In Praise of Boredom the Modern Life of a Timeless Condition ALSO in THIS ISSUE Dylan Reid Richard Florida’S Frankenstein Moment
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Bob Rae: Air India and how we remember PAGE 3 $6.50 Vol. 25, No. 5 June 2017 Mark Kingwell In praise of boredom The modern life of a timeless condition ALSO IN THIS ISSUE Dylan Reid Richard Florida’s Frankenstein moment Anna A. Berman Love, war and the Tolstoys PLUS: Christopher Ondaatje on the forgotten genius of Humboldt + Christopher Moore on fixing Parliament + Rosemary Westwood on feminist non-polemics + Kenneth Kidd on the sale of a Canlit icon + Heather Menzies on people vs. water + J.C. Sutcliffe on Pasha Malla + Publications Mail Agreement #40032362 Andrew Forbes on Pierre-Luc Landry Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to LRC, Circulation Dept. PO Box 8, Station K Toronto, ON M4P 2G1 CONGRATULATIONS The Donner Canadian Foundation is pleased to announce the outstanding book chosen for the nineteeth annual Donner Prize, the award for the best public policy book by a Canadian. $50,000 WINNER ALEX MARLAND Brand Command: Canadian Politics and Democracy in the Age of Message Control (UBC Press) Congratulations to the other fine nominees. These shortlisted titles received $7,500 each: Literary Review of Canada 170 Bloor Street West, Suite 706 Toronto ON M5S 1T9 email: [email protected] reviewcanada.ca T: 416-531-1483 • F: 416-944-8915 Vol. 25, No. 5 • June 2017 Charitable number: 848431490RR0001 To donate, visit reviewcanada.ca/support EDITOR IN CHIEF Sarmishta Subramanian 3 A Tragedy of Our Own 21 Interlinguistic Planetary [email protected] The Air India bombing and how we live with the Unmoored from time and space in a quasi- MANAGING EDITOR past dystopia, two men are brought down to earth by Michael Stevens Bob Rae a mysterious film ASSISTANT EDITOR 5 In Praise of Boredom Andrew Forbes Bardia Sinaee The modern life of a timeless condition 23 Sketches of New Spain ASSOCIATE EDITOR Beth Haddon Mark Kingwell An extraordinary year in the life of a gifted and POETRY EDITOR adventurous scientist 7 vast fields of wheat under troubled Moira MacDougall Sir Christopher Ondaatje skies COPY EDITOR A poem 24 Half-cursed Madeline Koch Karen Massey A poem CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Laura Cok Mohamed Huque, Andy Lamey, Molly 9 A Very, Very Modest Proposal Peacock, Robin Roger, Judy Stoffman Can a microscopically small-ball approach 25 The Line Aquatic ONLINE EDITORS accomplish political reform? Counternarratives of the much-mythologized Diana Kuprel, Jack Mitchell, Christopher Moore waters at our border Donald Rickerd, C.M. Heather Menzies PROOFREADERS 11 Richard Florida’s Frankenstein Patricia Treble Moment 27 Unsolicited RESEARCH Why cities belong to the rich Four decades of feminism through literature, and Rob Tilley Dylan Reid not a treatise in sight DESIGN Rosemary Westwood James Harbeck 14 The Language Hard to Master 29 Sometimes I Still Crawl Over You at ADVERTISING/SALES A poem Michael Wile Bola Opaleke Night [email protected] A poem DIRECTOR, OPERATIONS 16 Unhappy in Its Own Way Anna Wärje Michael Booth Literature’s most infamous marriage, through a 32 Letters and Responses ASSOCIATE PRODUCER lifetime of letters Anthony Burton Anna A. Berman Dennis Pilon, Patrice Dutil, Mary ADMINISTRATOR Soderstrom, Anne Barnstead-Klos, Paul W. Christian Sharpe 18 Book Value Conway Redemption, shame and the bargain-bin sale of a PUBLISHER cultural icon Helen Walsh [email protected] Kenneth Kidd BOARD OF DIRECTORS 20 Home and Away George Bass, Q.C., Tom Kierans, O.C., Pasha Malla’s latest book, and what immigrants Don McCutchan, Trina McQueen, O.C., Jack Mintz, C.M., Jaime Watt can write J.C. Sutcliffe ADVISORY COUNCIL Michael Adams, Alan Broadbent, C.M., Chris Ellis, Carol Hansell, Donald Macdonald, P.C., C.C., Grant Reuber, In Memoriam In Memoriam O.C., Don Rickerd, C.M., Rana Sarkar, Ron Atkey Michael Bliss Mark Sarner, Bernard Schiff, February 15, 1942 – May 12, 2017 January 18, 1941 – May 18, 2017 Reed Scowen POETRY SUBMISSIONS The LRC is deeply saddened by the loss of a long-standing The LRC is also deeply saddened by the loss of For guidelines, please see reviewcanada.ca. advisory council member, and will miss his steadfast support. a frequent contributor, who will be missed. 