La Guerre, Yes Sir is 113 pages of pure life, dressed up in funeral clothes.

Written in 1968 but set during the Second World War, it tells a ribald story of a Quebec village gathering to pay respects to the first local casualty of the war – young Corriveau has been sent back in his coffin, accompanied by seven English soldiers, known unanimously as the maudits Anglais, and standing in for all the other damned English. The tale unfolds amidst the culture clash, of language, religion, history and culture.

The village is full of army deserters fleeing conscription. Quebec in particular resented conscription, unwilling to defend either England, France or English Canada in a European conflict. So Amélie has two men living in her attic, her husband and her lover, and each takes turn in her bed. Joseph cuts off his own hand to avoid conscription. But teenage Philibert is so anxious to avoid his backwards, abusive father that he’s planning to enlist once he can.

At the wake, the maudits Anglais stand to attention with faces full of contempt while the locals eat tourtière, drink cider and brawl.

A plot description can’t convey how funny the novel is, with a kind of desperate, deranged funniness. The locals swear constantly, an endless litany of Catholic iconography (famously, swearing in Quebec is all about religion, swearing in France is all about sex). They pray badly, to unintentionally comic effect. As you’d expect of a book from the ‘60s, the men spend a lot of time ogling women’s ripe breasts. Villagers rant and rave. A woman wanders through the snow in a wedding dress.

I love these books that pack so much into so few pages. And though this has a lot of the tropes of Quebec fiction (deep snow, dysfunctional rurality, guiltmongering priests), it really has a character all its own. Bonus points for a fabulous translation by Sheila Fischman (translator of the children’s classic The Hockey Sweater and my favourite book The Fat Woman Next Door is Pregnant, among many others).
canadian rural the-printed-word ...more16 s Manybooks3,313 104

Roch Carrier's 1968 novella La Guerre, Yes Sir! (well, at least I personally do consider La Guerre, Yes Sir! to be a novella) was translated from its original French in 1970 by Sheila Fishman (and yes, I did in fact read both the original and the English translation simultaneously for grade twelve French in 1985).

Now basically but brilliantly, Carrier (and of course by extension Fishman as well), they put with La Guerre, Yes Sir! the tensions between French and English Canada under the magnifying glass, under the lens, where the recurring and constant conflicts and bones of contention are not only based on language, but also on religion, culture and historical resentment (by means of a small Quebec village during World War II, with La Guerre, Yes Sir! thus also taking place during conscription, which historically was particularly unpopular in Quebec, since for the vast majority of Quebecois, WWII was Britain's and Europe's conflict and not their own). So with the above mentioned conscription as the backdrop, La Guerre, Yes Sir! focuses on a Quebec family whose son has just been killed in the war and a troupe of English soldiers, or rather les maudits Anglais (the goddamned English) as they are referred to by the villagers (who represent Quebec in general) bring the body to the parents’ kitchen for the wake, making this young man the first war casualty of the village to be repatriated. And what Roch Carrier has textually ensuing in La Guerre, Yes Sir! is a delightful and immensely readable mix of tears, laughs, fists, tourtiere, and cider, a fun story to a point, but La Guerre, Yes Sir! is most definitely a tale both entertaining and thought-provoking, both deeply painful and deeply humorous, and covering issues regarding French and English Canada that are as relevant today as they were in 1968.

Finally, I also have to say that Sheila Fischman has done a simply superb job translating Roch Carrier's French text, and I totally appreciate that she has made the decision to leave the humorous prayers the villagers make and the Roman Catholicism based curse words, the many religious themed profanities in French, because indeed, trying to render these into English would in my humble opinion sound at best strangely unnatural and artificial. And La Guerre, Yes Sir! is in fact the heading of both Roch Carrier's original French language story and also of Sheila Fishman's translation, and I sure am glad of that, since the book title itself is already meant to highlight the linguistic divide between English and French Canada and to change this would be to take away part of the fundamental raison d’être of the novel. And therefore, and wonderfully, Sheila Fishman's translation of La Guerre, Yes Sir! thus reads not really a translation, but more story in and of itself, and yes, that makes for a totally brilliant textual rendering and also yet another reason why my rating for La Guerre, Yes Sir! is solidly and shiningly five stars (and that I also absolutely do recommend both Roch Carrier's original and Sheila Fishman's translation equally).book- canadian-history french-canadian-issues ...more8 s Adèle123

