La Marquise sortit à cinq heures

by Claude Mauriac

D'une fenêtre ouverte un soir d'été sur le carrefour de Buci (Paris, VIᵉ), Bertrand Carnéjoux regarde le passé, le présent et l'avenir d'une comédie aux cent actes divers dont il est tour à tour l'acteur et le témoin. Carrefour de Buci, on souffre, on meurt depuis des siècles. On vit l'éternel recommencement de l'amour et du désir. Chaque homme, dans son agitation pathétique, est interchangeable, et pourtant unique.

320 pages, Pocket Book

First published April 1, 1961

About the author

Claude Mauriac (25 April 1914, Paris – 22 March 1996) was a French author and journalist, eldest son of the author François Mauriac.

He was the personal secretary of Charles de Gaulle from 1944 to 1949, before becoming a cinema critic and arts person of Figaro. He is the author of several novels and essays, and co-scripted the movie of his father's novel Thérèse Desqueyroux. He also wrote a study of the novelist Marcel Proust whose great niece was his wife. He was also a close friend of French philosopher Michel Foucault.

Reviews

[John Trefry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Initially this struck me as proto-mid-career Butor ('Mobile', 'Niagara', 'Antipodes', etc.), and it is, but as many proto-groundbreaking works are, is not as strong. The polyphony is a delight, but more than Mauriac's prior 'Dinner Party', is diffused and non-geographic. I found myself coasting more than usual. Like Butor's 'Mobile', 'Marquise' introduces a strong current of found text, in this case historical documents about the intersection and environs in question. This coupled with the conscious humanity of the various voices make it more proto-Perec, specifically a harbinger of 'An Attempt at Exhausting a Place in Paris', which I found to be disappointing and weak compared to Perec's more fully-formed work, and to which 'Marquise' serves as a superior surrogate if you too longed for something more from Perec's attempt.