Biography, Quebec novel, science fiction, political essay… here are the books lying around on the bedside table of party leaders in the National Assembly, as the holiday season approaches.
François Legault
AFP
An avid reader, Prime Minister François Legault plans to first delve into a biography, François-Albert Angers: the Traditionalist Rebel (Jean-Philippe Carlos, 2023), which was published by Éditions du Boréal earlier this year. Died in 2003, François-Albert Angers was one of the most committed Quebec intellectuals of the 20th century.e century, but he remains a little-known figure in our recent history. This economist is associated with the Quebec nationalist and traditionalist movement.
On a lighter note, the CAQ leader also plans to read Christine Brouillet’s latest novel, The month of the deadwhich tells the story of Lucien Jutras, a teenager who searches for himself after the death of his mother at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
But as reading does not only mean relaxation, the Prime Minister also intends to go through the important essay The engineers of chaos, by the Italian-Swiss author Giuliano da Empoli, who has established himself in recent years as one of the main political thinkers of our time. This work is a vast reflection on the political communication strategies adopted by “spin doctors» populist leaders like Donald Trump, Jair Bolsonaro and Matteo Salvini.
Marc Tanguay
Archive photo QMI Agency, Joël Lemay
The interim leader of the Quebec Liberal Party, Marc Tanguay, also has a busy reading schedule for the holiday period. He will first attack the novel by JR Dos Santos Spinoza: The man who killed God. “He’s my favorite author. He masters the art of the novel like no other, which not only entertains, but also provides information on science and certain major historical figures,” he explains.
Mr. Tanguay also plans to discover the world of the writer Martine Desjardins with her science fiction novel The Green Room, and reread “in the original English version” the Churchill by Roy Jenkins. “It remains, in my opinion, the best biography written on this immense character of the 20the century,” underlines the liberal leader.
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois
Photo Stevens LeBlanc
Like his counterparts, the spokesperson for Québec solidaire also has a biography on the program, that of Gérald Godin by Jonathan Livernois, published this fall. “It is the biography of a politician who inspires me a lot, demonstrating that the love of Quebec and the fight for its independence were in no way incompatible with the defense of the rights of immigrants,” said -he explained.
Mr. Nadeau-Dubois will also read two novels, The testament of solitudes, by the Haitian writer Emmelie Prophète, and the most recent book by Michel Jean, Quimmik.
*The PQ leader, Paul St-Pierre Plamondon, was not able to say what he will read during the holiday season. “His only certainty is that he is going to go play outside with his children,” said his press officer.