Sous votre nom par by Esther Tellermann (review)

intérieur, à vivre leur vie en apesanteur tout en essayant d’imposer leur regard dans la cellule de ce véhicule qui les retient prisonniers. Malheureusement, ils ne font, en dernière analyse, qu’une impression tout à fait mitigée sur le lecteur. Western Kentucky University Karin Egloff Tellermann, Esther. Sous votre nom. Paris: Flammarion, 2015. ISBN 978-2-08134853 -0. Pp. 248. 18 a. The three enigmatic sequences of this volume reflect Tellermann’s longstanding practice of assembling experiential worlds in condensed, challenging, compellingly minimalistic verse. Those familiar with her work will recognize these poems’ visual, auditory, and semantic richness, particularly the myriad motifs, shifting dialogic constructions, and absorbing if singular atmosphere encompassing a wealth of implied stories while interrogating and quietly celebrating the depth of linguistic signs. Groups of poems can be read either as a puzzle whose allusive pieces need not fully connect or as a seamless forward surge amid carefully placed stelae. Newer readers may wish to ease into them slowly, so as to gradually be immersed in their processual, relational, patiently self-assured ontic flow. One clearly inscribed point of entry is the idea of “incendies” (9). Whereas certain motifs drift in and out of focus, as if emerging according to the unconscious’s unpredictable rhythms of thought and emotion, others like “incendies” make more evident Tellermann’s strategies. She invites consideration of allegorical dramas—including the struggle to make words mean in our ideologically troubled era—that are assuaged by an intermingling of desires, as well as by tightly balanced and interwoven signs and silences. In superposing such threads, she makes intriguing assertions and raises open-ended questions. For example, is fire thus a beginning or an end? Assailing or appeasing? An unnerving violence or inevitably tied to revitalization? Does it cleanse, in the manner of those who “cherchaient / à ne pas faire mourir / la parole”(44)? Leave“cendres”that were“partag[ées]”(50)? Move us to be faithful to“la musique / qui pardonne”(243)? Individual poems can themselves be considered founding, fundamental, cascading statements regarding contemporary poetic saying: “Creusions le / Livre / ouvert” (65); “pour vous je rassemble / les semences” (89); “Sous votre nom / j’avais parcouru / afin que terre ne / s’arrête” (220); “J’attendais des lointains / qui me percent / et m’ouvrent” (244). Each poem’s brief, broken lines and alternation of words and contemplative silence seem improvised, yet maintain distinctive expressive power. Discernible, set meanings are not necessarily a priority, ceding rather more to notions of traversal and resourcefulness, fascination and exploration, whether as related to bodies or to broader visions of world and self: “Nous nous étions / parcourus / l’un l’autre / en nos paumes”(153);“au lieu de mon nom / j’inventais / l’univers”(157). In these various ways, Tellermann merges the sensual and the psychological, the knowable and the 284 FRENCH REVIEW 90.4 Reviews 285 unknown, familiar spaces and “les étendues / vierges” (248), ably blending together “une liturgie”(199) and a distilled“fable de couleur”(221) born of history and human finitude. Noted for visceral, impelling creativity, she can be seen to deconstruct form and the poetic gaze, yet at the same time to be always rebuilding: “que soit célébrée la soif”(241). She is a major voice who continues to craft a singular, ever-renewed oeuvre with intelligence and grace. Southwestern University (TX) Aaron Prevots Thilliez, Franck. Rever. Paris: Fleuve, 2016. ISBN 978-2-26511558-3. Pp. 596. 22 a. The intentionally palindromic title (it eliminates the circumflex in the verb) invites the reader into a game of mirrors that explores the link between dreams and identity. Protagonist Abigaël Durnan, or Tsé-Tsé as her colleagues affectionately call her, is a single mother and a psychological profiler living in Lille. She faces an unusual problem: the severe narcolepsy, hypnagogic visions, and cataplexy that have plagued her since childhood can only be held in check through careful dosing of a powerful medication that is eating away at her long-term memory. The painful self-awareness and instability brought about by her illness are compounded by unanswered questions when she faces a local crisis and personal tragedy.Working with the local police,Abigaël...