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A review by kikiandarrowsfishshelf
Wild Dog by Serge Joncour
3.0
Disclaimer: I won an ARC via a giveaway on Librarything. I am also reading the book in translation.
Franck and his wife Lise go the middle of nowhere to spend time away, and as always in these situations, thing happen. Some of the things are tied to what happened in the same area over 100 years, during the first World War. That is the start of the novel which unfolds in 2017 and 1915.
The book has strong promise, yet doesn’t quite live up to it. The biography of Joncour indicts that he is a screenwriter, and this book does almost beg to made into a film or mini-series. To be honest, for a thriller, the book isn’t that thrilling. While I never want to not finish the book, it was a book you could quite easily put down and walk away from for quite a bit. (In half the amount of time it took me to read this 300+ page book, I made 200+ pages into different book).
Part of this is the structure. While the dual narratives do provide or provoke curiosity, the two timelines are not equally interesting. The 1915 narrative was the strong of the two. Part of this has to do with the better sense of setting and place. Another reason is that the characters and the situation were more compelling. The 1915 narrative concerns the town during the war as well as the strange German who takes shelter in the area. He has five big cats. And how exactly does he feed them?
The 2017 narrative about Lise and Franck pales a bit in comparison. Part of this is because the sense of place is not as acute. This could be in part because such a strong sense is done in the 1915 sections. However, given the 100 years difference in time period, the sense of place would have changed somewhat, gotten spookier or something. Yet this does not get much description. Additionally, the modern narrative at first sounds like it is going to be Lise’s, but than it becomes almost solely Franck’s. Lise becomes a presence, not even a Muse, though it almost seems like she was/is intended to be one.
This isn’t to say that Josephine, the woman from the 1915 narrative is much better. If Joncour had mention her attractiveness one more time, especially in how she thought about it, I was going to smack the nearest person up side the head. Despite this, Josephine is still more of a character than Lise, who just seems to be there.
Franck who controls and dominates the modern narrative, isn’t all that developed either. The change in him doesn’t quite work, though it is central to the plot. And the dog. I get the dog and the symbolism. But the dog doesn’t quite work either, even if you see it has a symbol of the half wild state that we should be.
That said, it isn’t a bad book. There are good passages. You do have some curiosity about what happens. The 1915 sections are very good. The idea has promise. It just doesn’t quite gel.
Franck and his wife Lise go the middle of nowhere to spend time away, and as always in these situations, thing happen. Some of the things are tied to what happened in the same area over 100 years, during the first World War. That is the start of the novel which unfolds in 2017 and 1915.
The book has strong promise, yet doesn’t quite live up to it. The biography of Joncour indicts that he is a screenwriter, and this book does almost beg to made into a film or mini-series. To be honest, for a thriller, the book isn’t that thrilling. While I never want to not finish the book, it was a book you could quite easily put down and walk away from for quite a bit. (In half the amount of time it took me to read this 300+ page book, I made 200+ pages into different book).
Part of this is the structure. While the dual narratives do provide or provoke curiosity, the two timelines are not equally interesting. The 1915 narrative was the strong of the two. Part of this has to do with the better sense of setting and place. Another reason is that the characters and the situation were more compelling. The 1915 narrative concerns the town during the war as well as the strange German who takes shelter in the area. He has five big cats. And how exactly does he feed them?
The 2017 narrative about Lise and Franck pales a bit in comparison. Part of this is because the sense of place is not as acute. This could be in part because such a strong sense is done in the 1915 sections. However, given the 100 years difference in time period, the sense of place would have changed somewhat, gotten spookier or something. Yet this does not get much description. Additionally, the modern narrative at first sounds like it is going to be Lise’s, but than it becomes almost solely Franck’s. Lise becomes a presence, not even a Muse, though it almost seems like she was/is intended to be one.
This isn’t to say that Josephine, the woman from the 1915 narrative is much better. If Joncour had mention her attractiveness one more time, especially in how she thought about it, I was going to smack the nearest person up side the head. Despite this, Josephine is still more of a character than Lise, who just seems to be there.
Franck who controls and dominates the modern narrative, isn’t all that developed either. The change in him doesn’t quite work, though it is central to the plot. And the dog. I get the dog and the symbolism. But the dog doesn’t quite work either, even if you see it has a symbol of the half wild state that we should be.
That said, it isn’t a bad book. There are good passages. You do have some curiosity about what happens. The 1915 sections are very good. The idea has promise. It just doesn’t quite gel.