''Self'' is a novel by
Yann Martel
Yann Martel, (born 25 June 1963) is a Canadian author who wrote the Man Booker Prize–winning novel ''Life of Pi'', an international bestseller published in more than 50 territories. It has sold more than 12 million copies worldwide and spent ...
. It tells the story of a traveling writer who wakes up one morning to discover that he has become a woman. It was first published by
Knopf Canada
Random House of Canada was the Canadian distributor for Random House, Inc. from 1944 until 2013. On July 1, 2013, it amalgamated with Penguin Canada to become Penguin Random House Canada.
Company history
Random House of Canada was established i ...
in
1996.
Plot summary
The narrator, at first male, explains various events from his early childhood, living with a traveling family who finally settle in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
. He goes on to explain events from his years in private school (including his parents' death), until he graduates and travels to
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
, where he, on his eighteenth birthday, wakes up as a female.
Surprisingly unfazed by her transformation, the narrator concludes her trip and begins
university
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
back in the fictional Roetown. She begins writing, and keeps travel in her life, eventually visiting such places as
Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, i ...
and
Thailand
Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...
, to name a few. She shares romances with a select few — males and females alike. Eventually she gets published, and after graduating, moves to
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
, where she gets a job as a waitress while continuing to write. At her job she meets Tito, her final love. But as the novel is nearing a conclusion, she is suddenly
rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse or other forms of sexual penetration carried out against a person without their consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority, or ag ...
d by a vicious neighbour in her secluded apartment and her body reverts to being a male again.
Themes
Martel described ''Self'' as the crucible of a thematic interest in religious faith that later informed his second work, ''Life of Pi''. Martel also reported in interviews that in writing the book's rape scene he contemplated the relationship between religion and evil: "It made me think about how people live with evil. What interested me in religion is its claim to go beyond the bounds of human existence." Some reviewers noted an autobiographical strand in the book, whose hero is, like Martel, the child of Canadian diplomats and a writer achieving recognition at a young age. It is set partly in
Peterborough
Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire until ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, where Martel was a student at
Trent University
Trent University is a public liberal arts university in Peterborough, Ontario, with a satellite campus in Oshawa, which serves the Regional Municipality of Durham. Trent is known for its Oxbridge college system and small class sizes. .
Critical reception
''Self'' was Martel's first novel, and followed the publication in 1993 of ''The Facts Behind the Helsinki Roccamatios'', his first collection of short stories. The novel, in Martel's own words, initially "vanished quickly and quietly", though it was shortlisted for the 21st Chapters/Books In Canada First Novel Award, then Canada's most valuable first-novel award with a prize of 5,000 Canadian dollars.
More critical attention fell upon the book when Martel's second novel, ''
Life of Pi
''Life of Pi'' is a Canadian philosophical novel by Yann Martel published in 2001. The protagonist is Piscine Molitor "Pi" Patel, an Indian boy from Pondicherry, India who explores issues of spirituality and metaphysics from an early age. He s ...
'', won the 2002
Man Booker Prize
The Booker Prize, formerly known as the Booker Prize for Fiction (1969–2001) and the Man Booker Prize (2002–2019), is a literary prize awarded each year for the best novel written in English and published in the United Kingdom or Ireland. ...
.
A reviewer for the ''Sydney Morning Herald'', noting that Martel himself had called the novel "terrible" and expressed a wish that it "disappear", agreed that the work suffered from a "serious crisis of identity", and lacked the power of ''Life of Pi''.
The ''Montreal Mirror'' went further, calling ''Self'' "lame... A pastiche of autobiography and post-modern plot twists, it was haunted by an off-putting tone of smug precociousness." The ''Toronto Star'' reviewer objected to ''Self''
's protagonist's "self-satisfied air", but praised the work for its deft touch and compelling narrative. A writer in ''The Independent'' described the book's handling of gender change as "crude confusion", while ''The Hindu'' described the book as "interesting ideas juxtaposed against not-so-inspiring writing".
Publication history
Martel received in 1991 a grant of $18,000 from the
Canada Council
The Canada Council for the Arts (french: Conseil des arts du Canada), commonly called the Canada Council, is a Crown corporations of Canada, Crown corporation established in 1957 as an arts council of the Government of Canada. It acts as the fede ...
to write ''Self'', which was published in Canada in 1996, with a British launch the same November.
See also
*''
Orlando: A Biography'', a novel with a similar premise
References
{{reflist, 2
1996 Canadian novels
Novels by Yann Martel
Knopf Canada books
English-language novels
Novels about rape
1996 debut novels