- Paperback: 224 pages
- Publisher: Atlantic Books (2 May 2007)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1843545160
- ISBN-13: 978-1843545163
- Product Dimensions: 17.5 x 12.8 x 2.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 938,428 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Review
"'Astonishing' Liberation 'A great novel' Virgin Hebdo 'A revelation.... minimal and inspired... fascinating and unsettling' Optimum"
Product Description
This book is set in France, 2027. The National Party are in power. One man wanders the streets of Paris haunted by the recollection of a young woman's bloodied corpse and tormented by the possibility that he was her murderer. The man is bemused at changes to his neighbourhood and with no idea what has occurred in his absence, he stumbles into an unrecognizable brave new world, only to discover that he has not been away from the city for days but for twelve years. Driven to discover his own history he rushes 'home', but his wife recoils from him, the neighbourhood he loves is disturbingly hostile and when he looks in the mirror, he sees nothing. Frightened of even his own reflection and alarmed by his beloved nation's decline into extremism, he flees the secret state police in an attempt to unravel the terrible secrets of his own past and his country's history. Chilling and uncomfortably timely, "Noir" is an electrifying novel about political responsibility and moral choice.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
'Noir' is a brilliantly disturbing but sometimes frustrating novel. There were times that I wanted to put the book down never to return, and others, where I was dead to the world, aware of nothing else but the chilling story that unfolded as I read. Peculiarly, these two states would flip back and forth over the space of a few pages. Gradually though, the frustrating passages dwindle and the tension builds dramatically towards the novel's apocalyptic ending.
Set in the near future, in a France where the Nationalists have taken over and rule with an iron rod, 'Noir' begins with a man on the run from prison after being sent down for a vicious murder, he may or may not have committed. 'Noir' is existentialist horror and in some places is hard to follow exactly what is going on, but at the novel's heart is a deeply disturbing fable for our times. Sections of the novel are truly gruesome and 'Noir' is not for the faint of heart, but for those who like their vampire novels with a philosophical bite, this is the novel for you.
Set in the near future, in a France where the Nationalists have taken over and rule with an iron rod, 'Noir' begins with a man on the run from prison after being sent down for a vicious murder, he may or may not have committed. 'Noir' is existentialist horror and in some places is hard to follow exactly what is going on, but at the novel's heart is a deeply disturbing fable for our times. Sections of the novel are truly gruesome and 'Noir' is not for the faint of heart, but for those who like their vampire novels with a philosophical bite, this is the novel for you.
Format:Paperback
Someone has attributed the `horror' tag to this novel, which I think is a little misleading; because while it does feature characters stranded between two worlds - dead but unable to enter the netherworld - its primary concerns are political and philosophical.
Our narrator is an unremarkable French male, a father of two who finds himself at the scene of a brutal murder. He is subsequently arrested but escapes custody due to a freak accident, and on his return to Paris, things go from bad to worse: his presence seems to horrify strangers, his family reject him, and he is pursued at every turn by armed police. On a broader note, he observes that ethnic minorities are only seen in public after dark, and schools rely on audio tapes to cover for the absence of real children.
The comparisons to Orwell and Kafka are obvious, and the portrait of an authoritarian regime could easily be interpreted in terms of Nazism; but given the relative popularity of far-right parties in France, Noir manages to feel totally contemporary; prescient, even.
I found it to be utterly compelling, and would particularly recommend it to fans of Brett Easton-Ellis and Michel Houellebecq.
Our narrator is an unremarkable French male, a father of two who finds himself at the scene of a brutal murder. He is subsequently arrested but escapes custody due to a freak accident, and on his return to Paris, things go from bad to worse: his presence seems to horrify strangers, his family reject him, and he is pursued at every turn by armed police. On a broader note, he observes that ethnic minorities are only seen in public after dark, and schools rely on audio tapes to cover for the absence of real children.
The comparisons to Orwell and Kafka are obvious, and the portrait of an authoritarian regime could easily be interpreted in terms of Nazism; but given the relative popularity of far-right parties in France, Noir manages to feel totally contemporary; prescient, even.
I found it to be utterly compelling, and would particularly recommend it to fans of Brett Easton-Ellis and Michel Houellebecq.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
3 reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
1984ish, and that's ok
13 Jan 2009
Format:Paperback
This is a great novel that could be made into a great film. Pauvert has woven a terrific story that never seems to fully emerge from the dark. The broader picture has been cleared, but ultimate percipience remains in shadow.
France has devolved into a totalitarian state that suppresses racial minorities and rules the white majority with a quick iron fist; who is behind this and what is the goal? The book reveals little, as those in control might not even know. Bits and pieces of the main characters life come to light; what and who he has become after he is charged with murder reveals disturbing aspects of the new France and about his existence. Traveling from south France to Paris to Bordeaux, the story unfolds revealing a future France, similar to the present but, stagnant, controlling, secretive, dark.
