Autumn Rounds
by Jacques Poulin
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Pub Date 30 Nov 2021 | Archive Date 15 Nov 2021
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Description
In rural Canada, dotted along the coast of a vast mauve river, live villagers of different stripes: a recently divorced hydroplane pilot, a factory-worker who closely resembles her fisherman husband, a probing motorcyclist with a pet St. Bernard, a pair of beautiful blonde joggers, and other curious characters.
For all their differences, each is brought together by a soft-spoken man, referred to only as “the Driver,” who travels up and down the coast each season, delivering books to areas not served by libraries and listening closely to the villager’s tales and to their woes.
This summer tour is bound to be different than all the rest. The Driver has made friends with a traveling band of musicians, jugglers, artists, and acrobats who decide to come along for a ride that the Driver has privately decided will be his last.
Jacques Poulin’s compassionate prose delves into the hidden pains of aging and loss without losing sight of the tremendous joy that can be found in making the world a little more livable for other people.
Advance Praise
"Poulin continues his oeuvre of quiet, unimposing fiction with this delicate tale of a Quebec City bookmobile owner whose solitary life is upended after he meets an alluring woman . . . Narrated in ponderous, poetic prose, the brief text successfully harnesses a range of themes, made potent by the melancholy mix of the Driver’s fear of aging and the lure of romance. Poulin once again shows his knack for grace and nuance." —Publishers Weekly
"Poulin’s novel offers a deeply felt meditation on loneliness, age, and the improbability of human connection." —Kirkus Reviews
"Rich with humor, reflection, and the almost palpable magic of books, Autumn Rounds is a novel that explores an intimate yet expansive landscape."—Foreword Reviews (starred review)
"What a luminous little book this is. Nothing could have made me happier than to have it transport me to its realm. Long may its motivations reign—the sheer love of books, an informed awe at the natural world. I felt I was my better self for having read it." —John Silber
"One of my favorite writers in the world is Jacques Poulin."—Rawi Hage
"One of the finest and most underrated novelists in Québec."—The Globe and Mail
"Poulin shares a mix of detached humor, fantasy, and compassion with Vonnegut and Salinger."
—Saskatoon Star-Phoenix
"For decades Poulin has been teaching us that great literature can be about small things: the language of love and the love of language, the pleasure of solitude and the grief of loneliness, the value of work and the importance of play. While each of his novels stands on its own, together they create a world that is instantly recognizable and immediately endearing."—Alyson Waters, Yale University
"Poulin is a master of imagery and dialogue: they rest like froth on top of something much more murky and morose: an underlying fear of emptiness."—The Silhouette
Praise for Mister Blue -
"This is a great and very beautiful novel."—Le Devoir
"Jacques Poulin has perfected the art of making simplicity look artless...Told with Hemingway-like sparseness and minimal melodrama...Poulin earns his lump-in-the-throat ending."
—Shelf Awareness
Praise for Translation is a Love Affair -
"For Jacques Poulin, in this miniature masterpiece of tenderness and humour, translation is more than the passage from language to language, it is the essence of our human condition: giving and taking, teaching and learning, experiencing and sharing experience, a love affair with our fellow human beings."—Alberto Manguel
"We fall under the spell of this heartwarming, human novel, penned by Jacques Poulin at the summit of his art."—Mieux Vivre
"If familiarity and surprise have become the trademark of Poulin's novels, it is evident that Translation is a Love Affair does not deviate from this model; and Poulin's reader continues to read as he/she would pay a visit to relatives, as much to reoccupy a familiar world as to discover that which is new."—Canadian Literature
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Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781953861061 |
| PRICE | US$18.00 (USD) |
| PAGES | 198 |
Featured Reviews
Michael J, Educator
I took a chance on this because of the publisher, having never heard of Jacques Poulin before, and I'm very glad I did. Charming is probably the best way to describe "Autumn Rounds" but this doesn't do justice to its quiet power. It draws you into its meanderings through the (beautifully described) Canadian landscape with the central figure, The Driver, who takes a library bus in pre-internet times to various remote communities through the summer, while accompanying a travelling group of musicians and entertainers and developing a relationship with its de facto manager. That summary doesn't do it justice either. It's about ageing (summer into autumn), disappointment, books, reading and falling gradually in love. There are lovely descriptions: when the central pair finally get it together, they do so "under the protection of all the love stories that surrounded them". It's splendid and I'm off to find some more Poulin.
maria h, Reviewer
*I received an arc by Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*
A comforting and charming read that explores an appreciation of all things art, music, literature.
I felt quite neutral about the characters, which would normally put me off a story a little, but I didn’t mind it all that much here.
Simply said: short, lovely and sweet.
Mandy J, Reviewer
A small gem of a book. Gentle, compassionate and empathetic, with a pared back style, and a deep sense of humanity. It’s the story of an ageing solitary man who drives his Bookmobile around remote areas of Canada, and is beginning to feel that perhaps this trip could be his last. But then he meets Marie, who is travelling with a group of entertainers, and gradually a strong bond is forged between them, a bond which might just shape the rest of his life. A quiet tale of human connection, and, of course, books and their power to inform, to teach and to console.
Lola J, Reviewer
This is the kind of novel to just curl up with and enjoy as the rain lashes the window. It’s quiet and kind of quaint, almost abstract in its execution.
I enjoy quiet books and this one was no exception. Set in Canada, originally written in French, it tells the story of the Driver, who visits small villages with his bookmobile. Just that premise alone is so sweet. His relationship with Marie is interesting. These are older people discovering feelings for each other and I was really glad to read about that. The author chose to build it in such a quiet way and I enjoyed it. However, I did always feel quite distanced from the characters in an odd sort of way, especially Marie, who I did not really understand.
Was it a bit too twee? Maybe a little, but it was a very nice experience to read this. I would like to seek out more works from this author.
If you like a quiet book that is simply about a older man carefully navigating falling in love again whilst spreading his love of books, this will be for you.
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