Sisyphe amoureux by René Bonnière (review)

major actors, like Washington, Lafayette, and De Grasse, in this bellicose theater, Vail teases out their personality markers as examples of strengths and weaknesses . Against these traits, she juxtaposes those of Rochambeau to show how the latter could work with or in spite of their attributes to achieve an advantageous outcome. Adding socio-cultural details to a familiar war story, Vail makes the tale more compelling. She contrasts the American army’s inadequate food rations, threadbare clothing, and worthless Continental money with the favorable conditions of the French army, which had impeccable uniforms and hard currency. Into the military campaign, Vail weaves anecdotes, like the balls for French soldiers and American high society, and after Yorktown, the imprisonment of British soldiers while the British officers dined with their former enemies. As each chapter comes to a close, Vail inserts a brief summary or a comment to heighten the reader’s anticipation of the impending battle. This book resulted from the confluence of the author’s fortuitous encounter and prolonged correspondence with Rochambeau’s descendants and a project of the Connecticut Governor’s Advisory Commission, which sought to promote the Washington-Rochambeau Revolutionary Route from Newport to Yorktown. To contribute to the latter goal, Vail describes for the potential traveler structures, statues, and battlegrounds along Rochambeau’s route and groups that have undertaken preservation activities along a 600-mile trail. Vail engaged in copious research of the late eighteenth century, using primary and secondary sources to piece together a biography of Rochambeau. Because Rochambeau revealed little about his personal life in his memoirs, Vail relied heavily on the writings of other contemporaries and on personal letter exchanges. In addition to an extensive bibliography, the appendices include an annotated list of key participants, a timeline of key events, a glossary of terms, especially military and naval, and chapter notes. While the period illustrations are of interest, land maps of the campaign would have been a valuable resource for readers not familiar with this geographical area. Vail provides a nuanced view of the Americans, with their flaws and virtues, who took up the cause of liberty. Even if Washington has been unequivocally credited with winning the war of independence , Vail convincingly shapes the argument that without Rochambeau, De Grasse, Vergenne (Foreign Minister under Louis XVI), and Louis XVI’s treasury, the 13 colonies would have remained under British rule. Northwestern University (IL) Margot M. Steinhart Creative Works edited by Nathalie Degroult BONNIÈRE, RENÉ. Sisyphe amoureux. Toronto: Gref, 2011. ISBN 978-1-897018-49-1. Pp. 309. $12,95 Can. The basic plot is a love story about a shy young man, Gaspard, and a sentimental young woman, Margot. Because of Gaspard’s diffidence and Margot’s obsession with gathering perfect memories, it takes them a long time to get together. They do marry eventually and enjoy a blissful conjugal life for a time until circumstances drive them apart. So far everything is quite touching. But then the author Reviews 1283 introduces every element he can think of to inflate the story in the most exaggerated manner imaginable. For one thing, Gaspard is obliged to roll a big stone around everywhere he goes like a modern-day Sisyphus, and he hints that the future of humanity is somehow dependent on his carrying out this task. In case he might neglect his duty, there is a statue of the mythical Sisyphus in a nearby museum (Gaspard lives in Lyon) to remind him of it through telepathic communication . More complications arise through the introduction of two other characters , Gaspard’s hanger-on friend Paul and Margot’s former childhood playmate Martha. Paul and Martha are sexually promiscuous to the most extreme degree. They live to copulate. Paul makes it his mission to have Margot before Gaspard can while Martha wants to gather the first fruits of Gaspard’s virginity. They set up a satanic cult ritual for a secret society of Lyon’s leading citizens to observe the deflowering of the young couple. Their plans are foiled when Martha has a change of heart. Unfortunately, Margot and Gaspard do not live happily ever after. Because of financial problems, they are forced to separate. Much of...