What is Stephen Harper Reading?

Yann Martel is up there among my favourite writers of all time. He was born in 1963 in Spain, of French-Canadian parents. He now lives in Canada. He has written the following books, all of them great reads in my opinion. His most notable is Life of Pi, which won him the Man Booker Prize in 2002.

The Facts Behind The Helsinki Roccamatios - 1993

Four short stories that contemplate themes such as grief, the extremities of war, death and illness. Sound like a bundle of joy? Well, it's actually a beautiful and touching book, and not as heavy as it sounds!

Self - 1996

An autobiography that dwells on the nature of identity. The blurb on the back cover of the book asks: 'What is fiction? What is autobiography? What is man? What is woman? What is violence? What is happiness?' A whole host of questions. Postmodern and fantastical, Martel explores the boundaries of identity by transcending them. He morphs seamlessly between a male and female body and writes in different languages, to gain a fluid sense of identity that is not confined to one culture or gender. 

Life of Pi - 2002

The book that won him the prize. A surreal tale of a 16-year-old-boy’s 227-day adventure bobbing along the Pacific ocean in a life raft, accompanied by a spotted hyena, a zebra with a broken leg, a female orangutan and a 450lb Royal Bengal Tiger. A spirited meditation on philosophy, religion and life. I can see why he won.

 

Beatrice and Virgil -  2010

An author named Henry is attempting to follow up a successful novel with a book about The Holocaust (clearly an autobiographical nod here). The book is to be accompanied by an essay about The Holocaust. The publisher is doubtful and claims it will never sell. Henry then receives a script for a play from an old taxidermist (also called Henry). The play places a howler monkey and a donkey in the aftermath of an unnamed crisis. It deals with their attempt to come to terms with life on earth following the crisis. This book is an ambitious attempt to transcribe The Holocaust into fiction, and explore how life can continue in the aftermath of such traumatic events.

So...what's the Prime Minister of Canada got to do with all of this?

On 28th March 2007, Martel was snubbed at a Canadian State Arts event, where he was representing the Canadian Arts Council, along with 49 other Canadian artists, writers, dancers and musicians. He noted that the Canadian Prime Minister looked far too busy shuffling papers about other matters to raise an eyebrow to the art world. Art and politics don't mix, many would say.

Martel wasn't happy. If the conservative government was going to cut arts funding (which they had), he wanted to speak out about it. He decided to do so by undertaking an unusual project. On 16th April 2007 Martel posted a copy of Leo Tolstoy's The Death of Ivan Ilych to Stephen Harper, the Prime Minister of Canada. He included a letter expressing the merits of the book. For the next couple of years, Martel and other Canadian writer's who jumped aboard the project, posted a book and a letter to the Prime Minister once a fortnight. The idea was to send books that would inspire moments of 'stillness'  in the Prime Minister.

Excerpt from Martel's first letter:
"I know you’re very busy, Mr. Harper. We’re all busy. Meditating monks in their cells are busy. That’s adult life, filled to the ceiling with things that need doing. (It seems only children and the elderly aren’t plagued by lack of time—and notice how they enjoy their books, how their lives fill their eyes.) But every person has a space next to where they sleep, whether a patch of pavement or a fine bedside table. In that space, at night, a book can glow. And in those moments of docile wakefulness, when we begin to let go of the day, then is the perfect time to pick up a book and be someone else, somewhere else, for a few minutes, a few pages, before we fall asleep."

Martel received very little for his efforts - a couple of letters of acknowledgment here and there, mostly from the Prime Minister's staff. On 28th February 2011, Martel sent book number 101 and made it his last.

It may be a project that was clearly set to be ignored from the onset. The Prime Minister probably is too busy to read letters and books from Yann Martel. But I think that is the point, and one that Martel persevered in making for a good few years. As an artist, he probably also had the end product in mind all along. He has compiled the first 55 letters into book format. This project was aimed at the Prime Minister in concept, but clearly it is also an extensive reading list, complete with short essays of literary criticism from Martel.

One journalist, writing for The Guardian expresses her opinion on the project in an article dated Thursday 3rd February 2011: "Harper, it seems, has not been grateful.Of course he hasn't, you idiot. You are 47 years old and it appears that you have had virtually no experience of life." A little harsh, but everyone is entitled to their opinion.

Personally, I ruddy love Martel's idea. His actions express his devotion to literature and illuminate the importance of the arts. His reading list contains a wide selection of literature, including children's books, fiction, graphic novels, history, philsophy, memoir, biography, poetry and plays. Each book is carefully considered and his letters highlight their importance and a synopsis with clarity, intelligence and insight.

101 books - I hope someone read them! Even if they were sent to the dogs - at least give them to Cruella de Ville and she's got a full set of bedtime reading for the dalmations. They are probably, in all honestly, more likely to read them than Stephen Harper. 

The full list of books and letters sent to Stephen Harper, and the (few) responses received can be found on this website dedicated to the project: http://www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca/