Join the Revolution, Comrade: Journeys and Essays

by Charles Foran

In Join the Revolution, Comrade , Charles Foran brings to the essay form the same restlessness and originality that mark his novels and non-fiction. Foran visits places in Vietnam that have been 'colonized' by western war films, talks to Shanghai residents about their colossal city and commiserates with the people of Bali about the effects of terrorist bombs on their island. In Beijing he looks up old friends he had known back in 1989 during the days before and after the June 4th massacre. "Join the revolution, Comrade," a friend had loved to say, quoting a line from a Bertolucci film. Foran also 'encounters' Miguel de Cervantes, the Buddha of Compassion, and the pumped-up American Tom Wolfe. He maps the geography of Canadian literature and pinpoints the 'inner-Newfoundland' of Wayne Johnston. He defends the novel against those who would tame it and uses an ancient Chinese philosopher to explain how one imagination -- his own-- works. Whether exploring the waterways of Thailand or the streets of his childhood in suburban Toronto, meditating on raising children in post-9/11 Asia or the music of good prose, Charles Foran's writing is fresh, alert, and free of convention.

Genres: Nonfiction

192 pages, Paperback

First published April 11, 2008

About the author

Charlie Foran was born and raised in Toronto. He holds degrees from the University of Toronto and the University College, Dublin, and has taught in China, Hong Kong, and Canada.

He has published eleven books, including five novels. His fiction, non-fiction, and journalism have all won awards.

Charlie has also made radio documentaries for the CBC program Ideas and co-wrote the TV documentary Mordecai Richler: The Last of the Wild Jews. A past president of PEN Canada, he is a senior fellow at Massey College, University of Toronto, and a member of the Order of Canada.

As of January, 2015, Charlie Foran is CEO of the Institute for Canadian Citizenship (ICC). He lives in Toronto with his family.

Reviews

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Half travel writing/half lit-crit, Join the Revolution, Comrade is a great compilation by Canadian scholar, Charles Foran. Living the expat life in Hong Kong, he details many of his travels with his family throughout Asia in the first half of the book. The essays were written in the early 2000s, so there is a larger theme of post-9/11, as well as other headlines from this era. Two essays from this section stood out: his family's trip to Bali in 2003 right after the nightclub bombing and the discussion of safety, and the second, when Hong Kong's SARS epidemic closes everything down, the family vacations in Thailand.

The latter half of the book focuses on literature and literary trends. He digs into Canadian literature, and analyzes the work of some major 2000s American authors, primarily DFW and Franzen.

[Cryssa · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Join the Revolution, Comrade" is a collection of essays touching on the author's time in Asia, his thoughts on prose and his perspective on select books. Cornelia Funke once wrote, "Some books should be tasted. Others devoured. But only a few should be chewed and digested thoroughly." Join the Revolution is most emphatically in the latter camp. It is worth savouring slowly and thoughtfully.
I throughly enjoyed them all. The essays were all beautifully written, clear, fluid thoughts which drew me in no matter the subject. The title piece set the tone and hooked me from the beginning- it was brilliantly constructed. Charles Foran's thoughts on prose would resonate with anyone who loves the written word.

[Lerena · Rating 4 out of 5]

I always forget that I hate reading essay collections. But this one is pretty good. I need to read more Canadian authors

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I should have started reading this book earlier while taking the Violence in Asia course. Foran's collection of essays might have been shelved under travel writing or film journal at first glance, if not subtly inflected by war and violence. His ostensibly harmless narratives carry critical overtones, and history and images of war are implicated at best though not less intense.