Strength of Conviction (Tom Mulcair)

Pierre Vallières' "White Niggers of America"

While the title of Pierre Vallières' book--part memoir and part political treaties--is  quite obviously offensive today, at the time of its publication in 1968 Vallières meant to illustrate what he saw as a striking parallel between the experience of the Québécois and African Americans. Whether or not his parallel goes too far is up to the reader to decide. While I understand Vallières point, personally, I think his comparison takes things a little bit too far. 

Pierre Vallières, a Québécois journalist, writer and intellectual, was arrested by American police on the request of the Canadian government while picketing outside the United Nations in New York in 1966. While awaiting deportation to Canada to face what he described as trumped-up murder charge related to his involvement with the FLQ, Vallières hastily penned this book. After serving as his own defense in court, he was sentenced to life in prison. Vallières considered himself a political prisoner, and criticized the court for convicting him of murder based on his political activities and opinions. 

In his book, Vallières explains that French-Canadians were--in many cases--forcibly brought over to Canada by the French government, where they were mistreated by first the ruling class, then the Church, and the Anglo-Canadians and Americans. He chronicles how French-Canadians were paid less, denied economic opportunities and treated as a source of cheap labour-- treated like "slaves." 

Vallières draws on his own childhood growing up in the slums of Montreal in the 1940s and 50s with no running water, no sewage system, and poor educational opportunities. Driven by the desire to escape a meaningless and oppressive life in which he could only ever hope to be satisfied with "half a loaf," he pursued his education and focused on his writing, while trying to reconcile himself with the Church and with his own nation--Quebec. 

Vallières concluded that the only answer for Quebec was a Marxist one. The only path which would allow the Québécois to be free was, in Vallières' view, a path of "radical changes in the relations of production" which could only happen through revolution. By necessity, the revolution would need to be a violent one, and would need to be organized; it would not simply happen on its own. 

For Pierre Vallières the FLQ was "the armed avant-garde of the exploited classes of Quebec." He saw Quebec as one piece or front of a global revolutionary movement. Quebec was, to use his words, the avenue through which he had chosen "to pursue the struggle against imperialism."  

As a piece of Canadian political history, this book is a gem. Not only does it shed light on one of the many perspectives which drove the separatist movement after the Quiet Revolution in the 1960s, but it also provides a unique look at the FLQ and at the application of Marxist theory in the Canadian political sphere. 

My Salinger Year (Joanna Rakoff)

First off, sorry for the glare on the picture. Library bindings don't tend to photograph well. Second, I really enjoyed My Salinger Year. I don't often read brand new books, but this 2014 memoir sounded too interesting to pass up.*

In 1997, Joanna Rakoff was fresh out of University with a degree in literature, a mountain of debt, and few job prospects. Perhaps one of the reasons this book is so popular now, is because 1997 could just as easily be 2014. Newly graduated students with masters degrees have mountains of debt and no job prospects. The same uncertain feeling that Rakoff experienced in 1997, is still felt by young people starting out into the world on their own now. 

In 1997, Rakoff was lucky. She scored a job as an assistant at the literary agency who represented J.D. Salinger, the author of Catcher in the Rye, a book I'm slightly embarrassed to admit I have never read. I suppose that's okay, because when Rakoff began working at the literary agency, she too had very little experience with J.D Salinger's writing. 

Earning about $18 000 a year, a salary her father thought was too little even back in 1997, Rakoff lived in a tiny chilly apartment with her boyfriend. While trying to sort out her personal life, and assist her boyfriend with his own writing, she secretly worked on her own writing.  

Rakoff is also the author of the novel A Fortunate Age. 

(If you feel inclined to, you can check out Joanna Rakoff's personal website here: 

http://www.joannarakoff.com/) 

*My arts writing prof. from this past semester says I shouldn't use "interesting" to describe anything because it is an insincere word. I don't care. I'm not insincere. For me, "interesting" is the highest of complements. 

The Underground Storyteller (Alex Day)

I ordered The Underground Storyteller from the UK a few weeks ago and it--my first inter-continental book order--arrived on Wednesday. The author, Alex Day, is a British YouTuber. I would, however, like to put aside that part of his identity, as well as any controversy regarding his personal life, and focus solely on The Underground Storyteller as a piece of literature. 

Published this year, Day's book recounts the highlights of his travels on the London subway, or "The Tube" as he refers to it. After discovering the oldest rail line in the UK had been dismantled, Day set out to visit every station and ride every line of the London Underground. 

