The Hockey Sweater and Other Stories

Very satisfying micro stories. Roch Carrier is a French-Canadian, writing in a traditional style called "Contés." These stories generally run about four quick pages. They describe fictionalized events of life growing up in a small Catholic town during and after WWII. The stories average about four p......more

This collection possesses mostly charming time capsules of the author’s childhood in rural Quebec. I found the most endearing aspect of these stories to be how they capture the naïveté and earnest energy of young boys. For instance, in “The Machine for Detecting Everything that’s American,” the boys......more

This book of short stories proves why Roch Carrier is one of Quebec's most charming story tellers as he captures the life of Quebec after WWI with Duplessis in power and the power of the Quiet Revolution just beginning. The old men sitting on the porch smoking their cigarettes and observing the worl......more

I've read that Roch Carrier is particularly known for writing les conte, a particular kind of short stories, which is what these seem to be. I would love to learn more about those. I was looking for something French Canadian to read and stumbled upon Carrier and this particular book. He is supposed t......more

What a great set of stories! I can't believe that I hadn't read "The Hockey Sweater" before now. This is a classic story of the kids playing and wanting to not only wear the sweater/number of their favourite player but to be that player. I highly recommend this book and especially "The Hockey Sweater......more