I enjoyed how Pauvert moves the book across all of France, creating great depth and breadth (I followed the travels using Google Earth, from city to city). I also enjoyed Pauvert's obvious love of motorcycles, which allows the main character moments of freedom and simply joy, in stark contrast to his actuality. The reader is left with a greater understanding of what has taken place and how France (and perhaps the whole rest of the world) has come to it's new form. But, like "1984" and "Brave New World" (or the film Brazil), don't expect redemption and a happy ending for the protagonist...the world has changed.
France has devolved into a totalitarian state that suppresses racial minorities and rules the white majority with a quick iron fist; who is behind this and what is the goal? The book reveals little, as those in control might not even know. Bits and pieces of the main characters life come to light; what and who he has become after he is charged with murder reveals disturbing aspects of the new France and about his existence. Traveling from south France to Paris to Bordeaux, the story unfolds revealing a future France, similar to the present but, stagnant, controlling, secretive, dark.
I enjoyed how Pauvert moves the book across all of France, creating great depth and breadth (I followed the travels using Google Earth, from city to city). I also enjoyed Pauvert's obvious love of motorcycles, which allows the main character moments of freedom and simply joy, in stark contrast to his actuality. The reader is left with a greater understanding of what has taken place and how France (and perhaps the whole rest of the world) has come to it's new form. But, like "1984" and "Brave New World" (or the film Brazil), don't expect redemption and a happy ending for the protagonist...the world has changed.
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
grim dark near futuristic thriller
7 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback
In 2019 France, he is arrested when he is found by the body of a murder victim. The transport crashes leaving him dazed and frightened to wander the streets of Paris wondering who he is and did he do what the only seeming memory he has. Could he be a murderer as his only vision is that of a brutalized woman's corpse?
He manages to get home, but his wife fears him and worse when he looks in a mirror he fails to recognize the image looking back. No one seems to want to help him; in fact they prefer to turn him over to the cops. The secret police of the ruling French National party search for him even as he learns he has a dark power to stare into someone's eyes until they die. African immigrants take him to the outlawed Noir who help him obtain the truth behind the woman's murder and give him a reason to live: kill the leader of the French National Party.
This grim dark near futuristic thriller modernizes melds and extrapolates 1984 with THE STRANGER into a dystopian 2019. The nameless lead character struggles for understanding in a society totally owned by the party through the use of electronic gizmos and drug control of its citizens. Readers who appreciate a foreboding gloomy suspense saga will appreciate the cat and mouse French morality tale in which fascism rules.
Harriet Klausner
He manages to get home, but his wife fears him and worse when he looks in a mirror he fails to recognize the image looking back. No one seems to want to help him; in fact they prefer to turn him over to the cops. The secret police of the ruling French National party search for him even as he learns he has a dark power to stare into someone's eyes until they die. African immigrants take him to the outlawed Noir who help him obtain the truth behind the woman's murder and give him a reason to live: kill the leader of the French National Party.
This grim dark near futuristic thriller modernizes melds and extrapolates 1984 with THE STRANGER into a dystopian 2019. The nameless lead character struggles for understanding in a society totally owned by the party through the use of electronic gizmos and drug control of its citizens. Readers who appreciate a foreboding gloomy suspense saga will appreciate the cat and mouse French morality tale in which fascism rules.
Harriet Klausner
1 of 4 people found the following review helpful
Even skimming it was dull
25 Jan 2010
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I gave this book a chance...I got an email from Amazon about the best thrillers/mystery books and this was on there. The premise seemed interesting enough, but this book was a total bore. Maybe it's just me, but it seemed that for all it's schizophrenic scene changing, murders in grisly detail (or totally skimmed over in a few instances), this book was uninteresting. I get it, it's French, so I expected it to be weird, it's been compared to The Stranger, so I shouldn't have expected it to really redeem itself... but can't I have some expectations for a good novel?
I guess the fact that the book is thoroughly French explains a lot of it's failings (in my opinion).
As for the ending...well...you won't finish this with a sense of conclusion or optimism. This is much more of a "huh?" finish than anything. Unless you love Albert Camus, or your novels dark, disturbing, depressing and dull, I would skip this one. It may have won an award in France for best first novel, but given that the author is a pharmacist, the book is about as gripping as his profession.
I guess the fact that the book is thoroughly French explains a lot of it's failings (in my opinion).
As for the ending...well...you won't finish this with a sense of conclusion or optimism. This is much more of a "huh?" finish than anything. Unless you love Albert Camus, or your novels dark, disturbing, depressing and dull, I would skip this one. It may have won an award in France for best first novel, but given that the author is a pharmacist, the book is about as gripping as his profession.
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