De vieilles dames et autres histoires by Hugues Corriveau (review)

CORRIVEAU, HUGUES. De vieilles dames et autres histoires. Montréal: Lévesque, 2011. ISBN 978-2-923844-36-7. Pp. 146. $23 Can. This is a collection of sixty powerful short stories by Hugues Corriveau, whose talent lies in the fact that he is able to pack a surprising amount of meaning into a concise format. The stories are all three paragraphs long and, with the exception of “Les courriels anonymes” that is only a few lines longer, do not extend beyond a page and a half. The sixty stories are divided into the following sections (each with the number of stories): Histoires de vieilles dames (8); Histoires d’amour (5); Histoires d’enfants (15); Histoires de bourrus (10); Histoires de haine (7); Histoires de bêtes (5); and, Histoires d’âmes perdues (10). To provide a sense of Corriveau’s exceptional storytelling skills, I will highlight a few of my favorites. In Histoires d’amour, one would expect to find stories of star-crossed lovers. However, in “Le grand brûlé,” we meet Daphnée, a nurse who tenderly takes care of burn victims and who is able to find beauty even in disfigured faces and bodies. Her love for one victim is especially heart-wrenching when he does not survive, but she is able to provide the means for him to have ultimate dignity in death. In Histoires d’enfants, we can take pleasure at seeing the world through a child’s eyes. For instance, in “La fleur de Léontine,” François’s life is dramatically enhanced as he tends to the precious flower given to him by Léontine: “Les yeux grands ouverts d’émerveillement, [il] regardait la fleur de verre s’ébrouer au creux de son pot, tendre ses pétales, et grandir d’au moins un millimètre” (40). In Histoires d’âmes perdues, I was particularly drawn to “Les courriels anonymes ” as Corriveau is able to bring to life in a vivid format the feelings of isolation that are brought on by the lack of face-to-face communication due to the advent of modern technologies. Hubert is a lonely newspaper critic who desperately awaits E-mail messages to have contact with others and to maintain a sense of self-worth. In the story’s first paragraph we learn: Le premier courriel lui parvint le mercredi 1er avril, vers dix-sept heures. La clochette de l’ordi l’en avait prévenu. Le téléphone ne sonnant pratiquement jamais chez lui, Hubert se tient à l’affût de ce signal lointain, à l’étage. Il ne retarde jamais de vérifier, haletant, espérant une invitation impromptue soit à un souper soit à une lecture publique. (139) The E-mail message is from the newspaper’s director who informs him that his latest piece has received a wrath of negative responses. The next day (second paragraph), Hubert expects to receive a copy of the accusatory letters. Instead he learns that it is not worth the time to read them as the editorial staff laughed upon reading them. Ironically and sadly, we discover in the third and final paragraph , that weeks later Hubert continues to receive short insulting messages, such as “gros”, “puant”, “sans intelligence des textes” and “mauvais critique.” Rather than be upset by these messages, Hubert takes great pleasure in them: “Impossible pour lui de se détacher de son écran, figé par son désir, prisonnier devant l’expectative délectable du plaisir souhaité et si régulier. Hubert ne se sentait plus abandonné, enfin! [...] Hubert les recevait comme des gages de sa célébrité” (140). De vieilles dames is truly a stunning collection of short stories that is bound to have meaning for everyone. Corriveau’s prose is so ardently and exquisitely Reviews 1193 poetic that in just a few short paragraphs a whole new world of possibilities is created. Canisius College (NY) Eileen M. Angelini COULIN, DELPHINE. Samba pour la France. Paris: Seuil, 2010. ISBN 978-2-02-102854-6. Pp. 306. 19 a. Samba retrace les péripéties aujourd’hui devenues classiques d’un jeune Malien qui souhaite aller en France pour y tenter sa chance. Rejoindre son...