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Monsieur
Meet Monsieur, your hero, a successful young executive in Paris whose
daily life you will follow in precise detail. He is nothing if not
unremarkable. Meet his secretary, his nieces, his fiancée and her
parents, his neighbor whose scientific reports Monsieur unwittingly
types out. What will happen? This and that. Monsieur will attend a
party. He will babysit. But most of all, M...more
daily life you will follow in precise detail. He is nothing if not
unremarkable. Meet his secretary, his nieces, his fiancée and her
parents, his neighbor whose scientific reports Monsieur unwittingly
types out. What will happen? This and that. Monsieur will attend a
party. He will babysit. But most of all, M...more
Paperback, 108 pages
Published
June 17th 2008
by Dalkey Archive Pr
(first published 1984)
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Such a little book but, in that French way, it is supposed to be about everything: the absurdity and simplicity of a man's life, quantum theory, the growth of crystals. For a man, like any other object, cannot be described except relatively to the objects around him. And when he is in darkness (a blackout)? Then what? Is it still true? can he hop from one space to another, one state to another, being alone to being part of a pair, by some form of quantum theory recited by a school boy pages earl...more
Toussaint's unassuming hero--known only as Monsieur--embodies what Taoism terms the "uncarved block." Apparently simple-minded and utterly passive, he nevertheless keeps his head above water without effort and comes out of even the worst situations displaying a mystifying sense of contentment. He's a little bit Winnie-the-Pooh, a little bit silent film comedian, and all enigma.
Nov 13, 2009
nathan
added it
Somehow, previous to this title, I managed to read eleven books in a row that were first-person narrative. I certainly didn't intend for this to happen, as, generally, I prefer novels to be in the third-; it was just the way the library spit them out at me. And so, Monsieur, with its perfectly amorphous titular character and distant, smart narration was a great salve for all the messy I's, you's, we's, and us's I've unintentionally inundated myself with of late. I enjoyed this book on a sentence...more
Jun 02, 2009
Jim
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Euro fic fans, people who don't like to laugh in public, cheese eaters
(This review originally appeared on the literay weblog The Elegant Variation on June 16, 2008 aka Bloomsday, which is why it repeatedly references James Joyce's Ulysses.)
Although June 16 is called Bloomsday after the chief protagonist of James Joyce’s modernist masterpiece, you could be forgiven for forgetting about poor old Leopold.
After all, Ulysses’ first hundred pages or so are dominated by Stephen Dedalus, a stretch so stylistically baroque many readers skip ahead to Molly Bloom’s saucy mon...more
1 like · like · see review
The eponymous Monsieur wends his way down the Lazy River of life: unencumbered by Qualities, unconsummated by ambition, but concocted of Common and convivial of trite.
Toussaint glorifies a life most banal, a man so unassuming he isn’t assigned a name, a man who perambulates the torrents of the quotidian by bending ‘with the remover to remove’. Have I come across this trope before? A Nonesuch as Monsieur? An ode to the Sublime of Ordinary? No, no, and no: and thus, 5 stars for the novelty value.
I...more
Toussaint glorifies a life most banal, a man so unassuming he isn’t assigned a name, a man who perambulates the torrents of the quotidian by bending ‘with the remover to remove’. Have I come across this trope before? A Nonesuch as Monsieur? An ode to the Sublime of Ordinary? No, no, and no: and thus, 5 stars for the novelty value.
I...more
11 likes · like · see review
There's something strange going on in Toussaint. I haven't quite put my finger on it yet, but I love it. Is it the accumulative effect of reading three of his books now, or is it this particular book — I find myself not just a happy reader anymore; I've become infected by Toussaint's peculiar turn of mind, and I need to get a little closer to understanding the main crisis at work in his stories. (Is there a main crisis?) My theory is that this book is a reaction to the mundane rituals and langua...more
3 likes · like · see review
Afuckingmazing. "At the office, when things weren't busy, Monsieur went downstairs to the cafeteria and read the paper. Across from him in the glass entrance hall, here and there, small flower pots boasted benjamina or papyrus, and two or three receptionists, quite another matter, talked on the telephone behind the circular counter. Often, before going back up to his office, Monsieur, going round the counter, good afternoon ladies, stood for a while in front of the aquarium and watched the fish...more
A charming story evoking The Stranger, with more whimsy and less existential meat.
3 likes · like · see review
Another strange little book, like a snapshot into a small world of restraint and deliberate thought, the story of a man and of his evasive activities. In French.
An unassuming fellow known only as Monsieur does nothing particularly remarkable, but Toussaint is able to make this anti-hero and fascinating and witty protagonist.
Objectively, it is well written and concise.
But I guess I just didn't like that style and while I like concise---I felt that it was maybe too concise for me to get it.
But I guess I just didn't like that style and while I like concise---I felt that it was maybe too concise for me to get it.
Loved it. I was caught up in the language.
The distinctly uneventful narrative of a nameless protagonist's day-to-day-to-day routine. Monsieur, who stumbles into situation after situation without control or ill-will is a kind of silent comedian here as he somersaults through the storyline, each tumble more absurd than the last. Major plot lines include a bruised arm, some serious ping-pong playing, and inadvertently co-authoring an unfinished book on mineralogy. For fans of Jim Jarmusch, Talking Heads lyrics and Jacques Tati's Mr. Hulot
Very French. Cold and impersonal for most of the book, but interesting it it's strangely disinterested manner of delving deeply into the life of a person only known in the book as Monsieur. Like Beckett in someways, but with science thrown in, which I think is supposed to be important, but I just didn't spend enough time thinking about the ramifications of quantum theory on the narrative structure of the book. My loss I'm sure.
5 likes · like · see review
Gave up. What passes for Taoist acceptance is called boredom in my house. Dull. Not recommended. Read Raymond Carver instead.
Very funny, especially if you don’t try to hard to find meaning in everything you read.
day to day observations of a regular guy. hmmmm...
quaint, secretly (touching?) quirky
an elegant souffle.
May 11, 2013
Martin Koerner
added it
May 08, 2013
Queen Mab
marked it as to-read
May 02, 2013
Martyn
marked it as to-read
Apr 13, 2013
Aporia
is currently reading it
Apr 10, 2013
Magnus Vinstrup
added it
Apr 15, 2013
Linde
marked it as to-read
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![ムッシュー [Monsieur]](http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1346249175s/15865825.jpg)
Jean-Philippe Toussaint (born 29 November, 1957, Brussels) is a Belgian prose writer and filmmaker. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages and he has had his photographs displayed in Brussels and Japan. Toussaint won the Prix Médicis in 2005 for his novel Fuir. The 2006 book La mélancolie de Zidane (Paris: Minuit, 2006) is a lyrical essay on the headbutt administered by the...more
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwSNbC...
Wedding Bell Blues:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z8kuo-...
Which was covered by the Fifth D...more
20. Mai, 16:36 Uhr
21. Mai, 08:34 Uhr