Customer Reviews

Reflections of a Siamese twin: Canada at the end of the twentieth century

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I found lots in this book that speaks directly to the Australian experience. I wish our politicians here would read it.

This is a wonderful book about Canada and its myths,illusions and nature. It is amazingly well written and truly exciting; I couldn't wait to read each new chapter. He writes about solitude versus isolation and its impact on the Canadian psyche, tying it all into the Rebellion of 1837. Wonderful.

Thought provoking book about the re-writing of Canadian history. He brought out a number of interesting angles (art, music etc.) and staying with his philosophical methodology. However, I had hoped he would back up his "assertions" instead of stating "x" and expecting the reader to believe it is true as a matter of faith. Kierkagaard he is not, but a great writer none the less.

Saul's therapized perspective of cultural dynamics in the nation-state is really entertaining and a bit perverse. Canada needs a good cognative therapist, it seems, and Saul is just the guy.

Saul continues his attack on the "kidnapping" of language by political parties and leaders, and on the misconceptions of economics. There's a lot to digest in this book: Saul has degrees in Economics, History, and Political Science. In this work he blends rich historical background with razor sharp sociological analysis. After reading this book, referenda seem insulting, the "Quebec crisis" looks a farce, and Canada looks a lot more like its own nation and not the bastard child of England or France, nor the little brother of America. But there's no flag waving here, just considered discussion of what's going on. It should be required first year reading in Canadian universities.

Saul is now straining desperately to be different and provocative. This comfortable, central Canadian establishment voice seems to me largely to miss both the nature of Canada and the genuinely stupid developments occurring with respect to Federal power and the senseless and dangerous ethnically based politics of Native policies.

The main problem with the book is that the author tries to artificially build a "Canadian myth", which unfortunately does not exist. The author does not realize that Canada has never been a fully sovereign country, altough the author timidly admits the colonial attitude of our political and economic elite. His attack on the "cult of the hero" is baseless and shallow. He does not realize that heros and great figures shape the destiny of a nation. A country without great men who can be emulated by its fellows is doomed to fail. Also, his almost gratuitous bashing of carefully selected politicians and political ideologies make us wonder if Ralston Saul is indeed a serious thinker or a cheap left-leaning propagandist. The other flaw I found in the book is the overemphasis and quasi-glorification of little trivial events in Canadian history that has absolutely no bearing in the balance of world history. The author pointlessly attacks the "monolithic culture" of France, Britain and the U.S., without admitting the legacies of these cultures to human progress.