Amélie Nothomb

Book club pick :)

I’ve never read anything by Amélie Nothomb, now I think that it would be nice to read more. This book is an homage to and a biography of the author’s father, Patrick Nothomb (partly fictionalized, I’m guessing).

It begins with Patrick facing a firing squad during a hostage crisis and ends with a rescue. In between, there is a life. I liked the writing very much.

“… je vois ma joie insolite d’exister.
Insolite parce que insolente: autour de mois régnait le chagrin. J’avais huit mois quand mon père est mort dans un accident de déminage. Comme quoi, mourir est un tradition familiale. ”

There is a kind of frozen dignity in the prose. Things are described with sympathy, a touch of sarcasm, and a touch of heartbreak. Patrick’s mother cannot love him:
“Ses chaussures à talons faisaient en s’éloignant un bruit superbe qui me rendait malade d’amour.”

My favourite part was the time Patrick spent with his paternal grandfather the baron and his family. The baron is so charming, so dignified – and terrible, out of touch with reality. The household is ridiculously horrific (horrifically ridiculous?). Yet Patrick experiences that naive and oblivious happiness of childhood, when you adapt to strange situations you don’t completely understand and learn to enjoy them. Perhaps you enjoy them even more if you are not loved enough.

“De ce que j’avais connu en six années et demie d’existence, ces vacances de Noël furent ce qui ressemblait le plus au bonheur. ”

I was slightly less interested in Patrick the adolescent, checking how much time I had left in every chapter. The story of how he met his future wife was entertaining, though. And the last chapter was riveting.… (more)

Altro piccolo capolavoro di una scrittrice che definire originale e innovativa credo sia quasi riduttivo.
Solo cinque giornalisti, uno dopo l’altro, riescono ad incontrare il premio Nobel Prétextat Tach a cui restano ormai solo due mesi di vita. I primi quattro non avranno vita facile con il terribile e geniale scrittore che riuscirà a ridicolizzarli cinicamente con la sua dialettica. Solo l’ultimo, per di più una donna, l’essere inferiore, riuscirà, contro ogni previsione, a tenergli testa e a spingerlo a svelarsi in maniera del tutto inaspettata.
Dialoghi continui e serrati dal ritmo incalzante in un crescendo quasi incessante sino al sorprendente finale.
Un’altra prova maiuscola di una scrittrice a cui non difetta l’intelligenza, l’ironia e la capacità di affascinare con le parole.
… (more)