Didier Burkhalter, failed vision of a «Mined Land».»

Tuesday books - Hélène Lavoyer

Extract from our Didier Burkhalter special report in our April issue, Order here

When a former politician starts writing novels, it can be complicated to separate the artistic work from the author and the political personality. Didier Burkhalter began writing his first book the day after his resignation, and it was published just a few weeks after the start of this new chapter in his life. Since that first book Childhood in the earth, three others were published by L'Aire. The latest, Mined Earth (available in bookshops in French-speaking Switzerland on March 25), follows on from the novel Carrier Sea, of which he explains that «the characters came knocking at the door of [his] heart».

Historical novel rather than fiction, Mined Earthtakes the reader on a journey to meet a dozen characters whose destinies a priori These disjointed stories sometimes intersect, or at least echo each other, spilling over into one another. This is a historical novel, covering the various eras referred to and lived through by the characters, such as Padrig, born in 1953, or Enor, a veteran of the misnamed «Great» War.

The weight of the past

As you read, the boundary between present and past becomes porous, embellished as it is by flashbacks, references to characters references to characters known or unknown to those who may be mentioned in one of the book's twelve chapters. The destinies presented are marked by their past and traumatic events. The story is tied up with the idea that the past often does not spare the generations generations that build the present. That it is the most important pillar pillar.

The story of Marguerite's rape as well as consequences of this crime for her, or the controversial personality of Pancrazio of Pancrazio, a young Italian with a thirst for violence in a communist are complex exercises in writing and thinking. To talk about things you haven't experienced, ideas you don't share not only a certain amount of nerve, but also a healthy dose of empathy. Be able to «put yourself in someone else's shoes». An exercise we're not we're not sure we can say of the author that he has succeeded with brio, because a certain lack of depth depth in the protagonists is sometimes felt.

The past and memory thus take on considerable weight in the story, which is rooted in Mined Earth - a title that mirrors that of Carrier Sea, two easy puns, not necessarily attractive, but fairly representative of what you can expect page after page. In spite of everything, these two themes have an undeniable undeniable interest for everyone, since we are all bearers of the great history as well as our own.

Undermined story

The novel is undermined too, but in a very different way. in a very different way. Several seemingly unintentional pitfalls crop up reading. Firstly, the incessant references to one or other of the characters that bring the novel to life tangle up the story. A little too much so, as it was often necessary to go back to the previous pages in order to reconnect with the character the author is talking about. A whole series of values held to be superior and universal universal that overwhelm the story. Love, justice justice, respect, honor and determination drive all the characters.

So much so, in fact, that the reader is left to wonder whether these are not simply - with the possible exception of Pancrazio, who seems to be the only attempt to think outside the box - extensions of the author. The author, apparently overwhelmed by the voices of his characters, seems to be offering a new political campaign. The narrator, by crudely retracing the most significant events in human history, such as the Vietnam War, the First and Second World Wars, or mass immigration, promises to be able to find a door to a bright future by following the values named.

Write to the author: helene.lavoyer@leregardlibre.com