André Poulin answers 13 questions in a Booker's Dozen.

TPQ: What are you currently reading? 

AP: Victime 2117 (Victim 2117) by Jussi Adler Olsen.

TPQ: Best and worst books you have ever read?

APL’Étranger (The Stranger) by Camus. The worst ever read? There are no books in particular that come to mind. But, I hate reading an American novel about baseball, hockey or American football translated in French. They really don't seem to understand these sports.  

TPQ: Book most cherished as a child? 

AP: Histoire Des Animaux Quadrupèdes; Tome 2 by Buffon. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Count of Buffon (1707-1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, biologist, cosmologist, philosopher and writer. This book was given to my parents by an old lady of French origin while they were visiting New England. This is the original edition dating from the 18th century. I keep this book preciously.

TPQ: Favourite Childhood author?

AP: René Goscinny, we all know him for the Astérix comic books. I enjoyed particularly his children’s books known as Le Petit Nicolas

TPQ: First book to really own you? 

AP: L’Écume des Jours (Foam of the Days) by Boris Vian.

TPQ: Favourite male and female author?

AP: AP: Russell Banks @ Marguerite Duras

A Berlin Book Tower in memory of the Nazi book burning.

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

AP: I like both, but since I read fact for my work, fiction comes first. 

TPQ: Biography, autobiography or memoir that most impressed you?

AP: I would say Blanketmen by Richard O’Rawe, but since every reader of TPQ knows this one, I would name two other for different reasons. Underground: My Life With The SDS And The Weathermen by Mark Rudd. Love and Struggle: My Life in SDS, the Weather Underground, and Beyond by David Gilbert. The first one presents the route taking by Rudd from revolutionary to reformist and the second, written in a maximum security prison, presents the errors and advances made by the activists in the 60s and the march from liberal to radical to revolutionary.

TPQ: Any author or book you point blank refuse to read?

AP: Mathieu Bock-Côté. He could be described as Québec’s version of Eric Zemmour. All Donald Trump’s books, even if he didn’t write them. 

TPQ: A book to share with somebody so that they would more fully understand you?

AP: Nègres Blancs d’Amérique (White Niggers of America) by Pierre Vallières (1968). Vallières was an intellectual leader of the Front the liberation du Québec (FLQ). Written in prison, while he was incarcerated in New York for having demonstrated in front of the UN building (while an arrest warrant was issued against him in Quebec), this essay compares the historical situation of French Canadians with that of African-Americans. For Vallières, the two peoples are second-class and exploited citizens and must take up arms to free themselves from their oppressors. Vallières renounced violence after the October crisis of 1970, without abandoning the idea of Quebec's independence. 

TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

AP: Aux Portes de l’Éternité (Edge of Eternity) by Ken Follet.

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

AP: Pourfendeurs des Nuages (Cloudsplitter ) by Russel Bank. This book deals with the story of the abolitionist John Brown. I would also like to see James Ellroy’s Underworld USA trilogy turned into a television series.

TPQ: A "must read" you intend getting to before you die?

AP: I would like to read the full works of Tolstoy.
André Poulin teaches history at Université de Sherbrooke and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and is a friend of TPQ.

Booker's Dozen @ André Poulin

André Poulin answers 13 questions in a Booker's Dozen.

TPQ: What are you currently reading? 

AP: Victime 2117 (Victim 2117) by Jussi Adler Olsen.

TPQ: Best and worst books you have ever read?

APL’Étranger (The Stranger) by Camus. The worst ever read? There are no books in particular that come to mind. But, I hate reading an American novel about baseball, hockey or American football translated in French. They really don't seem to understand these sports.  

TPQ: Book most cherished as a child? 

AP: Histoire Des Animaux Quadrupèdes; Tome 2 by Buffon. Georges-Louis Leclerc, Count of Buffon (1707-1788) was a French naturalist, mathematician, biologist, cosmologist, philosopher and writer. This book was given to my parents by an old lady of French origin while they were visiting New England. This is the original edition dating from the 18th century. I keep this book preciously.

TPQ: Favourite Childhood author?

AP: René Goscinny, we all know him for the Astérix comic books. I enjoyed particularly his children’s books known as Le Petit Nicolas

TPQ: First book to really own you? 

AP: L’Écume des Jours (Foam of the Days) by Boris Vian.

TPQ: Favourite male and female author?

AP: AP: Russell Banks @ Marguerite Duras

A Berlin Book Tower in memory of the Nazi book burning.

TPQ: A preference for fact or fiction?

AP: I like both, but since I read fact for my work, fiction comes first. 

TPQ: Biography, autobiography or memoir that most impressed you?

AP: I would say Blanketmen by Richard O’Rawe, but since every reader of TPQ knows this one, I would name two other for different reasons. Underground: My Life With The SDS And The Weathermen by Mark Rudd. Love and Struggle: My Life in SDS, the Weather Underground, and Beyond by David Gilbert. The first one presents the route taking by Rudd from revolutionary to reformist and the second, written in a maximum security prison, presents the errors and advances made by the activists in the 60s and the march from liberal to radical to revolutionary.

TPQ: Any author or book you point blank refuse to read?

AP: Mathieu Bock-Côté. He could be described as Québec’s version of Eric Zemmour. All Donald Trump’s books, even if he didn’t write them. 

TPQ: A book to share with somebody so that they would more fully understand you?

AP: Nègres Blancs d’Amérique (White Niggers of America) by Pierre Vallières (1968). Vallières was an intellectual leader of the Front the liberation du Québec (FLQ). Written in prison, while he was incarcerated in New York for having demonstrated in front of the UN building (while an arrest warrant was issued against him in Quebec), this essay compares the historical situation of French Canadians with that of African-Americans. For Vallières, the two peoples are second-class and exploited citizens and must take up arms to free themselves from their oppressors. Vallières renounced violence after the October crisis of 1970, without abandoning the idea of Quebec's independence. 

TPQ: Last book you gave as a present?

AP: Aux Portes de l’Éternité (Edge of Eternity) by Ken Follet.

TPQ: Book you would most like to see turned into a movie?

AP: Pourfendeurs des Nuages (Cloudsplitter ) by Russel Bank. This book deals with the story of the abolitionist John Brown. I would also like to see James Ellroy’s Underworld USA trilogy turned into a television series.

TPQ: A "must read" you intend getting to before you die?

AP: I would like to read the full works of Tolstoy.
André Poulin teaches history at Université de Sherbrooke and Université du Québec à Trois-Rivières and is a friend of TPQ.

2 comments:

  1. André - thanks for doing this. I like Jussi Adler Olsen. Thought Mercy was great. Hope to read the third in the Department Q series soon. Loved The Outsider by Camus. Almost forty years since I first read it. Richard will be pleased that you rate Blanketmen so highly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mick Hall Comments

    An eclectic list of books only one of which I have read. I remember the FLQ and wondered if Nègres Blancs d’Amérique is published in English.

    ReplyDelete