Philippe Claudel

This is a haunting book that will stay with me. Monsieur Linh is in an unnamed country, living in a refugee centre for those who have, like him, fled on an elderly ship from his homeland which has become a war zone - surely Vietnam? His memories of home conjure up an east Asian destination in any case. His family members have all been killed - except for his baby granddaughter, whom he keeps close and cares for every second of the day and night. One one of his daily wanderings, he meets Monsieur Bark, similarly lonely and isolated since the death of his wife, and the two men, despite having no shared language, develop a deep bond of friendship. Then Monsieur Linh has to be re-homed ... This is a restrained and simply told story, which evokes a compelling picture of a gentle man, deeply traumatised by the loss not only of his community and family, but of his homeland, landscapes and daily rhythms. A compassionate, moving book, with an unexpected twist that reveals even more about the losses this elderly man has sustained.… (mais)

L'auteur est-il aussi pessimiste, sombre que ce qu'il laisse à voir dans son livre ? personne n'échappe à ses descriptions mauvaises, personne n'est bon, intelligent ou même pacifiste. Sauf celui qui est traité par presque tous comme un idiot, presque l'idiot du village, battu humilié plus souvent qu'à son tour durant son enfance. Et puis une toute jeune fille, lumineuse et sereine, malgré les drames qui la frappent, et ces deux êtres là remettent un peu de baume au cœur tellement la noirceur des âmes qui les environnent devient angoissante. Philippe Claudel écrit bien, son histoire est, hélas, celle qui s'est produite dans le monde un nombre incalculable de fois, et l'on sait qu'elle se reproduira encore. De quoi pleurer, ou faire des cauchemars.… (mais)

Five stories that may—or may not—be connected. Each features (or mentions) a man whose role in the story is sometimes significant, sometimes not. He may—or may not—be the same person in the various stories. This collection reflects in particular on Germany’s role in World War II. A deserter wanders through empty land and abandoned villages, trying to leave the war behind him. An old man recalls his first sexual encounter with a stranger who whispered another man's name. A young woman takes a job in a home for the elderly, all the while dreaming of dancing at the nightclub. The next story imagines what might have happened if the artist Franz Marc (who died at Verdun in WWI) had survived, only to lose his mind and become a victim to Hitler's policy of “eliminating” all persons judged mentally unfit. A young Jewish girl whose sharply imagined life is destroyed, is rescued from a concentration camp, only to struggle with her memories. The theme of the collection, as with most of Claudel’s work, is reflecting on the meaning of the past, the significance of memory despite its unreliability. He writes about cruelty and about guilt. I was, in truth, not particularly taken with the collection as a whole (though it had its moments) but Claudel is undeniably a powerful writer whose reflections are moving, well-considered, and cannot be ignored.… (mais)