January 26, 2010 Lit Writ

Don’t dick with Dickner

Migrant Montrealer finds treasure in trash

by R. Brian Hastie

GRAPHIC JONAS PIETSCH

Nicolas Dickner’s Nikolski is not what it seems.
Originally published in French to much critical fanfare in 2005, the novel’s English unveiling has created an equal amount of hype.

Nikolski, primarily set in the early 1990s, centres around three free spirits who have found their way to the bustling metropolis of Montreal.

Noah, who has spent his youth leading a nomadic life with his mother driving around western and central Canada, has finally decided to settle down and go to school, picking a university. His major? Archaeology. His narrative thread leads him towards a life he never expected, surrounded by bizarre yet enchanting people, including his thesis adviser who is obsessed with garbage and waste.

Joyce Doucet hails from a tiny island located in the St. Lawrence river. She moves to the mainland to go to high school and in her final year runs away to Montreal, unsure about what she wants to do with her life.

She quickly finds employment at a fish stall and her narrative then centres around the search for her missing mother, taking part in modern (techno-)pirating antics and dumpster diving for spare parts. Her journeys through these places of waste are similar to the work Noah does on dig sites, searching for that particular piece of interest. Joyce’s narrative ends on a sour note, but explaining that bit would ruin the strange yet not-so-stunning surprise.

At first, the novel reads like a pedestrian tale of a fish-out-of-water experiencing life in the big city. As the book progresses, it becomes readily apparent that this novel, rich in symbols and mythology, is much more complex. Dickner has made this singular work a statement about modernity by weaving factual history with borrowed and established myths, as well as craftily-composed characters that pique intrigue as the plot unravels. The novel’s name, taken from an Aleutian village located in Canada’s vast north, is also the place where jack-of-all-trades protagonist Jonas Doucet is found. His ancestors Noah and Joyce Doucet both unwittingly take part in many of the same activities and traditions the original Doucet partook in.

Beyond unveiling a simple narrative of three young people coming of age, this novel also concerns itself with the sea, and all that comes with it. Tales of pirates past and present are abundant, mythologized and discussed in reverential, hushed tones. The commentary about modern waste is made apparent in both Joyce and Noah’s narratives, as each character finds much more value in the trash we collectively throw out than the average person would.
All of these tightly interwoven stories make the book an engaging and entertaining read,
forcing the reader to actually think for themselves,

as well as leaving several salient points that may or may not linger in your head for days.

Nikolski
Nicolas Dickner, translated by Lazer Lederhendler
Vintage Canada
290 pp
$13.02