Diderot Derivative

Few Canadian novels have generated such diverse initial reaction as Yann Martel’s third, Beatrice and Virgil. From Pasha Malla’s fawning review in The Globe and Mail (“as the Holocaust has forever recast our understanding of humanity and historiography, so might Beatrice & Virgil”) to the damning condemnation of Michiko Kakutani in the New York Times (“a botched and at times cringe-making fable,” “disappointing and often perverse” and worse: “misconceived and offensive”).

Clearly no one knows what to think. The annoying thing about such heated responses is their moral tone: on the one hand, overweening praise for the author’s courage to tackle such a sensitive subject; on the other, self-righteous indignation for the same reason. In part such divergent and heartfelt reactions seem natural given the extraordinary anticipation for the follow-up to Martel’s previous work, the critically acclaimed, global sales phenomenon...