We don’t really know how this is achieved-genetic manipulation plays a part-and we don’t really know how far the boundaries of longevity have been pushed, but we’re quickly made aware that for those wealthy enough to afford the treatments, thoughts of mortality no longer cast the same shadow over daily life. That’s because Vassanji has imagined a future in which aging has been almost eradicated, thanks to developments in medical science which have made physical and neurological rejuvenation possible.

But while the author is now in his mid-sixties, figuring out Frank Sina’s age is a different story. Frank Sina, whose speciality is memory implantation and repair.Īfter hearing Vassanji interviewed by Shelagh Rogers, on CBC’s The Next Chapter, I couldn’t help but notice the resemblances between the writer and his protagonist their dispassionate, composed and quiet way of expressing themselves. What we see and understand of this dystopian world is filtered through the eyes of Dr.

The story is set mostly in Toronto, in the second half of the twenty-first century (the book refers to The Great Explosion of 2032, a nuclear disaster with catastrophic geo-political repercussions).

Vassanji raises numerous, expansive, universal and difficult questions in a limited world that’s barely more than outlined. I say this because, in contrast with the others, Nostalgia is a cooler, more detached and speculative piece of fiction that certainly doesn’t have laser-like focus. I’m not sure that Nostalgia fits the bill. This year’s selections are meant to answer the question: What is the one book Canadians need now? Although I’m delighted to see it there, I wonder how long it’ll survive. Then, just a few weeks ago, it popped up on the literary radar when it made the list of contenders for the CBC Canada Reads 2017 competition. As time passed and I still hadn’t had a chance to share it with you, I started to worry that it would seep out of my memory and that I’d no longer be able to write about it with any freshness or detail, which is wonderfully apt, given the book’s central themes of memory and identity. Intrigued by its stark cover and the fact that it was on so many “recommended reading” lists, I picked up Nostalgia last year.

Nostalgia vassanji