Our class got a chance to visit the Rare Books library in the IBLC center. We got to look through file after file of documents that went into the making of the book. While we were all impressed and enjoyed the experience for many different reasons. For me the most significant part of the experience was seeing all the documents that demonstrate the long arduous process of writing a book like Obasan and the effect it had on readers and their correspondence with Joy.

I found Clara’s contribution very insightful. One of the things she discussed was the experience of reading hand written letters. The value of seeing editing on paper, with crossed out or later added words is enormous. She also discussed the letters both sent to then Canadian Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau, and how the exchange illustrated the difficulties in affecting the bureaucratic process in any way.

Martin also mentioned the letter from the Prime Minister, but i thought his other ideas were more important. He wrote about a letter from a Gail Fox, in which Gail wrote “This novel, I feel, should be read by every concerned member of Canadian Society”. I think of this letter as a representation of the entire experience. We were given a chance to examine actual technologies of memory and consider the process of book writing. Many of my classmates, including Martin and Isaiah wrote about how the experience showed us about the process of writing the book and how that is so much more than the book itself. I found it very stimulating being around so many contributions from so many people of all different backgrounds, and how this book is like a medium for the experience, where meaning and importance (with awareness at the core) are negotiated.

Overall it was a very enriching experience, I think it is safe to say the majority of us felt that way. To see piles and piles of physical documents which were all relevant to the book, demonstrated how arduous and complicated creating a voice and narrative for the experience is. In fact it was incredible to see how such a small book can represent so much more than that.