes constitute perhaps the first English-language introduction to the literature of Quebec. Each offers an excellent overview of the evolution of the genre it considers; each also attempts to note the links between works in that genre and the historical, sociological, cultural, and political realities. Given the space limitations of the Twayne format, neither volume pretends to be definitive or exhaustive, and in each, only the major writers are covered. Cagnon (Montclair State College) concentrates on works of the 20th century, as does Weiss (Colby College). Particularly praiseworthy is Cagnon's analysis of the novels of such major authors as Hubert Aquin, Victor-Levy Beaulieu, Gerard Bessette, Marie-Claire Blais, Rejean Ducharme, Jacques Ferron, Anne Hebert, Suzanne Paradis, Gabrielle Roy, and Yves Theriault, to name a few, as is Weiss's treatment of Rejean Ducharme, Michel Tremblay, Franoise Loranger, Robert Gurik, Jacques Ferron, and the improvisational, experimental theater of the 1980s. Both Cagnon and Weiss seem to be constrained by Twayne's space limitations, and Cagnon's introduction and conclusion are shockingly short. To the credit of Cagnon and Weiss, however, both have exercised excellent critical judgment in their choice of those novelists and playwrights considered to be the most important in the history of the Quebec novel and theater. There are excellent chronologies of the evolution of the novel and theater in Quebec, as well as bibliographies of both primary and secondary sources. The books' bindings are excellent as well. The works certainly should be included among the acquisitions of all academic libraries and are intended for the general student of literature and society, on both the undergraduate and graduate levels.-S.R. Schulman, Central Connecticut State University