L’amour sans le faire by Serge Joncour

Abstract

Reviews 275 by Greek mythology and contemptuous of contemporary European values, Passan seems a mirror of the serial killer, l’accoucheur, who brutally extracts and burns unborn children. But Passan’s violent tendencies are tempered by his admiration for the Japanese sense of honor and aesthetics that still thrive beneath the technological obsession and materialism of Tokyo. In an effort to emulate the Japanese artists who embodied these ideals, Passan has redefined himself as a modern version of the ancient samurai to serve French justice. But pinning down the psychotic killer and understanding his motives do not solve the mysteries that seep into Passan’s personal life. His Japanese wife Naoko has asked for a divorce and has turned secretive. Someone seems to be entering Passan’s home to perpetrate gruesome acts against his household. The commander is convinced that to find some answers he will have to travel back to Tokyo, to the roots of his wife’s family’s past. The novel’s accurate portrayal of the heavily urbanized, yet architecturally distinct cityscapes of Tokyo and Paris add realism to the scenario while emphasizing the oppositions that exist between the two cities, and the contradictions inherent in their cultures. Eastern and Western conceptions of beauty and art, as well as philosophies of honor and gender, are traced throughout the book. A traditional dagger carried by male and female samurai, the kaiken’s small size allowed it to be hidden in the folds of a kimono and used for hand to hand combat as well as ritual suicides. Passan gives a kaiken to Naoko; for him a symbol of the codes of Japanese honor and duty, for Naoko, a reminder of a cultural and childhood past she wants to forget, and a source of disagreement for both. As a dangerous hidden object whose power seems at odds with the modernity of the present, it embodies the dangerous consequences of buried truths that are carried within the individual. In a culture that strictly prescribes gender roles, the kaiken’s ability to be used by both sexes throws these distinctions into question, inviting a reflection on gender and sexuality, favorite motifs in Grangé’s thrillers. Kaïken illustrates how social rejection and childhood psychological trauma permanently mark the fragile human psyche. Self-denial as imposed by society ultimately leads to further violence. Kaïken’s protagonists confront the biological and cultural origins that influence them and glimpse the primordial anger and fear that reside in all of humanity.Although this most recent novel’s premise is neither as intellectually daring as La forêt des Mânes or Le passager, and is far less provocative than Rivières pourpres or Miserere, for sheer entertainment it is still worth reading. Bloomsburg University of Pennsylvania Nathalie G. Cornelius Joncour, Serge. L’amour sans le faire. Paris: Flammarion, 2012. ISBN 978-2-08124914 -1. Pp. 320. 19 a. Le titre résume l’histoire d’un amour qui se vit comme une évidence, sans se dire, sans se faire. Il s’agit d’un amour partagé que chacun retient en soi, par crainte de le voir fuir et de souffrir encore mais aussi parce que la vie“on ne la refait pas, c’est juste l’ancienne sur laquelle on insiste” (44). Le passé est trop lourd de la mémoire d’Alexandre, l’héritier loyal, l’époux disparu de Louise et le frère jalousé de Franck. Alexandre, le fils cadet, cultivait la terre de ses parents lorsqu’il meurt d’un accident étrange, jamais élucidé. Frank refuse de reprendre la ferme et rompt brutalement avec sa famille. Pendant plus de dix ans, il parcourt le monde pour le filmer, cherchant l’oubli dans les images entre de brefs séjours à Paris où s’étiole sa relation amoureuse avec Helena. De son côté, Louise, veuve inconsolable, a eu un enfant d’un amant de passage qu’elle a nommé du nom de son amour perdu et que ses anciens beaux-parents élèvent à la ferme. Cette terre rude et isolée lui manque, mais elle ne peut plus y vivre. Depuis qu’elle “a perdu son homme” elle est “environnée...