Jacques Ferron Critical Essay | Critical Review by Paul Socken

SOURCE: A review of Tales from the Uncertain Country, in The Canadian Forum, Vol. LII, No. 617, June, 1972, pp. 41-2.

In the following review, Socken remarks on the style and themes of the stories collected in Tales from the Uncertain Country.

Jacques Ferron is one of Quebec's most highly acclaimed writers, and a translation of some of his short stories by Betty Bednarski makes his writing accessible to an English-speaking audience for the first time.

In Tales from the Uncertain Country, a collection of eighteen short stories, the reader can acquire a representative glimpse of Ferron's very unusual world. Ferron is concerned with people's origins, and their quest to determine who they are and where they belong. His is a study of people's roots, and the relationships people establish with those around them. Ferron's only enemy is complacency and unfounded pride, as we see them ridiculed in 'Tiresome Company',...
(read more)