Kunstpause

by Roland Topor

" Que suis-je d'autre qu'un lopin terre fatiguée ? " se demande l'auteur, livré à ses terreurs familières : le temps, la mort, la misère, parce qu'il ne se sent plus capable de les surmonter en se jouant d'elles sur le papier.
Même s'il n'a aucune subvention à espérer, il décide de se mettre en jachère, d'arrêter de se cultiver, selon les préceptes de la Commission de Bruxelles, et de devenir le gardien de son propre paysage.
Anecdotes de bistrots, aventures de taxis, histoires vécues et paraboles jalonnent la brève odyssée qui entraîne le héros désenchanté depuis son logement honni de Passy vers les lieux de son enfance. Entre République et Belleville.
Après avoir livré bataille à une horde de livres sauvages, libéré un génie immigré enfermé dans un sucrier et dégringolé d'un tabouret de bar. il triomphera de la nature hostile grâce à un simple chèque et un peu d humour.

Genres: Fiction, Novels

152 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

A French illustrator, painter, writer and filmmaker, known for the surreal nature of his work. He was of Polish Jewish origin and spent the early years of his life in Savoy where his family hid him from the Nazi peril.

Roland Topor wrote the novel The Tenant (Le Locataire chimérique, 1964), which was adapted to film by Roman Polanski in 1976. The Tenant is the story of a Parisian of Polish descent, who develops an obsession regarding what has happened to his apartment's previous tenant. It is a chilling exploration of alienation and identity, asking disturbing questions about how we define ourselves. The later novel Joko's Anniversary (1969), another fable about loss of identity, is a vicious satire on social conformity. Themes Topor returned to in his later novel Head-to-Toe Portrait of Suzanne (1978).

A new presentation of The Tenant by Roland Topor was released in October 2006. The book has Topor's original novel, a new introduction by Thomas Ligotti, a selection of short stories by Topor, a representation of Topor's artwork and an essay on the famous Roman Polanski film version. There is a working possibility of having Mr. Polanski write a new foreword to this edition.

In 2018, Atlas Press published Topor's Head-to-Toe Portrait of Suzanne, translated and introduced by Andrew Hodgson. It was the first of Topor's novels to enter English in nearly 50 years.

Reviews

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Opowieść o motywacji, zagubieniu i niepewności losu.

[Alan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Happens to me every day