Writing in a colloquial, conversational style, Day combines history, personal stories, folklore, and humour, creating a narrative which rambles along like a couple of old friends in a coffee shop. 

I liked this book, not because it offered me any amazing insights, but because it was fun to read. The book is part memoir, part travel guide and part history book; the successful co-existence of these genres is rare. I did, however, find myself raising a critical eyebrow at the opening line: "People interested in the Tube largely fall into three categories: student photographers, old people and me." Apart from being a cliche lead, I feel it is an over-generalization and I'm not sure what he means by "me." Does Day mean writers? riders? Does he mean to set himself apart, personally, as a unique category? Luckily, I never judge an entire book by its first line, or even its first page. 

Despite a weak start, the writing quality improves within the first few chapters. Day, by the end of the book, reveals himself as a skilled writer. Transitions between chapters and stories are seamless.  Every story he tells--personal or otherwise-- is attached to the main frame perfectly. Nothing is awkward or seemingly out of place. The Underground Storyteller is an excellent first book. I look forward to seeing more work from him in the future. 

Common Ground (Justin Trudeau)

Reading a political memoir is like a holiday for the mind. I can easily step away from denser texts and the complexities of everyday life, to a single story. Memoirs and biographies give me the kind of relaxation that other readers might receive from a crime thriller or a YA novel. 

I loved this book. I respect Justin Trudeau even more than I did before I read it. Please don't jump to conclusions however. I won't be voting Liberal in 2015 election--or any election for that matter. I respect Justin Trudeau's politics, but I don't necessarily agree with or support some of his policies. 

I sympathize with the difficulties Trudeau faced growing up. I hadn't realized that Margaret Trudeau suffered from mental illness. I can only imagine how hard it must have been growing up in the spotlight and then going through his parents' divorce. 

Trudeau starts the book with his childhood, not because he wants to write biographically, but because his political development begins, necessarily, with his father and the people, ideas and events he experienced growing up in a political family. 

Common Ground is not a book about Trudeau's life for its own sake, it is a book about Trudeau's politics. As such, it is a piece of propaganda--if you will--to promote the figure of Trudeau. It's no coincidence that this book was released approximately one year before the prospective date of the next Federal election. Don't misunderstand me, I'm not saying this is a negative thing. In fact, as a political tool, the book is fantastic. It's a legitimate avenue for Trudeau to inform and perhaps gather new supporters. The final portion focuses on Trudeau's election as leader of the Liberal party and outlines his philosophy behind gaining support as well as his ideas for the direction of the party. 

Whether you're a Liberal supporter or not, Common Ground is worth the read, if only for the sake of understanding more about one of the more prominent figures on the federal political scene  

Among the Gently Mad: Strategies and Perspectives For the Book Hunter in the Twenty-First Century (Nicholas A. Basbanes)

Once again, I've read a book about books; Over the past two months I've come to enjoy the genre. Among the Gently Mad is a light, but entertaining and informative read by book collector and author of two other titles on book collecting, Nicholas A. Basbanes. I started reading yesterday afternoon and read during every free moment I had--in the staff room at work, while eating breakfast and so on--although I had very few free moments. (Now that I think about it, there are a couple of major poli-sci papers calling my name as I sit here writing this post :/    . . . )

Among the Gently Mad is not a technical text, nor is it a guide to book buying. Instead, Basbanes provides a very basic "philosophy" of book collecting along with some of his personal experiences and stories from other collectors he's encountered. I will definitely be picking up Basbanes' other works when I have the chance. This book was worth every spare moment I spent with it. 

Time Was Soft There (Jeremy Mercer)

Time Was Soft There is a memoir about Jeremy Mercer's time spent in Paris. Mercer, a former crime reporter fearing for his safety, left Canada and took a flight, landing in Paris on New Years Eve with a student visa. He soon found a home in the upper levels of a legendary bookstore, Shakespeare and Co.,owned and run by George, an aging socialist who had been providing free shelter to writers for decades. 

Mercer recounts the months he spent at the bookstore, living in close quarters with other writers, learning to live cheaply on very little money, experiencing romantic disappointment, and choosing a new direction for his own life. Time Was Soft There is an enjoyable documentation of Mercer's life, but also of the life within Shakespeare and Co. Although it is a memoir, it reads like fiction. 

