Walkups
Encyclopedia
Walkups is the debut novella
by the Canadian author Lance Blomgren
, published by Conundrum Press
. The first printing quickly sold out following its release, having already been excerpted in various magazines and on the internet. It was followed by a companion piece, Corner Pieces in 2004. The novel has since been translated into French
by Éditions Adage, translated by Elizabeth Robert, and published as Walkups: Scènes de la vie Montréalaise. A second printing of the novella was released by conundrum press in May 2009.
The title evokes the typical street-side apartment living of large eastern North American cities in general, and the winding staircases typical to Montreal in particular.
Walkups is a novella that takes urban architecture—particularly Montreal
row-house architecture—as its primary subject. All chapters, titled only by an address, take place with the walls of different apartments, while the one recurring address, referred to only as the Apts d'amours returns us to the central narrative of the unnamed narrator and his love interest, Jane, a biology student who lives upstairs from him in the same building.
As litarary critic Kevin Connolly points out in his article on Walkups in Toronto's eye weekly, Walkups shares some similarities with work of Mark Danielewski and Roman Polanski
's film, The Tenant. The novel depicts the claustrophobia and cabin fever associated with cold northern climes, as well as the deep psychological weight of personal and public history as represented by our mundane living spaces.
On one hand Walkups acts as a kind of tour guide to the various neighbourhoods of Montreal and a documentary of various, while simultaneously telling a story of a love affair within the walls of an apartment building that is seemingly alive.
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
by the Canadian author Lance Blomgren
Lance Blomgren
Lance Blomgren is a Canadian writer who is known for his published fiction and essays.He grew up in Courtenay, British Columbia and spent various years living and writing in Victoria, British Columbia, Montreal, Quebec, Las Cruces, New Mexico and Vancouver, British Columbia.He completed degrees...
, published by Conundrum Press
Conundrum Press (Canada)
Conundrum Press is a book publishing company located in Montreal, Canada, founded in 1995 by Andy Brown.-Affiliated authors:Conundrum is renowned in Canadian publishing for its innovative, wide-ranging, often genre-defying, books of fiction, cultural history, graphic novels, spoken word and artist...
. The first printing quickly sold out following its release, having already been excerpted in various magazines and on the internet. It was followed by a companion piece, Corner Pieces in 2004. The novel has since been translated into French
French language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
by Éditions Adage, translated by Elizabeth Robert, and published as Walkups: Scènes de la vie Montréalaise. A second printing of the novella was released by conundrum press in May 2009.
The title evokes the typical street-side apartment living of large eastern North American cities in general, and the winding staircases typical to Montreal in particular.
Content
The format and structure of the novella is unconventional, written in extremely short chapters with only two recurring characters and interspersed with enigmatic black and white photographs taken by the author, and artist Charles Chalmers.Walkups is a novella that takes urban architecture—particularly Montreal
Montreal
Montreal is a city in Canada. It is the largest city in the province of Quebec, the second-largest city in Canada and the seventh largest in North America...
row-house architecture—as its primary subject. All chapters, titled only by an address, take place with the walls of different apartments, while the one recurring address, referred to only as the Apts d'amours returns us to the central narrative of the unnamed narrator and his love interest, Jane, a biology student who lives upstairs from him in the same building.
As litarary critic Kevin Connolly points out in his article on Walkups in Toronto's eye weekly, Walkups shares some similarities with work of Mark Danielewski and Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski
Roman Polanski is a French-Polish film director, producer, writer and actor. Having made films in Poland, Britain, France and the USA, he is considered one of the few "truly international filmmakers."...
's film, The Tenant. The novel depicts the claustrophobia and cabin fever associated with cold northern climes, as well as the deep psychological weight of personal and public history as represented by our mundane living spaces.
On one hand Walkups acts as a kind of tour guide to the various neighbourhoods of Montreal and a documentary of various, while simultaneously telling a story of a love affair within the walls of an apartment building that is seemingly alive.