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Paradis: Clef En Main (2009)

by Nelly Arcan(Favorite Author)

3.29 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

2923603214 (ISBN13: 9782923603216)

languge

English

genre

Fiction

publisher

Coups de tête

review 1: Really interseting concept. This book was at times gross, at times disturbing and at times simply bleak but all of this just made it an ultimately stronger read. Lots to think about. I was slightly shocked at how quickly her views on suicide changed, and overall I wasn't sure if it strengthened or weakened the book. Its been hanging around at the back pf my mind ever since I read it and something about it kept me reading and interested. Also, I'm slightly biased, but I enjoyed the setting being Montreal.
review 2: It would be disingenuous of me to not admit to a morbid curiousity motivating me to read this book. It was included by the Globe and Mail in a list of 100 must-read books (mostly Canadian, of course) written in 2011. The very brief blurb mentioned t... morehe subject matter (which didn't overwhelm me with interest)--suicide--with the added punch that the author, Nelly Arcan, committed suicide a short time after completing the book. Who could resist the compulsion to read what could be thought of as a possible suicide note?We read how Antoinette Beauchamp, a denizen of a not-too-remote-future Montreal, has always felt different. Due to the influence of a relative with a similarly vague, but intense discomfort with life, she realizes a compulsion to end hers. Eventually a chance is presented by a clandestine group that offers personalized, aided suicide. Her ironic choice of self destruction doesn't succeed, leaving her an invalid who renders a narrative laden with poignant commentary and slightly menacing otherworldliness.The resulting emotions for me after reading this book were akin to those I felt after watching the movie "The Crow," a profound regret that a great artist with huge potential was lost. I nearly gave this book a 5-star rating, and in truth feel that it deserved at the very least a 4 and three-quarters (but that is not an option on Goodreads). In fact, I can hardly remember a true flaw in the book, and perhaps rated it slightly below a perfect score because the main theme is likely to narrow the range of people interested in reading. This is a pity, as this book is--due in large part to the eloquence of the writing--far more than the sum of its parts. I would love to read this book in its original Quebecois. less

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