Pauline Toulet delivers an eccentric first novel, critical of the literary world and centered on an eccentric character, more interested in marabouts than his time. But it failed to captivate me.
Anatole Bernolu, a young anthropology researcher, is struggling to find a job when his Pôle emploi advisor finds him a position that's just right for him, albeit a little removed from the world of academia: editorial assistant at a publishing house. But rather than contenting himself with pampering the «Bien-Etre et Psychologie» collection he's in charge of, he talks to the editor about his manuscript. Tristes Trafiques, an essay supposedly proving that Claude Lévi-Strauss was a serial killer who built his entire career on murdering his rivals. We soon realize that, in addition to being a bit of a mess, Anatole is totally extravagant and zany.
A novel with drawers for the closet
Pauline Toulet offers the reader a multi-faceted book, by turns learning novel, burlesque thriller and academic satire, with a quirky tone and whimsical irony. But despite all its promise, it left me wanting more. I kept turning the pages and, rather than watching the scenes unfold, I saw them fly by and the plot unravel. I never got attached to the character of Anatole, following him as if I'd glimpsed him through the fogged-up window of a bistro. Of this literature, I felt nothing, smelled nothing, experienced nothing. Only endured.
I have read Anatole has disappeared like eating a Big Mac after sport: it fills you up, but there's not much left in the mouth. This is a novel to be read out of hunger, not appetite. This is due to a voice-over narration that describes more than it shows, that comments without mystery, and that constantly distances Anatole, preventing the reader from taking a real interest in this character and forcing him to be nothing more than a bystander. All the scenes are delivered as if already annotated: I had the impression of having a turnkey story, complete with instructions. If Anatole Bernolu has indeed disappeared, don't count on me to go looking for him.
Write to the author: quentin.perissinotto@leregardlibre.com
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Pauline Toulet
Anatole Bernolu has disappeared
Le Dilettante
August 2024
256 pages
French 
German 
English