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Le Jeu de patience
"Et alors, le type ? ¿ Il a foutu le camp, me répondit Hubert, en riant d'un petit rire pointu. Il ajouta : Que voulais-tu qu'il fasse ?" J'étais assis devant ma table chargée de mon habituel fatras de papiers ¿ mais ce jour-là, en plus du fatras : un échiquier et un journal ouvert... C'était il y a quatre ans, le matin du 25 février 1943, soit trente et un ans jour pour jour après certains événements dont j'aurais voulu quelque part faire le récit. Mais - Hubert était venu me voir de très bonne heure : le cher Hubert, le poète et l'amoureux, l'ami des songes, le prophète Hubert, toujours aussi jeune et beau, aussi grand adolescent que jamais, bien qu'il ait hélas ! dépassé la trentaine. Il ne dit plus rien. Debout, une main posée sur ma table, il me regardait en souriant. "Tu dis que... l'autre avait une carriole ? lui demandai-je. ¿ Pas une carriole : une vieille auto, qui faisait un boucan terrible à travers la lande. Il se modernise !" Et, de nouveau, le petit rire pointu. "Évidemment. Drôle d'histoire ! Pas très neuve... Tu dis que dans la carriole, enfin l'auto, il y avait un chien ? ¿ Un grand chien noir. ¿ Attaché ? ¿ Oui. Mais arrivé dans la cour il a détaché le chien, qui a sauté par la fenêtre. ¿ Et qu'est-ce qu'il faisait pendant que le chien... ¿ Rien. Il restait dans la cour, debout, avec son grand manteau, son grand chapeau de velours à larges bords. Même pas l'air de s'occuper."
520 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1981
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About the author
Louis Guilloux
55 books17 followersLouis Guilloux was a French known for his Social Realist novels describing working class life and political struggles in the mid-twentieth century. His best-known book is Le Sang noir (Black Blood), which has been described as a "prefiguration of Sartre's La Nausée."
Before becoming a professional writer, literary translator and interpreter, Guilloux worked in various trades, including journalism. He was well known for his fluency in the English language. He married in 1924, and published La Maison du Peuple in 1927.
The success of the book led to a long series of novels on socially committed themes, usually based in his native Brittany. His masterpiece Le Sang Noir was notable for its departure from his earlier, more staightforwardly socialist literature, since it contains elements of what was later associated with an existentialist or absurdist vision. It centres on the suicidal thoughts of the anti-hero, Cripure, who feels overwhelming disgust at humanity in the destructive circumstances of militarism during World War I.
Contrasted with the figure of Cripure is the nominal hero, Lucien, who aspires to work for a better future. But the grotesque and self-excoriating visions of Cripure are repeatedly portrayed as more powerful and compelling than Lucien's idealism. The book was translated into English under the title Bitter Victory.
Le Pain des Rêves (Bread of Dreams), which he wrote during the Occupation, won the Prix du roman populiste in 1942. After the liberation of France, Guilloux worked as an interpreter for the American Army of occupation. In "OK Joe!" he explored racial inequalities and injustice in the segregated American army of the time. Guilloux's experiences at this time are described by Alice Kaplan in her 2006 book The Interpreter.
His 1949 novel Le Jeu de Patience (Game of Patience) won the Prix Renaudot. It has been described as his most experimental work, "an intricate text demanding patient reconstitution by the reader. Micro- and macro-history collide: the horrors of war, and anarchist and Popular Front politics or right-wing coups, impinge violently on private dramas. It is a haunted kaleidoscope, often hallucinatory."
Guilloux was also a translator of a number of books, including the novel 'Home to Harlem' written by black American author Claude McKay, published in 1932 under the title Ghetto Noir. He also translated John Steinbeck, Margaret Kennedy, and Robert Didier, and some of the Hornblower series of novels by C.S. Forester. Towards the end of his life he created scripts for television adaptations of literary classics.
Louis Guilloux was friendly with many notable writers. He knew the philosopher Jean Grenier from his teenage years, and was close to Albert Camus. He was also friends with André Malraux and Jean Guéhenno. Camus praised his work highly, and compared his story Compagnons (Companions) to Leo Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich.'
Before becoming a professional writer, literary translator and interpreter, Guilloux worked in various trades, including journalism. He was well known for his fluency in the English language. He married in 1924, and published La Maison du Peuple in 1927.
The success of the book led to a long series of novels on socially committed themes, usually based in his native Brittany. His masterpiece Le Sang Noir was notable for its departure from his earlier, more staightforwardly socialist literature, since it contains elements of what was later associated with an existentialist or absurdist vision. It centres on the suicidal thoughts of the anti-hero, Cripure, who feels overwhelming disgust at humanity in the destructive circumstances of militarism during World War I.
Contrasted with the figure of Cripure is the nominal hero, Lucien, who aspires to work for a better future. But the grotesque and self-excoriating visions of Cripure are repeatedly portrayed as more powerful and compelling than Lucien's idealism. The book was translated into English under the title Bitter Victory.
Le Pain des Rêves (Bread of Dreams), which he wrote during the Occupation, won the Prix du roman populiste in 1942. After the liberation of France, Guilloux worked as an interpreter for the American Army of occupation. In "OK Joe!" he explored racial inequalities and injustice in the segregated American army of the time. Guilloux's experiences at this time are described by Alice Kaplan in her 2006 book The Interpreter.
His 1949 novel Le Jeu de Patience (Game of Patience) won the Prix Renaudot. It has been described as his most experimental work, "an intricate text demanding patient reconstitution by the reader. Micro- and macro-history collide: the horrors of war, and anarchist and Popular Front politics or right-wing coups, impinge violently on private dramas. It is a haunted kaleidoscope, often hallucinatory."
Guilloux was also a translator of a number of books, including the novel 'Home to Harlem' written by black American author Claude McKay, published in 1932 under the title Ghetto Noir. He also translated John Steinbeck, Margaret Kennedy, and Robert Didier, and some of the Hornblower series of novels by C.S. Forester. Towards the end of his life he created scripts for television adaptations of literary classics.
Louis Guilloux was friendly with many notable writers. He knew the philosopher Jean Grenier from his teenage years, and was close to Albert Camus. He was also friends with André Malraux and Jean Guéhenno. Camus praised his work highly, and compared his story Compagnons (Companions) to Leo Tolstoy's 'The Death of Ivan Ilyich.'
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