I just read about this rather intriguing project via one of the Saturday Review-ers (Melanie at Indextrious). It seems that Canadian author Yann Martel (Life of Pi) decided to send some books to Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper.
For as long as Stephen Harper is Prime Minister of Canada, I vow to send him every two weeks, mailed on a Monday, a book that has been known to expand stillness. That book will be inscribed and will be accompanied by a letter I will have written. I will faithfully report on every new book, every inscription, every letter, and any response I might get from the Prime Minister, on this website.”
So far, Martel has sent ten books to Mr. Harper. He’s received one response to the first book, The Death of Ivan Illych by Tolstoy.
The other nine books are:
Animal Farm by George Orwell.
The Murder of Roger Akroyd by Agatha Christie.
By Central Station I Sat Down and Wept by Elizabeth Smart.
The Bagavad Gita
Bonjour Tristesse by Francoise Sagan.
Candide by Voltaire.
Short and Sweet: 101 very short poems, edited by Simon Armitage
Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel GarcÃa Márquez.
Miss Julia by August Strindberg.
Interesting choices, don’t you think? If you were going to send one book to one of the candidates for the Democratic or Republican nomination for U.S. president, to whom would you send it, and what book woud you send, and why?
What an interesting question!! I think I would send Hillary Clinton a copy of Tim Winton’s Blueback: A Fable for All Ages as a gentle reminder that she should not lose sight of what issues were first important to her, and where she stood about them.
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