Courir by Jean Echenoz

Abstract

novel is one of interwoven secrets and searching: for identities, miss ing loved ones, self-esteem, and the solution to mysteries. Kathleen McNerney West Virgnia University Fatou Diome. Inassouvies, nos vies. Paris. Flammarion. 2008. 271 pages. 19. isbn978-2-0812-1353-1 The latest novel by the author of Le Venire de l'Atlantique (2003; see WLT, September 2004, 83) and Ketala (2006) is set in Strasbourg, where Fatou Diome has been living since she left Senegal in 1994. The narra tive is based on a plot device that has both literary and cinematic ante cedents: the narrator, Betty, is fasci nated by the lives she surreptitiously observes through the windows of the apartment building situated across the street from where she lives. In fact, this apparently solitary young woman refers to herself as "Betty la Loupe" (magnifyingglass), describ ing in detail the results of her daily periods of scrutiny to her readers. A mixture of voyeurism and soci ological observation, her curiosity leads her to focus on an old woman who lives by herself, who seems to lead an active, independent life, and whom Betty decides to name Felicite. The two women sometimes cross paths in the street, on the way to neighborhood shops, but Betty's attempts tomake contactwith the object ofher inquisitive gaze remain ineffectual. It is when Felicite is shipped off to a nursing home by insensitive relatives thatBettydecides to call on the now-embittered senior citizen. The initially awkward encounter between the younger African narra tor and the older French retiree soon becomes an unusual but real friend ship,which allows both women to reveal something about their back grounds and to share stories about Felicitas former neighbors. Predict ably, their cross-cultural connec tionwill eventually be cut shortby Felicitas death. Shocked by theway inwhich the old woman had been abandoned by her relatives, Betty recalls the loss of those who were important in her own life. Increas ingly depressed, she "disappears," leaving onlywords andmusic inher empty apartment. The narration is frequently punctuated by exclamations similar to the title ("our lives are unsatisfied, unappeased") with the narrator/ magnifying glass emphasizing that there is always some type of empti ness at theheart of every individual existence. This form of literary rep etition functions as amusical refrain, intensifiedby the references to the kora, a twenty-one-string instrument used byWest African griots.Diome's authorial voice is often heard com menting on the storylineor provid ing asides on various social or politi cal issues. Some of these tangents degenerate into ranting sessions that detract from the novel's exception ally high stylistic level and should have been removed at the editing stage. A central theme is the differ ence between African and European attitudes toward elders. Diome, who was raised by her grandmother, con trasts their traditionally respected place inAfrican communities with the European practice of isolating old people within specialized insti tutions. For Diome, this form of internal banishment not only pun ishes thosewho deserve dignitydur ing their finalyears, itdeprives the following generations of theknowl edge and stories accumulated by elders.Whether or not this lack of generational division is still char acteristic of increasingly urbanized African societies, Fatou Diome's keenly perceptive novel resonates with a strong, clear voice. EdwardOusselin WesternWashington University Jean Echenoz. Courir. Paris. Minuit. 2008. 142 pages. 13.50. isbn978-2 7073-2048-3 The long-distance runner, we are often told, is a lonely figure. Yet "Emile," the protagonist of Jean Echenoz's latest novel, does not seem to fitthat mold. Though by no means a backslapper, he nonetheless functions well enough among oth ers, becoming, eventually, not only a productive but also a revered mem ber ofhis society.By thesame token, Echenoz's book does not quite fitthe mold thatwe usually imagine for the novel. Like Ravel (2006),which immediately precedes it in Eche noz's oeuvre, it is slightly askew with regard to theconventions of the genre, leaning distinctly once again toward biography. For Echenoz's "Emile" turns out to be the Czech athlete Emil Z?topek (1922-2000), who famously came to dominate long-distance running during the mid-twentieth century. His preemi nence was such that he...