The Thumbnail Book Reviews
by John Q McDonald --- 3 September 1999
by Michel Butor
Modeling this story on his own sojourn in Manchester, England, Michel Butor creates a diary of the dark feelings of being an alien in a strange land. Jacques, the narrator, arrives in bleak Bleston on a dreary October night. He's come for a year-long appointment to an export office. What follows are many similar dreary days, as Jacques tells of the stark landscape and refers only indirectly to the sunny countryside he left behind in France. He fumbles with the language barrier, explores the dull city streets, and meets a few of Bleston's resigned citizens. As the year passes, Jacques becomes more fascinated with Bleston's unusual cathedrals. He picks up a mystery novel set in the town and becomes engrossed in its description of the landscape, the subtle atmosphere of mystery in the town, and the identity of its mysterious author. Becoming increasingly obsessed with his writing of this story, and the meagre events of his days there, Jacques is blind to the behavior of the people around him. He becomes increasingly confused and depressed, finally blaming the city itself for his failures. He is relieved by his approaching departure, but there's a note of depressed madness in his words. He came to Bleston to have hope dashed, only to see it flicker once more before dying altogether. This is not as depressing a book as it would sound, with its intense, non-linear descriptions of the city and the passage of time. Though not for everyone, this novel is rich and peculiar.
Also by Butor: [Portrait of the Artist as a Young Ape] [The Spirit of Mediterranean Places]