Bueller ... Bueller?
What is Stephen Harper Reading?
Yann Martel
Random House
Dear Mr. Harper,
So what is it with that Yann Martel guy, anyway? I mean, where does he get off sending you a book every couple of weeks and telling you what you should, as the prime minister of our great nation, be reading? Not that you probably have the cycles anyway ... I hear that you're a pretty busy guy these days, what with proroguing parliament and all. Oh, yeah, running away from the Afghan detainee controversy must also take up a great deal of your time. When would you find the hours to sit and read something that could expand your mind?
That said, you have to admit that he writes you some pretty amazing letters. His observations on great literary works and how you could directly apply some of the ideas to your day-to-day job is both thought-provoking and thoughtful. I especially like his idea of stillness. That, in itself, is worth thinking about.
Well, it's a shame that you haven't been able to respond more fully to any of his notes. Your aides seem to do a hit-and-miss job of monitoring your mail. I think at last count he had sent you seventy or so books, but only a few thank you notes had made it his way. What I'd like to know is what you're going to do with your library when you eventually have to give up office. Will you take it with you? I hope so. I wouldn't want all of those words to go to waste.
Yours very sincerely,
The Dog-Eared Soul
Strange Meeting
The Cellist of Sarajevo
Steven Galloway
Knopf Canada
Reading this book made me very sad. One day, during the siege of Sarajevo, a mortar shell lands in a market and kills twenty two people. A cellist, who witnesses this tragedy from his upstairs window, mourns the city's loss by playing Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor every day for twenty two days in the middle of the street. His performance is heard by everyone including Arrow, the sniper who is sent to protect him, Dragan, the baker, who dodges bullets on his way to work, and Kenan, the father who risks his life to get water for his family and neighbours.
The novel, which weaves the narratives of each of these characters into a gritty and gripping tale of war, reminds the reader about the power of art. People come from all over the city to hear the cellist play and in his music they hear beauty, hope and humanity. Contrast this with the hopelessness and nameless of the war. Notably, the author avoids using "descriptive" terms such as Bosnian, Serb or even Muslim. It's just the "us" of the city's inhabitants against the "them" of the hills. The cellist is positioned as one of "us" and the enemy sniper, who is sent to kill him, is one of "them." The sniper blurs the line, however, when he fails to make the hit and instead closes his eyes to soak up the beauty of the music. Arrow kills him anyway. War is so awful.
Suffice it to say that while I found this to be a difficult read (and by "difficult" I mean emotional) it is definitely Wilfred Owen worthy. Four achingly beautiful adagios out of five.
Tall, Dark and Handsome
Sandstorm
James Rollins
HarperCollins
I've got a new boyfriend -- his name is Painter Crowe and he works for some US governmental special forces agency (DARPA). He's a lean, mean fighting machine, speaks a whole bunch of languages, and best of all, is a total brainiac. My boy holds a doctorate. I know ... how did I ever find such a paragon?
Well, to be honest, my dad introduced us. He met Painter earlier in the year and raved about him. Unfortunately, I was a little distracted with my friend John Rebus -- you know, the guy with the commitment issues? Anyway, Painter and I met up shortly before New Year's Eve and for me, it was love at first sight. We didn't have much time -- he jetted off the to UK to investigate some mysterious explosion at the British Museum and now I understand he's somewhere in the Middle East. Oman, I think. Anyway, I hope to hear from him when he gets home. I know, I know -- I have to stop dating international men of mystery -- it's almost becoming routine. Our night out, however, was pretty exciting and he was such a good kisser. At least 3.5 out of five. I let you know when/if we happen to hook up again.
