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Hygiène de l'assassin (French Edition)
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Mass Market Paperback
We read this book at our French Lit. book club. Hygiène de l'assassin is the story of a Nobel Prize writer Pretextat Tach who is suffering from cancer and whose days are counted. He is also armchair bound. He invites for the first time 5 journalists to interview him in turn.
It is a series of dialogues between himself and the journalists. The main pleasure for me was the cleverness of the dialogue which was at times very funny. Many of the themes which the last journalist introduced into the story were very relevant to contemporary life. The character of Tach was at the same time fascinating and abhorrant.
It has a real sense of mounting tension, and its construction as a dialogue or succession of dialogues is interesting in itself, contributing greatly to the dramatic tension, without loss of clarity.
As you read the book, the choice of the title becomes clear and the ending is unexpected. One task we set ourselves in the Book CLub was to invent a different ending.
I give the book four stars as it is slow to start with but pick up very quickly. It is worth persevering.
It is a series of dialogues between himself and the journalists. The main pleasure for me was the cleverness of the dialogue which was at times very funny. Many of the themes which the last journalist introduced into the story were very relevant to contemporary life. The character of Tach was at the same time fascinating and abhorrant.
It has a real sense of mounting tension, and its construction as a dialogue or succession of dialogues is interesting in itself, contributing greatly to the dramatic tension, without loss of clarity.
As you read the book, the choice of the title becomes clear and the ending is unexpected. One task we set ourselves in the Book CLub was to invent a different ending.
I give the book four stars as it is slow to start with but pick up very quickly. It is worth persevering.
Format:Mass Market Paperback
Thanks to this accessible, if mildly disturbing, piece of modern fiction I've finally been able to read a whole French language novel. I've been comfortable in the shallow end of written French, with newspapers and magazines, but full-length books have always seen me off after a couple of pages. A couple of reviews of Amelie Nothomb's new books gave me the general impression she's a popular hardy perennial for French readers, so I recently picked up her debut "Hygiene de l'assassin". As far as it's possible, I haven't been able to put it down.
There are a couple of obvious reasons for this unexpected success. It's a slim book, significantly shortened because the text isn't far off LARGE PRINT size. The writing is very simple and clear. Most of the book is a series of two-character dialogues so there's not a lot of exposition or description. This also meant I could gloss over finer points of tense without losing track of what was - or indeed what had been or could be - going on. The only problem I had was with vocabulary, but I didn't find I needed to check every new word to understand what was going on. I did check words that came up often, and happily some seem to have lodged in the memory. If you're fluent enough not to need to check a dictionary constantly this recommendation isn't going to mean anything, but then you're not going to be remotely intimidated by this popular French novel.
My only words of warning are about the subject matter. The first four sections are transcripts of interviews by different journalists with a great literary figure who has announced he has a very rare but terminal cancer. Each dialogue is a disection of a particular aspect of culture, like literature or feminisim, in the course of which the great writer outwits and disgusts his interviewer. It's like reading a late-night discussion between drunk students, and as much or as little fun as you'd expect that to be. I remember the experience fondly, so I enjoyed it.
A plot emerges in the fifth section, which runs for pretty much half the length of the book, and things take a darker turn. The new journalist is a woman who has uncovered the great writer's secret past. The story requires the boot to be on the other foot now, and the book's great weakness is the summary way the new character is allowed to dance mental rings around the otherwise unassailable great writer. The events they discuss include incest and child sex, and are therefore guaranteed to disturb if not shock some people.
The dark tone and literary success of this first novel have very strong echoes of Iain Banks's debut "The Wasp Factory". As a rule of thumb I'd say if you liked that you may well enjoy "Hygiene de l'assassin", but if you didn't click with it then this book is probably not for you. Conversely, if you enjoy this and haven't tried Iain Banks, give him a go!
Even taking into account constant trips to the dictionary this is a fast and easy read, and a good transition if you're already happy reading short bursts of written French.
There are a couple of obvious reasons for this unexpected success. It's a slim book, significantly shortened because the text isn't far off LARGE PRINT size. The writing is very simple and clear. Most of the book is a series of two-character dialogues so there's not a lot of exposition or description. This also meant I could gloss over finer points of tense without losing track of what was - or indeed what had been or could be - going on. The only problem I had was with vocabulary, but I didn't find I needed to check every new word to understand what was going on. I did check words that came up often, and happily some seem to have lodged in the memory. If you're fluent enough not to need to check a dictionary constantly this recommendation isn't going to mean anything, but then you're not going to be remotely intimidated by this popular French novel.
My only words of warning are about the subject matter. The first four sections are transcripts of interviews by different journalists with a great literary figure who has announced he has a very rare but terminal cancer. Each dialogue is a disection of a particular aspect of culture, like literature or feminisim, in the course of which the great writer outwits and disgusts his interviewer. It's like reading a late-night discussion between drunk students, and as much or as little fun as you'd expect that to be. I remember the experience fondly, so I enjoyed it.
A plot emerges in the fifth section, which runs for pretty much half the length of the book, and things take a darker turn. The new journalist is a woman who has uncovered the great writer's secret past. The story requires the boot to be on the other foot now, and the book's great weakness is the summary way the new character is allowed to dance mental rings around the otherwise unassailable great writer. The events they discuss include incest and child sex, and are therefore guaranteed to disturb if not shock some people.
The dark tone and literary success of this first novel have very strong echoes of Iain Banks's debut "The Wasp Factory". As a rule of thumb I'd say if you liked that you may well enjoy "Hygiene de l'assassin", but if you didn't click with it then this book is probably not for you. Conversely, if you enjoy this and haven't tried Iain Banks, give him a go!
Even taking into account constant trips to the dictionary this is a fast and easy read, and a good transition if you're already happy reading short bursts of written French.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
1 review
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Short but delightful!
7 Oct 2002
Format:Paperback
Looking back I'm amazed at the vast diversity of emotions this short novel made me go through. The wholehearted laughter of the first pages led to genuine curiosity in the next that gave way to confused amazement and sheer astonishment. It makes you vibrate and the intense, absorbing dialogue between the two characters is compelling and transports you to a tension-filled word game rollercoaster that will make your skin itch. Easily read in less than two hours this is a bittersweet tale drafted in Nothomb's exquisite and captivating writing.
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