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La Maison de Rendez-Vous and Djinn
These two novellas demonstrate why Alain Robbe-Grillet, the leading practitioner and theorist of the noveau roman, is one of the most discussed and controversial writers of the post-war era. In La Maison de Rendez-vous, the master of the "new novel" creates a world of crime, intrigue, and passion dominated by Lady Ava's mysterious Blue Villa. Set in Hong Kong, the novella unfolds over the course of one evening, but the events of that night recur repeatedly, from the perspectives of different characters. Robbe-Grillet creates an unsettling work that challenges ideas about subjectivity and objectivity, fiction and fact, and the entire process of storytelling. A haunting, disorienting, and brilliantly constructed novel, Djinn is the story of a young man who joins a clandestine organization under the command of an alluring, androgynous American girl named Djinn. His search for the meaning of his mission and for possible clues to the identity of the mysterious Djinn, becomes a quest for his own identity in an ever-shifting time-space continuum.
284 pages, Paperback
First published April 1, 1987
11 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
About the author
Alain Robbe-Grillet
102 books433 followersScreenplays and novels, such as
The Erasers
(1953), of French writer Alain Robbe-Grillet, affiliated with the New Wave movement in cinema, subordinate plot to the treatment of space and time; directors, such as Jean Luc Godard and François Truffaut, led this movement, which in the 1960s abandoned traditional narrative techniques in favor of greater use of symbolism and abstraction and dealt with themes of social alienation, psychopathology, and sexual love.
Alain Robbe-Grillet was a French writer and filmmaker. He was along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simon one of the figures most associated with the trend of the Nouveau Roman. Robbe-Grillet was elected a member of the Académie française on March 25, 2004, succeeding Maurice Rheims at seat #32.
He was married to Catherine Robbe-Grillet (née Rstakian) .
Alain Robbe-Grillet was born in Brest (Finistère, France) into a family of engineers and scientists. He was trained as an agricultural engineer. In the years 1943-44 Robbe-Grillet participated in service du travail obligatoire in Nuremberg where he worked as a machinist. The initial few months were seen by Robbe-Grillet as something of a holiday, since in between the very rudimentary training he was given to operate the machinery he had free time to go to the theatre and the opera. In 1945, Robbe-Grillet completed his diploma at the National Institute of Agronomy. Later, his work as an agronomist took him to Martinique, French Guinea,Guadeloupe and Morocco.
His first novel The Erasers (Les Gommes) was published in 1953, after which he dedicated himself full-time to his new occupation. His early work was praised by eminent critics such as Roland Barthes and Maurice Blanchot. Around the time of his second novel he became a literary advisor for Les Editions de Minuit and occupied this position from 1955 until 1985. After publishing four novels, in 1961 he worked with Alain Renais, writing the script for Last Year at Marienbad (L'Année Dernière à Marienbad), and subsequently wrote and directed his own films. In 1963, Robbe-Grillet published For a New Novel (Pour un Nouveau Roman), a collection of previous published theoretical writings concerning the novel. From 1966 to 1968 he was a member of the High Committee for the Defense and Expansion of French (Haut comité pour la défense et l´expansion de la langue française). In addition Robbe-Grillet also led the Centre for Sociology of Literature (Centre de sociologie de la littérature) at the university of Bruxelles from 1980 to 1988. From 1971 to 1995 Robbe-Grillet was a professor at New York University, lecturing on his own novels.
In 2004 Robbe-Grillet was elected to the Académie française, but was never actually formally received by the Académie because of disputes regarding the Académie's reception procedures. Robbe-Grillet both refused to prepare and submit a welcome speech in advance, preferring to improvise his speech, as well as refusing to purchase and wear the Académie's famous green tails (habit vert) and sabre, which he considered as out-dated.