Très marrant, mais qui fait bien réfléchir quand on décide d’aller au-delà du premier degré (une lecture superficielle pourrait facilement sembler comme une invitation simple à faire du « Quebec bashing »). C’est un témoignage très intéressant sur les absurdités et l’aliénation causées par la guerre et la soumission des Canadiens français. La prose de Carrier est habile et rythmée. J’ai beaucoup aimé!4 s GregCarey1075 3

Hilarious! Roch Carrier's La Guerre, Yes Sir! is an absolute riot. If you want a quick laugh which delves into the hearts and minds of the french Canadians during WWII, then this book is a solid bet. Carrier's depictions of the french through the english eyes, and the english through the french are really humourous. Carrier, a federalist wanted to paint a picture of Quebec Society, trying to show the people of quebec how ridiculous they were. They needed to evolve, not live as "french pigs" as the did. All in all, excellent little laugh, even though it may be difficult to read for some. If you perchance this at a library, swipe your card and enjoy!3 s Anabelle649

2,5/5 étoiles

J'aurais pu aimer ce livre. L'histoire, le contexte, le style, la psychologie des personnages était excellent Malheureusement, c'était trop sexiste. Je ne peux pas lire une description des seins de tous les personnages féminins à plusieurs reprises et apprécier ma lecture.classics-read read-in-20193 s MargaretDH1,088 19

Yesterday, I was talking to someone who lives in Ontario but travels all across rural Canada for work, and I mentioned that someone from Quebec recently said to me, "Albertans sure do Alberta a lot." And the Ontarian replied, "That sounds something someone from Quebec would say. But Quebecois sure do Quebec a lot. If they could ever manage to get together, Quebec and Alberta would be an unstoppable partnership."

While all of that is a lot of Canadian inside baseball, I tell that story because even today, Quebec has a peculiar relationship with the rest of Canada. And this very funny, very affecting book explores the ways in which one village in rural Quebec understood the Second World War and the conscription crisis. (Spoiler alert: the Quebecois were not terribly eager to go across the sea and die in the mud for the maudits Anglais.)

This is a very Canadian little book, and an important contribution to the literary canon. It's also fun to read, and definitely worth your time.canada classics novella ...more1 A.J.Author 2 books21

The Second World War comes down to a village in rural Quebec when the village's first casualty is repatriated, accompanied by an Anglo honour guard. Here follows the obligatory wake, a comic romp through sex, death, and language politics, all in the overbearing presence of the Catholic church. The weight of history, the rural setting, and all that snow: it's the stereotypical stuff of Canlit, but La Guerre, Yes Sir! is short, and riotously funny.

Both swearing and prayers (which in a sense, amount to the same thing here) are left untranslated; the mangled prayers of the villagers are, unfortunately, an untranslateable joke. The villagers don't get a free ride here in favour of mocking the maudits Anglais; Carrier mocks the ignorance and religiosity of rural Quebec, circa 1944, much more savagely than he attacks the Anglos. In keeping with the attitudes of its day, the novel has no sympathy for the rural, the hick, or the traditional. In this sense it recalls Joyce in A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man; both the mangled prayers and a clock ticking "always, never" over a sinner allude to Joyce. The language, however, is straightforward, and this book is an easy read.

Highly recommended.

(Review applies to the English translation.)canadian fiction literary1 Glen797

If you your humor dark, then you will probably this book, assuming you get the jokes. It is somewhat reminiscent in one respect of a dark allegedly comic film that is all the rage currently, I am speaking of course of The Banshees of Inisherin, in that the book opens with a man chopping his hand off to avoid military service while the film has a man chopping his fingers off to try to get a former friend to leave him alone. In the case of the novel under review here, there is a wedding, honeymoon (of sorts), wake, funeral, murder, riot, all in the space of about 100 pages. The centerpiece of the story is the wake in honor of a fallen French-Canadian soldier whose corpse (or what is left of it) is carted to the dead man's home in a casket accompanied by a military attachment composed entirely of Anglos, none of whom speak a lick of French. I think I d the character of the dead soldier's mother the best, as she seemed to want to do nothing more than bake tourtiere for all of her guests, wanted and unwanted a, and there is something worthy about dedication to the art of meat pies in my book. For the record, BTW, Sheila Fischman is the translator of this book, the author is Roch Carrier. Lip68

