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What Is Stephen
Harper Reading?
by Yann Martel
Toronto: Vintage Canada,
2009, ISBN 978-0-307-39867-3, 234 pp., $21.00 paper.
Politicians will demonstrate concern for the arts when philistine remarks cost them votes. Prime Minister Stephen Harper learned that lesson after his jibe against arts galas angered creative Canadians. Quebec musician Michel Rivard hilariously skewered Tory culture policy in a video that appeared on YouTube. Margaret Atwood's Globe and Mail op-ed piece damaged his standing in the rest of our country.Harper's recent recital of the Beatles' song "With a Little Help From My Friends" may have mollified some voters. Still, his musical interlude was not exactly an endorsement of Canadian culture; when fellow pianist President Richard M. Nixon appeared on a 1968 segment of Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In, it was merely a campaign gimmick. Cultural workers demand deeper engagement from our leaders.
Novelist Yann Martel, best known for his opus Life of Pi, started sending various books to Harper from April 16th, 2007 to the present. Each was accompanied by a letter intended to enlighten the recipient. These commentaries are posted on his English and French websites, including the 55 entries appearing in his book. This project shows that Martel holds a more nuanced view of Harper than do others. Many fellow citizens dismiss him as the robotic humanoid portrayed by comic actor Craig Lauzon for CBC's Royal Canadian Air Farce. The author prefers to treat him as Walt Disney's Pinocchio and assumes the "Jiminy Cricket" role, in the hope that he can transform the wooden politician into a real statesman.
Martel can be as gentle as a children's cartoon character, but not on cultural funding issues. Those transform him into Wen Jiabao, the Chinese premier who publicly scolded Harper for not visiting China earlier. His gift of William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar is accompanied by a letter denouncing specific cuts. He sarcastically observes, "To paraphrase Antony speaking of Brutus, you are an honourable man and you must know what you're doing" (215). This writer assumes that culture is like Caesar--distrusted by the governing elite and loved by the people.
The collected works are the product of a lifetime's worth of reading. Rereading? Perhaps not. Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird is praised because its text recaptures "Rural Alabama English of the 1950s as spoken by children. . ." (66) Anyone who has read that novel will remember that it was set in the Depression of the 1930s.
This compilation's international contents may be a cosmopolitan's subtle knowledge of federal government priorities. The current recession necessitates the enactment of stimulus programs. These are used for construction projects, not artistic grants. Ministers may wish to maintain a library in Transcona that introduces suburban Manitobans to world literature, not fund Manitoba poets' foreign readings.
Martel has "mostly veered away from the Canadian and the contemporary, so that I can't be accused of foisting my friends" (11) on Harper. He is also canny enough to include Carol Shields and Milton Acorn, acclaimed deceased national figures who could appeal to people who may buy this book for their own pleasure.
Yann Martel may be of Québécois descent, but that province's only listed author is Larry Tremblay, who is relatively obscure. Francophones may be surprised and living legends may feel slighted. Even Victor Lévy-Beaulieu, a fervent separatist, may want to appear on his global list. Perhaps Tremblay is Martel's French-language "soul brother."
Contrary to what Conservatives may believe, the inclusion of Opposition Leader Michael Ignatieff's The Lesser Evil: Political Ethics in an Age of Terror is not an act of gratuitous partisanship. This compiler wants the party leader to learn from it. Unfortunately, it is the one book that he can hand over to his campaign strategy team. Balance is restored with the inclusion of Read All About It!, a children's story by "two pillars of society" (121), teachers Laura and Jenna Bush. They are the wife and daughter of former president George W. Bush.
Non-traditional literature, included to attract younger readers' attention can be relevant because important issues are presented in an accessible manner. Burning Ice: Art & Climate Change is British artist David Buckland's attempt to illustrate important environmental concerns. Chester Brown's graphic novel Louis Riel animates the conflicts between anglophones, francophones and aboriginals that have marked our nation's history.
The publishers note that this list is recommended for all readers. Individuals can note the titles of books that they have read, viewed the movie version of or totally ignored. Sadly, they can't compare their scores to Stephen Harper's. Meanwhile, the project continues, with the results posted on Martel's websites.
Ronald Charles Epstein has also dealt with literature and politics in The Antigonish Review.
Buy this book at McNally-Robinson Booksellers.