How important are happy endings? Canada Reads contenders weigh in
On Day Two of Canada Reads 2024, Mirian Njoh and Naheed Nenshi discuss what makes a powerful ending
While all good books come to an end, it's how they go about their conclusions that made it onto today's Canada Reads conversation.
Set in Toronto's Chinatown and Kensington Market, Denison Avenue is a moving portrait of a city undergoing mass gentrification and a Chinese Canadian elder grieving the death of her husband.
Community builder Naheed Nenshi, Denison Avenue's champion, has commended the story on many occasions for its ability to "tear your heart out and stomp on it — and then hand it back to you a little bandaged, a little bruised, but filled with empathy and filled with hope."
But on Day Two of the Canada Reads debate, fashion influencer Mirian Njoh took issue with his argument.
"I found this book to be relentlessly gut-wrenching," she said. "Honestly, it grabs your heart and it leaves you with a lot of open wounds, because for me, it ultimately raises more questions than it answers."
Njoh was hoping to see more resolution when it comes to the major issues brought up in the novel including gentrification and elder isolation, she said.
It just leaves us with the sentiment that this is a path we all must walk.- Mirian Njoh
"It just leaves us with the sentiment that this is a path we all must walk. I found that it didn't leave me as fulfilled as I would like my literature to."
Nenshi explained that that to him, Denison Avenue's ending is one of the most moving moments. He recalled the scene when protagonist Cho Sum is cleaning up and cataloguing her house after months had gone by since her husband's passing.
"To me, that is really the bit that was bittersweet but was showing that she is, in fact, willing to move forward," he said. Seeing Cho Sum through the eyes of Chloe, her young neighbour, also drove home that sense of resilience for him.
"So it's not as happy an ending as Meet Me at the Lake, for example, but I think that it does show us that even when there's bitter with the sweet, we figure out how to go forward."
I think that it does show us that even when there's bitter with the sweet we figure out how to go forward.- Naheed Nenshi
The 2024 Canada Reads contenders are:
- Athlete and CBC Sports contributor Dallas Soonias champions Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
- Former Calgary mayor Naheed Nenshi champions Denison Avenue by Christina Wong & Daniel Innes
- Fashion influencer Mirian Njoh champions Meet Me at the Lake by Carley Fortune
- Actor Kudakwashe Rutendo champions Shut Up You're Pretty by Téa Mutonji
- Author Heather O'Neill champions The Future by Catherine Leroux, translated by Susan Ouriou
Here's how to tune into Canada Reads 2024:
ONLINE: CBC Books will livestream the debates at 10:05 a.m. ET on CBCBooks.ca, YouTube and CBC Gem.
The debates will be available to replay online each day. The livestream on YouTube will be available to watch outside Canada.
If you'd rather listen to the debates online, they will air live on CBC Listen. A replay will be available later each day.
ON RADIO: Canada Reads will air on CBC Radio at 10:05 a.m. in the Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones.
It will air at 11:05 a.m. in Nunavut, the Maritimes, 1:05 p.m. in Labrador and at 1:35 p.m. in Newfoundland.
The debates will replay at 9 p.m. local time in all time zones, except in Newfoundland, where it will replay at 9:30 p.m.
ON TV: CBC TV will broadcast Canada Reads at 1 p.m. in the Eastern, Central, Mountain and Pacific time zones. It will air at 2 p.m. in the Atlantic time zone and at 2:30 p.m in the Newfoundland time zone.
PODCAST: The episode will be posted each day after the live airing. You can download the episodes on the podcast app of your choice.
