{"id":513581,"date":"2022-11-08T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-08T05:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/?p=513581"},"modified":"2022-11-13T14:51:26","modified_gmt":"2022-11-13T13:51:26","slug":"carnum-you-could-use-a-slice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/leregardlibre.com\/en\/literature\/carnum-you-could-use-a-slice\/","title":{"rendered":"\u00abCarnum\u00bb: would you like another slice?"},"content":{"rendered":"

What if the new world was one of cannibalism? But healthy, consenting cannibalism, via strict surgical removal methods. What would you do? This is Christophe Carpentier's tenth novel, published by Le Diable Vauvert. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

When J\u00e9r\u00f4me, a CAC 40 boss in the throes of burn-out, is approached by Edwige, an eccentric surgeon, he doesn't expect her to offer to start a bloody business with her. Together, they embark on a flourishing business whose immorality is matched only by its profitability.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When capitalism rhymes with cannibalism<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

There it is, the crux of the novel: money. So much money, in fact, that it's hard to resist. The poorest start selling themselves to pay the house payments, while the richest spend it to touch the flight of first times, the first prohibitions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, where the former will naturally be limited at a certain point, the latter, like all addicts, will become unstoppable. The author's intriguing idea is that this meat is addictive. But if money en masse can cover any other addiction, what about human meat?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00abMoney devalues everything. Money makes everything plausible, but without access to the truth of beings. Meditative silence<\/em>. Where is the revolutionary greatness of cannibalism for money?\u00bb<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A cold buffet, ice-cold writing<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n

The novel is strangely built almost exclusively around dialogue, like a play. Apart from the presentation of \u00abtableaux\u00bb that serve as chapters, the text is based solely on exchanges between the protagonists. The process may seem interesting, even innovative for some, but it's still a smokescreen that takes up the form, but not the substance, of this style.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It's clear that Christophe Carpentier doesn't know how to manage his idea, and therefore avoids many of the questions, outlets and problems that his concept brings with it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n