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15 February 2021

The Dustiest Bookcase: L is for Lysenko (& Lesik)

Short pieces on books I've always meant to review (but haven't).

Westerly Wild
Vera Lysenko [pseud Vera Lesik]
Toronto: Ryerson, 1956
284 pages

Purchased for $2.50, I was sold by the opening words on the front flap:
WESTERLY WILD, a sort of Canadian Wuthering Heights, grew out of the fascination exerted on the author by the rolling countryside of south-western Saskatchewan...
Six years later, this Vera Lysenko novel continues to collect dust because I still haven't read Wuthering Heights.

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8 comments:

  1. Roger Allen16 February, 2021 04:15

    Why not read Westerly Wild (or Westerly Wind) first?
    Then you can decide if Wuthering Heights is a sort of Yorkshire Westerly Whatever.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brian Busby20 February, 2021 17:48

      Westerly Whatever is a great title.

      Delete
    2. Roger Allen21 February, 2021 09:17

      I actually thought Westerly Wind was a more likely title and that you'd come across a rare (unique?) example of a book cover with a misprint.

      Delete
    3. Brian Busby04 March, 2021 16:14

      I can't help but think of the novel as Westerly Wind. In fact, I would've sworn to it. It wasn't until I began writing the above that I realized it was Westerly Wild (and still I botched it when transcribing the flap copy. Sometimes the mind sees what I wants to, I suppose. You're the editor I need, Roger.

      Delete
  2. Susan D19 February, 2021 09:49

    Forget Wuthering Heights. I've always felt it's overrated. (Mostly by people who know only the film versions.)

    This books looks promising (judging by its cover).

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    Replies
    1. Brian Busby20 February, 2021 17:55

      Susan, how is it this Kate Bush fan has never read the book? Hell, I'm old enough to have bought The Kick Inside on the day of its release.

      (By chance, I heard on the CBC that the album was released 43 years ago this week.)

      I agree on the cover. It's a shame Ryerson's policy was to block artist credits.

      Delete
  3. BeauW03 March, 2021 22:07

    That cover immediately reminded me of 'The Flaming Hour' by Edward A. McCourt, which is another Ryerson Press book from that time.

    I'm pretty sure the artist on the McCourt is George M. Rae.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Brian Busby04 March, 2021 16:30

      You encouraged me to take a closer look at the cover, if only to see if Rae managed to hide his signature somewhere in the illustration. Alas, I found nothing.

      Coincidentally, I'm right now reading McCourt's The Wooden Sword. McCourt's Fasting Friar was one of my favourite reads of 2014 - according to an old blog entry - so why did I let six yeas go by before tackling another of his novels?

      Delete