The Book of Proper Names

Has all the qualities that make me love Nothomb's writing: a storytelling that is deceptively simple, clear and exact. A story that is light in it's tone, but with sharp teeth hiding behind a casual smile. And a twist at the end that has the same sort of quality as a punchline in a joke (without being very funny) in that it makes everything fall into place in a completely new way, tilitng the perspective.

120 slim pages, used with a nonchalant, skipping lightness that make the pages turn themselves. I'm always left with the feeling that I've read Nothomb's books too quickly. This is no exception. A bitter bonbon of a book.

'I gave myself to the snow in the garden, I lay down beneath it and built a cathedral around me, I saw it slowly raising the walls, then the vaults, I was the recumbent figure with the cathedral all to myself, then the doors closed again and death came in search of me, white and gentle at first, then black and violent, it was going to take me away when my guardian angel came to save me at the very last minute.'

I read this odd but extremely entertaining 126 page novella in two sittings and less than two hours. Born in tragic circumstances, Plectrude is adopted as a baby by her loving aunt and uncle and raised as their third child. She is an eccentric child, unpopular at school but a star in her dance classes, imaginative and driven, show more cursed by her off-putting name and the allure of her dancer's eyes. The end of this strange story is surreal but effective. show less

A new-to-me author, this odd little book surprisingly held my interest. Its bizarre characters tell an even more bizarre story of a woman who killed the father of her unborn child because he wanted to give the baby a boring name (Joëlle). As soon as the baptism takes place, naming the child Plectrude, mother commits suicide. And that's just the beginning!

Plectrude doesn't do well at school but is accepted by école des rats to study ballet - not that ballet worked out any better. Nevertheless, Nothomb touches on some profound topics. The ending, where the author appears to have run out of ideas, is fittingly weird.

Anyone who enjoys absurd humour might appreciate this book.

A rather disturbing and definitely absurdist sort of Ugly Duckling story.

It features Plectrude, an orphan born of a mother who murdered her father when he suggested a silly name for their baby. Her mother then committed suicide, leaving Plectrude to be brought up by her sister, who always wanted to be a ballerina. Plectrude has a difficult time at school, but then gets accepted by the ballet school, and learns to be anorexic before finally finding love and becoming a swan.

I hope that real ballet school is not al all like that in this book, where the girls are ruled by a rod of iron that make them willingly starve themselves and drive their emaciated bodies to the absolute limits of their endurance. The vicarious pleasure that show more Plectrude's aunt took in her charge's body was troubling.

Both serious and silly, this short little novel has plenty to say for itself, and I enjoyed it - racing through to see how Plectrude would fare in life, especially once she finds out about her mother. show less

Gothic Nirvana! Each novella I read by Nothomb makes my skin go all bumpy. She oozes such beautiful, dark, twisted and elegant writing.

This story follows the tragic story of Plectrude, an orphan taken in by her Aunt. The background of this girl is tragic and what happens throughout the story is deeply tragic. TRAGEDY! Oh, how I love thee. For some reason I'm pulled in when a story contains anything twisted, dark and tragic. I believe it must be due to the fact that this makes something unusual, and unusual things make interesting things. Nothomb not only knows how to turn a mundane story into something so much more, but she can also play with some of the best Authors in the Gothic genre. I must devour more of her novellas... more I say!

This is a subversive modern fairytale. The story of an exceptional girl, Plectrude, who eventually escapes the curse of being exceptional.

For such a short, fey, novel, there are some very deep themes - how much of our identity is formed by our treatment by others and how much comes from within ourselves? What does it mean to be different? How much of an effect does fate have?

I have taken half a star off because of the silly ending - not something that should bar you from reading the book, but it will have you shaking your head.

A chaque livre, Amélie Nothomb parvient à m'entraîner en quelques pages dans son univers sans que je sache encore pourquoi. Sans doute la part d'imagination, d'absurdité qui fait son style. Le Robert des noms propres ne déroge pas à la règle. Il n'y a que la conclusion qui m'a laissé sur ma faim: certes originale, elle m'a paru nuire à la continuité et à la logique du récit.

Et Plectrude, quel prénom!

Les deux plus belles trouvailles de l'écrivain:

L'assassinat a ceci de comparable avec l'acte sexuel qu'il est souvent suivi de la même question: que faire du corps?

En l'espace d'une heure, Plectrude passa du statut de simplette à celui de génie. (...) Ce changement de terminologie comportait des avantages, comme ne tarda

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pas à le remarquer la petite. (...) A présent, quand elle ne venait pas à bout d'une opération simple, la maîtresse la contemplait comme l'albatros de Baudelaire, que son intelligence de géante empêchait de calculer, et ses condisciples avaient honte d'en trouver sottement la solution.

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