He died in Caen after succumbing to heart problems
Style
His writing style has been described as "realist" or "phenomenological" (in the Heideggerian sense) or "a theory of pure surface." Methodical, geometric, and often repetitive descriptions of objects replace the psychology and interiority of the character. Instead, one slowly pieces together the story and the emotional experience of jealousy in the repetition of descriptions, the attention to odd details, and the breaks in repetitions. Ironically, this method resembles the experience of psychoanalysis in which the deeper unconscious meanings are contained in the flow and disruptions of free associations. Timelines and plots are fractured and the resulting novel resembles the literary
Alain Robbe-Grillet was a French writer and filmmaker. He was along with Nathalie Sarraute, Michel Butor and Claude Simon one of the figures most associated with the trend of the Nouveau Roman. Robbe-Grillet was elected a member of the Académie française on March 25, 2004, succeeding Maurice Rheims at seat #32.
He was married to Catherine Robbe-Grillet (née Rstakian) .
Alain Robbe-Grillet was born in Brest (Finistère, France) into a family of engineers and scientists. He was trained as an agricultural engineer. In the years 1943-44 Robbe-Grillet participated in service du travail obligatoire in Nuremberg where he worked as a machinist. The initial few months were seen by Robbe-Grillet as something of a holiday, since in between the very rudimentary training he was given to operate the machinery he had free time to go to the theatre and the opera. In 1945, Robbe-Grillet completed his diploma at the National Institute of Agronomy. Later, his work as an agronomist took him to Martinique, French Guinea,Guadeloupe and Morocco.
His first novel The Erasers (Les Gommes) was published in 1953, after which he dedicated himself full-time to his new occupation. His early work was praised by eminent critics such as Roland Barthes and Maurice Blanchot. Around the time of his second novel he became a literary advisor for Les Editions de Minuit and occupied this position from 1955 until 1985. After publishing four novels, in 1961 he worked with Alain Renais, writing the script for Last Year at Marienbad (L'Année Dernière à Marienbad), and subsequently wrote and directed his own films. In 1963, Robbe-Grillet published For a New Novel (Pour un Nouveau Roman), a collection of previous published theoretical writings concerning the novel. From 1966 to 1968 he was a member of the High Committee for the Defense and Expansion of French (Haut comité pour la défense et l´expansion de la langue française). In addition Robbe-Grillet also led the Centre for Sociology of Literature (Centre de sociologie de la littérature) at the university of Bruxelles from 1980 to 1988. From 1971 to 1995 Robbe-Grillet was a professor at New York University, lecturing on his own novels.
In 2004 Robbe-Grillet was elected to the Académie française, but was never actually formally received by the Académie because of disputes regarding the Académie's reception procedures. Robbe-Grillet both refused to prepare and submit a welcome speech in advance, preferring to improvise his speech, as well as refusing to purchase and wear the Académie's famous green tails (habit vert) and sabre, which he considered as out-dated.
He died in Caen after succumbing to heart problems
Style
His writing style has been described as "realist" or "phenomenological" (in the Heideggerian sense) or "a theory of pure surface." Methodical, geometric, and often repetitive descriptions of objects replace the psychology and interiority of the character. Instead, one slowly pieces together the story and the emotional experience of jealousy in the repetition of descriptions, the attention to odd details, and the breaks in repetitions. Ironically, this method resembles the experience of psychoanalysis in which the deeper unconscious meanings are contained in the flow and disruptions of free associations. Timelines and plots are fractured and the resulting novel resembles the literary
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
February 11, 2008
La Maison de Rendez-Vous is a lava lamp of a narrative, a mutating blob that repeats and repeats and repeats, the details always slightly different, with parts breaking off and then folding back in. Repetition is typical in the world of Robbe-Grillet, but it's more intense here, and the story more impossible.
A (way oversimplified) summary: A man needs to flee Hong Kong because the police are after him for the murder of a rich man, but the murdering man wants to take his favorite prostitute with him when he goes -- but she demands an incredibly high sum of money, so he visits the rich man to try to get the money, murders him when he doesn't give it to him, and comes back to the girl to find the cops waiting for him. I want to say it's a tightly constructed examination of the fallibility of memory and the process of telling stories, but part of me suspects that Robbe-Grillet was just having a blast messing with the reader.
