Tuesday, August 06, 2024

Two More French Novels


French Windows by Antoine Laurain (published 2024) is fun to read. My friend Deb at Readerbuzz sent me her copy when she finished reading it, and I’m very grateful to her for this thoughtful gift!

The novel consists of  a series of stories about the residents of a single apartment building. The narrator is a psychiatrist, and his patient is a photographer who has lost her ability to take photos. When he asks about the subject of the last photo she took, she says: “A murder.” (p, 20) Because she isn’t responsive to his questions, he suggests that she write the stories. As he reads them he becomes engaged in trying to discover if they are true or if she has invented them — in other words, he becomes very engaged in his patient’s narrative, probably inappropriately so.

I enjoyed the stories about the various residents of the building, I enjoyed the narrative by the psychiatrist, and I loved the surprise ending.

Other apartment-building novels that I’ve read include Elif Shafak’s The Flea Palace, published in 2002; Manil Suri's The Death of Vishnu, published in 2001; and Georges Perec's Life a User's Manual, published in 1978 (English translation, 1987). There are many others, and it’s fascinating to see how different authors use this device.



The Great Swindle by Pierre Lemaitre (published 2013) is ANYTHING BUT fun to read! It’s a story about the horrors of World War I and the aftermath of pain, corruption, and cynicsm. I can’t remember how I heard of it, but I regret reading it. Though it made me miserable, it also made me curious because the villains were so appalling that I could not resist continuing to read and see if they were suitably punished.

A reviewer in the New York Times, Sarah Lyall, wrote about the author’s “fondness for graphic descriptions, a tendency he shows with perhaps too much relish in ‘The Great Swindle.’ But objecting to the grotesque scenes in Mr. Lemaitre’s books would be like going to the Galápagos and complaining that there were too many turtles: futile and beside the point.”

7 comments:

  1. That first one sounds like a real treat. WW1 stories are hard, aren't they! Filled with tragedy 😢

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  2. French Windows does sound like a good read. But I'll take your works for The Great Swindle and skip it. It did win an award I see though. hugs-Erika

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  3. I HAVE to get French Window. I love Lurain's work!

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  4. Il y a une magnifique adaptation au cinéma de ce livre "Au revoir la-haut" par Albert Dupontel

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  5. "French Windows" by Antoine Laurain sounds like an intriguing read with its blend of narratives and psychological elements. The interplay between the psychiatrist and his patient, coupled with the mysteries surrounding the apartment building, must make for a compelling and thought-provoking story. Your mention of other apartment-building novels highlights how diverse and rich this literary theme can be.

    I just posted a new blog post at www.melodyjacob.com. I invite you to read. Thank you!

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  6. “Melody Jacob” has been leaving some unusual-sounding comments on blogs recently. There’s something about the way these comments are written that makes me suspicious that they are composed by AI. They aren’t like most of the comments on my blog and the ones I usually read. I did check the linked blog — it’s not the type I usually follow.

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  7. Thanks for the book reviews. I think I would enjoy the first book.
    Take care, enjoy your day and happy weekend.

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