A Moveable Feast (Ernest Hemingway)

The last time I tried to read a novel by Hemingway I was in high school. I hated it and never made it past the hundred page mark. I suppose at sixteen I was rather shocked, when trying to read, For Whom the Bell Tolls, that when entering a war zone one of the first things the protagonist did was have sex with girl he'd just met. In my first year of University I was even more confused by a short story which I had difficulty, because of Hemingway's minimalist style, understanding. I suppose it didn't help, in another class, when my Introduction to Rhetoric professor tore another of Hemingway's stories apart using a gender-studies critique. To the point now. This morning I finished reading A Moveable Feast and I loved it. I no longer hate Hemingway. Perhaps a re-read of his works that I've sampled in the past would leave me with a different flavour as well.  

In the Preface to A Moveable Feast Hemingway writes that the book is part fact and part fiction. It is generally viewed as a memoir of Hemingway's time in spent in Paris in the 1920's and is considered one of his best and most loved works. The chapters are fairly short, each relaying a separate story about his days spent conversing with other well-known writers, writing in cafés, wandering art galleries, going to races, skiing, or drinking with friends. Each chapter could almost stand on its own as a separate story in itself. 

There is no fast paced problem driving the plot, or final point to be reached (unless you consider the long-lasting impact that Paris had on Hemingway as the final point). It is a gentle, rich read which, despite it being far from fast paced,  kept my attention from the time I opened the first page to the time I closed the back cover. Perhaps that sounds corny or cliche, but that's really the way it was. 

Hemingway surely had a way with words. One of my favourite lines in this book reads, " Work could cure almost anything, I believed it then, and I believe in now." Perhaps to many readers this brings to mind the image of a workaholic, unable to confront life because he or she is too busy burying all their problems in work. That's not what I see. Instead I see something relatable and truthful. Life is so much more fulfilling and easier to handle when one does not waste time in idleness. A good task or goal can help a person move forward and keep them moving forward. As Hemingway says, Work can cure almost anything. 

Fire and Ashes: Success and Failure in Politics (Micheal Ignatieff)

I swear I didn't buy this book because of its attractive cover, although I have to admit it's why I pulled the book off the shelf. I've never seen anything quite like it. That is to say, I've never seen a published book that still looks like manuscript on the outside, although I've read many a book that reads like a first draft manuscript on the inside. 

Now, I'm not a Liberal or even a Liberal party supporter. I have to admit, I would prefer a Liberal led government over a Conservative one, but I'm not in the practice of choosing the lesser of two evils when there is another option. 

Putting aside my personal political views, I'll turn my attention to the book at hand, Fire and Ashes by Michael Ignatieff, the former leader of the Federal Liberal party of Canada who rode the helm of the party as they crashed in the 2011 election, loosing their status as the official opposition and becoming a meager third party. The book does cover this portion of Ignatieff's career. 

I would refer to the book as less of an autobiography and more of a memoir of Ignatieff's time in politics, beginning with his youth in the 1960s and ending with his disgraced exit from politics after the 2011 election. Initially, I was a little taken aback by the way in which he begins his book. He writes of encounters with Pierre Trudeau and Lester B. Pearson, but also of his family's great feats. His puts a lot of stock into the greatness of his Russian heritage who, we are told, were minor nobility. He also spends a small section flaunting the fact that his father was "almost" appointed governor general under Pierre Trudeau. 

I have to admit, I do like Ignatieff's perception of ideal politics. Through out the book he expresses a distaste for partisan politics over cooperation; he despises the way MPs in the legislature see each other as enemies rather than opponents. What is comes down to is that the war metaphor and partisan politics poison politics and as Ignatieff implies bad blood prevent politicians from effectively teaming up and working together in times of crisis. 

 Naturally, there were many points in Ignatieff's book which I do not agree with. For example, he stated that simply because he had been out of Canada for thirty years prior to 2005, which was about five or six years before the Federal election in which he ran for Prime Minister, didn't mean he couldn't effectively represent the people of Canada. Sure, being out of Canada does not make a person any less of a Canadian, but to spend thirty years elsewhere surely represents a lack of devotion to home politics. I'm surprised Ignatieff wasn't at least out of touch with current issues. But then, I suppose a team of well educated staff must have written hundreds of memos, giving him a quick snapshot of key issues. 

I'm not bashing Ignatieff, I'm just saying it wasn't his time or his place to try for Prime Minister. Surely, years ago when we gained our sovereignty, we put aside the idea of a Prime Minister who has spent the majority of his adult life abroad prior to running for election. 

Overall, I enjoyed the book. If you're looking for a light political read, or simply a better understanding of who governed the Liberal party prior to Justin Trudeau and after Stephane Dion, this is the book for you. Then again, maybe you just want something to pass a few hours in a bus station or on a plane with which won't put you to sleep but make you feel good for reading something educational. God knows. Read the book, or don't :)