INTERVIEW
To avoid an oven in this period of confinement against the coronavirus, many publishing houses have chosen to postpone the publication of several publications. Patrick Poivre d'Arvor narrowly escaped it with L'Ambitieux , a political novel published by Grasset on February 26. 240 pages to occupy the days now spent at home, since the novel is available on download platforms, the bookstores being closed until further notice.
L'Ambitieux is the second part of a saga started with La vengeance du Loup . The cycle follows the course "of a little boy who wants to become president of the Republic ... It still exists, despite the difficulties", summarizes at the microphone of Philippe Vandel, in Culture Media on Europe 1, the one who piloted for 23 years the 20 Hours of TF1. In this opus, the main character, become deputy, will try to climb the levels of investiture in investiture, "its major objective being the Elysée".
>> Find all of Philippe Vandel's programs in replay and podcast here
Halfway between Balzac and Baron noir
Patrick Poivre d'Arvor claims a Balzac type novel, the protagonist of which is inhabited by an ambition at least as devouring as that of a Rastignac or Bel-Ami. "Balzac told the same things as today: ambition, power, money, love. But he told them in a feuilletonic way, like Alexandre Dumas, Victor Hugo and many others [the romantic works being often, in the XIXth century, first published in 'serials' in the daily newspapers, before appearing in volume, note . I was inspired by this vein which I read a lot when I was young. "
Another source of inspiration for the ex-journalist: Black Baron , the political series of Canal +, in particular through the many thickets that punctuate the intrigue. "As in Black Baron , the trap doors always come from the same camp, that of the guy who is targeted ..."
PPDA also feeds L'Ambitieux with many personal references. So it is with the character of the great actor, now out of the spotlight, a certain Jean-Baptiste d'Orgel, often called by his initials only "JBDO". Like a key novel, the gallery of characters is reminiscent of certain media figures from the years 1990-2000, such as Béatrice Schönberg or Christine Ockrent.
Resonances with the Griveaux affair
It also talks about compromising photos and couples who shouldn't be, enough to bring a disturbing resonance with the Benjamin Griveaux affair, even if the correspondence turns out to be purely coincidental. "I wrote it long before. But there are two or three elements that can sound extremely contemporary because, alas, reality often exceeds fiction," concludes Patrick Poivre d'Arvor.