This novel in the guise of a travel guide might intrigue literary
theorists but will likely exasperate readers looking for plot,
character, motivation and meaning.There was a period during the
late '60s and '70s when college students who fancied themselves
intellectuals devoured the nouveau roman ("new novel") of
Robbe-Grillet as avidly as they did the existentialism of Sartre
and Camus. Even then, Ricardou remained little-known outside his
native France, though this new translation of his 1969 novel shows
even more of an absurdist's sense of humor than most literary
experimentalists. The prose at the outset is as descriptively flat
as a travel guidebook, with the author working his way through
towns that are not only organized alphabetically but
geographically, and perhaps thematically as well. Along the way,
the reader notices the recurrence of a prominent painter of the
region, Albert Crucis, whose name (or pseudonym) translates as
"white cross." All of the place-name translations may (or may not)
have significance as well, or so the reader might learn from Atta
and Olivier, two Crucis scholars whose novel this becomes as it
progresses. Or does it? It turns out that one or both of the
scholars have already read this book, at least the preceding pages,
as part of their research, and thus ponder whether they have any
existence outside these pages. Later, the novel introduces a
first-person "I" who not only purports to be the author, but who
provides insight into the narrative (or non-narrative) strategy and
predicts how the novel will be received: "The publication of this
work will allow some to advance further down the path toward
coherence, but from a predictable majority, I have no doubt, it
will garner nothing but sarcasm and occasional threats." The reader
wondering what it all means will find himself in the position of
the character with a magnifying glass monitoring the movement of
ants.Fiction about the essence of fiction challenges the reader to
distinguish between what's allegory and what's arbitrary. (Kirkus
Reviews)
Which came first, words or things? Are your words yours, or someone
else's? And what do the Crusades have to do with it? And what do
ants have to do with it? Jean Ricardou has been given something of
a bad rap: he's widely seen as a difficult writer, or worse yet, as
an intensely serious one. However, he easily sheds this weighty
reputation in his hilariously playful new novel about the
notoriously complex world of literary theory. Supplying his readers
with everything they need to know to navigate this world, Ricardou
uses his own irreverent interpretation of deconstructive theory to
ask questions about language and history, theory and life, and all
the intriguing connections between them.
General
Imprint: |
Dalkey Archive Press
|
Country of origin: |
United States |
Series: |
French Literature Series |
Release date: |
October 2007 |
First published: |
October 2007 |
Authors: |
Jean Ricardou
|
Translators: |
Jordan Stump
|
Dimensions: |
203 x 134 x 10mm (L x W x T) |
Format: |
Hardcover
|
Pages: |
128 |
ISBN-13: |
978-1-56478-478-0 |
Subtitles: |
French
|
Categories: |
Books >
Fiction >
General & literary fiction >
Modern fiction
|
LSN: |
1-56478-478-9 |
Barcode: |
9781564784780 |
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