Whatcha readin'? Weeks 15-16
- Le Nerd Librarian
- Apr 25, 2019
- 6 min read
So… I haven’t really been in the mood to read lately, maybe it’s because Game of Thrones is back on TV, maybe it’s because I went out a lot…
Be that as it may, here is the meager line-up for these past 2 weeks:
[if !supportLists]- La prochaine fois, ce sera toi & Nous sommes l’étincelle, homework for a promo event
[if !supportLists]- Wildflower, Drew Barrymore’s « stories » (she doesn’t want to use the word memoirs), because… the cover was pretty? Also, E.T.!
In short: an overall meh.
[Some spoilers ahead: consider yourself forewarned.]
La prochaine fois, ce sera toi
La brigade de l'Ombre, volume 1
[Fiction (novel/Sci-Fi), Lang.: French]
Vincent Villeminot. Casterman, 2016. 312 p.
So, full disclosure, I don’t like detective novels. I don’t know if it’s because I’m an impatient lady or because I’ve studied Crime Fiction to death in college, but unless they’re Jo Nesbø’s, which give me my dose of Oslo-away-from-Oslo, no thank you.
However, because I lied through my teeth to get invited to a promo event where the author was presenting his lastest novel – saying I was a huge fan and great connoisseur (the lengths I will go to for a free book!) – I had to at least pretend to know what I was talking about.
So, La prochaine fois ce sera toi is not terrible, but for me it is a hit-and-miss. Why?
[if !supportLists]1) [endif]It belongs to the Fantastic genre but doesn’t own it.
[if !supportLists]a. [endif]Ghouls are cool
I love how the author incorporates ghouls in the story, like it’s the most natural thing in the world. The idea of a network of hospices – “zoos” in common parlance – for people to stay at when they turn into ghouls is great. The descriptions of the creatures are creepy and gross and super cool (maybe a bit scary for younger readers).
[if !supportLists]b. [endif]The rest isn’t.
The other elements are too gimmicky. I’m OK with a detective having supernatural intuition, but to be able to differentiate between “the enemy’s song” and the “the family’s song”, and automatically know whom he needs to focus on to is weak-sauce.
[if !supportLists]2) [endif]As a whodunnit, it is a HUGE let down.
The dénouement comes out of nowhere! Tut tut, Vinny, have you forgotten Knox’s first rule of Detective fiction?
Once again, for those in the back:
Rule #1: "The criminal must be mentioned in the early part of the story but must not be anyone whose thoughts the reader has been allowed to know."
Adding a new character right at the end of the story feels like you’re insulting my intelligence. Why the hell would I read a whodunnit if I never stand a chance of figuring out whodunnit?
Also, the “tadaaa” page-long exposition at the very end only works for Hercule Poirot. We tolerate this trick because he’s the OG whodunnit detective and because we like him. No one else can get away with it.
[if !supportLists]3) [endif]Villeminot’s characters are gratuitously vulgar.
I get it, Villeminot is probably a huge fan of American thrillers, but his use of English/anglicisms is always à côté de la plaque.
CRINGE CRINGE CRINGE. Also, I don't know if Jimi's shirt is inadéquat but his juxtapostion of British and American English does not really work and I don't think such a shirt would exist. But, details.
On to the main course:
Am I the only who is shocked by this?
I know, Americans use “son of a b*” a lot, but it is NOT a direct equivalent to “fils de p*”, pragmatically-speaking. The French equivalent is a lot more vulgar, and it’s frankly shocking to see it in the mouth of his grown-ass detective at every page. I get it, he could let it slip once in anger, but that word cannot be the default term to refer to a suspect. Come on!
4) Why the systematic comments on women’s looks/sexuality? Why always specify whether they are beautiful (or not)? #CRINGE
Why spend so many words describing the physique of female characters when males are described in 140 characters or less? Why so judgmental about young girls who own their sex appeal? Or just want to experiment with makeup?
Prepare yourselves for an avalanche of quotes:
The victim:
« Son visage intact, assez joli, portait encore le maquillage trop lourd dont se fardent les jeunes filles à cet âge, parce qu’elles veulent avoir l’air de femmes. » JUDGMENTAL MUCH ?
