Picture of author.

Hervé Le Tellier

Autor(a) de The Anomaly

42+ Works 1,576 Membros 88 Críticas 1 Favorited

About the Author

Image credit: Piscis13

Obras por Hervé Le Tellier

The Anomaly (2020) 1,191 exemplares
Enough About Love (2009) 130 exemplares
Electrico W (2011) 41 exemplares
The Sextine Chapel (2005) 22 exemplares
All Happy Families: A Memoir (2017) 19 exemplares
The Intervention of a Good Man (2007) 16 exemplares
Joconde jusqu'à cent (1998) 14 exemplares
Winter Journeys (1979) 13 exemplares
La disparition de Perek (1997) 10 exemplares
Moi et François Mitterrand (2016) 9 exemplares
Joconde sur votre indulgence (2002) 8 exemplares
Sonates de bar (1991) 8 exemplares
Encyclopædia inutilis (2002) 8 exemplares
Esthétique de l'Oulipo (2006) 6 exemplares
Le voleur de nostalgie (1992) 5 exemplares
Inukshuk, l'homme debout (1999) 4 exemplares
Atlas Inutilis (2018) 4 exemplares
Les opossums célèbres (2007) 3 exemplares
Cités de mémoire (2003) 2 exemplares
Conférence intime 1 exemplar
Le Poulpe, Tome 8 : La disparition de Perek (2001) — Autor — 1 exemplar
No hablemos más de amor (2023) 1 exemplar
L'orage en aout (2003) 1 exemplar
The Anonamly 1 exemplar

Associated Works

McSweeney's Issue 22: Three Books Held Within By Magnets (2007) — Contribuidor — 335 exemplares
Lectures de Romain Gary (2011) — Contribuidor — 7 exemplares

Etiquetado

Conhecimento Comum

Membros

Críticas

I'm not sure if the library employee who put this work in the "similar to 50 Shades of Gray" display just did so because, "Hey, sex", or if they were knowingly being a little subversive, placing a non-erotic work of eroticism coming out of the French intellectualist movement of Oulipo in amidst all the sexual rabble. The latter would be fun.

Anyway, it's an amusing enough little divertisement, each page a very brief lighthearted sketch of a different couple's sexual encounter, the persons involved coming out of a limited pool of characters so that when all the couplings are graphed out you produce a couple of geometric patterns.

Thus form is the main thing and point, as is the Oulipo wont, while the writing is casually amusing, though nothing terribly special. The best chuckle for me:
Sofia and Dennis.
The memory of a scene in the film The Postman Always Rings Twice, directed by Bob Rafelson, in which Frank (Jack Nicholson) takes Cora (Jessica Lange) on the kitchen table, is clearly stimulating Dennis while he sodomizes Sofia on just that same item of furniture. Sofia, for whom sodomy is exciting but not quite orgasmic, is rubbing her clitoris faster and faster. The bottle of olive oil is marked "Cold-Pressed Extra Virgin," but that's irrelevant.

It occurs to Dennis that if he were a praying mantis, his female would now turn round and devour his head. He shivers.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
lelandleslie | 1 outra crítica | Feb 24, 2024 |
Brilliant mix of thriller and science fiction, engaging with a magic moment in which an Air France Boeing and its passengers, travelling from Paris to New York, get duplicated during a storm. The one Boeing lands in March, the duplicated one in June. The duplication raises all kinds of existential problems and questions, in particular for the passengers themselves, the security apparatus and the wider human community. This anomaly is dealt with in different ways. It is treated as a threat, a sign of God, an opportunity to mend ways, or as a sign of the end of time.

The way Le Tellier relates the story is by splitting the book in three parts. In part 1 we get to know various characters that were on the plane. In part 2, the second Air France plane re-appears and is guided to a Military airbase. Here the security forces and two Princeton computer geeks have to execute their own (ludicrous) protocol dealing with such eventualities. The crew and passengers are held in isolation and questioned. Meanwhile their doppelgangers are apprehended and ferried to the air base. In part 3, the various passengers and crew are allowed to engage with their alter egos and work out a new way of dealing with the aftermath of a shared identity. Those who want, can opt for a witness protection program and continue their lives as different persons.

So what struck me, raised my interest? Le Tellier has found an interesting prism, with the duplicating plane, for exploring some existential questions, neatly elaborated in personal cases. First, there is the gimmick of the hired assassin, who goes missing from the hangar (creating a fire, escaping, taking on a different identity), travels back to Paris and kills his alter ego (chopping up his body in acid, making him disappear). Problem fixed. Second, there is the response of the security apparatus (isolation of the June flight, implementation of a silly protocol dreamed up by a couple of nerd students, mobilization of Nobel Prize winners, presidential coordination with Xi Jinping and Macron), which Le Tellier uses to analyse the banality of power (both political and scientific). Third, is the response of society as a whole and religious pundits/fanatics – le Tellier shows how the security forces try to coax consensus out of all religious leaders, crafting a uniform message of harmony and peace. But that proves futile once the religious fanatics go to town on this unusual event: an opportunity to announce the end of times, or take action, such as the futile killing of a young actress and her alter ego after presenting their case in a famous late night talk show. Fourth, and probably most interesting, are the impact of dealing with 3 missing months of life, for a number of key personalities that have been introduced in part 1. What happens if your alter ego fell pregnant, changing the dynamic of a love relationship (well, the non pregnant alter ego decides to cut loose and change her identity, despite secretly hoping to regain her lover). What happens when an obscure writer produces a master piece and kills himself, only for his alter ego to return in public life and enjoy the newly gained fame (well the latter is exactly what happens, and moreover, he exhibits a totally care free view on life while attracting a new love life). What happens when a relationship that was dead in the water anyway, is viewed upon by the disappointed party three months on? (some kind of wisdom shines thru, but also a kind of infinite sadness and a knee-jerk response to warn his alter ego for what is coming and if at all possible to behave differently to save the affair). What happens when your daughter has been abused by her PTSS afflicted dad in the three months of your absence? What happens when a boy suddenly finds himself saddled with two envious moms? (well, he simply proposes a rational time-sharing system that his mom(s) could never have devised). What happens when a patient with fatal pancreatic cancer gets a second chance at saving his own life, through a new procedure? (well, this the saddest case – the man dies again and his brother, wife and kids have to undergo the same painful process twice…). It is in the individual cases that Le Tellier can table and discuss the big questions in life. Brilliant idea.
… (mais)
 
