Year Two Book Five:
On The Farm by Stevie Cameron
March 12th, 2015
Amy: 3 out of 5. When we first pondered reading this book, most of us were squeamish about how graphic and disturbing it would be. I honestly found this book very academic. Possibly too academic for general consumption. Being over 700 pages long, it includes a lot of detail that could have easily been edited out. For example, why include details about the architecture of a particular court house and describe the statues out side it? Why outline the prosecutors history like a resume? I found multiple examples where I said out loud "Why even take the time to write this paragraph out?!". Having said that, the first few chapters describing the Pickton Family was fascinating! I think Cameron did a decent job of highlighting and respecting each victim and their families in a dignified way. However, the constant repeating of height, weight, last known location of each women got a little exhausting and the individuals were lost in a sense. After I had read through the names a half dozen times, I started skimming the parts that repeat the lists (unfortunate, I know!!).
I also learned a bit about our Justice System in Canada and was shocked to fit out Robert Pickton was not charged with all the women's deaths!!
I am not sure that I would recommend this one as a read for a friend or family member though. It is just too academic!!
