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Hygiene and the Assassin by Amelie Nothomb, translated by Alison Anderson

Language: French
Country: France
Publisher: Europa Editions
Pages: 167

Why This Book Should Win: 糖心传媒淚 didn糖心传媒檛 use to believe in the efficacy of verbal torture. And now as of these last few minutes I糖心传媒檝e started to believe in it.糖心传媒�

This post was written by aspiring German translator and recent 糖心传媒 graduate, Jen Marquart.

After receiving news that he has a rare form of cancer, Nobel Prize winning author Pr茅textat Tach decides to grant interviews to five journalists. The first four approach Tach from a straightforward manner糖心传媒攂elieving to have out smarted former colleagues糖心传媒攖o be torn apart, humiliated, sickened and broken. Only with Nina, the fifth journalist, does the obese, grotesque, misogynist author meet his match in a brutal game of verbal wit. By the end of the interview both Nina and Tach have plunged into an inescapable abyss.

With each interview reading as a separate story around the central theme of literary culture (more specifically what it means to be a 糖心传媒済ood writer/reader糖心传媒� and the politics surrounding the Nobel Prize for Literature) Nothomb, in her powerful first novel, commands a dialogue digging at these issues:

糖心传媒淸糖心传媒 You have sold millions of copies, even in China, and that doesn糖心传媒檛 make you think?糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淲eapons factories sell thousands of missiles the world over every day, and that doesn糖心传媒檛 make them think, either.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 no comparison.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淵ou don糖心传媒檛 think so? And yet there is a striking parallel. There糖心传媒檚 an accumulation, for example: we talk about an arms race, we should talk about a 糖心传媒榣iterature race.糖心传媒� It糖心传媒檚 a cogent argument like any other: every nation brandishes its writer or writers as if they were cannons. Sooner or later I too will be brandished, and they糖心传媒檒l prepare my Nobel Prize for battle.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淚f that糖心传媒檚 the way you look at it, I have to agree with you. But thank God, literature is less harmful.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淣ot mine. My literature is even more harmful then war.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淒on糖心传媒檛 you think you are flattering yourself there?糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淲ell I糖心传媒檓 obliged to, because I am the only reader who is capable of understanding me. Yes, my books are more harmful than war, because they make you want to die, whereas war, in fact, makes you want to live. After reading me, people should feel like committing suicide.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淎nd how do you explain the fact that they don糖心传媒檛?糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淲ell, I can explain it very easily: it is because nobody reads me. Basically, that may also be the reason for my extraordinary success: if I am so famous, my good man, it is because nobody reads me.糖心传媒�

These funny and critical exchanges are taken to a higher level with Nina, who plays Tach糖心传媒檚 game equally well, if not better. She plays with his words and calls bullshit on his 糖心传媒淔reudian Slips,糖心传媒� all in an attempt to tease out the 糖心传媒榬eal糖心传媒� Pr茅textat Tach.

With biting witticism and the criticism of literature swirling around the disturbing life of one Nobel Prize author, Hygiene and the Assassin is one of the funniest and most engaging books I have read.

Click here for all past and future posts.

Hygiene and the Assassin by Amelie Nothomb, translated by Alison Anderson

Language: French
Country: France
Publisher: Europa Editions
Pages: 167

Why This Book Should Win: Europa Editions publishes a ton of translations and deserves a victory; Nothomb was all of 25 when she wrote this; Nothomb has written 20-some-odd books and still doesn糖心传媒檛 get the attention she deserves from American readers; She糖心传媒檚 coming to Rochester days after the April 29th announcement, and that would be effing awesome if she won; most importantly, she deserves to win because of the passages below and the constant referencing of Celine.

I wrote today糖心传媒檚 post.

This novel糖心传媒擭othomb糖心传媒檚 first, publishing in French in 1992, and just now available in English糖心传媒攎ay be the sharpest, funniest book on this year糖心传媒檚 BTBA fiction longlist.

