Margaret Atwood's Toronto

Here we are on Bloor Street -- Atwood territory. This morning we plan a walk along several other streets, including Chinatown, also mentioned in The Robber Bride. However, Atwood's characters weren't staying at a Holiday Inn, and they were immersed in the University of Toronto and surrounding environments, not just visiting. I always like to read about the places I visit. I thought it was a good pick for take-along reading, out of all the books in my attic.

Also, the first night we were here, I bought a Canadian edition of Atwood's The Tent. It's not "set" anywhere -- it's a series of poems and very brief sketches. But it evokes some of the atmosphere of the area: City. Not totally different from cities across the border. But more of some things, less of others. More brick Victorian buildings. Little green yards with lots of flowers. Big 60s or 70s apartment towers dwarfing the older houses. Little shops selling fruit or "natural foods" -- the kind of dusty healthfood store that's disappeared from home, thanks to Whole Foods and wider interest.

Among the nice gardens, one beautiful old fraternity was so brick and so Gothic Victorian it looked like a haunted house. The neglected yard had ailanthus trees for foundation plantings. (Those are the weediest of volunteers, if your plant vocabulary isn't great -- mine may not be great either, if ailnthus is the wrong word, I mean those weed trees!)

The museum, like many nearby buildings is 100 year old brick institutional style. It has a brand-new extension of glass and steel with very diagonal walls. Unfortunately, most of the exhibit rooms are still rearranging and I presume attending to their political correctness. I enjoyed the Chinese and Native Canadian exhibits. The new extension is the edgiest thing around, but there are lots of old buildings sprouting new steel and glass towers or bridges to nearby older buildings.

UPDATE: When I returned to Ann Arbor, I finished reading The Robber Bride. As the narrative follows three women -- Tony, Charis, and Roz -- and their nemesis, named Zenia, it continues to be fully embedded in the Toronto neighborhood where we stayed. I have been a Margaret Atwood fan from her first novels and poetry, and I definitely enjoyed this opportunity to get a new insight into one of her books.