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Recherche
You get to be a lot of people when you are a vampire.
Meet old Harry Haze: war criminal, Jewish stand-up comedian, friend of Marcel Proust and J. Edgar Hoover. John Harper encounters him while spending the summer in the South of France with his mistress Lucy, and is entranced by Harry’s stories of his fabulous past. Then Lucy disappears without explanation and both John and Harry fall under suspicion.
Yet how are we to know the truth when it is hidden in the labyrinth of Harry’s bizarre memories and John’s guilt at abandoning his wife? Nothing in this story is certain. Is Lucy dead? Is Harry a harmless old druggie or really a vampire? Deep inside his humorous tales is the suppressed memory of a night of sheer horror. And it is possible that one of the two men is an insane killer.
Meet old Harry Haze: war criminal, Jewish stand-up comedian, friend of Marcel Proust and J. Edgar Hoover. John Harper encounters him while spending the summer in the South of France with his mistress Lucy, and is entranced by Harry’s stories of his fabulous past. Then Lucy disappears without explanation and both John and Harry fall under suspicion.
Yet how are we to know the truth when it is hidden in the labyrinth of Harry’s bizarre memories and John’s guilt at abandoning his wife? Nothing in this story is certain. Is Lucy dead? Is Harry a harmless old druggie or really a vampire? Deep inside his humorous tales is the suppressed memory of a night of sheer horror. And it is possible that one of the two men is an insane killer.
359 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1999
13 people are currently reading
298 people want to read
About the author
Jim Williams
11 books20 followersJim Williams first hit the news when his early novels had the uncanny knack of coming true. The Hitler Diaries was published nine months before the celebrated forgery came out in 1983. Farewell to Russia dealt with a nuclear disaster in the Soviet Union months before the Chernobyl disaster. Lara's Child, his sequel to Doctor Zhivago, provoked an international literary scandal and led to his being a guest speaker at the Cheltenham Festival. Scherzo, a witty and elegant mystery set in eighteenth century Venice, was nominated for the Booker Prize. All of his fiction has been published internationally. Tango in Madeira is his eleventh novel.
From the author:
I was born in Oldham, England, the son of a coal miner and a cotton mill worker and grew up in circumstances that would today be considered poor. However I had loving parents and benefitted from a good education.
I have a degree in law and sociology and speak French, German and Spanish and have a smattering of other languages. Since 1970 I've been a qualified barrister, though I no longer practice. I am a Fellow of the Indian Society of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the founder and a fellow of the Institute of Applied Charlatanry. One of these qualifications is entirely worthless and I leave you to guess which.
The most important fact in my life is that I have had a long and loving marriage to a wonderful wife, and my grown-up family still gather with us most Sundays for a family dinner.
I seem to have a happy, easy-going nature and I take a great deal of pleasure in ordinary things such as walking or gardening. My wife and I enjoy theatre, ballet, opera, paintings and dancing at every possible opportunity.
From the author:
I was born in Oldham, England, the son of a coal miner and a cotton mill worker and grew up in circumstances that would today be considered poor. However I had loving parents and benefitted from a good education.
I have a degree in law and sociology and speak French, German and Spanish and have a smattering of other languages. Since 1970 I've been a qualified barrister, though I no longer practice. I am a Fellow of the Indian Society of Arbitrators, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the founder and a fellow of the Institute of Applied Charlatanry. One of these qualifications is entirely worthless and I leave you to guess which.
The most important fact in my life is that I have had a long and loving marriage to a wonderful wife, and my grown-up family still gather with us most Sundays for a family dinner.
I seem to have a happy, easy-going nature and I take a great deal of pleasure in ordinary things such as walking or gardening. My wife and I enjoy theatre, ballet, opera, paintings and dancing at every possible opportunity.
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July 18, 2014I hadn’t come across Jim Williams before I discovered this book and I am so glad I did. I now have the pleasure of looking forward to reading the rest of his work.
Recherche is the sort of novel I would love to have written myself. It’s deeply weird, is told in several voices and leaves you wondering at the end. It is, on one level, a murder mystery but the mystery isn’t who did it, it’s whether it was ever done at all.
Lawyer, John Harper has left his wife and is spending the summer in France with his secretary/lover Lucy. When Lucy disappears Harper is suspected of her murder though no evidence can be found.
Alongside the present day mystery (set sometime in the 90s) runs the bizarre tale of an old man, Harry Haze, who claims to be a vampire. Be warned though - this isn’t Twilight. It’s a fascinating romp through the history of the last hundred years or so which mixes Proust with Dorian Grey, Churchill with Rudolf Hess, takes a detour into Lolita country, and throws in asides on Rasputin and Bela Lugosi for good measure. Harry Haze tells fantastic (in the original sense of fanciful and absurd) tales of having been (among other things) a war criminal, a Jewish stand-up comedian and a friend of J. Edgar Hoover - but can he ever be believed?
John Harper doesn’t think so. But then, ultimately, he doesn’t know what to believe.
If you enjoy literary allusions, swooping language and mysteries that stay mysterious, this book is for you.
