Fear's Folly (Les demi-civilisés)

Carolyn Ryder was Humanities Librarian at Calgary Public Library.

It is difficult to discuss Jean-Charles Harvey’s novel without being aware of the close parallels with the author’s own life and its importance to the cultural and political evolution of Quebec. For this reason, the excellent introduction by John O’Connor in this edition is extremely useful. This novel, Harvey’s second, was originally written in 1934 and was perceived as challenging the Church’s authority in Quebec. The public outcry when it was published led to its being banned by the church and caused long-lasting controversial reactions both to the novel and to Harvey himself. Primarily as a result of these reactions, Harvey has since become known as “the grandfather of the Quiet Revolution.” The novel itself is an unusual combination of autobiography, fiction, satire, and political discussion.

Max Hubert is a descendent of rural Quebec stock who embodies many characteristics of the “young intellectual” in search of beauty, truth, and freedom. Destined for the priesthood, he abruptly quits a religious order. His chance meeting and subsequent romance with Dorothee Meunier, daughter of a capitalist with a suspicious past, is fated. Dorothee fortuitously convinces her father to give Max money to start an intellectual magazine when Max is indecisive about a career choice. The rest of the story describes the sentimental and frequently melodramatic romance interspersed with episodic accounts of decadent life in the city, and discussions for and against various causes. A central point is when Lillois, Max’s co-contributor, writes an article questioning the place of Christ in the modern world which causes a great backlash from the clergy and petit bourgeois. This reaction of the people foreshadows Harvey’s own experience upon publication of this novel.

Harvey is at his best using his satiric journalistic style to describe life among the “half-civilized” members of society. Vignettes such as the man who bought a likeness of Venus and sued the steamship company for breaking the arms are marvellous. Harvey excels in describing the political and social climate of Quebec in the 1920s. The prime weakness of the story is the characterization. The protagonists are fairly shallow and suffer extremes of sentimentalism at times. Often it is the secondary characters, such as Lucien Joly and Meunier, who are more intriguing. The plot tends to be melodramatic at times — Dorothee’s entering the convent to escape marriage to an evil friend of her father’s is a good example. The novel is episodic and uneven at times, although devices such as the dream vision work surprisingly well.

John Glassco’s translation was the last translation he undertook, and it is excellent. Glassco avoids the trap of being too literal or of being too liberal in interpreting the author’s ideas, which was the fault of an earlier translation. Glassco has successfully captured the flavour of the language without reminding the reader that it is a translation. By combining the various editions of the work, he succeeds in interpreting Harvey in the best possible manner.

The lengthy introduction is an exceptional discussion of Harvey’s life and critical evaluation of the novel, with complete notes to support O’Connor’s valid research. The Carleton Library Series to date has been non-fictional works on Canada. The addition of Harvey’s novel is an exception but is certainly a worthy addition with its ability to discuss the climate of Quebec by a Quebecois, prior to the Quiet Revolution.