Posts
Finished two of Fred Vargas', a French author's books. These were called 
Kuriton mies nurin (L'Homme á l'envers, published in French 1999), and 
Sinisten ympyröiden mies (L'Homme aux cercles bleus, published in French 1996). It is interesting that first about 10 years after they were published in France, they have been translated into Finnish.
I got fascinated with Fred Vargas when I read one of his other books, also sort of a detective story like these two are too. I got fascinated because I am a humanist and in his books, problems are solved - not technologically, not with cold brain, not with massive police force, but with humanistic knowledge about culture and cultural history, and with humanistic intelligence. What also fascinates me is how Vargas uses myths related to faith; how he uses the Bible and names and occasions and people from the Bible to tell more than he actually tells verbally. This bondage with the faith-cultural heritage is something he uses I think very well and in an enjoyable way. Like in L'Homme á l'envers: there is the "virgin" (who also displays as Eve) - the shephard - like Jesus Christ, knowing what is going on and saving people in the last moment.... he is like an observer otherwise, almost an old, mythological one that is drawn from place to place by the other company...... anyway, much like how people these days take faith, and Jesus Christ too. They are drawn with us, turned to when in trouble, and then almost forgotten - but always there. And then there is that investigator, Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, whose entire name is a mixture of biblical names and contexts: Jean- Baptiste (John the Baptizer - he even likes isolation in the "desert" like the John in the Bible did) Adamsberg (the mountain of Adam) - so there he goes to the beginning of humanity......... I feel that in Vargas' books, there are two stories: one is the one told in the text, and another one is the one hidden in the text, maybe even more enjoyable than the eventual story. Then there is always something enjoyably irrational; like here, an adoptive child somewhere from Africa, telling incredible stories that he has mostly finds out himself - that have no beginning and no end and no sense either and that some people take as such and some get annoyed of when listening tot hem but no one really cares except I think if they were missing. And anyway he is performing tasks that no one else could do. It is such a wonderful combination... like the discourse is too, and the conversations between people. It feels as though the way to the goal would actually be more important than the goal.
Sophisticated might I think be the word to describe Vargas' way of writing. And it is enjoyable.
I recommend - with the restriction that it is not ordinary crime novels but something that might need a humanistic attitude to be enjoyed. Someone who looks after "action" will perhaps be disappointed.
Kuriton mies nurin (L'Homme á l'envers, published in French 1999), and Sinisten ympyröiden mies (L'Homme aux cercles bleus, published in French 1996). It is interesting that first about 10 years after they were published in France, they have been translated into Finnish.I got fascinated with Fred Vargas when I read one of his other books, also sort of a detective story like these two are too. I got fascinated because I am a humanist and in his books, problems are solved - not technologically, not with cold brain, not with massive police force, but with humanistic knowledge about culture and cultural history, and with humanistic intelligence. What also fascinates me is how Vargas uses myths related to faith; how he uses the Bible and names and occasions and people from the Bible to tell more than he actually tells verbally. This bondage with the faith-cultural heritage is something he uses I think very well and in an enjoyable way. Like in L'Homme á l'envers: there is the "virgin" (who also displays as Eve) - the shephard - like Jesus Christ, knowing what is going on and saving people in the last moment.... he is like an observer otherwise, almost an old, mythological one that is drawn from place to place by the other company...... anyway, much like how people these days take faith, and Jesus Christ too. They are drawn with us, turned to when in trouble, and then almost forgotten - but always there. And then there is that investigator, Jean-Baptiste Adamsberg, whose entire name is a mixture of biblical names and contexts: Jean- Baptiste (John the Baptizer - he even likes isolation in the "desert" like the John in the Bible did) Adamsberg (the mountain of Adam) - so there he goes to the beginning of humanity......... I feel that in Vargas' books, there are two stories: one is the one told in the text, and another one is the one hidden in the text, maybe even more enjoyable than the eventual story. Then there is always something enjoyably irrational; like here, an adoptive child somewhere from Africa, telling incredible stories that he has mostly finds out himself - that have no beginning and no end and no sense either and that some people take as such and some get annoyed of when listening tot hem but no one really cares except I think if they were missing. And anyway he is performing tasks that no one else could do. It is such a wonderful combination... like the discourse is too, and the conversations between people. It feels as though the way to the goal would actually be more important than the goal.
Sophisticated might I think be the word to describe Vargas' way of writing. And it is enjoyable.
I recommend - with the restriction that it is not ordinary crime novels but something that might need a humanistic attitude to be enjoyed. Someone who looks after "action" will perhaps be disappointed.
No comments:
Post a Comment