Hortense in Exile

Hortense #3

by Jacques Roubaud, Dominic Di Bernardi (Translator)

Hortense, déjà héroïne de La Belle Hortense et de L'Enlèvement d'Hortense , a suivi son prince et amant dans son pays, la Poldévie. Mais les ennemis du couple ne désarment pas. Ils ourdissent un complot dont on ne peut s'empêcher de dire qu'il est infâme. Ces machinations donnent à L'Exil d'Hortense sa tonalité tragique. L'inspecteur Blognard ne désarme pas dans sa lutte contre les criminels, fussent-ils poldèves. Une chatte, Ophélie, aux yeux bleus et innocents, est envoyée au secours d'Hortense. Que va-t-il se passer ?

Genres: Fiction, French Literature, France, Novels

Hardcover

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

Jacques Roubaud was a French poet, writer and mathematician.

Reviews

[Vit Babenco · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hortense in Exile is an intellectual burlesque taking place in an imaginary realm of Poldevia where anything can happen.
The tale begins with Hortense taking a fantastic bath in the fantastic bathroom and being watched by Alexandre Vladimirovitch – a royal tomcat…

As we’ve already stated, Alexandre Vladimirovitch’s eyes never left Hortense, and he followed the sensual progress of her self-soaping. “I wonder,” thought Hortense, “what he might be thinking while watching me like that every morning?”
So then, Alexandre Vladimirovitch thought, “What I’m thinking is how remarkably bare of fur her whole body is; no doubt, according to human criteria, if I take into account the appraisal of the Prince, who’s a connoisseur, Hortense’s scanty fur is placed on her person correctly, strategically, and with a touch of charm, I grant.”

Poldevia is a hypothetical kingdom based on the theory of coexistence of multitudinous parallel worlds in the same place simultaneously… However bizarre it may sound in the story this land is weirder still… The kingdom is ruled by Alcius, Usurping Reigning Prince, second husband of Gertrude who is the Prince’s mother… And Hortense is the Prince’s fiancée…
Does it sound familiar? Yes, the tale is postmodernistic and absurdist rendering of Hamlet…

…it possesses great philosophic, poetic, and esoteric depth; I’ve just begun it; it goes something like: ‘To be being or not being having the whole while been or not been, that’s the nagging question, etc.’

Personages are aware that they are just characters in the novel so they behave accordingly…
In the fictional world there is always a hero who will save a damsel in distress.

[MJ Nicholls · Rating 3 out of 5]

More cartwheeling absurdism from Oulipo’s lesser-known genius. Hortense is back and so are her breasts, buttocks, and her watchful cat Alexandre Vladimirovitch. In the previous novel she married Prince Gormanskoï or some other irrelevant plot detail, and here she finds herself caught up in a production of Hatmel as her honour is threatened by the clone Whortense. As ever, wordplay, digression, authorial intrusion, lunatic antics of a nonsense nature and high-wire Oulipo games are all served on a platter of complete mayhem. At times the technique does feel like breaking out the postmodern bag o’ tricks—there’s nothing here we couldn’t find in Queneau, Share, O’Brien or Sorrentino—and novel-long absurdism only stretches so far. Still: Jacques has some more “serious” books in English translation, among them the exquisite poem-photo montage Some Thing Black, and these novels are a testament to the comic spirit of the French avant-garde. Delightful.

[Old Man JP · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is my third book by Jacques Roubaud and it was a real disappointment. The other two were quite good. Some Thing Black was an exceptional book of poetry and The Great Fire of London was a humorous, although a little confusing, story of his attempt to write the book with the same title. Hortense in Exile is the story of Hortense, who is in love with Prince Gormaskoi. He has an identical twin brother, the good Prince Acram'm and there is an identical evil prince named Prince Augre. The evil Prince Augre abducts Hortense and there is a very confusing story that involves the identical Prince's and an identical fake Hortense. Roubaud inserts himself several times into the story and has a lot of silly banter with the reader to explain different aspects of the story. This is the third book in the Hortense series but I don't think I will be reading any of the others because it wasn't something I enjoyed reading.

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

A bittersweet undertaking, reading this book soon after learning of Roubaud's passing. A playful, subversive & brilliant writer, Roubaud was instrumental in bringing me around to the greatness of the Oulipo, that group of "experimental" writers whose self-imposed restrictions I once derided as ridiculous stunts. I came across his inventive & hilarious novel Hortense Is Abducted (2nd in the Hortense Trilogy) at a pivotal moment, working at a bookstore for the first time back in the 1990s. In this final installment of Hortense's adventures Roubaud lets it all fly. Literary references & jokes, mathematical conundrums & preposterous plots, doppelgangers, color schemes, cats, & the author himself all appear in this dizzying melange. At times he lays it on so thick & fast that it becomes confusing, but everything is clear by the ending. A fine way to bid farewell to this formidable fave author & personality.