Jules by Didier Van Cauwelaert (review)

Reviews 281 bientôt “en rugissements de victoire” (180). Pourtant cet antihéros n’a toujours pas d’identité ni de nom; il est reconnu uniquement par son origine nationale.Au fond de lui-même, il se rend compte qu’il est bien pire que le “malheureux mortel, pauvre d’amour et d’argent” (178) qu’il était à Évreux. En Syrie, tout progresse pourtant rapidement. Sa conscience n’a mis que trois jours“à mourir”(178). Peut-on en vouloir à ce misérable? Mérite-t-il la pitié ou l’anathème? À chaque lecteur de décider en son âme et conscience. Auburn University (AL) Samia I. Spencer Van Cauwelaert, Didier. Jules. Paris: Albin Michel, 2015. ISBN 978-222-631483-3. Pp. 275. 19,50 a. Alice Gallien, one of the three protagonists of this novel, will be undergoing a cornea transplant in two days. But, “la réalité sera-t-elle fidèle au rêve éveillé qui l’a reconstruite?” (24). Just prior to her flight from Paris to Nice, accompanied by her seeing-eye Labrador Jules, she has an encounter at the Orly airport with Zibal de Frèges, a macaroon vendor, but really a biochemical engineer and astrophysicist. The restoration of Alice’s sight causes upset to the seven-year relationship between Alice and Jules. Jules is reassigned. Unable to adjust to his new master, he escapes and heads to the airport to find Zibal who freed him from a cage when Alice was first heading off for her surgery.Alice has her own crisis of judgment, reflected in her earlier statement: “j’avais vécu plus de dix ans dans une erreur de jugement donnant une fausse image de moi” (83). Elements of Gertrude of La symphonie pastorale are present here. All three characters have been abandoned, disappointed, and deceived in some way. They belong together. Their trials and tribulations connect, and it is a credit to the author how successful is the dénouement. Colorful secondary characters flesh out the tale, and link the reasons these three ought to act as one. There is Alice’s older, rich, influential lesbian lover, Fred; Zibal’s adoptive frustrated diplomat author mother, Éliane; Zibal’s “sadomaso” neighbor, Coumba; and Jules’s vet and vet psych. Also, Cauwelaert has a wonderful, comfortable way with words, making the novel a page-turner. By slowly revealing how the two human protagonists came to their present conditions, and by alternating their point of view, he assures the reader’s interest in the story. From Paris to Trouville, Jules’s pull on his lead, takes Zibal on a picaresque adventure to reclaim Alice, who no longer needs Jules as guide dog, but as a friend. Alice’s past trauma and Zibal’s social and economic failures make them arrive at the perfect moment in time for each other through Jules:“J’ai confiance en mon destin, à nouveau. C’est moi que le chien a choisi” (149). Zibal’s life is turned around, as is Alice’s. This reader is impressed with both the subject matter and the style of the novel. Effective dialogue, good character development, and simple phraseology make Jules a delightful book. The author’s familiarity with the guide dog’s training, emotions, and reactions is accurate and relevant. Jules, Zibal, and Alice form a trio of need, love, compassion, healing, and joy. Jules is touching, moving, and poignant: highly recommended. Santa Rosa Alliance Française (CA) Davida Brautman Vargas, Fred. Temps glaciaires. Paris: Flammarion, 2015. ISBN 978-2- 0813-6044-0. Pp. 497. 20 a. In the author’s ninth Adamsberg novel, the Commissioner returns, after a hiatus of four years, to investigate a suspicious double suicide in which a mysterious symbol near the bodies catches the detective’s interest. Also back to work on this case is Adamsberg’s unconventional but loveable squadron at the Paris criminal brigade, including Adrien Danglard with his penchant for historical and architectural trivia, Violette Retancourt with her keen instinct and uncanny strength, and Louis Veyrenc, who speaks in rhyming couplets. Adamsberg, the “pelleteur de nuages” (289), is, as ever, more articulate with a sketchbook than with words. His understanding of the...