There hasn't been much written about La Maison de Rendevous (at least that I can find online) and even though I didn't love it, I feel like it deserves more attention. I'd benefit from a good critical essay on this.
Djinn is a bit like a music video from the early '80s -- a short, angular, stylish take on a spy story. There's a pleasant otherworldliness about it that makes it easier to swallow than its partner in this volume. It doesn't punch you in the face like La Maison, but rather warms you up for what La Maison is going to throw at you. That said, I think I'd like both of these more if they weren't now associated with each other in my head.
A (way oversimplified) summary: A man needs to flee Hong Kong because the police are after him for the murder of a rich man, but the murdering man wants to take his favorite prostitute with him when he goes -- but she demands an incredibly high sum of money, so he visits the rich man to try to get the money, murders him when he doesn't give it to him, and comes back to the girl to find the cops waiting for him. I want to say it's a tightly constructed examination of the fallibility of memory and the process of telling stories, but part of me suspects that Robbe-Grillet was just having a blast messing with the reader.
There hasn't been much written about La Maison de Rendevous (at least that I can find online) and even though I didn't love it, I feel like it deserves more attention. I'd benefit from a good critical essay on this.
Djinn is a bit like a music video from the early '80s -- a short, angular, stylish take on a spy story. There's a pleasant otherworldliness about it that makes it easier to swallow than its partner in this volume. It doesn't punch you in the face like La Maison, but rather warms you up for what La Maison is going to throw at you. That said, I think I'd like both of these more if they weren't now associated with each other in my head.
Want to read
August 23, 2007I love it when dates assign me homework.
July 11, 2019
Two terrific short works by the master of what they called the New Novel in France in the 60s. These books have plots like elaborate knots, and with all the scenes recurring and blending together, the reader has to be alert to keep track of what's going on.
I found both these word-puzzles exciting as well as challenging. I preferred La Maison de Rendez-Vous, an exotic story of underworld intrigue in the Far East, but Djinn had humor and mystery too. The only problem is that, as much fun as the ride is, I don't feel like I got anywhere.
I found both these word-puzzles exciting as well as challenging. I preferred La Maison de Rendez-Vous, an exotic story of underworld intrigue in the Far East, but Djinn had humor and mystery too. The only problem is that, as much fun as the ride is, I don't feel like I got anywhere.
January 24, 2019
Reading these two novellas was like walking on the surface of a Moebius strip.
Or being transplanted to the inside of an Escher painting.
Or being transplanted to the inside of an Escher painting.
January 18, 2021
One of his best, makes you feel like a pawn in the author's game. Magic.
Will re-read and re-read and re-read and re...
Will re-read and re-read and re-read and re...
September 19, 2022
Mushroom fever dream!
Read
July 3, 2023Really wonderful
July 31, 2024
Two classics. Maybe six if you count the subtexts.
September 1, 2016
“If Manneret has already just been murdered, this scene takes place earlier, of course.” — La Maison de Rendez-vous, p. 260
It is like you are doing math problems. The odd ones. And you check the back of the book and none of them are right. You rework them again, but no good. Upon closer examination, some of the answers are letters. Some are pictograms. One answer is a set of instructions: to board the train and visit a shop in Belleville, to examine the clear handle of a screwdriver there, though no specifics are given as to which Belleville this place might be.
It is like sex stripped of everything but the moments of reposturing and adjusting into new positions. It is like gymnastics reduced to just the brushing of hands and some coughing.
Completely maddening and hair-pulling. Subtly nauseating, as if you are being asked to eat the same sandwich over and over again, though this time the bread is reconfigured to sit behind the lettuce and the mozzarella has been crudely balled-up by hand. Eat the sandwich. Some one is pushing your head from behind.
When I was a kid, the scouts left me in the woods to sleep in the rain. I got up and wandered for some time. Some scouts in a truck came by and offered me a half-cup of pancake batter. They put a bag over my head and took me to a small ravine and asked that I widen the river there. Night fell by the time I was complete and the scouts came back one last time to dance and toss sticks by the haze of the fire light. They peeled their shirts off and sweat poured from us as we clubbed the ground. Animal skins tied loosely around our necks. In the delirium, I felt that I had done something monumental and that I had grown into a full-sized male adult, at last. I knelt before the great fire, feverishly worshiping lost indians of yore.
