Will the literary miracle happen for Amelie Nothomb? With her 28th and last opus, "Soif" (Albin Michel), the Belgian author who slips into the skin of Jesus could well win the Goncourt prize. But at this point, only the members of the prestigious academy know it. For the others, it will be necessary to wait until Monday, November 4, around 1 pm, to put an end to the mystery.
In the last square of the selected alongside Jean-Luc Coatalem, 60, for "The share of the son" (Stock), Jean-Paul Dubois, 69, for "All men do not live in the world of the same Olivier (Olivier) and Olivier Rolin, 72, for "Exterior World" (Gallimard), the 53-year-old novelist, has never received such a distinction.
EXTRACT | Thirsty - Amélie Nothomb
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The lady with eccentric hats has been rewarded several times by the profession. The Prize of the novel of the French Academy in 1999 with "Stupor and tremors", the Price of Flore in 2007, with "Neither of Eve nor Adam". She also received the Grand Prix Jean Giono for all of her work in 2008. But Goncourt, never.
True locomotive of the French edition - "Soif" has already passed more than 146 000 copies - the popular writer receives especially for thirty years the most beautiful reward of its readers, who crowd hundreds at each of its sessions dedication.
The gospel according to Nothomb
The story of "Thirsty"? No risk of deflowering. We all know it. We mostly know the end. The narrator, Jesus, delivers in the first person the story of his last hours. "The advantage of this certainty is that I can pay attention to what deserves: the details," says the hero at the beginning of the novel.
Amelie Nothomb thus tells the menu of the indignations of the man at his trial, the fear of the condemned, the humiliation of flogging, the suffering of the cross, the nails. And thirst. "There are people who think they are not mystics, they are mistaken, it is enough to have been thirsty for a moment to gain access to this status, and the ineffable moment when the thirsty man brings to his lips a goblet of water is God.
As a true demiurge, the writer moves away from the beaten path of the four evangelists to present a very personal Jesus. A Jesus who lives a carnal story with Mary Magdalene. A Jesus torn by his weaknesses. A Jesus who opposes the will of the father. No desire to provoke. But the deep desire to put Christ in his condition of man. "In thirty-three years of life, I have seen it: my father's greatest achievement is the incarnation, that a disembodied power had the idea of inventing the body remains a gigantic blow. genius."
Lightness and depth
The test of the Passion is all the more terrible. The reader witnesses the slow agony of Christ falling and falling into the dust before feeling the nails pierce the palms of his hands. And always that thirst that assails him. The only consolation for the man condemned to certain death: "To experience thirst, one must be alive".
No lamento but a moving and funny monologue. Even in the body of Christ, the Belgian author can not help but wield irony. The reader enjoys. The press adheres. Amen.
However deity she is, he is not so sure that the members of the jury will award him the Goncourt. Awarding the prestigious prize to an author who monopolizes the heads of gondola could annoy the spirits anxious to see an author less known to the general public emerge.
Anyway, several names of lesser known French authors will come out this week in the press. From Monday to Friday, the juries of Renaudot, Femina and Médicis will also nominate the winners of the Fall Literary Grand Prizes. Alea Jacta is.
The other literary prizes awarded this week:
The Renaudot Prize : Five authors are in the running for Renaudot in the novel category, including the young primo-novelist Victoria Mas ("The crazy ball"). There is also the French-Djiboutian writer Abdourahman Ali Waberi ("Why do you dance when you walk?"), Jean-Luc Coatalem (The part of the son), Emma Becker ("The house") and Jean-Noël Orengo (" The red jungles "). Award ceremony Monday.
The Femina Prize : The Femina finalists are Dominique Barbéris ("A Sunday in Ville d'Avray"), Michael Ferrier ("Scrabble"), Luc Lang ("The temptation"), Sylvain Prudhomme ("By the roads"), Alexis Ragougneau ("Opus 77") and Monica Sabolo ("Eden")
The Femina must also award a prize for a foreign novel and for a test. The jury will deliberate on Tuesday.
The Medici Prize : Eight authors will compete for this prize, which crowns works with strong literary qualities. The finalists are Santiago H. Amigorena ("The Inner Ghetto"), Brigitte Giraud ("Day of Courage"), Claudie Hunzinger ("The Great Deer"), Victor Jestin ("The Heat"), Guillaume Lavenant ("Governing Protocol "), Vincent Message (" Cora in the spiral "), Christine Montalbetti (My ancestor Poisson") and Luc Lang ("The temptation")