|
|
|
|
Blogs by Patrick Joesph Schnerch
City of Gardens: Book review
11/19/2009 9:46:16 PM
Genre: Special Interest
Title: City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence
Author: Patrick J. Schnerch
Society cannot give up on people for what they did in the past; it is what they do today that counts.
The statistics are staggering. It is a societal disease that many choose to ignore until a face-to-face encounter with the sad reality. The numbers have no face, no personality; the numbers are just that, numbers. There is Ray, who was raised by a single mom and tried to ease her despair by earning money through crime. He is not homeless; but his life of crime and his dependence on alcohol forces him to change addresses frequently. Then there is Doug, who was kicked out of his family home at a young age and quickly became a juvenile delinquent. At 63, his dependence on alcohol has forced him to a life primarily on the streets. There is also Renée, who is a product of a social system gone sour. As a First Nations child in a Catholic foster home, she was regularly sexually abused by a family whose so-called Christian values had promised to protect and nurture her. Now, she dulls the pain of her past memories through drugs and alcohol. These are just some of the faces of the over 1500 homeless and unstably housed people in the tourist haven known as the City of Gardens. And the numbers continue to climb at a phenomenal rate of 30%!
Victoria’s problem is monumental. Its warm weather makes life on the streets more endurable than in many other cities across the country. The city prides itself in its beautiful scenery, picturesque gardens, unique gift shops and cozy little tearooms. Its pristine, ‘more English than the English’, stiff upper lip prefers to look the other way at the sight that now dominates the city core. The other side of the fence is not so rosy. The preference of the majority of Victoria’s population is to ignore the problem of the rising number of street people in the hopes that it might just disappear. It is the same across the country; it is like genocide of our society. What one refuses to see and accept as fact can, and is, just as easily ignored! But we cannot ignore this problem forever.
Patrick J. Schnerch’s ‘City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence’ is a blunt statement of society’s forgotten soul. It is a thorough sociological study of the twenty-first century’s most ignored problem. An active member of the Victoria Human Exchange Society, Schnerch is an advocate for society’s forgotten and neglected population. The author can speak honestly on this subject, as many of the people in his studies are facing the same battles of mental illness that has haunted his own life. Schnerch has written many articles on these troubling topics. His first book, The Peaceful Warrior: Memoirs of a Damaged Mind and Soul, is a revealing look into the life of a troubled mind. Schnerch is also the author of the crime novel, Adrian.
‘City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence’ is a thorough and insightful study of a serious problem that plagues every major city in North America. ‘City of Gardens: The Other Side of the Fence’ is highly recommended by: Emily-Jane Hills Orford, Allbooks Reviews.
Post a Comment new!
November 2009 Blogs
• City of Gardens: Book review - Thursday, November 19, 2009
• City of Gardens: Victoria's Dirty Little Secret - Wednesday, November 18, 2009
• Link Exchange - Wednesday, November 04, 2009
Monthly Archives
2009 - Jan, Feb, Mar, Apr, May, Jun, Jul, Aug, Sep, Oct, Nov
2008 - Dec
|
|
Bookmarks