Vernon Subutex, 1 in 100BestWIT

Nov 22, 2018 Antonomasia rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: women-in-translation, music, booker-international, france, paper, lgbtq, francophonie, 2018, politics, decade-2010s

While I was in the middle of Vernon Subutex One, a book called Destroy All Monsters: The Last Rock Novel appeared in my Goodreads feed. (Thanks Kris.) Vernon Subutex has a strong claim to that subtitle too. In English it's so far been pigeonholed as translated literary fiction about the state of modern life / Western Europe / France / Paris (depending how specific you think its types are), and its Booker International shortlisting cements this - but just as much as being a perceptive take on con ...more

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May 11, 2017 Agnese rated it liked it

Shelves: translation, fiction, wit

"Why are certain people determined to fuck up their lives while for others it seems so easy to do things the way they are supposed to be done?"

Shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize

Vernon Subutex, 1 by Virginie Despentes, translated from the French by Frank Wynne, is the first book in a trilogy following Vernon Subutex, a middle-age former record store owner with a serious Peter Pan complex. The novel could be described as a mix of High Fidelity by Nick Hornby and Michel Hou

"Why are certain people determined to fuck up their lives while for others it seems so easy to do things the way they are supposed to be done?"

Shortlisted for the 2018 Man Booker International Prize

Vernon Subutex, 1 by Virginie Despentes, translated from the French by Frank Wynne, is the first book in a trilogy following Vernon Subutex, a middle-age former record store owner with a serious Peter Pan complex. The novel could be described as a mix of High Fidelity by Nick Hornby and Michel Houellebecq, with a touch of Frédéric Beigbeder.

Vernon Subutex was once the proprietor of Revolver, a hip record shop in Paris that fell on hard times in the wake of the digital revolution. Vernon was forced to close the shop and ends up basically unemployable. Moreover, following the death of his rock star friend and benefactor Alex Bleach, Vernon also gets evicted from his apartment and is homeless, so he decides to reconnect with some of the people from his past. At the same time, a rumour spreads online that Vernon is in possession of the last recordings of Alex Bleach, so a group of people are on his tail in the hopes of making good money from the tapes.

The novel includes a vast cast of characters and their voices blend together to form a portrait of contemporary French society, set to the soundtrack of 80's and 90's rock music. The book is full of music references, so if you're a fan of books that come with their own soundtrack, you might want to give this a go. All of the characters are bitter and self-absorbed people who were once part of youth culture, but now find themselves stuck and alienated in their adult lives. However, instead of regretting some of their own life choices, they are resentful of the world for the lack of meaning in their lives. The book constantly switches between different perspectives and forces us to spend time in the minds of people that reflect the worst in society, and the book confronts us with opinions that are very problematic or just plain wrong.

The novel touches upon a lot of topical issues, but I felt that it essentially tries to examine the causes and effects of alienation, and how it leads to aggression and hate. Most of the other characters in this novel desperately try to cling to the past, the glory days of their youth, when they felt invincible and could shrug off any responsibilities and guilt of deviating from the "right" path. The novel seems to ask, what is the cause of their alienation? Are they responsible for it themselves, or it the fault of society, the government, social media, capitalism? The book doesn't offer any clear answer, but it provides some effective examples of how alienation and hate erodes the human soul. The novel really succeeds at showing the ugly side of modern society, and I think you have to be in the right mood to read about it. I can understand why this is such a polarising book.

"(...) that unconscious ease that comes of being so young – still oblivious to the blows that will destroy parts of her. Past the age of forty, everyone is like a bombed-out city."

I'm curious, yet hesitant, to continue on with this trilogy, because I'm still not sure if this book was just the set up for what will later become a brazen critique of contemporary society, or if the next two instalments in this trilogy just offer more of the same. ...more

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Apr 25, 2018 Michael rated it liked it

Shelves: translated-fiction, contemporary, 2015, mbi18

Having read Virginie Despentes previously (Apocalypse Baby) I have to say I was a little worried about reading her Man Booker International Prize shortlisted book. I was worried that Despentes was aiming for to shock, but this novel seems to be a cutting-edge social novel looking directly at the punk sub-culture in France. The book is the first in the trilogy and it focuses on Vernon who is feeling ambivalent about his fast approaching half century. He started working at Revolver, a hip Parisian Having read Virginie Despentes previously (Apocalypse Baby) I have to say I was a little worried about reading her Man Booker International Prize shortlisted book. I was worried that Despentes was aiming for to shock, but this novel seems to be a cutting-edge social novel looking directly at the punk sub-culture in France. The book is the first in the trilogy and it focuses on Vernon who is feeling ambivalent about his fast approaching half century. He started working at Revolver, a hip Parisian record store in his twenties but now he is reflecting on his own life. Vernon Subutex, 1 explores the rapidly changing social scene of music and the punk rock lifestyle.

The record store once boasted a legendary status but now, in the 2000s, it is struggling. However, in a throwaway comment, the internet believe that Vernon is in possession of the last filmed recordings of the famous musician Alex Bleach. Beach recently died from a drug overdose and now people from all walks of life are after Vernon and this supposed recording.

I view Vernon Subutex, 1 as the beginning of an epic journey. Often, we read an epic as a story that follows a family through their generations but this is more of a social epic. It follows both Vernon and the music industry as their worlds rapidly change. What drew me to this novel is the music references, there are so many bands and songs referenced in this book that I remember fondly. Before becoming a book nerd, I spent a lot of time listening to music, and the punk scene was one I closely followed. While I still listen to music, I do not have a finger on the pulse anymore. I have borne witness to the changes the internet brought to the music industry. Music stores closing everywhere as the rise of piracy and streaming quickly spread. However, it is important to remember that the revival of vinyl has helped indie record stores survive nowadays.

For me, there was just too much that I could relate to in Vernon Subutex, 1 and I found myself loving the reading experience. While I was never into the drugs and alcohol consumption that is associated with this sub-culture, I could identify with the social disconnect, music obsession and laziness that characterised Vernon. Then Virginie Despentes starts to dive into a darker side of the sub-culture, dealing with violent tendencies, racism and sexual identity. Despentes previously was a sales clerk in a record store and a freelance rock journalist, which plays a big part in helping shape this novel. Although her past careers as a sex worker and pornographic film critic have also influenced the plot. She seems to explore themes of youth marginalisation, the sexual revolution lived by Generation X, music and pornography within Vernon Subutex, 1 and Apocalypse Baby, which leads me to suspect this is common in all her novels.

Virginie Despentes may have found a place with French authors like Emmanuel Carrère and Michel Houellebecq and while I was not blown away by Vernon Subutex, 1, I will be continuing with book two when it is released into English later this year. I feel like there is still more of the story left to explore and I hope that it all comes together in the end. Right now, it feels incomplete and something I would not recommend to anyone, unless they love the music. There is a Spotify playlist which features all the songs and artist mentioned in the trilogy which has lead to discovering some new French bands. If it was not for the Man Booker International Prize longlist, I may have never given Virginie Despentes another chance, but I am glad I have.

This review originally appeared on my blog; http://www.knowledgelost.org/book-rev... ...more

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Shelves: to-acquire, literature

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Shelves: women-in-translation, women-write, translation, 2019-read, 2010s-release, fiction, music-arts-lit, series, france, booker-prize-lists-all-inclusive

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