Anyone will tell you that a man in possession of such good looks and such a name must be in want of a fortune. (6% ).
Celeste suggested it and we all
complimented her for it. It was written in French and the translation by Frank
Wynne was good. It is entitled Au revoir la-haut (Goodbye until we meet in
heaven). Lemaitre has won 3 awards with this novel including the 2013 Prix
Goncourt. He is a former literature
teacher and now writes fulltime. This novel in film version is to be released
in 2017.
This story is complex. Albert Maillard and Edouard Pericourt are very
young French soldiers in the last few days of WW1. Albert is rescued by Edouard after being buried alive and then
Albert befriends Edouard and looks after him when they are demobbed. Edouard has been very badly disfigured in a
final act of war by their mutual enemy, Lieutenant Pradelle. Edouard refuses to
undergo surgery to alleviate some of his injuries. So he suffers terribly and
Albert suffers too in trying to help him.
Albert discovers that Lieutenant Pradelle
has been involved in both of their lives basically trying to kill each of them.
D’Aulnay-Pradelle is an aristocrat who after the war defrauds French soldiers
and their families by ‘managing’ the cemeteries and not respecting the dead
soldiers. He finally ends up being caught and loses everything. He is a
cold-blooded killer, which is evident in the first few pages of the novel.
Edouard and Albert concoct a massive fraud too but Albert is successful in
running away with the money. Edouard is accidentally killed by his father.
We talked about the factual events which
are related in this story such as the exhumations, harassment of ex-soldiers and loss of identity of
corpses. One of the many shocking scenes involves exhumations which happened in
France after WW1. See this site for further information. Pradelle’s fraud was so disrespectful of the soldiers
and so typical of his character that we were not surprised about the mess he
got himself involved in.
We also talked about the main characters,
Albert, Edouard and Edouard’s father who
is the one character who grows through this story. Albert is the classic
anti-hero and somewhat reckless after being initially timid. He is the typical
bourgeoisie and good Samaritan type, and extremely loyal to his friend. Edouard
is an artist and disdains the rich and
the bourgeoisie and has the original idea of the swindle carried out by them. The
senior Pericourt began his life like Pradelle, in being money hungry but
changes slowly through his career especially driven by the supposed loss of his
son. We also explored some of the more minor characters such as Albert’s
mother (who we never meet but hear her
words through Albert’s musings) and Madeleine Pericourt, Edouard’s sister. She is a strong character who falls in love
with Pradelle when she is grieving for her brother. However she realises early
on that he is a fraud in many ways. She is plain but aware of her status as the
daughter of very wealthy man who she alone can manage. She loves dumping Pradelle and sees him
destroyed. Pauline Albert’s girlfriend is also a great character, just getting
on with life and trying to get the most out of it. And she doesn’t take long to
work out that life with Albert and money is her way out of domestic service.
There is a lot of sarcasm and irony and
some humour in this story – for instance, in the tensions between Pradelle and
his father-in-law. The same man was also
Edouard’s father. M.Pericourt is told by Albert that Edouard was killed. He had
not been a good father but realises this slowly through the novel and just as
he is about to meet his son (unbeknowing to him) he runs over him (literally).
Black comedy and farce all in one moment. Edouard’s costumes after he discovers
masks brings a certain humour as does the angel outfit he wears leaving the
hotel at the end of the novel.
We didn’t quite understand the ending and
fully expected a different scenario. Maybe Lemaitre’s crime detective novels
have taught him to leave a conclusion till the very last pages.
We really liked the characters of Albert
and Edouard and sympathized with them despite their behaviour. They are very vivid descriptions and
encouraged the reader to continue reading to work out the plot. Will the two
swindles be successful? We were amazed
by Albert’s loyalty to Edouard despite the trials he had to suffer, especially
when he had to buy drugs for Edouard and the carrying out of the swindle in the
bank. Edouard was so disfigured and it is hard to imagine his face. We were all
aghast at the thought of Albert putting his fist into Edouard’s missing face.
There is also a lot of talk about soldiers with only one arm. Just after the
war, France was a society who had forgotten to look after its living soldiers
but wants to honour only the dead ones. It shows how people can so easily exploit
each other given the opportunity.
It is a farce but a well meaning one and
cleverly written. We thought the title was excellent for the English version as
it sums up beautifully the crux of the story.
