The Interrogation by J.M.G. Le Clézio

 

His debut book written when he was twenty-three.  Now he says the book is almost a joke.  A surprising claim since the book takes itself very seriously, particularly with the intense final part of the interrogation of the title.  The interrogation is between amnesiac Adam Pollo & doctor Julienne R. in a hospital room.  Simplified the interrogation between the two characters goes along with “why are you mad?” “why are you mad?” “I’m not mad” “Neither am I, and let me explain why…” and explain he does.  Pollo’s arguments are is like trying to catch air; you can try to understand but it each point will disapper in your hands.  It’s so complicated that it must be simple.  Maybe it is a joke on those who take their literature seriously, i.e: the French. 

  Each chapter is numbered by letters in the order of the alphabet.  A, B, C etc…the book begins with a quote from Robin Cruesoe and a note from the author.

  I enjoyed the acute descriptions, even if it did border on the maniac, as if it was the descriptions, not the story, that was really important.  Certainly a young man’s book, intellectual boy trying to survive memory, isolation and intelligence, getting himself arrested so he can argue with those of institutional health profession with maddenly complex theories; but what else are young men supposed to write?

  It has an interest in anthropology and tribal behaviour. Clézio spent some time in the jungle later on in his life.  This, in part, shows how the individual produces culture from the raw material that surrounds him and how modern insanity/ sanity is a consequential reaction to the universe. 

  It’s a short book but it does not feel minimalist like some previous French Nobel Prize Winners, such as Albert Camus, but actually quite expansive with an expensive use of language.  It is rich in theory and for those who wish for their books to be top heavy then Clézio is the perfect author.  Others may find that they will get too bogged down in a plot that is going no-where.

   This pleasure from isolation and the feeling of being lost like a child I have felt at the end of term in university.  Lots of students went away back to their homes but I stayed and wandered the campus completely alone.  It was clear and cold like frost on a statue and I was almost delirious with pretending to be a dog or a ghostly angle.  Typical french philosophical novella but it seems to go beyond philosophy, as the description goes beyond description, and is determined to penetrate consciousness.  Arrogant it may seem but it also seems that to reach that secret place Clézio has to be arrogant in order to go beyond it.  Or the novel could be a set up and it’s interpretation the punchline.  It’s an admirable experiment and for the young man it showed he had a hell of a lot to give and was probably expected to be great.  It makes me want to read more of him to see what else he has described and experimented with.