Babybatch by Isabelle Coudrier (review)

Reviews 201 story of art, ambition, and sacrifice. On balance, readers who persist to this saga’s end will see the great white edifice of La Défense in an entirely new light. Lawrence University (WI) Eilene Hoft-March Coudrier, Isabelle. Babybatch. Paris: Seuil, 2016. ISBN 978-2-02-124034-4. Pp. 395. 21 a. This novel explores the influence of social media as the center of an adolescent’s existence, as the infatuation of a girl with the famous actor Benedict Cumberbatch takes on exceptional proportions. The many accomplishments of the British actor, whose nickname is Babybatch, are tracked carefully by his fans, culminating in his nomination by Queen Elizabeth for Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2015. He becomes the center of existence for people like Dominique, who seek the comfort of the Internet through someone else’s existence instead of a life of their own. The fifteen-year-old main character starts the school year at the lycée of Stève in the suburbs of Seine-et-Marne. She hopes to reconnect with her childhood friend Muriel as she returns to class in the lingering summery weather. Dominique is bored by the quiet and simple life of her suburban town. She is a dreamer and, like any adolescent of her age, she is not ready to start classes at the beginning of the school year, despite her excellent academic performances.Yet, Dominique is not like the other adolescents. Not engaged with the reality of her town, she lives in the virtual world of the Web and the virtual community of fans infatuated with Babybatch, who becomes the center of her life and grounds her. The group of intergenerational virtual followers spends most of their time online in a voyeuristic mode, discussing his visits, vacations, and television shows. Dominique, a spectator and a passive consumer of the news, does not contribute to this virtual reality. This narrative appears to be the story of any adolescent whose real life bores and overwhelms her and who chooses, rather than confronting reality, to hide behind the lives of famous people. As the story goes on, the reader is exposed to the world of addiction, not a new topic for Coudrier. In Babybatch, she weaves the story of Dominique in an acutely perceptive and discerning way through the insight of an adolescent whose clarity of thought, keen eye, and lucidity are surprisingly juxtaposed with her tendency to be withdrawn from social life,uncommunicative, uninvolved with her social environment, but yet engaged and infatuated with the famous actor. Her attraction is also directed to sensitive people who are withdrawn, struggling to fit in, uninvolved psychologically, and physically limited, from her English teacher Monsieur Artus to her classmate Paul Rissac, who suddenly falls sick and disappears. Coudrier presents the painful world of a contemporary adolescent who is uncertain of her future and driven only by imaginary relationships yet lucid enough to wonder whether she will ever be able to love and exist otherwise. Coudrier reminds us that it is easier to integrate into a virtual group or fall in love with media personalities than to be involved with and understand real people around us. The reader is taken into the world of a teenager’s addiction to an end that cannot be anticipated. St. John’s University (NY) Zoe Petropoulou Curiol, Céline. Les vieux ne pleurent jamais.Arles: Actes Sud, 2016. ISBN 978-2-33005790 -9. Pp. 324. 21 a. A seventy-year-old retired actress reflects on her aging and how she accommodates the disappointments and joys of le troisième âge. Humor is one of the engaging qualities of Curiol’s writing style as Judith Hogen confronts many gruesome details of growing old. Judith has recently become widowed from her husband Herb. Like the third part of a structured narrative featuring beginning, middle, and end, this memoir mixes surprises, blending of vital themes and patterns, concluding insights into the past and the future, and consistencies learned from the prior parts of her story. Judith’s new friendship with her neighbor in Brooklyn leads them to an unforgettably funny guided tour for senior citizens on a bus with...