I have often tried to find books about Toronto to read.  I read all kinds of fiction about London, Mumbai (Bombay) and New York City.  So what is there to read about Toronto...

In this category, I will post books I have read about Toronto and how well they describe this city that I live in.

When I picked up Utopia:Towards a New Toronto at the library, the librarian flipped the book over in her hand and said to me,

    You know I'm originally from Montreal and I was just
    back there for a visit.  And what they've done with
    their waterfront, its incredible.

I know what she is talking about; they have a beautiful system of bike and walking trails along the waterfront that goes all the way from Old Montreal to Lachine.  But here was a book about the interesting features of Toronto, of what we have and what we could have. Still, it inspires the librarian to compare Toronto in her mind to Montreal.
Utopia:Towards a New Toronto is a book of essays on Toronto's urban environment.  It is interesting and thought provoking.  Reading it made me think about parts of the city in a new way.  When I read the article on the University of Toronto campus, I realized how much the campus has improved since I first attended U of T in 1992. 

Utopia challenges us to think of what the city could be.  For this to happen, Torontonians are going to have to realize that we can change the city for the better.  We have to let go of our defeatist 'that will never happen here' attitude, especially around the waterfront.

I talked to another former Montrealer last night.  And he said, 'I think Toronto is changing in a lot of ways for the better especially in the last few years'.  I would have to agree that something positive is afoot especially when I see a book like Utopia produced and the Spacing blog.

Onezan recommend the novel Somecomes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow.  This science fiction novel is nicely set agains the backdrop of Toronto's Kensington Market.  I really appreciate Doctorow's use of this neighbourhood in the novel, its the perfect place for this story to take place.  And true to Toronto life, the characters barely leave the 15 city blocks of their 'hood.

The story is engaging and interesting.  Its great to read a story that considers the political and social potential of Wifi and Internet access without coming across as cheesey (as have most books about the 'Net).

I will be reading more books by Doctorow!

I decided to try to seek out more books set in Toronto.  The TPL has a list of them here
The first one that came in was Gently Down the Stream by Ray Robertson.

I have to say that this was a well written book.  After Working Class Zero, I was a little gun shy to read a book about Toronto male urban angst, I have to say.  But Robertson's novel was not cliched, it was a fairly good story.  I would have left out the whole 'The Duke' aspect of the story.  'The Duke' being an old tavern filled with old guys who nurse a beer all day.  These places are certainly disappearing fast from Toronto's landscape but this part of the story didn't add much. 

I would have liked Robertson to focus more on the relationship between the main character, Hank and, his old university and far more successful friend, Phil.  This relationship showed how there are many Torontos including one the hipsters (like Phil) inhabit.  Still this book nicely captures the Roncesvalles neighbourhood of Toronto without relying on over-sentimentality.

Most novels set in present day Toronto tend to over rely on the city as a part of the story without doing alot of research.  The 'interesting' tidbits about Toronto tend to be urban legends while the city's more interesting facts are often buried. 

One example of this is the often mentioned Robarts Library in Toronto novels.  I have read three books that mention Robarts and that (1) it is shaped like a peacock (2) it has no windows (3) it is sinking because the architect/ building engineer didn't take into account the weight of the books.

(3) is an urban legend and they say the same thing at U of Waterloo about their library.  The urban legend was created and perpetuated by Arts students intended to imply that engineers / architects are unaware that books go in libraries.  Okay, its old.  Don't include it in your fiction.  Thank you.

I thought I would post on some good books about Toronto's past that I have read.

The Stubborn Season by Lauren B. Davis is a very good novel about Depression-era Toronto.  I found this novel very enjoyable to read.  The novel has great descriptions of the Depression era layout of Toronto including St. John's Ward, the slums that used to stand where Nathan Phillips Square is today.  It also accurately portrays the struggle that occurred in society over what to do about the extreme poverty that the Depression caused.  Portraying this issue from different perspectives, this novel brings to life a part of the history of Toronto that we often take for granted.

Cat's Eye by Margaret Atwood.  This novel, more than any other Atwood novel, captures the Toronto of Atwood's youth - 1950's and 1960's.  In this book, you can get a sense of the wooded ravines of Toronto's largest city, one of its most romantic features.  I find that these ravines play a large role in the life of anyone who grew up here.
I read Cat's Eye long before I lived in Toronto, I may give it another read soon.

In the Skin of a Lion by Michael Ondaatje.  Some people I know have said they didn't like this book, it was boring and nothing happened.  Perhaps that could be said of the plot but this book has the most beautiful descriptions of Toronto's past, making the city one of the main characters.  Particularly interesting is the story around the building of the Bloor St. viaduct, the bridge that crosses the Don Valley connecting East and West Toronto.  In the Skin of a Lion also describes the neighbourhoods that used to exist around Eastern Avenue.  This area was an area where working class immigrants used to live and is now going through a slow revitalization as the industrial areas are re-claimed again for residential use.