Assinalado
alexbolding | 67 outras críticas | Feb 7, 2024 |
Sci Fi, fantasy? A very strange story of one flight that lands in two places three months apart and in two different locations. Both landings include the same people. We follow the investigation into how this anamoly could occur and what it means to the people involved. The people of both flights meet their ?other self.? We learn that this also happened to a Chinese flight but it is kept secret from the world. We follow half dozen passengers as they decide to how to live their lives with a double. The book ends with a third plane with the same passengers being spotted. This plane, however, is destroyed in air by the government. How does that affect the people of the other two landings? A mystery to ponder. Kirkus: A mystifying phenomenon sends shock waves through the world of an alternate 2021.The opening chapter presents a detailed portrait of a professional assassin called Blake, a man described as ?extremely meticulous, cautious, and imaginative.? The same adjectives could be applied to author Le Tellier: Trained as a mathematician and a scientific journalist, he uses these first pages to prime the reader for his methodically crafted story. The action then abruptly jumps to Victor Miesel, a disillusioned author and translator who becomes ?mired in a horrible impression of unreality? after a turbulent flight. Over the following weeks, Miesel feverishly writes a new book called The anomaly, sends it to his editor, and kills himself. Then, snap, a new chapter begins, introducing a film editor named Lucie, who, along with every subsequently introduced character (eleven, altogether), is inexplicably requisitioned by the authorities.The connection between these people soon becomes clear: They were all passengers on the same turbulent flight. What exactly happened on this airplane? Le Tellier withholds the details for long enough that revealing the mystery here would spoil the entrancing quality of the book. Hunter?s brilliant translation from the Frenchher fifth collaboration with Le TellierÂ¥transforms Le Tellier?s distinct French voice into a distinct English one. More importantly, Hunter captures the playful exhilaration with which Le Tellier marries his audacious plot to a deep concern for existentialist philosophy. Excerpts from Miesel?s The anomaly appear in epigraphs for each new section, including: ?There is something admirable that always surpasses knowledge, intelligence, and even genius, and that is incomprehension.?Humorous, captivating, thoughtfulÂ¥existentialism has never been so thrilling.… (mais)
 
Assinalado
bentstoker | Jan 26, 2024 |
(2021) SF? Mystery? Hard to tell, but I loved it. This is one weird book about a collection of people that seem to have nothing in common except for a Air France flight they were on in March that encounters turbulence but land safely. Then in June the same plane and passengers lands again after the turbulence. Duplicates of the plane and passengers yet not in subtle ways. How do the originals and duplicates cope? Ends with the US shooting down a 3rd Air France flight with the same triplicates. And then it ends or does it?KIRKUS: A mystifying phenomenon sends shock waves through the world of an alternate 2021.The opening chapter presents a detailed portrait of a professional assassin called Blake, a man described as ?extremely meticulous, cautious, and imaginative.? The same adjectives could be applied to author Le Tellier: Trained as a mathematician and a scientific journalist, he uses these first pages to prime the reader for his methodically crafted story. The action then abruptly jumps to Victor Miesel, a disillusioned author and translator who becomes ?mired in a horrible impression of unreality? after a turbulent flight. Over the following weeks, Miesel feverishly writes a new book called The anomaly, sends it to his editor, and kills himself. Then, snap, a new chapter begins, introducing a film editor named Lucie, who, along with every subsequently introduced character (eleven, altogether), is inexplicably requisitioned by the authorities.The connection between these people soon becomes clear: They were all passengers on the same turbulent flight. What exactly happened on this airplane? Le Tellier withholds the details for long enough that revealing the mystery here would spoil the entrancing quality of the book. Hunter's brilliant translation from the Frenchher fifth collaboration with Le TellierÂ¥transforms Le Tellier's distinct French voice into a distinct English one. More importantly, Hunter captures the playful exhilaration with which Le Tellier marries his audacious plot to a deep concern for existentialist philosophy. Excerpts from Miesel's The anomaly appear in epigraphs for each new section, including: ?There is something admirable that always surpasses knowledge, intelligence, and even genius, and that is incomprehension.?Humorous, captivating, thoughtfulÂ¥existentialism has never been so thrilling.Pub Date: Nov. 23, 2021ISBN: 978-1-63542-169-9Page Count: 336Publisher: Other Press… (mais)
 
Assinalado
derailer | 67 outras críticas | Jan 25, 2024 |

Listas

Prémios

You May Also Like

Associated Authors

Estatísticas

Obras
42
Also by
2
Membros
1,576
Popularidade
#16,375
Avaliação
½ 3.7
Críticas
88
ISBN
115
Línguas
16
Marcado como favorito
1

Tabelas & Gráficos