The Limits of Sympathy: Gabrielle Roy's The Tin Flute

Michael Benazon teaches English at Champlain College in Quebec.

Patrick Coleman does an admirable job of assessing the historical
importance of Gabrielle Roy’s The Tin Flute (known in its original
French as Bonheur d’occasion). He examines its critical reception,
evaluates the two English translations, summarizes the critical
response, and adds his own thoughtful appraisal of the issues raised by
the novel. His clear, logical style and avoidance of jargon make this
monograph accessible to students.

Coleman is certain of the novel’s historical importance but more
cautious about its enduring literary value, which brings me to the first
of my caveats. While Coleman states more than once that Bonheur
d’occasion was Roy’s first novel, he glides over the circumstances
and process of its composition. (Roy was a mature, experienced
journalist at the time she wrote the book, but had little or no
experience in writing fiction. As she herself acknowledged, the novel
began as a series of notes that gradually took on a fictional form.)
Second, though Coleman’s discussion of realism in literature is
excellent, he does not seem to be fully aware of just how closely
Bonheur d’occasion is based on actual places in St. Henri, suggesting
that the genesis of the novel lies in Roy’s journalistic eye for
significant detail. And finally, the novel’s depth of
characterization, attention to form, and use of poetic imagery and
symbolism, as Coleman demonstrates, justify its lasting reputation as a
work of literary art.