Headhunter

Headhunter by Timothy Findley. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780006475019.

It doesnt take long to discover the literary classic at the heart of Timothy Findleys dystopian novel Headhunter . Lilah Kemp, schizophrenic and one of a triumvirate of main characters, announces in the opening scene that she may have released the character of Kurtz from the pages of Joseph Conrads novel Heart of Darkness . Add to this fantastic formula a couple of psychiatrists named Charles Marlow and Rupert Kurtz and a huge cast of secondary players set in a futuristic pollution- and plague-ravaged Toronto, and you are left with a bizarre reinterpretation of not just one of the classics of literature, but the age-old tale of power and corruption itself. Conrad did not invent this story, Findley shrewdly points out; he just gave it a Kurtz. This is vintage Findley, who similarly re-imagined the Old Testament story of Noah and the Flood in Not Wanted on the Voyage . Headhunter is another example of Findleys ability to blend morality and entertainment. Findleys willingness to blend literature and pulp is Headhunter s greatest asset. You can get lost in the rollicking good fun of the sci-fi dystopia or you can dredge its depths for literary clues. Or you can do both. Either way, Headhunter lives up to both its best-seller and literary status. --Jonathan Dewar