Reviews

• 戦争の残酷、欺瞞、国家レベルの詐欺を盛り込んだ血湧き肉踊る物語

  著者62歳、2013年発表の小説で、その年のゴンクール賞を受賞しました。 第一次大戦後、二人のかつての軍人、エドワル･ペリクル、富裕階級の息子で、 すばらしいイラストレータで、父親から見捨てられたホモセクシャルとアルベル･ マイヤール、謙虚な会計係は、彼らの居場所を与えられないフランス社会の 無能に直面します。 1918年11月2日、丁度大戦の終わりの直前に彼等の関係は生まれます。 アルベルはある犯罪の証人です。同じ歩兵部隊のアンリ･ドルネ･プラデル中尉、 大尉の階級章を望んでる出世主義の貴族が、最後の攻撃に打って出た時、 フランス人と同様休戦を待っているドイツ軍が二人の斥候を殺したと信じ込ませ たが、しかしアルベルは、実際、中尉が背中から彼らに弾丸を撃ち込んだのを 知ってしまいます。攻撃の間、プラデルはアルベルを罠に嵌めて、砲弾の穴に 押し込めます、眼を上げると、プラデル中尉、のこれぽっちも助ける意志のない 顔を見つけます。彼は死んだ馬の頭部と面と向いながら、生き埋めにされそう です。しかし最後の最後に同僚のエドワルが傍に現われ、エドワルは残酷な 生き埋めからアルベルを救うが、砲弾の爆発により唇が割け、しゃべりが 不可能な片輪になる代償と引き換えです。アルベルはトラウマになり、 偏執狂患者になります。二人は以後、一種の協定で生き延びるため生涯の 結合し会います。 軍隊から解除され、アルベルとエドワルは、苦衷を舐めて、パリで生きます。 エドワルは家に帰ることが出来ません、片輪という理由でなく、単に金持ちの 父親を嫌悪してるから。彼は名前を変えて家族、父親と妹マドレーヌは彼が 生きているかも知らされません。前線で死んだ或る兵士と軍事証明書を入れ 替えるのに成功し、以後、エドワルはウジェーヌと名乗り、常にアルベルと離 れず、秘密の生活をします。彼等の一番の心配はお金です。エドワルは今迄 想像したこともない詐欺を最悪考えます、しかも大金が手に入る詐欺を。 戦後の流行で最も価値のある物、愛国主義で支持された詐欺を中心に置き、 見捨てられた二人は国家の不躾に対し復讐をします。彼らは市町に架空の 死人の記念品を売りつけます。プラデル中尉に関しては、戦場の仮の墓場に 埋められた多くの死者達を利用して、軍人墓地に再度埋葬されるのを予見し て、国家と契約を交わします。土や石コロ、フランス人、さらにドイツ軍人の 死体の切れ端で一杯の棺桶を集めて売りさばきます。 フランスに実際起こった事実を元にした、戦争の残酷、復讐、裏切り、詐欺、 国家レベルの公金横領を盛り込んだ血湧き肉踊る物語で、2013年の フランスのベストセラーです。

• Pierre Lemaître me encanta

  Libro contundente. No seria objetiva. Me gusta mucho este autor. El libro, en sí, un libro de bolsillo sin muchas pretensiones.

• Stupendo

  "Au revoir là-haut" è semplicemente bellissimo, toccante, commovente. Questo romanzo picaresco - primo capitlo di una trilogia - ci proietta nella realtà drammatica del primo dopoguerra francese, basandosi su fatti realmente accaduti, vale a dire le malversazioni nella creazione dei cimiteri di guerra. La guerra come sola igiene del mondo, la guerra come massima espressione dell'amore verso la patria: se cercate questi toni, guardate altrove. Pierre Lemaitre ci porta in una realtà cruda e spietata che niente ha a che fare con questa immagini retoriche. 11 novembre 1918: la Francia e l'Europa escono da un conflitto devastante. Quella che doveva essere una guerra lampo si è trasformata in una logorante guerra di trincea, che ha lasciato sul campo 50 milioni di morti e milioni di mutilati o affetti da stress post-traumatico. I due protagonisti Albert ed Eduard sono appunto due reduci: uno affetto da manie paranoiche, l'altro sfigurato da una bomba (una cosiddetta "guele cassée"). Essi fanno i conti con una società che celebra i morti ma è incapace di riaccogliere i vivi, finendo per richiudersi in loro stessi: in definitiva non sono mai veramente tornati dalla trincea. La realtà è popolata da tanti esseri gretti e mediocri, a partire dal capitano Henri Dulnay-Pradelle: un uomo egoista e spregevole, che ha sfruttato la decorazione bellica come trampolino per la propria carriera. Un uomo senza scrupoli, che si butterà nel lucroso business delle esumazioni dei soldati. Albert ed Eduard si gettano invece in un imbroglio così geniale da essere quasi apprezzabile se non fosse disdicevole. "Au revoir là-haut" si mangia tutto d'un fiato e non ci si rende nemmeno conto delle 600 pagine, con la lingua francese dell'autore che scorre agevolmente come un fiume in piena (necessario un livello B2 per leggerlo in lingua). Al termine del romanzo - con le lacrime che fanno capolino dai nostri occhi - si ha solo voglia di continuare la lettura della triologia.

