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The Republic of Nothing

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The Republic of Nothing
Book cover
Third edition cover
AuthorLesley Choyce
LanguageEnglish
GenreFiction
Published1994
PublisherGoose Lane Editions
Publication placeCanada
Media typePrint (Paperback)
Pages364[a]
ISBN978-0-8649-2493-3
OCLC78042666
813/.54
LC ClassPR9199.3.C497 R47 1994

The Republic of Nothing is a novel by Lesley Choyce, published in 1994 by Goose Lane Editions. Set on the fictional Whalebone Island off the coast of Nova Scotia, the novel follows the coming-of-age story of Ian McQuade and his experiences with his eccentric family and island residents over the course of roughly 30 years. The novel's themes surrounding environmentalism and the Vietnam War are informed by Choyce's own experiences growing up in the 1950s and 1960s, participating in demonstrations for the same causes.

The novel is regarded as one of Choyce's most well-received works, and was praised by critics for its engaging and unpredictable plot and poetic style of prose. A Reader's Guide Edition of the book was published in 2007 in celebration of its 10 year anniversary, with the addition of an afterword by the Rush drummer Neil Peart. While the book has received little academic attention, it has been included in the high school curriculum in Nova Scotia and Alberta, introducing it to a wider readership and speaking to its accessibility. The novel was the winner of the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction at the Atlantic Book Awards in 1995.

Background

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The fictional Whalebone Island was determined to be in roughly the location of Sober Island

Born on 21 March 1951 in New Jersey, Lesley Choyce moved to Lawrencetown Beach, Nova Scotia in 1978.[1] The Republic of Nothing's themes of environmentalism and the Vietnam War are inspired by his own experiences growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in the United States, where after graduating from high school in 1969 he became involved in the protests against the war. Choyce marched in demonstrations in New York and Washington, D.C., and participated in a protest at Fort Bragg led by Jane Fonda.[2]

The fictional island described in the novel is stated to be a specific distance from Halifax. Using this information, a reader determined that the island in the novel is roughly in the location of Sober Island.[3]

Publication history

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The Republic of Nothing was first published in 1994 by Goose Lane Editions of Fredericton, New Brunswick. The editor of Goose Lane at the time, Laurel Boone, stated that the book was provided a "decent tour".[4] The novel was produced and marketed with financial support from the Canada Council for the Arts, the Canadian federal government's Book Publishing Industry Support Program, and the New Brunswick Department of Economic Development, Tourism, and Culture.[4]

The third edition of The Republic of Nothing, the Reader's Guide Edition, was published in 2007 in celebration of the novel's 10 year anniversary. The new edition was augmented with the addition of an afterword by Neil Peart, the drummer of the band Rush. Peart was impressed with the book to the degree that he wrote a letter to Choyce in 1996, beginning a 10-year correspondence with him. It was Peart's correspondence with Choyce that lead him to write his book The Masked Rider, which was published by Choyce through Pottersfield Press.[5] Also included in the Reader's Guide Edition is an interview with Choyce, and a study guide pertaining to the book to be used by students. The republication of the book was advertised with launch parties in Halifax and at the Frye Festival in Moncton, New Brunswick.[6]

Plot summary

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The Republic of Nothing follows the coming-of-age story of Ian McQuade, a teenager living on the fictional Whalebone Island off the coast of Nova Scotia. The novel takes place over the course of roughly 30 years, written from the perspective of Ian, and chronicles the events surrounding the island's self-declared independence as the "Republic of Nothing".

The story begins on 21 March 1951, when Everett McQuade, Ian's idealistic father, declares Whalebone Island independent from Canada. After an unsuccessful attempt at blowing up the bridge connecting the island to the mainland, Everett writes a declaration of independence on a typewriter that washed ashore, naming the country "The Republic of Nothing" to signify his anarchist rejection of existing doctrines and governance. Ian, born on the same day, grows up in the eccentric community of the island and is shaped by his father's vision. His early years are marked by peculiar incidents such as an elephant corpse washing ashore and the discovery of a Viking skeleton in the bogs of the island.

Ian's mother, Dorothy, is a nurturing but pragmatic figure with psychic abilities. Found by Everett on the shore at the age of 15 with no memory of her past, she is taken in by Mrs. Bernie Todd, a capable island resident. Ian's younger sister, Casey, was born during an aggressive hurricane and exhibits similar spiritual qualities to their mother. The small population of the island includes other colourful characters such as Hants Buckler, the old man of the island who scavenges for goods washed ashore; and Tennessee Ernie Phillips, an American physicist who had helped develop the hydrogen bomb and escaped to the island with his wife and daughter Gwendolyn after being driven out of New Mexico.

