In a Quebec village, a soldier's funeral turns into a drunken wake in this serio-comic tale of French-Canadian anti-conscription feelings during an "English war." One of the few facts people know about Canada is that it is a bilingual country in which the English and French languages are equal under the law. Nevertheless with every Canadian election or Quebec referendum one is aware of the tensions between two founding nationalities. In la Guerre, Yes Sir!, a French-Canadian novel of 1968, the French and English are thrown together one winters' night during World War II, as a French-Canadian Soldier killed at war is returned to his Quebec village by seven English Canadian soldiers. There is grieving, praying, eating, drinking and carousing as the French hold a wake for their fellow villager. Hostility mounts as French and English increasing view each other with suspicion. Unable to speak each other's language, they find communication impossible; violence erupts. The tensions which still haunt Canada are vividly conveyed in this raucous , tragic-comic and ultimately life-enhancing novel. Thoroughly researched with input from Roch Carrier himself, this edition gives the easy access to the Francophone text which is rare, and provides an excellent example of the range and diversity of French writing outside France. | Roch Carrier, Paperback | Indigo Chapters