« la fille était brune, les yeux trop fardés […]. [O]n sentait aussi qu’elle savait déjà qu’elle serait moins jolie qu’espéré. »
« Il ouvrit les armoires, […] toute une vie de copies à bon marché, de contrefaçons, la vie qu’on proposait aux gamines d’aujourd’hui, avec pour seul graal l’espoir d’enfin se faire remarquer – à défaut d’être remarquable… ». The three dots here are so judgmental. How about you leave young girls do their thing and stop judging, old man?
A witness:
« Il en voulait à ses bijoux, peut-être à son corps. [Ses chiens] avaient dû s’interposer courageusement pour défendre les biens mobiliers et l’intégrité… ». I can't deal with the ironic tone here. An older woman being scared at the idea of being raped is not joke material!
The detective’s ex-wife:
“Elle restait une très belle femme pour son âge ». BARF.
One of the cops:
« Tu étais quel genre d’adolescente ? […] Le genre à faire la fête tous les soirs avec des copines en te prenant pour une femme ? » WTF ?
Random aside: Janis Joplin was apparently a “dude”.
“Le club des 27 […] Les mecs qui meurent à 27 ans. Comme Hendrix, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin… » Erm, what?
I was prepared to give this novel a pass, but I’m getting worked up again re-reading these quotes. Needless to say, I think we can find better detective novels for our girls and boys to read!
Wildflower
[Non-Fiction (memoirs), Lang.: English]
Drew Barrymore. Dutton Books, 2015. 288 p.
I liked Mindy Kaling’s and Tina Fey’s memoirs so I thought I would learn more about women’s careers in comedy/Hollywood, but throughout the book it feels like Barrymore's keeping the reader at a distance, like she’s allowing us a sneak peek without welcoming us in.
It’s OK, but you don’t really learn about what it’s like to work in Hollywood as a child, woman, mother, producer, actress..., which was what I was interested in. I would recommend Bossy Pants instead.
Nous sommes l'étincelle
[Fiction (Sci-Fi/Dystopia), Lang.: French]
Vincent Villeminot. PKJ, 2019. 512 p.
I as mentioned above, I receive this book as part of a giveaway, for which I had pretended to be a Villeminot expert.
You can read Villeminot’s interview here, amateurish translation courtesy of moi.
I did not dislike this book as much as the others I read by the same author, but ultimately, I was not won over.
I started by liking this book. The political world-building gave me Damasio vibes, in that it was well thought-out and made sense as a system: the peaceful student demonstrations, the problem of fringe violence during those demonstrations, the issues surrounding the growing inequalities in our education system, the need to hope for a better future, the laws restricting freedom and generalizing surveillance under the guise of introducing protective measures. In short, I bought it. It’s realistic and asks crucial questions.
Paratext: I loved the idea of quoting both real and imaginary laws in the footnotes, and of including excerpts of the manifesto that sparks the rebellion, even though I could have done without the %µ£$@^* italics. #RiseAgainstTheItalics.
During the promo event, a few readers mentioned their difficulty in keeping up with what was happening, who was who, which cause had what consequence, as the story is not told in chronological order. This did not bother me, because as a binoculared nerd, I am obviously a meticulous reader (not: I’m just an avid mind-mapper).
But But But, the elephant in the room: we need to address the author’s obsession with young girls’ breasts. And their sexuality. #CRINGE
I’m only mentioning this because it happens again and again in his novels and I can’t deal with it anymore.
> But first, what is up with this obsession with rape?
Almost every girl in this novel is raped, or nearly raped (and obviously saved by a man at the last minute). If I were nice, I would say that it happens so often it starts feeling like a trope (ahem: misplaced fantasy?).
> Obsession with beauty.
Every female character is described according to whether or not she is beautiful. Antigone, the only girl who is “pas jolie”, is always characterized as such. At the third mention, I wanted to scream “We get ittttttt”.
> Finally, boobs.
Why do we have to know the shape and general outlook of every single female character’s breasts? Whether it be torn clothes, a no-bra policy, a soccer jersey used as a scarf, we always get a peak. Did I say CRINGE?
Even the landscape has boobs!
* * *
In brief: a complex world-building project, sometimes difficult to follow (would not recommend to Middle School readers), a bit too descriptive for my taste, with credible developments, addressing important, pressing social issues.
However, as a reader, it’s difficult to identify with the characters as they are so many of them, and the cringe factor is just too high for me to recommend it to my students.
Aiiight, that’s all for now! Happy readin’!
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