Life on the island begins to change when Everett is elected as the MLA for Sheet Harbour, and his political ambitions pull him away from the island to Halifax for long periods of time. During his absences from the island, Dorothy remains faithful to her husband but forms a psychic bond with the neighbour Ben Ackerman, an American who moved to the island from New York, creating additional emotional tension for the family. Ian, navigating the difficulties of adolescence, struggles to find his identity amid feelings of insecurity, particularly as he develops a fleeting romance with Gwendolyn.

Everett's political career culminates in his election as Premier of Nova Scotia, but he is nearly killed on-stage in an assassination attempt by a rival candidate after the results are announced. Dorothy, Ian, and Casey rush to the hospital, and Everett is saved when Dorothy takes 25 Valium pills, approaching death herself to use her abilities to keep him alive.

Whalebone Island faces a significant challenge when a mining conglomerate discovers uranium on the Crown land comprising the interior of the island, threatening to destroy its ecosystem and the islanders' way of life with mining operations. Ian sabotages the company's mining equipment, but the company returns with more equipment and the RCMP, who tell Everett and Ian that they are required to stay away from mining operations due to the recent sabotage.

With his new political aptitude, Everett forms a plan to visit the United Nations in New York to follow up on the declaration of independence he had sent to them in 1951, with the goal of creating enough legal difficulties for the mining company that they would abandon their plans for the island. Ian and Everett travelled there together where they met with a UN official, who despite being moved by Everett's story, told the pair that there was nothing he could do to help. Ian, remembering the finger he had taken from the Viking skeleton as a good luck charm, presented it to the official and explained that if mining operations were to take place it would be disturbing the remains. Following this archaeological discovery, Whalebone Island was thereby declared a World Preservation Site, permanently putting a halt to plans for uranium extraction on the island.

Reception

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The Republic of Nothing is regarded as one of Choyce's most well-received novels,[7] and has been described as a "contemporary classic in Canadian literature".[6] At the time of its release, it was variously praised for its engaging and volatile plot, and Choyce's poetic style of prose.[8] A review in the Montreal Gazette stated that the novel "should be granted its appropriate label as the Canadian version of Midnight's Children",[9] while the British Columbian writer Jim Christy described it as "an unpredictable universe", stating that its unpredictability "makes the novel a success".[10]

A review in The Ottawa Citizen was more critical of the novel, referring to it as being "afflicted" with "false portentousness".[11] The review opined that the novel shows promise at the beginning, but the plot begins to erode partway through the story. The review criticized the novel for its heavy use of American themes.[11]

The Canadian literary scholar David Creelman argues that the book was prevented from receiving a wider audience due to the limited marketing budget of its publisher and its "innovative form and style".[4] He argues that realism is the dominant literary form in the Maritime provinces, where The Republic of Nothing falls outside this mainstream which may have hindered its reception. Creelman states that despite the novel receiving little academic attention, it was used in the high school curriculum for Nova Scotia and Alberta, speaking to its accessibility.[4]

The novel was the winner of the Dartmouth Book Award for Fiction at the Atlantic Book Awards in 1995.[12]

Film

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The Republic of Nothing was optioned for film,[13] with the screenplay developed by Jeff Mueller, who also owns the screen rights. The film has not been produced.[14]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ The 1994 first edition of the novel has 364 pages, while the 2007 Reader's Guide Edition has 382 pages with the inclusion of the afterword by Neil Peart and other material.

References

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Citations

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  1. ^ Colombo (1997); Gale (2010).
  2. ^ Choyce (2007).
  3. ^ van Koeverden (2017).
  4. ^ a b c d Creelman (2008).
  5. ^ Clare (2007); Choyce (2020).
  6. ^ a b Clare (2007).
  7. ^ Colombo (1997).
  8. ^ Armitage (1995); McCrossan (1995); Nowlan (1995); Simpson (1995); Cran (1995).
  9. ^ Davison (1995).
  10. ^ Christy (1995).
  11. ^ a b Ware (1994).
  12. ^ Clare (2007); Gale (2010).
  13. ^ Gale (2010).
  14. ^ Mueller (2019).

Sources

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Works cited

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Further reading

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Articles

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Audio and video

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