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Out of stock | | | | | | Smith--a man of moderate ambition, unknown first name, and dubious companions--has a quarter horse in which he has great faith. But the path from quarter horse of good stock to cutting horse of skill and finesse is strewn with obstacles, unforgettable characters and the kind of earthy humor Paul St. Pierre's writing is known for. | | | | | |
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| | Product Details | | Author: | Paul st Pierre | | Paperback: | 164 pages | | Publisher: | Douglas & McIntyre | | Publication Date: | 1993-04 | | Language: | English | | ISBN: | 0888944314 | | Package Length: | 8.3 inches | | Package Width: | 5.4 inches | | Package Height: | 0.6 inches | | Package Weight: | 0.55 pounds | | Average Customer Rating: |  based on 3 reviews |
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Deserves its status as a "Canadian classic" Jul 30, 2009
I had read another book by St Pierre called SMITH AND OTHER EVENTS several years back and remember being very entertained by it. Well, this book, a Canadian classic, was no different. It made me laugh while imparting some real basic and common sense wisdom at the same time. The dialogue is priceless, as Smith tries to communicate with the various Indians. The stiffly formal language used by Smith made me think of Henry "Author" Wiggen in Mark Harris's baseball novels. Here is a small sample of Smith, talking with an ancient Indian -
"Ol Antoine, you keep out of that court ... I do not know much, Ol Antoine, but I know a few things. One thing I learned a long time ago - keep out of courts, hospitals and, if possible, the army ..."
This book is a very quick read, almost like a good literate comic book. But just because it is funny does not mean there is nothing profound here. Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse is a succinct commentary on the basic decency of an ordinary man. - Tim Bazzett, author of SOLDIER BOY: AT PLAY IN THE ASA
5 of 5 found the following review helpful:
Laconic genius and a window on a last frontier Jul 31, 2005
This book is another example of the richness of the literature associated with BC's Chilcotin Country, which despite its remoteness and almost-unpopulated status has produced some of British Columbia's most readable writings. It is one of St. Pierre's best works and certainly his best novel, although his collections of short essays on life in the Chilcotin and elsewhere in BC contain various gems. Breaking Smith's Quarter Horse captures the quiet magic of the Chilcotin Country, the deliberate and slow speech and peculiarly adroit way of thinking of life in that high, last frontier. St. Pierre is vastly underrated as a writer, maybe because of his journalistic career, but this book reveals a laconic, dry-witted genius that rivals or exceeds the best of Stephen Leacock and more famous Canadian wits.
There are a couple of memorable passages that come to mind in writing this review - Smith's exhortation of Ol' Antoine (the character played by Chief Dan George in the movie version, and perhaps written with Dan George in mind) to escape the clutches of the white man's legal system by running away to the high mountains (hyas hyas stone illahee, a particularly Chilcotin-style phrasing of the Chinook) and Antoine's defiance of that advice, and Antoine's courtroom scene where he recounts his apparently fictional participation in the Nez Perce War; proof to Smith and those in the courtroom that, while it may be a tall tale, that Ol' Antoine is one of the "skookum tillikums" - the grand old men of the frontier (the phrase means strong/capable/genuine people).
More of a novella than a novel, and stylishly written, this book is highly enjoyable and a good read for both adults and children (of a certain age). The original film didn't live up to the muster of the book, in this reviewer's opinion, and this is a story crying out for a cinematic remake.
3 of 4 found the following review helpful:
A great story about a marginal rancher and the Indians. Jan 29, 1999
Smith's farm is too high, his banker is getting restive, and an Indian who has killed a White man has shown up in a shack on his land. In the TV film, Chief Dan George got his first part. When he comes into Smith's cabin, he says memorably:Hello this place. My favourite book.
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