Scan barcode
A review by naimfrewat
La Jalousie by Alain Robbe-Grillet
4.0
I gave this book 4 stars though I could have given it, easily, 1 star.
I refuse to see any symbolism in the book, nor suggest any interpretation that is not explicitly mentioned (it won't be an interpretation but a reflection).
There's no doubt that this work is better formatted to the cinema. The description of the light as it rotates around the house, the repetition of the scenes, of the movement of the human beings, this eye of the narrator that captures the minutest of changes, somewhat like the football-centric camera that tracks the movement of the ball as it it passed among players, would have been more captivating to my senses had it been in a movie.
I understand that the nouveau roman wants to shatter a certain concept of the novel, with the characters, the omniscient narrator, the symbolism, the gap filling that a reader might engage in, particularly once the novel is read. But this new "genre’s » grotesque denial of a centuries-old tradition needs much more in conceptualization, engagement and a unified vision to what the nouveau roman ought to be like, before succeeding in imposing itself as a credible alternative.
As such, I finished reading with feelings that moved from the impressed to the interested to end with dissatisfaction.
I very much liked the present tense and this maintenant with which several scenes (if this books comprises any) start. Related to that, I liked the time described in spatial terms, the length of the objects or the architectural structures’ shadows reflects the time of day. Halfway through, I supposed the « events » that take place in this book must’ve happened all in one day. The last pages clearly erased that supposition from my mind.
Building on those last pages, I could not understand why all of a sudden the Robbe-Grillet attempted a certain chronological structure to the « events » (if one can label them so) of the book. In doing so, this representative specimen of the nouveau roman falls into the « trap » of the classical novel in attempting to wrap up a story. Though I can’t say the book has an ending, the ending is only the absence of the light of day, still the last pages felt coherent for a story that continuously shifted timelines and points of view.
What I also could not tolerate at all - hence the removed star - is the novel that the characters read and went over, all throughout the book. Robbe-Grillet briefly mentions its main headlines then goes on to contradict them, with the sentence that follows. That is one of the flaws that might tempt nouveau roman writers, a drift towards nihilism.
To end on a motivating note (motivating for future Robbe-Grillet readers), I liked that the nouveau roman gets defined throughout the book, very succinctly and almost imperceptibly and if I ever I decide to re-read this book, I would note whether small changes that accompany the shifting length of the shadows lead to an accident, thereby creating the single event towards which the novel might tend.
All in all, I do recommend this book. It is also a testimonial to the great intellectual vitality that characterized the French culture post-WW2, and to this reader, it gave a stylistic inspiration that will be put to test when scribbling in his diary.
I refuse to see any symbolism in the book, nor suggest any interpretation that is not explicitly mentioned (it won't be an interpretation but a reflection).
There's no doubt that this work is better formatted to the cinema. The description of the light as it rotates around the house, the repetition of the scenes, of the movement of the human beings, this eye of the narrator that captures the minutest of changes, somewhat like the football-centric camera that tracks the movement of the ball as it it passed among players, would have been more captivating to my senses had it been in a movie.
I understand that the nouveau roman wants to shatter a certain concept of the novel, with the characters, the omniscient narrator, the symbolism, the gap filling that a reader might engage in, particularly once the novel is read. But this new "genre’s » grotesque denial of a centuries-old tradition needs much more in conceptualization, engagement and a unified vision to what the nouveau roman ought to be like, before succeeding in imposing itself as a credible alternative.
As such, I finished reading with feelings that moved from the impressed to the interested to end with dissatisfaction.
I very much liked the present tense and this maintenant with which several scenes (if this books comprises any) start. Related to that, I liked the time described in spatial terms, the length of the objects or the architectural structures’ shadows reflects the time of day. Halfway through, I supposed the « events » that take place in this book must’ve happened all in one day. The last pages clearly erased that supposition from my mind.
Building on those last pages, I could not understand why all of a sudden the Robbe-Grillet attempted a certain chronological structure to the « events » (if one can label them so) of the book. In doing so, this representative specimen of the nouveau roman falls into the « trap » of the classical novel in attempting to wrap up a story. Though I can’t say the book has an ending, the ending is only the absence of the light of day, still the last pages felt coherent for a story that continuously shifted timelines and points of view.
What I also could not tolerate at all - hence the removed star - is the novel that the characters read and went over, all throughout the book. Robbe-Grillet briefly mentions its main headlines then goes on to contradict them, with the sentence that follows. That is one of the flaws that might tempt nouveau roman writers, a drift towards nihilism.
To end on a motivating note (motivating for future Robbe-Grillet readers), I liked that the nouveau roman gets defined throughout the book, very succinctly and almost imperceptibly and if I ever I decide to re-read this book, I would note whether small changes that accompany the shifting length of the shadows lead to an accident, thereby creating the single event towards which the novel might tend.
All in all, I do recommend this book. It is also a testimonial to the great intellectual vitality that characterized the French culture post-WW2, and to this reader, it gave a stylistic inspiration that will be put to test when scribbling in his diary.