La Cathédrale sur l’océan by Vittorio Frigerio
2011; American Association of Teachers of French; Volume: 84; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Francês
10.1353/tfr.2011.0251
ISSN2329-7131
Autores Tópico(s)French Literature and Critical Theory
Resumoof looking at society. The protagonist’s parents, friends, colleagues, and mistress have always been dedicated communists, so for Louis any other way of thinking seems alien. Part of what he discovers during his research is that not everyone is a communist and that not all communists think alike. Given the Stalinist conceptions with which he has been imbued all his life and which are the official doctrine of the French Communist Party in 1955, he is genuinely shocked to meet communists who deviate from the party line. Along the way, his own principles are shaken by the Trotzkyites and Leninists with whom he has discussions. He never knew that a communist could think in any but the official way. He is even more scandalized to learn that several of Missak’s closest associates were such dissenters. Another world we learn about is that of the Armenian émigrés in Paris. Refugees from Turkey, these people created a society of their own in France and are only beginning to assimilate at the time of the novel. For example, Louis gets to meet an Armenian-French entertainer named Charles Aznavour (short for Aznavourian) whose family participated in the Resistance as associates of Missak. This introduction of famous real-life figures into a work of fiction is reminiscent of Walter Scott’s similar technique in his historical novels. Another celebrity Louis gets to meet is communist author Louis Aragon, who is writing a poem in honor of Missak. Daeninckx’s novel is revealing as well about life in France ten years after the end of World War II. Telephones, central heating, and full bathrooms are still a rarity in the Paris of the 1950s. Refugees still live in shanty-towns. Few people own automobiles, so people walk or use public transport. As a result, the reader feels as if (s)he is accompanying Louis on a Joycean odyssey around the city, especially the less attractive neighborhoods and suburbs. The denouement of the novel is slightly disappointing in that it just sort of ends. There is no climax or major change in anyone’s life. Louis simply goes back to his former routine. The reader is left, nonetheless, with great admiration for the work’s namesake. One is especially impressed by the humanism and generous spirit of Missak Manouchian. A victim of violent political oppression in both his homeland and adopted country, he expresses in the letter he pens in his last moments on Earth a deeply felt love for all humanity and his forgiveness of his persecutors. University of Denver (CO) James P. Gilroy FRIGERIO, VITTORIO. La Cathédrale sur l’océan. Sudbury, Ontario: Prise de parole, 2009. ISBN 978-2-89423-232-3. Pp. 315. $24,95 Can. Professeur, directeur du département d’études françaises à l’Université Dalhousie, Vittorio Frigerio a publié de nombreux articles sur des auteurs français et sur le roman populaire français et étranger. Il est l’auteur des Fils de Monte-Cristo, d’Idéologie du héros de roman populaire, ainsi que de romans et de recueils de nouvelles en français et en italien, et de nombreux textes de création dans des revues et des anthologies. Dans La Cathédrale sur l’océan, le personnage principal Gaspard est architecte. Il vient de concevoir un projet sans précédent, un centre commercial à la gloire du capitalisme. En bordure de l’océan, à Halifax, Gaspard veut créer le paradis sur terre. Selon des plans qu’il dessine depuis des mois, il se rend dans cette ville pour rencontrer le client qui lui a commandé 612 FRENCH REVIEW 84.3 cette merveille. La cathédrale du titre se dresse surréelle sur l’océan, et est aux prises avec des dieux impuissants face à une économie en débandade. Hélas pour Gaspard, ce monument restera hors du réel car l’architecte ne rencontrera jamais son commanditaire. Campbell a disparu la veille, laissant un bureau vide et peu de traces sauf celles d’une secrétaire peu loquace, seule âme restée à bord. Gaspard ne veut pas que ses rêves se dissipent ainsi. Il décide de...
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