Le pays de l’absence by Christine Orban

Abstract

gray life. As Carvin and the union members discuss how to stop their plant from closing, a comparison is made between the workers and species threatened with extinction. One cannot help but think of the union-busting tactics in our country to see the relevance of this novel. Due to outsourcing and the global economy, the Carvins of the world have become victims of companies craving more and more, and wishing to pay less and less: “Tu l’as dit: à d’autres notre boulot, aux patrons les milliards!” (43). They will strike and sit-in, in the hope that calling attention to the restructuring and massive lay-offs (which generate more profit for the owners ) will help: “Ceux qui ont décidé notre mort sont des sectateurs du dieu profit, auquel ils nous sacrifient sans aucun problème de conscience” (65). Across the table sit Maître Million, appropriately named, and M. Socko, CEO, viewing the struggle between the classes as a bullfight, equating management with the “picador” who tires the beast before the kill. Both have nothing but scorn for labor. Anath Werth, director of human resources, is on the management ’s side, but when the factory shuts down, she too will be unemployed. Mordillat sets the stage for the coming together of the opposition forces (Carvin vs. Anath) both professionally and personally, and uses direct quotes from sitting ministres, philosophers, reporters, and syndicalistes—all making the tone of the novel authentic and intense. When one of the hostages commits suicide, pandemonium erupts, causing the dégringolade of the factory, and the personal lives of everyone to split asunder. Both sides refuse to compromise, and the situation heads towards a showdown. Politics raises its ugly head, and even those sympathetic to the cause of labor know on which side their bread is buttered, although they also know that right is on the side of the workers and not the bosses. Rouge dans la brume is a story of love and of class struggle. The extremes to which we can be pushed, the despair of a society that uses people and spits them out, are themes poignantly developed in this epic novel: “Lorsque les gens portent le désespoir de toute une région sinistrée et sont acculés, dos au mur, tout devient possible” (287). Mordillat has detailed knowledge of the proletariat and its never-ending war against the ruling class. He provides a myriad of welldefined characters, and their relationships. According to him, today’s capitalism has no connection with democracy. His contribution in this novel is the nationalization of the labor movement: making all unions come together even if they are representative of different spheres in different regions. If you are on the side of the underdog, you will love this well-written work. It is both serious and important , and much easier to digest than a treatise on class struggles. Santa Rosa Alliance Française (CA) Davida Brautman ORBAN, CHRISTINE. Le pays de l’absence. Paris: Albin Michel, 2011. ISBN 978-2-22621866 -7. Pp. 169. 15 a. In most of her works, Orban uses personal experiences for her writing. This time, the story is about her difficulty to accept her mother’s illness. Alzheimer’s disease, as the title suggests, is like a place where certain travelers come and go at random. Not only does Orban witness her mother’s confusion and disorientation as she drifts to this other place, she too feels like a stranger in a foreign land as she comes to grips with her new identity as her mother’s keeper. Absence and 996 FRENCH REVIEW 85.5 loss emerge as the main themes of the novel. The dearth of details and descriptions in Orban’s story, which result in a hazy and porous narrative, reinforce the sense that something is missing. Filled with holes and lapses, the story is an assortment of disconnected episodes that poignantly illustrate the frustration resulting from the onset of a diseased memory. Orban’s repeated allusion to a charm bracelet highlights the connection between objects and memory, between present and past. She first mentions the bracelet when her mother arrives in Paris from Morocco for...