• Original in many ways

  Suspense, excellent characters, original story, a bit gruesome, written in a very attractive and different mode. Each character is very well depicted.

• Attention CHEF d'OEUVRE

  Cette grande et belle histoire ,inspirée par ce drame humain que fut la première guerre mondiale, est en fait la description parfaite des conséquences que ce conflit meurtrier put avoir sur la nature ,et le caractère des hommes qui furent entrainés dans cet apocalypse. J’ai tenu à prendre connaissance du film en premier. Magnifique réalisation d’Albert Dupontel , qui sera , j’en suis certain considérée au fil du temps, comme étant un grand classique , même si quelques libertés furent présentées par rapport au roman de Pierre Lemaitre , qui , lui a été classé au prix Goncourt. Je me suis donc procuré du livre, et je ne regrette pas, après lecture, d’avoir pris connaissance des deux versions ( film et livre ) avec leur quelques différences. Nous sommes quelque part sur le front, le 9 novembre 1918 , où les hommes terrés dans leur tranchée attendent la fin des hostilités. Deux combattants de deux classes sociales différentes, Albert Maillard ( modeste comptable dans le civil ) et Edouard Péricourt, ( issu de la haute bourgeoisie , artiste dessinateur et peintre de talent ),que son Père avait rejeté pour ses tendances homosexuelles, sont deux fidèles amis ,que l’horreur des combats avait rapproché. Afin de commander tous ces hommes qui croupissent dans le froid et la boue de leur tranchée, il y a un ignoble « va-t-en guerre « , le lieutenant Henri d’Aulnay- Pradelle, homme arriviste à l’extrême, assoiffé de pouvoir, qui ne possède qu’un seul objectif : accéder au grade de Capitaine « coute que coute », et qui, pour son prestige personnel, se lancera au dernier moment dans une offensive suicidaire contre l’ennemi, prétextant que deux éclaireurs Français furent abattus par l’ennemi, alors que ce fut lui –même qui commis ce crime., Au cours de l’offensive, Pradelle se sentant démasqué par Albert Maillard, pousse ce malheureux dans un trou d’obus. La terre et les gravats recouvrent ce pauvre garçon le condamnant à une mort atroce et certaine. Spontanément Edouard intervient pour secourir et sauver son Ami, au prix d’un effort surhumain et d’une grave blessure provoquée par un éclat d’obus ,ce qui le classera par la suite, comme étant une « gueule cassée ». La solidarité entre Edouard et Albert se renforce, ce dernier faisant parvenir la dose quotidienne de morphine pour stopper la douleur insupportable dont souffre son ami La guerre se termine. On nous donne un aperçu de l’après-guerre : Nouvelles voitures, nouvelle mode féminine , nouvel état d’esprit, qui fait apparaitre un « vent » de Liberté avec la naissance des années folles Quant à l’ignoble lieutenant ,qui arrive à ses fins ,en accédant au grade de capitaine , celui-ci se lance dans une escroquerie, qui prend appui sur une des valeurs les plus nobles d’après- guerre : le PATRIOTISME. Les monuments fictifs aux morts et le rapatriement des cercueils de ceux qui sont morts devant l’ennemi. Afin de donner une crédibilité, Pradelle profite de nombreux morts inhumés dans des tombes de « fortune » sur le champ de bataille pour signer un contrat avec l’Etat, qui prévoit de les inhumer de nouveau avec des cercueils remplis de ce qu’il reste de ces malheureux avec de la terre et des cailloux, afin que le poids paraisse normal. Cet ignoble trafic durera un certain temps, jusqu’au jour ou Albert résigné et révolté à la fois, ayant suivi la trace de Pradelle, arrive dans un cimetière où, sous le commandement de ce « salaud » on continue à extraire les corps de ces malheureux, voire de ce qu’il en reste. Albert pointe son révolver sur cet odieux personnage mais ne tire pas. Pradelle mort de « trouille » recule, recule et tombe dans un immense trou, englouti comme un déchet humain par des tonnes de terre et de gravats. Ce détail, qui n’est que justice, n’est pas signalé dans le roman de Pierre Lemaitre, par contre dans le film, il est en toute visibilité. Je recommande vivement cette production, LIVRE ou FILM, dans les deux cas, il s’agit d’un CHEF- d’OEUVRE