I read this book, went wtf, and made a friend read it because there is no way to convey just how...much...this book is. You have to read it for yourself to get the whole sick, offensive, darkly irreverent trip it'll take you on. Apparently this was supposed to be comic, but the rampant sexism, sexual violence and haha look at these uncivilized and rude French Canadians didn't really do it for me. To me, it is more satirical than anything. Or maybe I just hope it is next-level satire, a commentary on the ways wars abroad affect or don't affect an insular community until someone comes home in an English coffin. People have probably done studies on this, good for them. As for me, I am content recommending this book to people I know out of a slightly perverse desire to see their reactions. After all, sharing is caring. Robert Hudder1,662 2

This was written in 1970. I thought this was funny and horrible and 'true', all at once. I never thought of the hockey sweater as a kids' tale. This has that same brutal honesty and whimsy as that. There is the freshness of sex, bodies, and joie de vivre of the French Canadians versus the orderly, discorporeal and disgust of the English.

I am boiling it down too much. This is also about war. How it affects different folks. The absurdity. The multitude of views on what it means to be a soldier.

I will be reading the rest of this trilogy when this is all over. I may even read this one again. But then again, I might not. It is raw and funny. Parts will stick in my mind for a long time. Marc399 3

Some translated books just don't quite make the leap to a new language; this one hits new heights while clearing the gap elisabeth7 1 follower

si j’avais pu mettre 0, je l’aurais fait Ty Bradley100

Quirky and poignant. Kereesa1,639 79

La Guerre, Yes Sir was easily one of my favorite books so far this year, as well as probably my favorite book that I read for my seminar class. I described it after finishing it the first time as a French family reunion, and I think that comparison still holds. If nothing else, La Guerre, Yes Sir is one of the funniest novels I've ever read as well as utterly thought provoking. It's something that I think both French and English Canadians can relate to, and, perhaps, has a special place in the heart of those of us who straddle both sides of the linguistic divide.

In terms of its plot La Guerre, Yes Sir concerns the effects the arrival of Corriveau, a dead soldier who's body is being returned to his parents, guarded by a group of English soldiers upon a small, utterly French Quebec community. War, the fear of desertion, the Catholic Church, and Anglo-Franco conflict dominates the piece as Carrier plays with all of these elements in a comedic, yet still serious, way.

It's hard to write a review on this novel, most especially because A: we read, discussed, and analyzed this piece to death during our class and B: I actually did a seminar on La Guerre, Yes Sir and therefore know so much stuff about it it's leaking out of me in buckets. I'm going to try and put that stuff aside, mostly because it would make this review way too long, and focus on my initial ideas about the novel when I first read it.

I should mention that I (and our class) actually read this novel in its translated form, and not in the original French it was written in. (Yes my ancestors are beating me over the head as we speak or rather as I write) I don't, un how I felt after reading The Three Musketeers, feel guilty in a weird sense because of how well the translation sticks to the original work (and includes some colorfully swearing) and in a way compliments the narrative and the thematic importance the Anglo-Franco conflict has.

In terms of Carrier's humor, La Guerre, Yes Sir reminded me a lot of my own French family reunions mostly because of the topics and jokes made throughout the novel in relation to the body and, very often, sex. I guess that it goes without saying that most families act similarly, French or not, but it reminded me of my own heritage most ly because with the added swear words tabarnaque etc...

The characters as well as the situations are equally as hilarious as the writing is, though they remain serious and well developed. I never felt Carrier was making them ridiculous for the sake of being ridiculous, and I loved the balance between the moments of utter madness and hilarity and moments of sadness, especially with Corriveau's parents, that Carrier plays with. I guess what I'm trying to say is that while this novel was one of the funniest novels I've read, it also knew how to bring in elements of sadness and realism without overwhelming the piece.

The plot is simple, yet in the context of what Carrier is saying thematically, is of great importance. I don't to spoil things, but it's important to note the Anglo-Franco conflict, the corruption of the Catholic Church, and the effects of war that are intermingled within the various, and sometimes hilarious, on-goings of the community.

All in all, La Guerre, Yes Sir walks the line between a serious and a hilarious piece, and, in many ways, is a book about two people as it is about two genres: The English and the French. For Canadians, I think, it is something that addresses both our heritage as a nation and our current situation in dealing with the after-affects of Quebec's Revolution, and our move as a country towards promoting bilingualism and biculturalism as the identity Canadians should achieve for. Its commentary is not one of critique, but of hope, and in the end Carrier pushes for a reconciliation instead of continued conflict that only breeds, as shown in the novel, more conflict.

