Georges Braque 'Clarinet and Bottle of Rum on a Mantlepiece'
The Erasers by Alain Robbe-Grillet
Alain Robbe-Grillet's novel, The Erasers (Los Gommes) was published in 1953.
It resembles a detective novel, but has a deeper structure within, based on Oedipus.
The detective in the novel is searching for the assassin in a murder that has not yet occurred. The discovery he makes is that he is destined to become that assassin.
Descriptions, methodical, geometric and repetitive reveal the psychological make up and the inner depths of the character. The reader is challenged to discover the character.
Time lines and the plot are fractured as in a cubist painting, so it can be seen as the literary equivalent and, as with such a painting, can mean different things to different people.
I read his work when I was around twenty years old. I was reading Virginia Woolf at the time and it seemed to me that they achieved similar ends using entirely different literary structures; protraying the person within the character.
Should I say … discuss??? Well, I should welcome your comments, if you have read both authors or not. For myself, I think that shall read both again to see whether or not hold the same view.
9 comments:
Thanks for your sweet comment on our blog. Love the Georges Braque. xo style, she wrote
I have not read him, will have to look him up! :-)
Need to go back to read V. Woolf.
Now this snippet invites so much to read... though I do not like so fictitious flashbacks (or flashforwards..)
Your choic of image matches really well!
:-)
HUgs, Aguja.
A nice premise, and I like the sound of the opening lines of the book from your earlier post. Thanks for that, for some reason I wasn't expecting detective - not normally my genre but as it's your recommendation I'll pop over to Amazon :) Mike
I haven't read this book, but its storyline sounds like the film 'Minority Report', but more indepth.
Yes, read both authors. I am definitely more excited about Woolf, but Robbe-Grillet I remember was quite intriguing as well!
I like the work of Braque, so I may like the novel you sample here. So many books, so little time!
I've read Woolf and while I can't say she is one of my favorite writers, that is probably due to my inadequacies as a reader. She is very cerebral and I've felt drained after reading her work.
I am hoping you are well.
Warm regards,
Gina
You always have great character recommendations. I love this plot- so very intriguing!
I am back at last, having been unwell. Thank you for these great comments. It is comments like these that encourage one to continue.
I prefer Virginia Woolf ... and yes, one does feel drained! I think that that is what I enjoyed about these writers in my 'angst ridden college days'!
I shall revisit both authors and see how I feel about them now, although I have read Virginia Woolf recently. I think that 'Mrs Dalloway' and 'The Waves are my favourites'.
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