The Word, the Voice, the Text

Patricia Morley is a professor of English and Canadian Studies at
Concordia University, an associate fellow of the Simone de Beauvoir
Institute, and author of Margaret Laurence: The Long Journey Home.

For Thompson, memory lane is neither particularly unusual nor
interesting. His childhood in Saskatoon was characterized by the usual
things children experienced circa 1925 to 1935: watching the blacksmith
work, following the iceman’s cart, playing sand-lot ball, visiting
relatives, going to school, attending the local exhibition with its
gaudy midway, and even experiencing the occasional death of an
acquaintance or relative.

To his perspective, as a city child, he has added a chapter on growing
up on a Prairie farm, for which he draws on his wife’s childhood. Even
this attempt at balance is insufficient to make this rather rambling
autobiography valuable outside his own family.

The author’s childhood terminated with a short period of training for
the air-force during World War II. He never saw combat, and after his
discharge he turned to broadcasting, where he developed a career as a
radio announcer. Since not much has been published about the early days
of small-station radio broadcasting in Western Canada, this section is
the most interesting even though the coverage is rather shallow.

Thompson is probably a fairly good storyteller who was convinced by
well-meaning friends to record his reminiscences. Unfortunately, he is
not sufficiently skilled as a writer to bring the ordinary to life.