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Nothing in this publication may be repro- duced without the written permission of the publisher. ISSN 1188-7494 The Literary Review of Canada is indexed in the Canadian Literary Periodicals Index and the Canadian Index and is distributed by Disticor and Magazines Canada. June 2017 reviewcanada.ca Where’s the Money? Tax, Order, and Good Government A New Political History of Canada, 1867–1917 E.A. HEAMAN Cloth, 584pp “Elsbeth Heaman’s outstanding book places taxation where it belongs, at the heart of Canadian history. She explores with great discernment and lucidity issues ranging from the nature of Confederation, and the changing ideologies of parties and their coalitions of interests, to the mean- ings of race, poverty, wealth and fairness, and the treatment of land, business, and finance. This is no narrow and technical account of taxation, but a brilliant use of fiscal politics to illuminate the major questions in Canadian history. Historians of other countries will gain from her insights, for she is alert to the connections between debates in Canada and in the United States and Britain and many of the same issues arose in Australia and New Zealand. The book is a contribution not only to Canadian history but also to that of the wider world.” Martin Daunton, University of Cambridge “This book shows that the history of taxation is not only important – it can also be provocative, infuriating, and exciting.” Eric Sager, University of Victoria McGI L L - Q U E E N’S U N I V E R S I TY PR E S S m q u p . c a Follow us on Facebook.com/McGillQueens and Twitter @Scholarmqup 2 reviewcanada.ca Literary Review of Canada A Tragedy of Our Own The Air India bombing and how we live with the past BOB RAE rhetoric and the threats to Indian politicians. They me to conduct a “review” and to advise on further Remembering Air India: placed activists under surveillance, attended ral- steps. With a dedicated staff I began my work that The Art of Public Mourning lies, wiretapped phones and followed people they took me on an emotional journey that continues to Chandrima Chakrabarty, Amber Dean and believed to be suspicious. But they did not stop the this day. One of those who lost loved ones was Lata Angela Failler, editors man with the suitcase who went to the Canadian Pada, whose dance “Revealed by Fire” is a profound University of Alberta Press Pacific Airways counter in Vancouver on June 22, experience for all lucky enough to see it. Lata her- 320 pages, softcover 1985, checked the suitcase to London through self is a remarkable person of deep integrity, and ISBN 9781772122596 Toronto and Montreal, and did not board the plane. her work is given the respect it richly deserves in The suitcase had a bomb in it, with a timing the section of the book entitled “Creative Archive.” device. The bag and the bomb were transferred, Many of the themes and questions that I began ver a period of many years, the undetected, to Air India flight 182. The plane exploring then are raised in the essays here. Why deep conflict between Sikh national- exploded just off the coast of Ireland, killing did Canada and Canadians fail to embrace this Oists and the Indian government had a 329 passengers and crew. Most of them were catastrophe as their own? Prime Minister Brian reverberating impact on the Sikh diaspora, nota- Canadian citizens; many were young children Mulroney’s call with Indian prime minister Rajiv bly in Canada. Sikh immigration, first to British going to see their grandparents for the first time. Gandhi expressing sorrow over India’s loss reflected Columbia and then to many Canadian cities, pre- Remembering Air India: The Art of Public a much wider Canadian sentiment that this was dates the First World War.