Just finished this novel by Robbe-Grillet. It's a short book
and not much happens, repeating a few scenes over and over
again with small variations. It's difficult to interpret the
continuous repeating of scenes as much more than artistic
self-indulgence, but the scenes do carry a solid literary
effect. It's definitely well into the dissolution of self
that is so popular in postmodernism, and it's the most
successful effort in that direction that I've read. It was
written well before the postmodern movement began. That
probably has something to do with it.
The plot is related by a man on a banana plantation. He never
speaks outright and never refers to himself in the first
person. A woman who appears to be his wife appears to be
having an affair with a neighbor. The narrative is objective,
with little or no introspection offered on the narrator's
part. Nuances of chosen details are needed to decipher his
thoughts and feelings. Mood and scene and symbol interweave
to produce a decent work.
Recommended if you don't mind a little artsy-fartsy.
There was an essay on the work by Roland Barthes included in
the book. It was so off-target and bogus as to be just about
worthless.
miker
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