And as for The Bishop’s Man being about the Church–well, I suppose one can focus on that part of it, but I think one should view the Church in this case as a stand-in for any institution that asks an individual to subordinate his or her own identity and values to that of the institution.

The more I think about this book, the more I realize there is to think about…Thanks for bringing it to my attention with your Best of 2009 list.

I know you organize reading for book clubs and can report from my experience with the blog that this is a Canadian book club favorite. Since starting the blog, The Bishop’s Man ranks third in hits, after Duddy Kravitz (which features on a number of Can-lit courses and attracts student interest) and Emma Donoghue’s Room, another one that attracts a lot of book club interest. I made my 333rd post today, so those three are obviously the cream in terms of attracting attention.

If I ever did a list of favorite novels of all time, it would take a long time and be a very long list. A few years back, I did do a “10 books for the island” list on the Indigo community site — link is http://community.indigo.ca/toptens/Best-books-ever-for-island-Kevin-Peterson/492967.html — and it holds up very well as a reflection of my “classical” tastes with a few modern titles included. And of course I have published “top 10 lists” for the last two years which you can link to on the sidebar — the 2011 version will go up in a few weeks.

I found the writing very atmospheric–perfect choice for a winter’s read–and I look forward to reading more of this author. I kept thinking about Julian Barnes’ A Sense of an Ending while I was reading it…memories, truth, unreliable narrator confessing, questions left unanswered…but I think this book is more satisfying than Barnes’.

Question for you: what are some of your favorite novels of all times?

I think Giller has a pretty good record and I’ve liked Giller winners more than most Booker winners in recent years.

Unlike you, I find the Giller winners to usually be of a very high standard. I have read them all and would only find a couple wanting. All of which probably means nothing more than that Giller juries and I tend to have similar tastes.