Reviews

The Annual Banquet of the Gravedigger's Guild by Mathias Enard

anita_bath's review against another edition

challenging slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

brennam's review against another edition

Soft dnf. Just not the right mindset for this but would like to revisit 

magsirwin's review against another edition

challenging funny informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

A brilliant, sometimes baffling and inspiring book. I can see that it has irritated a few StoryGraph reviewers.  Readers are drawn in to story of a young metropolitan anthropologist, David Mazon,  engaged in a scholarly reconstruction of a rural community in the  in Southwest France.  There is a neat parallel between Mazons postgraduate reconstructions and our imaginative reconstructions of this world as readers.  Enard however pushes anthropology one step further  by showing us how our western reconstructions of plot, selves, time, narratives and communities mask other possible readings and the conventional
time and cast of the opening narrative are soon  abandoned for a multilayered tangle of stories that reveal how the characters are caught up in a Buddhist wheel of  life, birth and rebirth; their actions resonating across centuries and across species.  It’s a neat reminder of how quickly the western preconceptions that underlie our reading can be undone.  And it’s a brilliant and funny achievement.  Much recommended! 

andy_tbqh's review against another edition

dark funny sad medium-paced

1.5

Started off enjoyable and was looking forward to seeing where it went with the initial characters from the village then there was a massive shift into history and the previous lives of the village's inhabitants. Reincarnation is a thing in this book and the actual idea resonates with me but I don't want to read a noneventful story about a horse some bloke used to be. I found the language of the banquet very wearing as well, too sharp a contrast with the tone of the more enjoyable journal sections. Imbibing and flagons of ale type chat is not for me at the best of times and if the events and discussion of the banquet related to the rest of the book in any substantial way I missed it. Fortunately we returned to the journal at the end so the conclusion was somewhat satisfying. Could be simply because I found the middle of the book so annoying in contrast though

meg_doring's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

estreetgirl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny medium-paced

5.0

guts_mcgee's review against another edition

informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

nini23's review

There's nothing wrong with the book, I just wasn't enthusiastic while reading it. The depiction of an anthropology grad student doing fieldwork in a rural French village, all his trials and tribulations surviving the cold and dealing with the inhabitants  sound realistic enough. Am nonplussed by the reincarnation detail that came after, it's a central belief in Buddhism, not sure why it's deployed here in this French novel. 
Translated from French to English by Frank Wynne (New Directions, 2023)
Can be paired with Human Nature by Serge Joncour (tr Louise R Lalaurie).

hpc1c21's review against another edition

funny hopeful reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

cbugsy's review

challenging dark emotional funny reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Sexual violence, Suicide, Excrement, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, Death, and Infertility