Cronus' Children

Cronus (or Kronos), in Greek mythology, was the leader of the first generation of Titans, divine decendants of Gaia, the earth, and Uranus, the sky. Cronus overthrew his father, ruled during the mythological Golden Age, and was overthrown by his own son, Zeus. It is said that Cronus was castrated by his son Zeus just like he had done with his father Uranus before.

Cronus, in this novel, is 74-year old Henri Prouillan, ex-minister, leading citizen, and resented father, husband, and brother of the Prouillan family. All that happens in this novel takes place within a day, beginning in the late morning of the 9th of July until dawn next day. This date is significant. Henri, in the salon of his grand apartment at Place d'Antioche, gets ready show more to bring the old dog to the vet, for a last and final visit. It is significant, too, that he chooses this day to bring the beloved dog there. All of Henri's children have gone, his wife is dead, and only the loyal housekeeper, remains. It seems Henri is alone with his thoughts that day, but the thoughts of members of his entire family, and those closest to them, wherever they were in the world actually converge in that house at Place d'Antioche, as each remember what took place there exactly two decades ago that day, and how their lives and their relationships were forever changed from that moment.

Twenty years ago, Bertrand, the youngest of the four children, was a brilliant student and poet. For 20 years now, he has been living in the family estate in Moncrabeau, away from the eyes of his family, a broken shell of a being, product of his father's cold decision to "cure" him of his homosexuality, flagrant, scandalous and harmful for Proullan's rising political career. It was the 9th of July, his birthday, when he returned from having this treatment, and the family learned everything.

Navarre strips layer after layer from the lives of the characters, to reveal their weaknesses, their disappointments, and their failures, and the unacknowledged but strong bonds that connect them to each other. Luc, the eldest, is a successful industrialist but could not sustain relationships; Sebastien could not get over losing his family in a painful divorce; Claire, an artist, continues to grieve for her dead husband; and Suzanne, Prouillan's sister, lives in the legacy of her dead playwright husband. Loss and grief is a common experience and hounded them, seemingly an extension of the first loss and grief they went through 20 years ago. That they were marked forever by the event shows in their living for a time when their world was still whole, untainted by the monstrous deed. Time has not purged the anger, the helplessness, the bitterness, and the guilt, most specially the guilt over Bertrand. They were complicit in the act.

We never know the thoughts of Prouillan and Bertrand, the central characters. He drives the story, but we never access Prouillan's motives, interests, and feelings. We can only guess that he did what he did in order to tame Bertrand, the rebel child. For Prouillan, there were no half-measures, even if it destroyed lives. Bertrand lives through the kindness of the family paid to look after him, and we know almost nothing of his animal existence. We know him though before his world fell through, as we read through his passionate missives to an older lover. We learn that the lover killed himself, and somehow we get the feeling that Prouillan must be behind it.

This book is not an easy read, there is so much tension and antagonism that simmers below the surface, in the characters' recollections. They are each tortured individuals, marked by the father, at the same time, feeling as helpless now as they were when they were children, in the face of this coldhearted individual. Cronus' reach is far and enduring, and we realize that he himself is the children's greatest tragedy.

Yves Navarre (born 1940) was a French gay writer, whose works were on homosexuality and related issues. He was awarded the Prix Goncourt in 1981 for this novel. He was François Mitterand´s main advocate in the gay community in the 1980s. He killed himself in 1994. show less

Una de las mas originales novelas de la literatura francesa, tanto en su fondo como en su forma. Una familia, un día. La vida los separa, el texto los reúne. Novela, saga, he aquí a la familia Proullian, el recuerdo de los muertos y la memoria de los vivos. En torno al personaje central -el padre- se despliegan las restantes figura, Luc, Sébastien y Claire, quienes celebran el curioso aniversario de los cuarenta años del menor de los cuatro hijos: Bertrand. ¿Por que esta encerrado Bertrand en la mansión familiar Moncrabeau? ¿Por que abandonan todos el domicilio parisiense número 2 de la plaza de Antioche, barrio distinguido? ¿Que pasa con el jardín de aclimatación?.

Gegoede ministerfamilie, gedetailleerde familieportretten. Probleem: zoon Bertrand wordt omwille van zijn andere geaardheid verbannen naar een buitenhuis in de Pyreneeën.
De hele handeling speelt zich af in één etmaal: veertig jaar herinneringen in één dag.