The Republic of Letters

This is how academic life should be: stunning modern architecture (I'll post some pictures later), serious and interesting discussions which reveal how fascinating things can be even if you've never given them a moment's thought previously, and no managers. 


I've learned about Francophone-First Nations literature, about Robertson Davies's politics (weirdly, I started a campus novel by him this very morning) and about the cultural complexities of the Toronto Book Awards. Next up (after a very agreeable lunch spent talking to Robyn Morris, who specialises in Asian-Canadian literature) is her paper and two on Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake including one by Fiona Tolan, author of Atwood: Feminism and Fiction, which is excellent value at £48. Atwood's liberalism, the acculturated self and John Rawls' A Theory of Justice is at the core of this paper. The other, by Heidi Butler, examines the commodification of women under capitalism in Atwood's speculative fiction. An s-f dimension opens…

Update: three fascinating papers on speculative fictions (Atwood's and poet Larissa Lai's rebel take on Rachel in Blade Runner) and constructions of women. Hardly any questions: I asked a couple of dumb ones simply because I was surprised by the lack of response. Perhaps it's because the papers were so comprehensive. Whatever, I've learned more about one of my favourite authors and intend to read Lai's work.

No mention of Due South yet though. I'll remedy that next year…

Talking of books I've read, don't bother with Michael Dobbs' House of Cards. It's a political thriller which was adapted very successfully for television, set in the upper echelons of the post-Thatcher Tory Party. I couldn't buy it new because that would mean giving money to a Tory, but I now resent the 25p I spent on the used copy. It is rubbish. Every sentence contains things like 'he said, menacingly'. Character seems to consist of assuming that all men want power and all career women are driven by emotional inadequacy. Reader, it is rubbish. Even if you're looking for an easy read (which I was), this isn't it, because every sentence is unreadable and politically objectionable. I don't know why Tory politicians think they can write novels (Currie, Hurd et al.), but every time they do, it demonstrates how little they understand of human nature. Which is no surprise to me. Tory Scum.