Place Names

by Jean Ricardou, Jordan Stump (Translator)

Which came first, words or things? Are your words yours, or someone else's? And what do the Crusades have to do with it? And what do ants have to do with it?

Jean Ricardou has been given something of a bad rap: he's widely seen as a difficult writer, or worse yet, as an intensely serious one. However, he easily sheds this weighty reputation in his hilariously playful new novel about the notoriously complex world of literary theory. Supplying his readers with everything they need to know to navigate this world, Ricardou uses his own irreverent interpretation of deconstructive theory to ask questions about language and history, theory and life, and all the intriguing connections between them.

126 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2007

About the author

see https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Ri...

Reviews

[Jonfaith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Place Names proves to be oh so Dalkey -- too cool for school, by far. The novel is immensely French and is a layered masterpiece of games, repetitions and metaphors. Ricardou's erudition reaches into history and plumbs entomology and geometry to keep the reader honest. Acting as an opposition between the guide book and the novel, the narrative slinks off the established paths, offering as a tithe both vistas of beauty and a knotted enigma which conceals madness and worse. No spoilers here, but Place Names certainly merits a peek, a prone position is recommended, please bring your own magnifying glass.

[Benito Jr. · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's hard not to like the premise of this nouveau roman: a playful philosophical inquiry into Saussurean linguistics, a travel guide, an obsessive catalog of gestures, a discourse on ants and a whodunit about art (though the "who," the "done," and the "it" are all in question, one might say) all in one slim volume. But there's not much depth to all this cleverness; in the end it seems all structural tomfoolery.

[Ripleyland · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting book, but one that chronically failed to hold my interest. I’d be more interested to read L’observatoire de Cannes, La Prise de Constaninople, and his other works.

[Tuck · Rating 4 out of 5]

a tricky, entertaining, funny, and show-offy (author twists the human and physical geography into a seemingly endless braid one could never hope to unbraid, but he actually does, and combs it out to lustre and individuality) short novel with sides into art, ants, and sexual attraction. and of course grotesqueries. highly recommended for those who need a laugh.