MONTREAL ? When the folks from Canada Reads, the prestigious CBC Radio literary contest, called Jay Baruchel to ask him to participate in this year?s edition, the Montreal actor didn?t hesitate for a second.
Only Baruchel ? an ardent Canadian nationalist who has a red Maple Leaf tattooed over his heart ? would tell you he said ?yes? for the very simple reason that he thought it was his patriotic duty to be there.
?As hokey as it sounds, I just felt there was a degree of civic duty to it,? said the Montreal actor, on the phone recently from Los Angeles where he was shooting one last scene for the star-studded apocalyptic comedy This Is the End, which comes out in June and, in his words, ?hanging out with my lady, who?s working on Season 2 of The Newsroom.?
The lady in question would be the woman he?s engaged to, actress Alison Pill, who now calls Montreal home. This Is the End is inspired by the short film Jay and Seth vs. the Apocalypse that Baruchel and Seth Rogen made several years back, and the feature stars Rogen, Baruchel, James Franco, Jonah Hill, Michael Cera and Paul Rudd.
Baruchel says he?s doing Canada Reads because it?s a good thing to do.
?However small my contribution might be, it?s a contribution to the betterment of Canada nonetheless,? he said. ?Hopefully, in some small way, I can get a few kids interested in our own culture and the reservoir of great art that?s come from our land.?
Baruchel ? whose film credits include Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder, The Trotsky, The Sorcerer?s Apprentice and Goon ? will be on Canada Reads, which runs on CBC Radio One the week of Feb. 11, defending Two Solitudes, the classic Governor General?s Award-winning novel from Montreal author Hugh MacLennan.
Baruchel will also be co-hosting a special edition of local CBC Radio drive-home show Homerun on Feb. 1, with regular host Sue Smith, to be broadcast live from the flagship Indigo bookstore downtown.
The entire show will be devoted to Two Solitudes, the book and the concept, with much discussion of whether or not the notion is still relevant to today?s Canada.
The novel is one of Can Lit?s most famous works, that rarest of creatures, a Canadian novel that introduced a phrase into the country?s lexicon, with ?two solitudes? routinely bandied about as a description of the divide that separates English and French Canadians.
It?s the story of a man, Paul Tallard, coming to grips with his bicultural heritage, hailing from a wealthy Montreal family with a francophone father and an Irish-Canadian mother.
I wondered if the book, first published in 1945, might be a tad long-in-the-tooth to be truly relevant to folks today.
Baruchel couldn?t disagree more.
?Aside from the fact that its title has been, for the better part of 60-plus-years, the go-to term to describe the relationship between the English and French in Quebec, I just think it?s important,? said Baruchel, who is busy these days working with his regular writing partner, Jesse Chabot, penning the sequel to Goon, last year?s hit hockey comedy.
?We come from a very young country,? he adds, ?and if we have anything remotely close to an epic poem, it?s important to cherish it. But cherishing something means nothing if people aren?t participating in it. I suspect that a lot of Canadians in the 21st century are not even familiar with the book and that?s all the more reason for me to get people back interested in it.
?I think it?s a beautiful masterwork. It functions on so many levels. It is just a sweeping generational epic, but without a doubt to me contained in it is as close to my philosophy as I?ve ever seen. It is the story of our country?s history. Canada starts with Upper Canada and Lower Canada, that?s the Genesis story of Canada, and Paul Tallard embodies what?s best about our country. What makes it all so Canadian is the moderation and the pragmatism that informs all of it. It doesn?t pick sides. It?s sympathetic without leaning toward one thing or another, aside from this thing we call Canada.?
So clearly you think it?s still relevant, I suggest.
?Oh my God, it couldn?t be more relevant. I don?t know what country people live in if they think they?re past the stuff in this book. We?re not in a sort of a post-linguistic society, if you will. Plus ?a change, man. It becomes even more truthful with every passing generation, for better or worse.?
Jay Baruchel will be co-hosting the CBC Radio One show Homerun with Sue Smith on Feb. 1, live from the Indigo bookstore downtown (1500 McGill College Ave.) from 3-6 p.m.
Canada Reads is on CBC Radio One at 11 a.m. Feb. 11-14, repeating at 8 p.m.
bkelly@montrealgazette.com
Twitter: @brendanshowbiz
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