Revisiting Amelie Nothomb...

Back in March I read Life Form by Amelie Nothomb and was not sure exactly how I felt about that novel; however, looking at her bio and number of published works, I decided to read more of her novels. Hygiene and the Assassin is her first published novel (1992), and the connections with Life Form (2010) are intriguing.

 Life Form told the story of an author, Amelie Nothomb, and her correspondence with an obese American soldier serving in Iraq. It was strange reading a novella in which the author is a character. It is still difficult to put an assessment of this novel into words. There is an element of the absurd, but even that label is incomplete. Hygiene and the Assassin seemed the logical choice for a follow up as it is her highly acclaimed first novel. Eye brows raised, I began reading a novel about a Nobel Laureate recipient, Pretextat Tach, who is an obese misogynistic recluse. When his impending death is announced, reporters take turns interviewing him. The efforts of three male reporters are repulsed in quick dismissive style; a fourth male reporter gleans a bit more information of Pretextat Tach and his world; however, it is the fifth interviewer - a woman, Nina - who breaks through his deceptive surface.

 In the fourth interview Tach proclaims that he does not believe anyone really reads his work; if they do read his work, only he is capable of understanding it. The interviewer argues the Nobel would seem to refute this theory, and Tach responds, "There are a great many people who push sophistication to the point of reading without reading. They're like frogmen, they go through books without absorbing a single drop of water" (54). Tach goes on to describe what he expects of a true reader:

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 caviar…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’s all:  in the best-case scenario, they know ‘what it’s about.’  And I’m not exaggerating.  How often have I asked intelligent people, ‘Did this book change you?’ and they look at me, their eyes wide, as if to say, ‘Why should a book change me?’ (54).

I understand what Tach is saying here; many people read for the story; that is, they appreciate some authors more than others but do not benefit from what they have read.  Robertson Davies would describe Pretextat Tach as a member of the clerisy.

Nina does successfully complete her interview. The past of Pretextat Tach is exposed for the world; although, I will not expose it to my blog readers.  The derivation of his first name is important to the story; that is the only hint I will give.  And the novel ends with Nina serving as Tach’s self-proclaimed avatar – the embodiment of a concept or philosophy – who also performs his dying request.

Has Amelie Nothomb won over another reader?  Oh, yes.  I have four more of her novels waiting to be read.  I only wish I could read her in the original French because if her writing is this good in translation, I cannot help but wonder what I am missing.

Nothomb, Amelie. Hygiene and the Assassin. translated by Alison Anderson. New York: Europa Editions, 2010. Print.