7/24 The Disappearance of Adèle Bedeau. Background and thoughts . No spoilers

[Hester]

Jenna wrote: "I had recently read Poor Things so my instinctive answer would be yes I think there is a long tradition for “found narrative” device, which that book also of course references Frankenstein. It’s un..."

Well.
This is certainly a wild card selection for me as crime fiction is not my usual genre but i was drawn to it after enjoying the Booker long listed Case Study recently .

Graeme Macrae Burnet is good at character led plots and has developed a fruitful seam in writing a sort of meta fiction where truth and fiction are blurred .

This, his first novel and I think the plot is more straightforward than his more literary publication, most notably His Bloody Project: Documents Relating to the Case of Roderick Macrae .

Hopefully it will appeal to both lovers of the low key crime procedural and to those who like plots with strong characters . And lovers of France ?

Questions to ponder?

Are there other 'found ' novels/ authors that have been worked for you as a reader ? And any that didn"t ?

How does this novel sit in the tradition of police procedural novels ?
Are there national differences in style or theme in this genre ?

The setting is a border town. Is this relevant ?

Have fun !

[Jenna]

I had recently read Poor Things so my instinctive answer would be yes I think there is a long tradition for “found narrative” device, which that book also of course references Frankenstein. It’s unusual to put this framing at the end not the beginning of the narrative, so I’m not sure I should be discussing this in the no spoilers thread since it pertains to the whole - and it’s usual purpose is to reinforce our belief in the veracity of a first person narrative perspective, so it’s a bit unusually done here but I think to the same purpose to try and get us to believe in the events despite what might otherwise feels like keeping company with a progressively more unreliable narrator as his paranoia advances (see Rose’s comment in the spoiler thread 🙂)

[Franky]

I just started this one early. I think the border town makes it an interesting mystery. So far I'm a little ways in and seems to be a fascinating character study so far.

[Hester]

Jenna wrote: "I had recently read Poor Things so my instinctive answer would be yes I think there is a long tradition for “found narrative” device, which that book also of course references Frankenstein. It’s un..."

Excellent point Frankie . I've modified the questions to minimize risk of spoilers.

[Hester]

Oops sorry . I meant you Jenna . All fingers and thumbs

[Ruben]

I read this some years ago just after His Bloody was nominated for the Booker. I loved it and now see I even gave it 5 stars. I don't remember the plot, except that it was very smart, but - as always with novels - the atmosphere has stayed with me. It was so very French, or even Alsacien, quite impressive for a Scottish author. The writing is excellent. I read the other Detective Gorski novel straight after and was happy to see that a third one will be published later this year.

So if you are a literary fiction reader this isn't actually that much of a wild card :)

I probably won't have time for a re-read but will be following the discussion with interest!

[Greg]

My copy arrives tomorrow!

[Whitney]

Started a couple days ago. I usually save most by comments for the entire book discussion.

[Greg]

Started this morning - the style strikes me as very matter of fact; even the character descriptions feel almost journalistic.

I'm intrigued though. Manfred is (view spoiler)[an odd duck (hide spoiler)], for sure.

[Daniel]

The style is matter of fact yet somehow reeks of atmosphere.

[Greg]

Over lunch, I got further, and I get what you mean now Daniel. It's a great detail in chapter 5 that his grandfather (view spoiler)[refers to him as Nosferatu for hugging the walls and creeping about silently. Since then, I can just picture him in my head skulking about . . . and that bizarre behavior at the basement dryer . . . it's both disturbing and a bit darkly humorous too (hide spoiler)].

I'm starting to enjoy the book

[Daniel]

The book for me is one of interior reflection

[Mark]

Hey! My library has this one! I'm in.

[Greg]

Daniel wrote: "The book for me is one of interior reflection"

In the first section or two, I didn't notice much - lots of straightforward reportage without sinking into particular perspectives.

But as it got further, definitely, yes.

[Daniel]

True,Greg..it sneaks up on you.

[Franky]

Subtle, yet atmospheric. I like how the author paints a picture of the characters with backstory.

[Mark]

I was leafing through the last pages of the book, as one does, and read the Translator's Afterword. Oops. It's actually part of the story. Be Warned!

[Greg]

Mark wrote: "I was leafing through the last pages of the book, as one does, and read the Translator's Afterword. Oops. It's actually part of the story. Be Warned!"

Yeah, that happened to me too. I was just checking to see how many chapters. I noticed that section and almost read it.

[Whitney]

I intentionally read it. This isn't really a spoiler for anyone who's read the first two pages, but I'll tag it just in case

(view spoiler)[
Seeing that on the title page, the author of the book was changed to the translator, and a fictional person then listed as the author, I knew that 'bit' would be a distraction from the book. So I skipped ahead, assuming there would be an explanation in the afterward. There is, and it's not really a "spoiler" in the traditional sense. I think you could read the book either way. (hide spoiler)]

[Mark]

Goodreads warning: the "spoiler mask" function doesn't work in Android (and neither does backspace -- sigh).