Written by Rachel Shoemaker
How did you react when you heard that an Olympic torch bearer was knocked down in Guelph? Did your heart swell with pride to be a U o G student when you saw the Globe and Mail front page headline: “A blow to Olympic spirit”?
We all know by now that Vancouver will be hosting the winter Olympics starting Feb. 12, and Canadians have become fiercely divided over the occasion. Many Canadians, especially residents of Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside (DTES), question why their government is willing to spend millions of taxpayers’ dollars hosting a party for the rest of the world that lasts just over two weeks, while the desperate need for affordable housing, as just one example, has been ignored. The problems plaguing the DTES will continue long after the party is over.
As a former resident of the DTES, Chris Walter wrote a novel that is fittingly entitled Wrong, in response to what he sees as a serious social injustice against Vancouver’s underprivileged citizens. But don’t be scared about tackling a tiring and unbreakable text that centers on the politics of the Olympic games; Walter claims to write books for people who don’t like reading. The main character of this work of fiction is a strung out DTES junky/punk singer turned activist.
Wrong is incredibly approachable, darkly humourous, and like all of Walter’s books, is wildly entertaining. This text gives a voice and a scabbed reality to those who are being oppressed by their elected leaders and ignored by the global community, a text which will continue to speak after the athletes leave.
If you want to gain perspective on the 2010 Olympics from a Vancouver resident who doesn’t have to answer to a corporate sponsor, pick up a copy of Wrong and get enlightened.