Gettin' Ready for Life of Pi

The film version of Life of Pi comes out this week, and I am very much looking forward to it. The book is one of my favourites, but it is not without its detractors.

If you would like to review the book before seeing the movie without re-reading the entire thing, check out 25 Points: Life of Pi at HTMLGiant. My fave: "Confidence is one thing but this—this is just bullshit."

Now for the film adaptation of Beatrice & Virgil.

Canada Reads Top 10

This year, CBC’s Canada Reads is taking a retrospective approach, selecting the best book from the last ten years rather than a general call for Canadian fiction. On Tuesday they released the top 10 finalists, based on suggestions from the public, with a top five to be revealed on November 24th. This year, I am venturing to read the top 10 books (regardless of which five actually make the cut) before the debate is aired sometime in February. Here’s the list:

The Best Laid Plans by Terry Fallis

The Birth House by Ami McKay

The Bone Cage by Angie Abdou

The Book of Negroes by Lawrence Hill

Bottle Rocket Hearts by Zoe Whittall

Essex County by Jeff Lemire

Life of Pi by Yann Martel

Pattern Recognition by William Gibson

Three Day Road by Joseph Boyden

Unless by Carol Shields
Fortunately for me, I have read or own half of these books. Life of Pi is already in the bag, and I already own The Birth House, The Book of Negroes, Three Day Road and Unless (Incidentally, there is a giveaway contest on CBC right now asking you to predict the top five - guess which five I picked). The remaining five I will have to investigate further, but they all look interesting.

I will begin with Unless, and report on each book as I finish it. By the end, I will be able to determine if the panel got it right, not just about the winner, but about the top 5 as well. For more info, see the Canada Reads main page.

Steven Galloway writes about King Leary

Paul Quarrington has become legend around these parts, as his King Leary christened our blog into existence. Steven Galloway holds it in high regard as well, and has recommended it to Stephen Harper as a result. Galloway is the first guest writer in Yann Martel's What Is Stephen Harper Reading? series, as Martel himself is currently touring the country in support of his soon-to-be released novel Beatrice & Virgil. Galloway's review is in the spirit of Martel's, if not a tad harsh: recommend a great book that you think will benefit the PM's ability to lead our country. Galloway is a little more direct than Martel usually is, for example, when he explains his motivation for contributing to this project:
"[E]ven though a lot of writer types think Yann is tilting at windmills in sending you these books, I like to think that maybe you look at some of them, and maybe you read or have already read some of them, and that no one, anywhere, would think that receiving seventy-five free books in the mail with a letter from an internationally renowned author would be a bad thing. In a way, you’re in what must be the world’s most exclusive book club, albeit somewhat unwillingly. I bet Mr. Obama is jealous!"
Galloway's reasons for picking King Leary are twofold: first, in tribute to his late friend, Mr. Quarrington; and secondly, as a hockey novel it is truly "the sort of novel that only a Canadian would write." It is a good letter, and a good novel. I wonder if Galloway knows that Harper is one of the prominent hockey scholars in our country; it is highly likely that he has a first edition somewhere with his name in it. Nevertheless, a worthy recommendation. 

Stay tuned for more guests! 

Yann Martel's War

Yann Martel's serial drama What Is Stephen Harper Reading? has been going on for, well, ages, it seems, and it never fails to bring a smile to my face. Often, the smile is brought on by the sheer audacity of this writer to be so openly critical of our Prime Minister - for example,  Animal Farm, Julius Caesar, even Martel's own book version of the website. Sometimes I smile because I sense that he is genuine about his recommendation and wants to create a connection, a dialogue, something, anything, to spark the PM's interest - some sign that the PM responds to his fellow Canadians with an open ear. This has yet to happen - yet Martel remains hopeful, writing month after month, always as though he is returning a letter rather than knowing that he will not elicit a response. And this determination, this sheer dedication to his project - which, I am sure, he never imagined would carry on for so long - makes me smile once again.

Today, I am smiling because I feel the starstruck awe that Martel felt upon receiving a short note from President Obama, who enjoyed Life of Pi so much that he felt compelled to write the author a note to say so - along with two lines of "insightful analysis". Yann Martel is an extremely talented creative writer; there's a possibility that he's creating a character that is awestruck in order to attain that much-sought after response from his own government leader. But I don't mind. The letters are near-perfect each time, both in selection and explanation. And for the next four months, while Martel is travelling to promote Beatrice & Virgil, he is recruiting fellow authors to pick up the mantel. It promises to be interesting reading, to be sure, and is guaranteed to make me smile.