4-4.5/52012 canadian-love eastern-canadian-seminar ...more Czarny Pies2,593 1 follower

Depuis plus de cinquante ans Roch Carrier fait cavalier seule en tant que federaliste chez les auteurs Quebecois. Ce roman a joue d'un grande popularite aupres des anglais pendant les annees soixante sans doute parce qu'il a donne un portrait peu flatteur de la culture et des moeurs quebecois.

L'intrigue est le plus simple. Un Canadien francais meurent a la guerre. Son cerceuil arrive avec une garde d'honneur compose des anglophones qui ne parlent pas francais. On continue alors avec une serie de conversations et des situations comiques autour de cerceuil que les lecteurs anglophones ont trouve fort comiques et les lecteurs francophones beaucoup moins.

Le probleme est que "La Guerre Yes Sir" a carrément manqué son bateau. On voit mal la pertinence d'une satire des manières et des attitudes telles quelles existaieint ent 1945 publié en 1968, car pendant ses deux décénées il y a eu un grand changement culturel qui a donné naissance a des nouvelles préjugées et comportements qui méritaient un examen satirique renouvelé. Finallement, "La Guerre Yes Sir" c'était de la moutarde après le diner.canadian-literature Pamela335

Canadian Encyclopedia:
Guerre, Yes Sir!, La (1968), Roch Carrier's first and best-known novel, is a surrealist fable set in rural Québec during WWII. Carrier uses the conscription crisis to allegorize the tragedy of fear and hatred governing French-English relations. The novel is dominated by the wake and funeral of the war hero Corriveau. Corriveau's friend Bérubé beats his bride Molly, a Newfoundland whore, while his officers, the "English" soldiers who delivered the corpse, are attacked by the villagers. Other vignettes reflect violence literally and linguistically: Joseph chops off his hand in order to avoid conscription, while Amélie rules over her deserter husband and the draft-dodging Arthur, loving both cowards. Carrier's nightmare vision portrays the peasant and his language realistically but sympathetically. The novel was translated by Sheila Fischman (1970) and adapted for the stage in French (1970) and English (1972).This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.Show full reviewreading-as-breathing-in Emilie675 34

Ce n'est pas près d'être un des meilleurs romans québécois! L'histoire ça va (à part la violence conjugale extrême et bien dérangeante) mais je n'aime vraiment pas le style. Carrier a à se décider s'il écrit en bon vieux patois ou non. Je n'aime pas cet entre deux qui me semble pour un public autre que le québécois. J'aurais aussi voulu avoir une résolution ou plus d'infos sur Henri et l'autre qui s'est coupé la main. On aurait dit qu'il manquait bien quelque chose et que ça aurait dû être un roman plus long.canada-lit français québec Maci307

La Guerre, Yes Sir! by Roch Carrier is about French Canada and how the people living there feel about World War II. I read this for my history class to learn about the differences between Canada and French Canada. It deals with the complex issue of dual nationality as well as the prejudices within Canada. This book is a bit cruel and inappropriate at times but it really shows the issues that were happening in French Canada during World War II. I would only recommend reading this book to understand the issues in Canada at the time, otherwise it is not a very enjoyable read.
books-i-have-reviewed books-i-read-for-college M.R. DowsingAuthor 1 book20

Looks a bit of a marmite book this, judging from the other / ratings. I thought it was a good unsentimental portrait of a community of maudlin sentimentalists. The writing style is excellent too. BUT there's virtually no story - a page-turner it ain't and I expect that's why some people hated it. Tom Leland348 21

The most I can say about this book is that it feels inspired -- and I'm sure it resonates with French Canadiens of a certain age...but I couldn't relate to it at all. Many here mention its humor...I hardly saw a shred of humor in it. Karen Honsinger4 Read

I did not this book at all. Got the message in the first few pages. Couldn't wait for it to be over! Peter809 9

This fiercely funny, anti-war novel is my favourite by Carrier.canadiana Rick1,003 9

Snow bawl. Colin53

Adult content. Another Canadian classic I reread recently for my course. It almost doesn't make sense to read this book in translation. Read it in French if you can. adult-content Mathieu16 3

A beautiful example of French Canadian literature.favorites Victoria 146 9

Oh Roch Carrier, the sense this makes and doesn't make. 2012 canadian eastern-canadian-fiction-class ...more Ted Dettweiler117 1 follower

I d this book. I had the English translation available, but I chose to read it in French - so glad I have acquired that ability.abcdefgh Brendan O'connell65 2

Great little story, very funny on a very sad subject! Meg1,347 15 Read

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