Here糖心传媒檚 the basic set-up: Pretexat Tach (what a name!) is a Nobel Prize winning author, who is a recluse, and who is about to die. Because of his impending death, he agrees to be interviewed by a series of journalists, each one as moronic as the last. Tach tortures each of them in turn, berating them, humiliating them, and coming across as a total prick糖心传媒攂ut one who, despite (or maybe in part because of) his disgusting appearance, thoughts, and rants, is fairly entertaining.

Actually, instead of trying to describe the merits of this book糖心传媒攖he way the final journalist undoes Tach, the way the plot feels all piecemeal until the last few moments when all the literary traps are sprung and the plot points braided together in a very tense, exciting way糖心传媒擨糖心传媒檓 going to stop here and leave you with a couple examples of Tach糖心传媒檚 awesome rants (and Nothomb糖心传媒檚 stunning ability to come up with these, and Anderson糖心传媒檚 skill at translating them).

Tach on how few people have really read his books:

糖心传媒淭hose are the frog-readers. They make up the vast majority of human readers, and yet I only discovered their existence quite late in life. I am so terribly naive. I thought that everyone read the way I do. For I read the way I eat: that means not only do I need to read, but also, and above all, that reading becomes one of my components and modifies them all. You are not the same person depending on whether you have eaten blood pudding or cavier; nor are you the same person depending on whether you have just read Kant (God help us) or Queneau. Well, when I say 糖心传媒榶ou,糖心传媒� I should say 糖心传媒業 myself and a few others,糖心传媒� because the majority of people emerge from reading Proust or Simenon in an identical state: they have neither lost a fraction of what they were nor gained a single additional fraction. They have read, that糖心传媒檚 all: in the best-case scenario, they know 糖心传媒榳hat it糖心传媒檚 about.糖心传媒� And I糖心传媒檓 not exaggerating. How often have I asked intelligent people, 糖心传媒楧id this book change you?糖心传媒� And they look at me, their eyes wide, as if to say, 糖心传媒榃hy should a book change me?糖心传媒櫶切拇綕

糖心传媒淎llow me to express my astonishment, Monsieur Tach: you have just spoken as if you were defending books with a message, and that糖心传媒檚 not like you.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淵ou糖心传媒檙e not very clever, are you? So are you of the opinion that only books 糖心传媒榳ith a message糖心传媒� can change an individual? These are the books that are the least likely to change them. The books that have an impact, that transform people, are the other ones糖心传媒攂ooks about desire, or pleasure, books filled with genius, and above all books filled with beauty. Let us take, for example, a great book filled with beauty: Journey to the End of the Night. How can you not be transformed after you have read it? Well, the majority of readers manage just that tour de force without difficulty. They will come to you and say, 糖心传媒極h yes, Celine is magnificent,糖心传媒� and then they go back to what they were doing.糖心传媒�

But really, the best section is this one on how Tach糖心传媒檚 books are dangerous, how 糖心传媒渨riting is harmful糖心传媒�:

糖心传媒淭here糖心传媒檚 no comparison. Writing is not as harmful.糖心传媒�

糖心传媒淵ou obviously don糖心传媒檛 know what you糖心传媒檙e saying, because you haven糖心传媒檛 read me糖心传媒攈ow could you know? Writing fucks things up at every level: think of the trees they糖心传媒檝e had to cut down for the paper, of all the room they have to find to store the books, the money it costs to print them, and the money it will cost potential readers, and the boredom the readers will feel on reading them, and the guilty conscience of the unfortunate people who buy them and don糖心传媒檛 have the courage to read them, and the sadness of the kind imbeciles who do read them but don糖心传媒檛 understand a thing, and finally, above all, the fatuousness of the conversations that wil take place after said books have been read or not read. And that糖心传媒檚 just the half of it! So don糖心传媒檛 go telling me that writing is not harmful.糖心传媒