Hallucinating Foucault (1996)

I've had this book lying around for years, and I rather regret nog having read it sooner, I very much enjoyed it...
The story of a student's quest for the writer he is doing his research on is well-written and drew me in completely. The themes of love and madness, of writing and reading, leave you with something to think about, and I feel the scenes with Paul Michel really give you an idea of what it is like to suffer from a mental illness, what it means for someone, how it influences everything in your life.
In the end, everything comes together beautifully and all lose strings are tied up neatly. The death of Paul Michel leaves you devastated, and yet, perhaps he finally has some peace now...

I really wanted to read something written by Paul Michel after reading the book, only to find out he doesn't actually exist. Which I find rather sad, I would have loved to read his work... ( )

I was very impressed by this book and found it very moving. It is a complex story of the relationship between author and reader and has a wonderful thriller-like twist in it that I didn't see coming at all. The writing is crisp and immediate with some beautiful descriptions that re-create the emotions and feelings that go with a place. My one criticism is that if anything the book is too short which means that the author has not had time to develop and play out one of the key relationships in the story. For me this made that relationship seem a little unreal and a little two-dimensional. Despite this I would thoroughly recommend this book to anyone and I look forward to reading more of Patricia Duncker's work. ( )

I started reading this book on a lazy morning and kept reading for an hour or so. Very grippingly told. But the the main character meets Paul Michel in the asylum, and suddenly I stopped believing the characters. They all flattened, and all that was left was an over-the-top emotional rollercoaster that wasn't very believable. ( )

Women writers, France

http://tamaranth.blogspot.com/2011/06/201125-hallucinating-foucault-patricia.htm... ( )