The revolution script

by Brian Moore

Moore, Brian, Revolution Script, The

Genres: Historical Fiction, Canada, Canadian Literature, Fiction

261 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1971

About the author

Brian Moore (1921–1999) was born into a large, devoutly Catholic family in Belfast, Northern Ireland. His father was a surgeon and lecturer, and his mother had been a nurse. Moore left Ireland during World War II and in 1948 moved to Canada, where he worked for the Montreal Gazette, married his first wife, and began to write potboilers under various pen names, as he would continue to do throughout the 1950s.

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne (1955, now available as an NYRB Classic), said to have been rejected by a dozen publishers, was the first book Moore published under his own name, and it was followed by nineteen subsequent novels written in a broad range of modes and styles, from the realistic to the historical to the quasi-fantastical, including The Luck of Ginger Coffey, An Answer from Limbo, The Emperor of Ice Cream, I Am Mary Dunne, Catholics, Black Robe, and The Statement. Three novels—Lies of Silence, The Colour of Blood, and The Magician’s Wife—were short-listed for the Booker Prize, and The Great Victorian Collection won the James Tait Black Memorial Prize.

After adapting The Luck of Ginger Coffey for film in 1964, Moore moved to California to work on the script for Alfred Hitchcock’s Torn Curtain. He remained in Malibu for the rest of his life, remarrying there and teaching at UCLA for some fifteen years. Shortly before his death, Moore wrote, “There are those stateless wanderers who, finding the larger world into which they have stumbled vast, varied and exciting, become confused in their loyalties and lose their sense of home. I am one of those wanderers.”

Reviews

[Paul Gaya Ochieng Simeon Juma · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was slow at first, but it got better later on after the appearance of the second cell, Chennier Cell.

A group of young men, known as FLQ, decide to stage a protest against the government of Canada by kidnapping a foreign diplomat. They feel loke the government has let down the people of Canada and they issue a manifesto with several demands to the government of the time to fulfill.

The kidnapping of the diplomat gets the attention of the government, but it is still reluctant to act on the demands of the group.

That is when another group of people kidnapp the minister of labor anx immigration throwing the country in fear and the government in rage. Among their demands is that the government honors the demands of the earlier kidnapp with two other fresh demands.

The government has to act first because the livez of the two officials lie in it. The government is however unable to tell whether the the prisoners will be released if the terms are honored. The government is also divided on the corse to take.

The pronvincial government is willing to negotiate and accede to some of the demands but the Federal government is unwilling to negotiate. The leaders are also divided.

The country is at a stalemate, when the prime minister decides to act by invoking the war measures act allowing the federal government to arrest people without warrants, search their houses, hold them in custody upto 21 days without charging them and so forth.

Very interesting.

[rose · Rating 1 out of 5]

inspired [nonviolent; pacifist; apolitical] separatist visions all over again. ill never escape the conditions of my upbringing. and all it took was some irish canadian with a journalistic vision

[Céline Frenière · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my second reading of this excellent book. It was first gifted to me in the 1970's by someone who felt quite rightly that my Quebécois background would help me appreciate its contents. It is very informative about the Quebec political situation in the late 1960's. Moore captures the French Canadian characters very well. Whilst relating the story as a work of fiction, he kept to the historical truth. I would recommend this book to anyone who might be interested in Canadian history.

[Kevin Darbyshire · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was a real effort reading this book. I've read more or less everything Brian Moore has written and wanted to complete the set. Really confusing list of characters and they all seem so one dimensional and unlikable I didn't give
A hoot what happened to them. Probably one of my least favourite Moore books which is alongside "Fergus" I definitely wouldn't recommend this as an entry point to this author as its definitely one for the die hard Moore fans.

[Maddie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Okay this might be a little harsh. There’s not a really solid reason I can give to why I’m rating this so low other than the fact that I just did not care at all while reading. What happened? Who were the characters? What was the reason for this narrative? Could not tell you. I probably would not have reqd this entire book if I wasn’t so insistent on finishing books once I start them. Maybe this is the book for you (and that’s fantastic for you!) but it certainly wasn’t for me :(

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Moore must have written this with incredible speed. It is based on real events in Montreal during October to December 1973; following interviews, research and composition this book was already in print by 1974. It reads like reportage and challenged my comfort zone on where the line should be drawn between journalism and fiction. I will admit it sat uncomfortably that hostages - while renamed - had their ordeals rendered into a form of entertainment for profit. But then isn't this also what journalism does? My unease extended to the liberties taken with filling in the unknowns with speculation (changing emotional states, day-to-day conversations, who raised concerns among the kidnappers), but again isn't this partly what history also does, with however many caveats, when attempting to bring to life a patchy and dead historical record?

The book itself is a page-turner. Thanks to a mystery gift Christmas present ('Harry' s Game') and the random sequence of my Booker read-through ('Lies of Silence') January 2024 was a month of terrorist thrillers. Despite the speed with which he must completed 'The Revolution Script', Moore's work stands shoulder to shoulder with the rest.