This book has starved me and, in the delirium, I saw the world advancing. Literature has come such a long way since I began reading this book. I hope you will all write a book just like this one.
It is like you are doing math problems. The odd ones. And you check the back of the book and none of them are right. You rework them again, but no good. Upon closer examination, some of the answers are letters. Some are pictograms. One answer is a set of instructions: to board the train and visit a shop in Belleville, to examine the clear handle of a screwdriver there, though no specifics are given as to which Belleville this place might be.
It is like sex stripped of everything but the moments of reposturing and adjusting into new positions. It is like gymnastics reduced to just the brushing of hands and some coughing.
Completely maddening and hair-pulling. Subtly nauseating, as if you are being asked to eat the same sandwich over and over again, though this time the bread is reconfigured to sit behind the lettuce and the mozzarella has been crudely balled-up by hand. Eat the sandwich. Some one is pushing your head from behind.
When I was a kid, the scouts left me in the woods to sleep in the rain. I got up and wandered for some time. Some scouts in a truck came by and offered me a half-cup of pancake batter. They put a bag over my head and took me to a small ravine and asked that I widen the river there. Night fell by the time I was complete and the scouts came back one last time to dance and toss sticks by the haze of the fire light. They peeled their shirts off and sweat poured from us as we clubbed the ground. Animal skins tied loosely around our necks. In the delirium, I felt that I had done something monumental and that I had grown into a full-sized male adult, at last. I knelt before the great fire, feverishly worshiping lost indians of yore.
This book has starved me and, in the delirium, I saw the world advancing. Literature has come such a long way since I began reading this book. I hope you will all write a book just like this one.
August 31, 2007
I took a reading elective in international literature in my senior year in college, and this was one of the books the professor put on the list. I remember being fascinated by never being able to figure out what was real and what was imagined in the novel, or even who was speaking for that matter -- and of course, no plot whatsoever. All are aspects of it that I think would make it impenetrable for me today.
June 19, 2013
I stopped reading this after I finished Djinn--although there are moments of wonderful oddity, it lacked the almost manic, obsessive beauty that I loved in The Voyeur and Jealousy. Almost too straightforward in its sci-fi time warp. None of the complex geometry of words that is able to create so completely an environment that is purely Robbe-Grillet. Disappointing.
December 26, 2010
Peccato per i due protagonisti sicuramente notevoli che avrei visto bene nelle mani di qualche altra scrittrice romance, ma le scene in cui interagiscono sono talmente ridicole che sembrano persino parodie di altri romanzi di questo genere. No, decisamente no.
January 2, 2014
While I usually prefer such experimentalism in film rather than in prose this was actually quite fun to read! I had been told that Alain Robbe-Grillet was also responsible for the screenplay of 'Last Year at Marienbad' and there is a lot of the same playful unreality going on here as well.
November 15, 2007
to be honest, i don't think i've ever been more confused by a book in my life. 11 years later and i STILL don't think i understand what the fuck happens in it.
March 28, 2008
یک داستان فوق مدرن و چند بعدی و در عین حال گیج کننده .
January 29, 2011
interesting experiment!
trying to break new ground, and buck established rules of literature. interesting, but shallow.
trying to break new ground, and buck established rules of literature. interesting, but shallow.
April 19, 2013
Re-read. An odd pairing, Djinn relatively light and airy, La Maison so mired in that quaint French Orientalism.
December 17, 2011
Only read La Maison de Rendez-vous. It's maddening and fun. Can't say nothing bout Djinn.
December 5, 2020
Three stars for Djinn. I read just a few pages of Maison before stopping. Tedious, uninteresting. Maybe I’ll try it again later.
March 18, 2009
Intrigue. Formal exploration. Erotic and violent episodes. Eh.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews