«L'été des quatre rois»: a Grand Prix novel to be read calmly

An overview of some of the major literary prizes - episode #

Le Regard Libre N° 48 - Loris S. Musumeci

«The affairs of France were far too serious to be left in the hands of shopkeepers and tinsmiths who, come evening, read Voltaire by the light of their quinquet while drinking chamomile and then, come Sunday, bellowed the songs of Béranger in the estaminets.»

The king rises. Charles, tenth of the name. He gropes for his prie-Dieu, because he has bad eyesight and because he is a good Christian. It's the early morning of Sunday, July 25, 1830. The hour is grave; a revolution is in the offing. And indeed, the summer of that year would see the passing of four kings between now and August 16: Charles X, Louis XIX, Henri V and Louis-Philippe. It was the start of a new era, with the press playing a central role in these summer stirrings, and writers such as Chateaubriand, Hugo and Stendhal drawing inspiration from them. Right up to Camille Pascal, who was awarded a prize for his work by the Académie française.

I might as well say it right away, Summer of the four kings is not easy to access. It's a work that needs to be read over time. Calmly. Otherwise, its richness would become heavy; its breath, suffocating. However repulsive it may seem, the book is well worth the effort. Admittedly, the year is 1830, and it's a ponderous work. But Camille Pascal has the great merit of having put history back into literature.

It's bad enough that under the name of a novel, the story isn't very appealing. Imagine if it were a university thesis. It would only be erudition for scholars. The author, on the other hand, is betting that the history of France can be told in the form of a novel. What's more, we're treated to a whole world of dialogue - very well rendered - atmosphere and, above all, language. Chastened, it comes straight from the XIXth century.^th century. Camille Pascal is a stylist in this field. As a result, the Grand Prix du roman de l'Académie française is highly appropriate for this type of work. Another, more popular prize would have been ill-advised for a book that must be read without the rapidity of the succession of the four kings.

«Perhaps the royal family was in danger or trying to get back to the coast. In reality, it was none of the above. The Préfet Maritime, who for the past ten days had been exchanging extensive administrative correspondence with the Ministry to clarify his every move and ensure that card games and night vases were provided in sufficient numbers, had simply forgotten to load the bread. Requisition orders had to be placed in several of the city's bakeries to prevent anyone from saying that, in addition to stealing the crown, Louis-Philippe was taking the Bourbons» bread out of their mouths."

Write to the author: loris.musumeci@leregardlibre.com

Photo credit: © Wikimedia CC

Camille Pascal
Summer of the four kings
Editions Plon
2018
643 pages

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