Hourmaster: Novel

by Christophe Bataille, Richard Howard

In his palace in a city vanquished by the years, the Duke Gonzaga lives consumed by his passion for young girls and his deep boredom. Time passes as marked by the more than two hundred clocks situated throughout the palace. When the old hourmaster and his successor both disappear, Gonzaga employs Arturo who becomes the new keeper of the palace's timepieces. Arturo -- called Gog -- also becomes the Duke's friend and for a time alleviates Gonzaga's boredom as they share the nightly clock-keeping rounds. There seems to be the beginning of new life in the realm. The hourmaster marries happily and fathers a daughter. But the Duke's restlessness and ennui return and when the hourmaster vanishes -- for reasons the reader is to discover -- time again stands still. In the words of the translator Richard Howard, Christophe Bataille's third novel "is a remarkable, even triumphant little book."

Genres: Fiction

208 pages, Hardcover

First published February 5, 1997

About the author

Après des études de gestion à l'école des Hautes études commerciales (Paris)2, Christophe Bataille travaille deux ans à Londres en coopération pour L'Oréal. C'est là qu'il écrit son deuxième roman, Absinthe, suivant le succès du premier, Annam, bien accueilli par la critique. De retour à Paris, il change de métier en 1995 et passe dans le monde de l'édition chez Grasset tandis qu'il continue d'écrire la nuit. Depuis janvier 2007, il soutient "Bibliothèques sans frontières", une jeune ONG qui vise à faciliter l'accès au savoir dans les pays en développement.

Reviews

[Sacha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Livre surprenant, l'histoire est originale et pleins de mystères. Les disparations des deux premiers maîtres, le comportement bizarre du duc, Arturo et sa vie au palais, tout est rempli de mystères et de brouillard. Lecture intéressante.

[Althea Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

I wanted to think about this one for a few days after reading it before writing anything about it. I couldn't really decide what I thought of it.
Unfortunately, I think I've decided that I was really unimpressed by it.
Why? The writing is lyrical and beautiful, with a mythological, fairy-tale cadence to it. The author won a prize for his debut novel, Annam (which I have not read). It kind of seems like there ought to be something significant to take away from this brief novel - like it ought to be symbolic - or at least have something to say.
But it doesn't.
Other reviewers have described it as a "fable without a moral."
But not only does it not have a "moral," it doesn't have a proper plot structure, and it doesn't give any feeling of satisfaction.
In 17th century Europe, the duke Gonzaga employs an hourmaster to wind and repair his castle's many clocks. The first hourmaster mysteriously disappears - foul play? Another is hired. He leaves after getting beat up one night. Is someone out to assure that Gonzaga has no hourmaster? We never find out. A third man is hired for the job, Arturo, and most of the book deals with this character, and his relationship to the duke. There seems to be no point at all to the early incidents in the book.
The book ends with a tragic crime being committed - but since it happens to a character who was just introduced a few pages before, the emotional impact is very limited. I suppose we are supposed to see it as a betrayal of friendship, rather than as the crime against the individual - but I don't think it really works.
There's also a narrator who is none of the characters in the story - there are some few insights into his personality, but why? Who he is doesn't reflect on the events or themes of the book at all. (Which main theme seems to be: 'the rich and powerful are selfish and untrustworthy.' Not too earthshaking a proclamation.)
Overall, this story reminded me of something one might find in a somewhat pretentious college literary magazine which was attempting (poorly) to emulate the 19th century salons of Paris.