Editorial Content for True North: On the Road in Canada
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
In a delightful and informative new travel book, Paul Theroux gives us a bird’s-eye view of the United States’ northern neighbor. As Theroux traverses the Great White North, he watches as Canadians refuse to become American property, survive the pandemic, deal with a countrywide trucking strike, force one prime minister to resign, and discover their own foibles, albeit slighter than America’s. TRUE NORTH gives Theroux plenty of territory to explore and allows his fantastic storytelling chops to get a good workout.
“I was welcome everywhere I went and I marveled at the landscapes --- the rocky coasts, the forests, the prairies, the mountains, the vibrant cities, and I felt very lucky as a senior road warrior with a book on my mind. Canadians told me their stories and shared their concerns and their hopes. It is a fact that one in five Canadians today was born in another country, but a common remark I heard was, ‘Canada has been good to us.’”
"Take the time to ease your way through the wonderful conversations and feel like you yourself have had a fully educational and exciting adventure across the top of the world."
Theroux has been all over the globe and written about its many corners, good and bad. But TRUE NORTH seems to reflect a wary journalist’s eye for what is going wrong changing to a traveler’s delight in finding a part of the world filled with natural beauty and commonality.
One of the other fascinating discoveries Theroux makes is quite personal. His own Canadian ancestry dates back to Nouvelle France in 1693, when Antoine Theroux, a Gascon man-of-all trades, moved to Quebec. His grandfather was born in the same village where Antoine settled, giving Theroux himself an opportunity to consider Canadian citizenship.
Perhaps the most valuable tip to travelers that Theroux dispenses is his love for and use of the extraordinary transcontinental roads that he drove without incident from the far reaches of Newfoundland all the way to Vancouver, enjoying consummate hospitality at every stop. The soft-spoken Canadian way that Americans see is a true reflection of how things are done there, a respite from the noise and flash of the go-go-go American way of life. It is, however, a nation dealing with its own issues. After all, no place is perfect.
Assimilation and foreign influence are discussed at length. On Prince Edward Island, for instance, a kindly fisherman named Dutch tells Theroux, “This is the last gasp of the white majority in Canada, and probably the world.” His wife chimes in: “That sounds kind of racist…maybe say Caucasian.” Dutch then responds, “I’m not a racist. I’m thinking of those overpopulated countries. And us --- whites desperately clinging to power. Why wouldn’t people want to come here? We’re the best country in the world. I’ve traveled --- and that’s what I’ve seen. We’re the best educated and we’re just.” He goes on to talk about Buddhist communities buying up plots of land throughout a certain section of the country. Clearly, Canada enjoys its open borders but also has a sense that their national identity is changing rapidly as it is known for being a decent country.
Theroux is a good journalist who allows the many people he interviews to talk openly about whatever is on their minds and doesn’t judge them. He realizes that the rich and varied voices in his book present a tale that is so much better than some researched-to-death academic history about the country and its long life.
TRUE NORTH is an engrossing, fully entertaining and fascinating look at our nice-guy neighbors and all that has brought Canada to this point in history. Take the time to ease your way through the wonderful conversations and feel like you yourself have had a fully educational and exciting adventure across the top of the world.
Teaser
For more than half a century, Paul Theroux has traveled the globe and chronicled its far corners with curiosity, wit and an unflinching eye. With TRUE NORTH, he turns that eye to a country that has long been his quiet neighbor: Canada. What begins as the completion of a North American road trip trilogy becomes something more personal. Theroux meets his Quebcois friends and relations, then travels more widely through remote villages, multicultural cities and sweeping landscapes that have defined modern Canada. Along the way, he speaks with farmers, refugees, writers like John Irving and Michael Ondaatje, and Indigenous leaders such as Tanya Talaga, listening as Canadians reckon with identity, belonging and patriotism.
Promo
For more than half a century, Paul Theroux has traveled the globe and chronicled its far corners with curiosity, wit and an unflinching eye. With TRUE NORTH, he turns that eye to a country that has long been his quiet neighbor: Canada. What begins as the completion of a North American road trip trilogy becomes something more personal. Theroux meets his Quebcois friends and relations, then travels more widely through remote villages, multicultural cities and sweeping landscapes that have defined modern Canada. Along the way, he speaks with farmers, refugees, writers like John Irving and Michael Ondaatje, and Indigenous leaders such as Tanya Talaga, listening as Canadians reckon with identity, belonging and patriotism.
About the Book
Acclaimed, bestselling author and travel writer Paul Theroux turns his gaze to Canada in a sweeping, personal journey.
For more than half a century, Paul Theroux has traveled the globe and chronicled its far corners with curiosity, wit and an unflinching eye. With TRUE NORTH, his 12th travel book, he turns that eye to a country that has long been his quiet neighbor: Canada.
What begins as the completion of a North American road trip trilogy becomes something more personal. Theroux traces his own ancestral connection to Quebec, where his forebear, Antoine Theroux, arrived in the 17th century. Theroux meets his Quebcois friends and relations, then travels more widely through remote villages, multicultural cities and sweeping landscapes that have defined modern Canada. Along the way, he speaks with farmers, refugees, writers like John Irving and Michael Ondaatje, and Indigenous leaders such as Tanya Talaga, listening as Canadians reckon with identity, belonging and patriotism, often in response to the jabs and provocations of their southern neighbor.
From snowbound Ottawa at the height of political protests to the Viking settlement at L'Anse aux Meadows, from Toronto's "ethno-burbs" to Vancouver's Pacific gateway, TRUE NORTH is a panoramic portrait of a vast country both familiar and elusive. It is also a meditation on kinship, migration, and the resilience of a people shaped by history, geography and challenging weather.
With the empathy of a companion and the sharpness of a cultural critic, Theroux delivers a timely, vivid travel narrative that reveals Canada as never before --- diverse, unsettled and alive with stories.
Audiobook available, read by Charlie Anson