Recherche is the sort of novel I would love to have written myself. It’s deeply weird, is told in several voices and leaves you wondering at the end. It is, on one level, a murder mystery but the mystery isn’t who did it, it’s whether it was ever done at all.
Lawyer, John Harper has left his wife and is spending the summer in France with his secretary/lover Lucy. When Lucy disappears Harper is suspected of her murder though no evidence can be found.
Alongside the present day mystery (set sometime in the 90s) runs the bizarre tale of an old man, Harry Haze, who claims to be a vampire. Be warned though - this isn’t Twilight. It’s a fascinating romp through the history of the last hundred years or so which mixes Proust with Dorian Grey, Churchill with Rudolf Hess, takes a detour into Lolita country, and throws in asides on Rasputin and Bela Lugosi for good measure. Harry Haze tells fantastic (in the original sense of fanciful and absurd) tales of having been (among other things) a war criminal, a Jewish stand-up comedian and a friend of J. Edgar Hoover - but can he ever be believed?
John Harper doesn’t think so. But then, ultimately, he doesn’t know what to believe.
If you enjoy literary allusions, swooping language and mysteries that stay mysterious, this book is for you.
February 28, 2014
Maybe, it's not fair to do a review, as the story line was so boring. I commit to read the first 100 pages of any book, but this one was a struggle. Two stars for the grammar, punctuation and other mechanics.
May 13, 2022
This is a strange book, full of literary allusions, not least to Proust (of whose work I am ignorant). Flitting between a tale of two lovers living in rural France and the, at times, deranged reminiscences of someone they meet in that village with an obsession about vampires, there were laugh-out-loud comical moments. Early one, I was really enjoying the story. However, overall, I found the reminiscences odd, at times contrived and ultimately tedious.
February 7, 2018
Good book
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
You people should just read this book yourselves and write your own review on this novel yourself and I really enjoyed reading this book very much so. Shelley MA
September 8, 2021
Although the premise was interesting at first, I became bogged down with the interminable stories of Harry and became bored with the protagonist.
December 10, 2014
This is a very interesting read. It is well-written, and the reader gets to decide what the hell the book is about. I would have given it four, maybe even five, stars, if it wasn't for the parts that are not narrated in regular prose, but are instead a play, a musical, and weird, "funny" stream-of-consciousness. I am not sure if it was the style that these parts were written in what put me off, or the subject matter: I am not a WWII fan, I am not that interested in Hitler or the Nazis or the Third Reich as most US people and Europeans are--precisely because I am neither a US person or a European... but if those parts had been written in the same style and voice as the rest of the book, this would have been for me, a 5-star book. But then of course, it would have been a "normal" book, which is precisely what it's author was trying to avoid by including those parts. And since the author wrote the book without consulting me, I will write the review for the book that is and not the one that could have been.
If you like weird stories, open endings (not in terms of plot, but just in general, philosophical, essential open-endedness), character development, and honest and refrenshing analyses of men, and the relations that they have with/towards women, and their relation to/with/toward themselves (who knew men have inner dialogues, too?), this is a great book for you. And if on top of that you like stuff on Hitler, etc., then this is totally perfect.
Warning: nothing happens much in this book, but nothing happens much in life, really. So despite its subject matter, it is very realistic. Like an actual memoir. I don't like actual memoirs, but books that are almost like a memoir because the narrator/main character is so real you feel like you know him (not identify with him, not at all, but KNOW), those I love.
If you like weird stories, open endings (not in terms of plot, but just in general, philosophical, essential open-endedness), character development, and honest and refrenshing analyses of men, and the relations that they have with/towards women, and their relation to/with/toward themselves (who knew men have inner dialogues, too?), this is a great book for you. And if on top of that you like stuff on Hitler, etc., then this is totally perfect.
Warning: nothing happens much in this book, but nothing happens much in life, really. So despite its subject matter, it is very realistic. Like an actual memoir. I don't like actual memoirs, but books that are almost like a memoir because the narrator/main character is so real you feel like you know him (not identify with him, not at all, but KNOW), those I love.
December 12, 2014
I hadn’t come across Jim Williams before I discovered this book and I am so glad I did. I now have the pleasure of looking forward to reading the rest of his work.
Recherche is the sort of novel I would love to have written myself. It’s deeply weird, is told in several voices and leaves you wondering at the end. It is, on one level, a murder mystery but the mystery isn’t who did it, it’s whether it was ever done at all.
Lawyer, John Harper has left his wife and is spending the summer in France with his secretary/lover Lucy. When Lucy disappears Harper is suspected of her murder though no evidence can be found.
Alongside the present day mystery (set sometime in the 90s) runs the bizarre tale of an old man, Harry Haze, who claims to be a vampire. Be warned though - this isn’t Twilight. It’s a fascinating romp through the history of the last hundred years or so which mixes Proust with Dorian Grey, Churchill with Rudolf Hess, takes a detour into Lolita country, and throws in asides on Rasputin and Bela Lugosi for good measure. Harry Haze tells fantastic (in the original sense of fanciful and absurd) tales of having been (among other things) a war criminal, a Jewish stand-up comedian and a friend of J. Edgar Hoover - but can he ever be believed?
John Harper doesn’t think so. But then, ultimately, he doesn’t know what to believe.
