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135th out of 137 books
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13 voters
What is Stephen Harper Reading?: Yann Martel's Recommended Reading for a Prime Minister and Book Lovers of All Stripes
by
Yann Martel
“I know you’re very busy, Mr. Harper. We’re all busy. 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 m...more
Paperback, 240 pages
Published
October 5th 2009
by Vintage Canada
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Yann Martel is a Canadian publishing superstar. Author of Life of Pi, which has won a bucketful of awards, he started a campaign on April 16, 2007 to get Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper to pay more attention to the arts, for which his conservative government seem to almost take glee in cutting funding.
His method was to start a book club, one where he would send a book every two weeks to Stephen Harper with an accompanying letter explaining why Martel had chosen the book and some of the hi...more
His method was to start a book club, one where he would send a book every two weeks to Stephen Harper with an accompanying letter explaining why Martel had chosen the book and some of the hi...more
What is Stephen Harper Reading? - Yann Martel - For several years Martel has maintained a private, and very one-sided, book club with Stephen Harper. This book is a record of the letters he’s sent to accompany the second-hand copies of the actual books he’s also sent as recommended prime ministerial reading. The list is odd, and oddly touching, two of the criteria for choosing books being that they have something important to say and that they be short - because a PM has limited reading time. Ma...more
What is Stephen Harper Reading?
A review by Ben Antao
Yann Martel, 46, the 2002 Man Booker prize winner for his novel Life of Pi, has published an interesting non-fiction book titled What is Stephen Harper Reading?, a series of letters to the Prime Minister of Canada urging him to find time to fill his mind with good books. Martel’s recommendations span an eclectic spectrum of novels, plays, poetry, short stories, children’s books, memoir, biography, history and philosophy.
What excited and imp...more
2 likes · like · see review
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The best part of this book is the concept. Martel was challenged by a reader to defend his "book club" with the PM. He asks "Is asking Stephen Harper to account for his reading habits irrelavent? Worse: is it improper and dishonorable, attacking the private man rather than his public policies?" I really admire his answer: "As lon as someone has no power over me, I don't care what they read, or if they read at all... But once someone has power over me, then, yes, their reading does matter to me b...more
5 likes · like · see review
Mar 05, 2010
Michèle
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Michèle by:
Yann Martel
Shelves:
practical-books
(English below)
Que lit Stephen Harper? par Yann Martel. 258 pages
Un court aperçu par Martel de livres qui sont tous intéressants, porteur d’une facette de l’humanité. Je ne les lirai jamais tous, mais la sensibilité de Martel affleure en surface, et son appréciation du métier d’écrivain (et sa dépréciation dans notre société).
L’élément déclencheur? Un moment d’appréciation des artistes pour les 50 ans du CAC, dans la chambre des Communes. Le PM (qui aime tant les artistes!) y assistait, sans mon...more
Que lit Stephen Harper? par Yann Martel. 258 pages
Un court aperçu par Martel de livres qui sont tous intéressants, porteur d’une facette de l’humanité. Je ne les lirai jamais tous, mais la sensibilité de Martel affleure en surface, et son appréciation du métier d’écrivain (et sa dépréciation dans notre société).
L’élément déclencheur? Un moment d’appréciation des artistes pour les 50 ans du CAC, dans la chambre des Communes. Le PM (qui aime tant les artistes!) y assistait, sans mon...more
Jul 29, 2012
Kristilyn (Reading In Winter & Winter Distractions)
marked it as dnf
I’m not lying when I say that I really enjoyed the parts that I did read of this book. It’s a non-fiction book about books, which I thought would be a great read to learn about some fantastic Canadian fiction. However, I found myself enjoying the introduction more than the actual letters (Yann Martel’s pretend letters back from Stephen Harper were priceless – some of them had me falling out of my seat in laughter!). From what I could tell, after reading the first three letters written to the Pri...more
I wanted to read this book as soon as I saw the title. There are only a couple of books on the reading list - that I have actually read, and only a couple that I intend to read. I did like the premise of the book and the fact that Yann sent a letter to the Prime Minister with each book. There are a couple of books on the list I intend to tackle - in the audio version probably.
Mar 05, 2012
Emily Dumouchel
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone who likes list of books.
Recommended to Emily by:
Mary
Shelves:
non-fiction,
authors-canadian
This book was very interesting, as the five stars prove; it was an amazing book for me. I had many books to read before reading this book, but now the list suddenly got bigger. It was someone who recommended it to me and I borrowed it from her. It's almost sad she wants it back, even my mom wants to have a look at it before a return it.
The books is actually a non-fiction and the letters written by Yann Martel are very nice and his opinions very interesting. A couple of his letters made me pause...more
The books is actually a non-fiction and the letters written by Yann Martel are very nice and his opinions very interesting. A couple of his letters made me pause...more
Yann Martel reminded me why I love read so much. I love that he doesn't just recommend books that everyone is 'supposed' to read. He got me reading graphic novels, kid's books and even more poetry. So good!
A wonderful collection of books I now want to read accompanied by delightfully well thought out ironic/cynical/sarcastic letters to my favorite douchebag.
Yann Martel, the author of "The Life Of Pi", clearly wrote this book for book lovers in a format of letters to our prime minister, Stephen Harper. It was very interesting in terms of response from our Prime Minister himself. I enjoyed Mr.Martel's view on such books including Animal Farm, etc. It is very likable, and this book is also somethings of value, since it is a Red Maple Book. Clearly, this is an enjoyable read and information source for all book lovers.
For the art-lovers, a unique way to engage in politics...(though coloured, to be sure, by ones political persuasions).
What a guy (ok, both Stephen and Yann). Will check out the book suggestions.
Some interesting selections and insightful observations in this little book.
I LOVE this book.
LOVE.
LOVE.
Apr 21, 2010
Jennifer Weber
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommended to Jennifer by:
craftedpassions@shaw.ca
highly recommend you pick this up... or visit the site www.whatisstephenharperreading.ca
Great concept!! I am Canadian. Steven Harper is Calgarian. I also live in Calgary. It was interesting enough on those levels to me at first, for those reasons.
Reading it, gave me new reasons to like it. A book recommending other books is a delight. Especially when reasons for recommending them, are equally interesting to read. Loved the reality of this author's interaction with the Prime Minister. Great idea; wish I had thought of it!
Reading it, gave me new reasons to like it. A book recommending other books is a delight. Especially when reasons for recommending them, are equally interesting to read. Loved the reality of this author's interaction with the Prime Minister. Great idea; wish I had thought of it!
Things I learned:
Stephen Harper is an ungrateful ass.
The guy who wrote Maus was also responsible for Garbage Pail kids.
Jeannette Winterson owns a food shop.
I am quite bad at French these days, to the extent of mistranslating Christian as cretin.
Stephen Harper is an ungrateful ass.
The guy who wrote Maus was also responsible for Garbage Pail kids.
Jeannette Winterson owns a food shop.
I am quite bad at French these days, to the extent of mistranslating Christian as cretin.
I'll definitely be checking out some of the books that Martel recommends.
Gotta love Martel's sense of humour and persistence in sending all those letters and books to our Prime Minister. Pretty sure it was all lost on him (Harper), but thankfully Martel shared it with the audience. I'm keeping this book so I can (eventually) read all the pieces referenced in it. A great checklist for literature of our times.
Wow what a fun, interesting and beautifully written plea for literacy in our leader! Martel's letters to the PM are gorgeous pieces of writing in their own right. The letter re: 2 children's books he sends Harper in Dec 2007 was my favourite, I have read it over several times, pure art! Just put 4 of the books on my next book order.
Sep 15, 2011
Crystal Allen
added it
I saw this book sitting on my boss' book shelf and asked to borrow it. The radio station that I listen to on my morning commute used to talk about the book's that Yann Martel was sending to Stephen Harper. I'm intrigued to look at the full list of books and find out why he sent each one.
Le choix des livres envoyés à Harper était intéressant, mais j'ai trouvé les lettres de Yann Martel plutôt ennuyantes à lire. Il aurait peut-être fallu un peu plus d'humour, d'ironie, d'un je-ne-sais-quoi pour rendre la lecture plaisante.
Dec 24, 2009
Zeejay
marked it as to-read
looks interesting- yann martel has been mailing a book to harper every 2 weeks...not sure if the H-man is reading them, but Yann has some interesting choices
Concept intéressant mais peu passionnant.
May 13, 2011
Genevieve
added it
Reading the French translation of the book.
May 21, 2013
Sogol Gh
marked it as to-read
May 19, 2013
Bochen
marked it as to-read
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Yann Martel is a Canadian author best known for the Man Booker Prize-winning novel Life of Pi.
More about Yann Martel...
Yann Martel was born in Spain in 1963 of peripatetic Canadian parents. He grew up in Alaska, British Columbia, Costa Rica, France, Ontario and Mexico, and has continued travelling as an adult, spending time in Iran, Turkey and India. Martel refers to his travels as, “seeing the same play on a whole lot of
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“Books, like people, can't be reduced to the cost of the materials with which they were made. Books, like people, become unique and precious once you get to know them.”
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9 people liked it
“You might have noticed that I have been sending you used books. I have done this not to save money, but to make a point which is that a used book, unlike a used car, hasn't lost any of its initial value. A good story rolls of the lot into the hands of its new reader as smoothly as the day it was written. And there's another reason for these used paperbacks that never cost much even when new; I like the idea of holding a book that someone else has held, of eyes running over lines that have already seen the light of other eyes. That, in one image, is the community of readers, is the communion of literature.”
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2 people liked it
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