Canada Reads, book 3 . "Brother"

author

   

   David Chariandy has written two novels.  His first novel received recognition from 11 literary awards juries.  His second novel, "Brother" has already been included in 8 Best Book of 2017  lists.  It is on the Giller longlist.  So it may be a good choice for Canada Reads when the topic is "One book to move you".
   David grew up in Toronto but now teaches in Vancouver.

   As expected, it is novel about brothers.  Their parents came from Trinidad and their father has disappeared, leaving their mother to work long hours to put food on the table.  The boys are growing up in a housing complex in Scarborough, surrounded by violence and a strong police presence. 
  The boys escape into the Rouge Valley often as young boys, but later begin to frequent Desirea's- where there are many bodies pressed into a small, hot room with loud music and drinking- often ending up with violence.
   The novel is told in the first person and this quote shows the discouragement of the boys: "We were losers and neighbourhood schemers.  We were the children of the help, without futures.  We were, none of us, what our parents wanted us to be. We were not what any other adults wanted us to be.  We were nobodies, or else, somehow, a city." 
  I found this very short, beautifully written book very sad and hopeless.  It didn't move me, it depressed me.  I need a ray of hope in every novel.