If you enjoy literary allusions, swooping language and mysteries that stay mysterious, this book is for you.
April 8, 2014
I hadn't come across Jim Williams before I discovered this book. I was drawn to it by the new cover and I am so glad I found it. I now have the pleasure of reading the rest of his work.
Recherche is the sort of novel I would love to have written myself. It's deeply weird, is told in several voices and leaves you wondering at the end. It is, on one level, a murder mystery but the mystery isn't who did it, it's whether it was ever done at all.
Alongside the present day mystery (well, it's set sometime in the 90s) runs the bizarre tale of an old man who claims to be a vampire. Be warned though - this isn't Twilight. It's a fascinating romp through the history of the last hundred years or so which mixes Proust with Dorian Grey, features Churchill and Rudolf Hess, takes a detour into Lolita country, and throws in asides on Rasputin and Bela Lugosi for good measure.
If you enjoy literary allusions, swooping language and mysteries that stay mysterious, this book is for you.
I'm reading Williams' Scherzo next.
Recherche is the sort of novel I would love to have written myself. It's deeply weird, is told in several voices and leaves you wondering at the end. It is, on one level, a murder mystery but the mystery isn't who did it, it's whether it was ever done at all.
Alongside the present day mystery (well, it's set sometime in the 90s) runs the bizarre tale of an old man who claims to be a vampire. Be warned though - this isn't Twilight. It's a fascinating romp through the history of the last hundred years or so which mixes Proust with Dorian Grey, features Churchill and Rudolf Hess, takes a detour into Lolita country, and throws in asides on Rasputin and Bela Lugosi for good measure.
If you enjoy literary allusions, swooping language and mysteries that stay mysterious, this book is for you.
I'm reading Williams' Scherzo next.
March 17, 2014
The author lost me here and there and it was a little heavy handed in some spots (Haze's stories in particular) but was not all bad. This is not the quick easy read the vampire title suggests. Had Haze's stories read as evenly as the rest of the novel, I would have given the book 4 stars. The constant jumping from literary, historical and philosophical references tired and sometimes bored me so that I could only read a page or two in a sitting or would sometimes skip sections. In places where the novel unfolded more naturally I thought the writing very good.
October 3, 2016
I'm not sure how I feel about this book. It did take me quite a while to get through it, and I am happy I finished and didn't bail (not usually a good way to start a review).
The main story was interesting, and parts, I dare say, could be page turners. I didn't like when the book turned to Harry's story; it got muddled and confusing. However, after finishing the book, I do realize that it couldn't be told without those parts being in the story.
I have read another book by Jim Williams (Schertzo), which I enjoyed much more.
The main story was interesting, and parts, I dare say, could be page turners. I didn't like when the book turned to Harry's story; it got muddled and confusing. However, after finishing the book, I do realize that it couldn't be told without those parts being in the story.
I have read another book by Jim Williams (Schertzo), which I enjoyed much more.
March 22, 2014
I now consider myself officially a fan of Jim Williams' works. My goodness, he has the gift! I sometimes couldn't help but laugh out loud at his irreverent take on world history. Also, never have I more enjoyed having to look up obscure word meanings. Contrary to some of the previous reviews, I found the flow was good, the storyline and characters enthralling. I am very much looking forward to reading more from this author.
March 7, 2014
A story about stories, memories and unreliable narrators. A murder mystery without a murder (or at least not the one you think.) On top of all that, a character who might be Count Dracula, Rudolf Hess and/or a elderly heroin junkie. In any case he's no longer a practicing vampire.
There are also a number of allusions to Marcel Proust, including the title.
There are also a number of allusions to Marcel Proust, including the title.
April 6, 2014
What is real? What is fantasy? What is psychosis? What is history? What is memory? What is literature? Is Harry a vampire? At times the book is a little confusing, but so is the narrator's reality. Do any of us really know who, what, and where we are? We construct, deconstruct, and re-construct our lives every minute. It gives me a headache to think about it. Great book.
August 6, 2014
I used the word 'abysmal' to describe this book, which may be a bit harsh, but I found it to be so confusing and convoluted that I really did not enjoy it at all. The only reason I gave it 2 stars is because it wasn't so horrible that I couldn't finish it. I found myself wanting to know the resolution of at least one of its story-lines.
October 28, 2014
i couldn't finish this book. it was an effort to read. i read what seemed to be forever, then checked to find i had only read 15% of the book. i couldn't face 85% more. it should have been interesting. it wasn't awful. it was just slow.
July 4, 2011
I've already read the Magus thank you very much.
March 1, 2014
third time in my life I didn't finish a book.
April 7, 2014
A really weird, multi-layered, funny, unexpected novel... One of a kind!
If you liked "The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared", you might like this one.
If you liked "The 100 year old man who climbed out the window and disappeared", you might like this one.
February 9, 2016
Quirky!
The writing is superb, and the premise is even better. Its a fun twist on the classic mystery novel. Inside are characters that will follow you for the rest of your days.
The writing is superb, and the premise is even better. Its a fun twist on the classic mystery novel. Inside are characters that will follow you for the rest of your days.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews