Celui qui est digne d’être aimé par Abdellah Taïa

Abstract

Taïa, Abdellah. Celui qui est digne d’être aimé. Paris: Seuil, 2017. ISBN 978-2-02134307 -6. Pp. 144. Moroccan queer author Abdellah Taïa’s latest novel revolves around many of the same questions as his earlier works, namely the search for reciprocal affection, the sustainability of queer interethnic relationships, the immigrant’s experience of France, and the minority subject’s experience of Morocco. However, here Taïa is more insistent on the colonial contours of these experiences. While this novel continues to borrow from the mythology of the family present across the author’s works, especially the images of the strong mother and the effeminate father, the protagonist is no longer a thinly-veiled version of Taïa himself, but rather Ahmed, a queer Moroccan expat living in Paris. Written in first-person, the novel is a collection of four letters—two written by Ahmed and two addressed to him—presented in reverse chronological order describing four key relationships in his life. The novel’s first missive is addressed to Ahmed’s mother, five years after her death. The letter is at once vitriolic and cathartic as Ahmed posthumously criticizes his mother for having never accepted his minority sexuality. As he figuratively forces her to acknowledge his sexuality, he realizes he has become her: combative, controlling, manipulative,“impitoyable”(31). These qualities will each reappear in the relationships described in the following letters. The second letter is written by Vincent, a Frenchman whom Ahmed cruised, had sex with, and abandoned, all in one day. Vincent describes the devastation this encounter caused, ultimately demonstrating Ahmed’s ruthlessness and presenting one possible constitution of unrequited affection. The third letter, addressed to Ahmed’s French lover, Emmanuel, details the former’s decision to end their long-term relationship because of ongoing problems. Avowing that Emmanuel was “[s]a chance pour vivre, exister, sortir de la pauvreté,”Ahmed reveals that he stole from Emmanuel“tout ce qu’il fallait pour arriver. Sans jamais ressentir de la culpabilité” (87). Still, while valuing the intellectual and financial roles Emmanuel played in his coming to France, he refuses to absolve the man for his controlling behavior, which Ahmed believes has increasingly taken on colonial significance.Whether this makes him an arriviste or not is left up to the reader. The final letter is written by Lahbib, Ahmed’s queer childhood friend. Standing in contrast to Ahmed’s relationships in France, Lahbib is distraught by the rejection of his French lover in Morocco, who has pushed him aside because he is too old. Invoking sexual tourism in neocolonial contexts, Lahbib’s letter then disturbingly transforms into a suicide letter. Taïa has experimented with letter writing for some time now, arguing in Lettres à un jeune Marocain (Seuil, 2009) that“une lettre peut être le début, là, tout de suite, d’une révolte personnelle et collective” (12). The dialogical space of the letter thus becomes the ideal vehicle for Taïa’s examination of universal qualities, like reciprocal affection, and his experimentations with their specific constructions . Taken together, the novel’s cast of characters comes to represent all those 222 FRENCH REVIEW 91.4 Reviews 223 subjects who are indeed worthy of love, but for whom mutual, profound respect and affection are not possible, given their minority status. Eastern Illinois University Ryan K. Schroth Vargas, Fred. Quand sort la recluse. Paris: Flammarion, 2017. ISBN 978-2-0814-13146 . Pp. 480. When Commissioner Adamsberg returns to Paris to solve a homicide, his attention is drawn to brigade member Voisenet’s desk that smells of ripening fish and his colleague’s computer screensaver which shows a recluse spider. Social media sites are buzzing about a rash of deadly spider bites by a typically timid creature who rarely uses its venom on humans. As Adamsberg delves into the matter, he becomes convinced that it is more than the lingering fish odor that stinks. Without a clear objective and amid skepticism, dissent, even outright treason within his brigade, Adamsberg doggedly pursues his hunch, uncovering an elusive serial killer with a most perplexing modus operandi. In her ninth Adamsberg novel,Vargas once again successfully elevates an already riveting murder mystery...