The Mountain and the Valley

Ernest Buckler, 1908 - 1984 Buckler is the author of the Canadian novel "The Mountain and the Valley" (1952), which articulates the twentieth-century themes of alienation, loss and death. In it, the character David Canaan, a protagonist, is a failed writer who is unable to realize that his selfishness and inaction have irreversible consequences. He dies still dreaming of becoming a great writer that can give voice to the rural Nova Scotia life that he can't escape or embrace. He also wrote the fiction novels "The Cruelest Month" (1963) and "The Rebellion of Young David and Other Stories" (1975).

Buckler also wrote the fictional memoir "Ox Bells and Fireflies" (1968), the humorous "Whiligig" (1977) and "Nova Scotia: Window on the Sea" (photography by Hans Weber) (1973).

Buckler received honorary degrees from Dalhousie University and University of New Brunswick, the Canadian Centennial Medal "for valuable service to the nation" and the Stephen Leacock Medal for Humour.

030