La Mauvaise Rencontre by Philippe Grimbert (review)

Nonetheless, Giraudon’s fragmented, collage-like form provides intriguing surprises, whether through quietly lyrical turns or measured detachment. Part one succeeds by shifting with clarity and concision between registers, time periods, and sensations: “Hier deux mois que maman est morte. Je ne supporte pas sa perte. Je ne savais pas que ce serait si dur cette idée: elle est morte et c’est pour toujours. [...] C’est ce qu’écrit La Poète” (35). Part two, “Kara Walker n’est pas Joséphine Baker,” accentuates La Poétesse’s intermittently present socio-political views: in forty-seven numbered, single-paged stanzas, it searches for the “postures à tenir” (59) given the “histoires hachées coupées” (91) that women, AfricanAmericans , and other groups have had to confront. In outlining this “art d’exister contre les faits” (63), wherein one must “Rester cool face aux Sentiments de persécution” (83), Giraudon critiques how psychic wounds are inflicted, for example on “oncle Tom [...] devenu pédophile” (97), while also belying somewhat , through rushes of images and unexpected words juxtaposed, the notion that French poets of the last decades meditate on abstractions more than their Anglo-American counterparts. Part three, “Le goût du crabe,” situates Giraudon’s overlapping reflections on creativity, everyday existence, language, gender, and identity within a mise en scène featuring a “CARNET VERT,” a “CARNET BLEU,” a “CARNET GRIS,” miscellaneous voices, and occasional stage directions. Amid references to famous writers and artists, this nineteen-page section’s prose delves into art, including “écrire” as a “revécu synthétique” marked by “sons différés plutôt que chant” (104), and considers the physical and psychological traumas of breast cancer, as markings and wounds against which one must struggle. Detractors might signal the opacity that can surface; however, by turns realistic, fantastical, and metalinguistic, “Le goût du crabe” merits repeated readings for its singular range. La Poétesse is highly recommended, whether as a profound and enjoyably inventive stand-alone volume, as an introduction to the widely respected Liliane Giraudon, or as an emblem of directions in post-Mallarméan poetics and of the complex weave of post-Durassian écriture. Southwestern University (TX) Aaron Prevots GRIMBERT, PHILIPPE. La Mauvaise Rencontre. Paris: Grasset, 2009. ISBN 978-2-24675661 -3. Pp. 213. 16 a. Philippe Grimbert was awarded the 2004 Prix Goncourt des Lycéens for Un Secret, which was adapted into a film by Claude Miller in 2007. His latest narrative will be attractive to adolescent and adult readers because of its accessible, uncomplicated style and its profound narrative structure. Loup, the narrator, is perplexed about his relationship to his male friend Mando. Their friendship began as children in the playground of Parc Monceau in Paris. They became such good friends that they could be called intellectual Siamese twins. But Loup wanted something else. Or maybe he simply was not suited for the close friendship that Mando demanded. Loup assumes the responsibility for their breaking up. He even gives us three examples of his own treachery to Mando, as if he wanted to be compared to Judas. The Orpheus/Eurydice myth is also invoked. The lyrical rhythm of Loup’s narrative makes him into an Orpheus-like poet who links the fragmented episodes with visual spaces for reflection between the short paragraphs . The story seems to have a halo around it, an almost religious respect for Reviews 417 the sacred bond of friendship. But this is not an institutionally religious narrative. Mando’s mother, Enza, receives respect initially from Loup for her pious ways, but eventually they become suspicious as she loses patience with the sickly Mando. The religious awe builds up through the recurrence of rituals honoring the scapegoat , the sacrifice, and the stranger. Meanwhile, the narrator’s name reminds us of Freud’s case of the Wolfman. The title of Grimbert’s novel refers to the French rendition of the moment when a psychotic patient reveals his sickness. As a student of psychoanalysis, Loup not only reminds us of this term’s significance but also of his mentor, Professor Psychopompe as the two friends call him, who insists that psychosis is innate. When Mando reveals his...