• To Their Graves Again

  "Those who thought that this war would be over quickly are all dead. Of the war, of course." Early November, 1918; what a marvelous opening! This massive novel, winner of the Prix Goncourt for 2013, has all the makings of a popular success. Something of a sucès-de-scandale in France, where it challenges the national preoccupation with patriotic valor, and paints a vitriolic portrait of virtually the entire establishment. But it is also a mighty good story by any account, that starts in the trenches of WW1 and changes into a fascinating tale of crime and corruption, with a nail-biting finish. It will surely be a best-seller in translation, and I can already imagine the Hollywood movie or BBC miniseries. However, I find it hard to gauge its literary value; it is a very different animal from the works of previous Goncourt winners such as Michel Houellebecq, Marie N'Diaye, or Jean Echenoz. The set-up is simple. Two French soldiers, Albert Maillard and Édouard Péricourt, both wounded in a pointless operation a few days before the Armistice of November 11, 1918, save each other's lives. Albert is buried alive; Édouard digs him out in the nick of time, but is himself wounded. Their recovery is hindered by Lieutenant Henri d'Aulnay-Pradelle, who sets up the attack to seize his last chance at promotion, killing some of his own men to further his own heroic legend; he is a made-for-the-movies villain, handsome, ubiquitous, and utterly detestable. After 150 pages, the action moves forward by a year. Albert is scraping a living while trying to look after Édouard, who feels he is too disfigured to return to his rich family, and is living under a false name. D'Aulnay-Pradelle meanwhile, has married into Édouard's family, and is using his connections to rise rapidly in society. He becomes a postwar profiteer, contracting with the government to disinter the bodies of soldiers from their battlefield graves and rebury them in large official cemeteries. But he is greedy, and cuts corners. Albert and Édouard, meanwhile, start their own scheme to raise money for war memorials, based on Édouard's extraordinary abilities as an artist. The author cites several articles suggesting that something of this kind was an actual scandal in the years following the War. Certainly, he has a remarkable knowledge of French bureaucracy, and a perfect ear for how the rich use their status to manipulate those less powerful. I am in awe at Lemaitre's skill at plotting. Starting from just these three major characters, he gradually introduces others -- Édouard's sister and father, Pradelle's fellow directors, a tenacious inspector from the Ministry, the landlady's daughter who becomes fascinated with Édouard, and the beautiful maid who falls for Albert -- working them into the remainder of the novel as integral parts of the action. He has a way of presenting plot twists as faits accomplis, and only then going back to explain how they came about. He is brilliant at building a climax. Morally, the book is more challenging. I found myself liking quite a few of the characters, but approving of none of them. The attractive ones include the meek yet resourceful Albert, Édouard's sister, and even his banker father, cold though he seemed at the beginning. But none of the characters are without bad traits, and even our heroes engage in deceptive, if not downright criminal, behavior. The back cover calls the novel a "fresco of a rare cruelty," and there is certainly a quality of violence to the writing, that almost revels in injury, insult, and degradation (not to mention decomposing bodies) as though this were a 19th-century melodrama seen through the lens of an R-rated film-maker. Hence, I think, my difficulty in finding a context within which to rate this. Its subject is early 20th-century, and Lemaitre mentions a couple of novels from the period that influenced him. But for me, the overriding sensation was of reading a novel from the 19th century. The obvious comparison is with Balzac's LE COLONEL CHABERT, also about a soldier buried alive who finds it difficult to return to civil life. But in scope, it is more like Stendhal, or Zola, or most of all Hugo's LES MISÉRABLES; Lemaitre at one point even compares Pradelle to Javert. In any case, the kind of novel they don't write any more -- or write, if they do, to sell in airports rather than enter for prizes. And yet I was always conscious of this being a 21st-century product, for its attitudes, its authorial voice, and not least for its language that kept me going to the online dictionary, looking up presumably slang words that as often or not I could not find. I feel I cannot possibly give it less than five stars, but part of me wonders how much of this is due to the undertaking of reading it in French. When it becomes a best-seller in English, will it seem then merely another blockbuster historical novel, or truly a prizewinner, something exceptional? We shall see. [After corresponding with a couple of Francophone friends, I would add the following. Much of my difficulty with context probably stems from the fact that the book is written simultaneously in two registers, the literary and the popular, which often jostle one another within the bounds of a single sentence. It is a kind of sampling technique that could really only be done in the postmodern era, even though the story goes back a century, and the idea of the grand novel a century before that. Secondly, it is a book that changes its colors as it progresses. The opening 150 pages have a philosophical depth, psychological perception, and richness of style which does not at all conflict with the Prix Goncourt world. But as it becomes increasingly more of a plot-driven novel, it also becomes more commercial -- though doubtless highly successful in that genre.]

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