Colombo’s Canadian Quotations ed. by John Robert Colombo (review)

HUMANITIES 415 a useful research tool and a convincing indication of the valuable contribution made by Indian-Inuit authors to Canadian literature. A Concise Bibliography of English-Canadian Literature, compiled by Michael Gnarowski, is, as the compiler states, derived and selected from the more ambitious and expensive works of R.E. Watters and Inglis Bell. It should be made clear that this work is not a 'guide' to English-Canadian literature in any sense of the word but rather a selected author bibliography . It does not reach its goal. which in the compiler's words, 'was to compile a manageable and useful checklist which, while selective, would serve as an informing source for those routine questions concerning bibliography and critical material which may arise in the study or discussion of Canadian literature.' The compilation should have included a list of more detailed reference works which must be used in conjunction with it if the student is to benefit. One has no quarrel with the selective process used by Michael Gnarowski, but the bibliography, useful as it is, requires substantial bibliographical support. In its present state it cannot stand alone. A list of sources consulted would have also strengthened this book considerably. All of these bibliographical endeavours are checklists and fall within the enumerative way of compiling information about books. It is encouraging to see such fundamental bibliographical work emerging and on Canadian subjects in particular. (DOUGLAS LOCHHEAD) John Robert Colombo, editor, Colombo's Canadian Quotations. Hurtig Publishers , x, 735, $15.00 Colombo's Quotations - let it have due title - for the work exists bountifully through the eclectic engagement of this unique and jovial editor. I'm glad he did it and not someone else whose high seriousness about 'the Past' or 'our Heritage' would have got us a pandect of sonorous familiars instead of this - a folk volume of legends and popular culture touching not just politics and history but entertainment and sport, our other culture , as well: 'I say the best Canadian poet is Phil Esposito, and that is no joke' - Yevtushenko. It includes remarks like this one by non-Canadians about Canada along with sayings by Canadians on any topic, with the dominant principle of selection the gleam in the eye. Colombo's four years of I determined browsing' has culminated in a big book. It follows Bartlett's and the Oxford Quotations in arranging the citations by author. The 2500 contributors run alphabetically; the index with its 20,000 entries touches the sayings in as many as three ways, by keyword, subject word, and theme. Promotion copy says it weighs in at 3" pounds - but these are statistics (,Statistics are for losers' - Montreal Canadiens coach Scotty Bowman, during the "974 play-offs). 416 LETTERS IN CANADA The bibliographic notes and background explanations are often more engaging than the quotation itself, and the long arm of the anthologist proves a delight. Many unknown wits have been rescued. Obviously, what Sir Thomas Browne called 'the iniquity of oblivion' weighs heavily on Colombo - indeed, some of the oblivion is included, properly catalogued and cross-referenced ('All along I have thought it better to include rather than to exclude' - Colombo, in the preface). But this is forgivable . Later editions can afford to be more discriminate with some breathless remarks by athletes and stage personalities, with pro forma citations from living authors, unmemorable utterances by Americans who happen to have been born here, and with indirect and far-fetched references to the New World in the works of Renaissance poets. A bias in the seeker after quotations favours the personality over the thing said - although this has given place (after Marx) to 'Mary, The Blessed Virgin/see Lucia dos Santos' as a contributor. A Quebec folk tradition, spoofed by Jacques Godbout, has her pronouncing the words 'poor Canada !' to three Portuguese girls during an apparition in '9'7. This kind of folksiness, a key feature of the book, finds its own room in the engaging 'Anonymous' section (second only to Trudeau's sayings - in quantity) where regional by-words, some wisdom of the Native People, and fragments of various oral traditions are highlighted. Posterity will be grateful for many statements, unquotable ones...