Le Bouquet

by Henri Calet

This is a reprint of a book first published by Gallimard in 1945, and long since incorporated in their "L'Imaginaire" series.

294 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1945

Reviews

[Pascale · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book recounts what happens to the narrator and a number of his mates during the retreat of the French army in 1940 and the first months after the capitulation. The narrator is captured by the Germans while still vaguely trying to follow confusing orders, and ends up spending several months in a camp near Auxerre (called Buxerre in the novel). Since he speaks some German, he is promoted pretty much against his will, and becomes Dolmetscher, under the supervision of a rather benign German officer named Stiffelbein. Initially, most prisoners expect to be sent home soon, and stay put, but as weeks drag into months, more and more of them make their escape, which is what the narrator eventually does, again a little bit against his will. He makes it back to Paris with the help of his mum, then pays somebody to help him cross the line into the non-occupied zone, and finds some sort of a job in Lyon. Although the novel ends rather abruptly at that point, it is in every other respect almost perfect. Calet is truly one of the great masters of French prose, and his depiction of the chaos of the period known as "L'Exode" in the early pages of the book is hair-raising. This book gives you the war seen from the point of you of Dick, Tom and Harry, poor buggers who have little grasp of politics and try to survive as best they can, but Calet's style transcends his material and gives it universal value. His humor, his eye for detail, his humanity kept bringing tears to my eyes. While some of my most-cherished books are not for everybody, I believe this one is.