Voyage a Rodrigues

by J.M.G. Le Clézio

En écrivant Le chercheur d'or, J.M.G. Le Clézio s'était inspiré d'aventures vécues par son grand-père. Dans ce Journal, Le Clézio raconte son voyage vers l'île Rodrigues sur les traces de son grand-père et de la légende qu'il a laissée.
«Ai-je vraiment cherché quelque chose ? J'ai bien sûr soulevé quelques pierres, sondé la base de la falaise ouest, à l'aplomb des cavernes que j'ai repérées à mon arrivée dans l'Anse aux Anglais. Dans la tourelle ruinée de la Vigie du Commandeur (peut-être une ancienne balise construite par le Corsaire), dans les étranges balcons de pierres sèches, vestiges des anciens boucaniers, j'ai cherché plutôt des symboles, les signes qui établiraient le commencement d'un langage. Quand je suis entré pour la première fois dans le ravin, j'ai compris que ce n'était pas l'or que je cherchais, mais une ombre, quelques choses comme un souvenir, comme un désir.»

Genres: France

160 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1986

About the author

Jean-Marie Gustave Le Clézio, better known as J.M.G. Le Clézio (born 13 April 1940) is a Franco-Mauriciano novelist. The author of over forty works, he was awarded the 1963 Prix Renaudot for his novel Le Procès-Verbal (The Interrogation) and the 2008 Nobel Prize in Literature.

Reviews

[Ben · Rating 1 out of 5]

The nicest thing that I can say about this book is that it's relatively short. What suggests itself to be a journey to an exotic island, taken in the footsteps of the author's long-dead, treasure-seeking grandfather turns out to be 146 pages of dry descriptions of the island, of dry descriptions of maps of the island, and of dry descriptions of the various notes left by said grandfather. These are interspersed with the pretentious musings of an author/grandson who obviously has too much time and money on his hands. Grandfather undertook this journey in order to find buried pirate treasure, what he saw as the only means of financially securing the life of his family. Grandson evidently decides this reason as far too quotidian and, over the course of the book, gradually relocates grandfather's purpose and eventually settles on it being something far more mysterious, almost mystical search of the indescribable, something much more akin to a dream.

Personally, I think pépère would have been happier with the treasure.

[Marios Antoniou · Rating 1 out of 5]

Warning to potential victims: this is not a book just a random series of verb-less descriptive phrases like ''nights so beautiful, long, pure without insects, without dew with only the sound of the wind which arrives in long waves', making the tree leaves murmur. The nights profound and infinite.'' NO action just endless boring description. Huge sentences, occasionally longer than 15 lines, endless rhetorical questions (often more than 5 in a row) in one case 3 pages long. No rock on the island of Rodriguez is left undescribed, often descriped multiple times interposed with reminiscences of his loved grandfather whom he never met. Generally, I give high ratings, my average is above 4, this is by far the most inane and pointless piece of writing I have ever encountered. To top it all, he is happy that the treasure highlights the triumph of Europe in colonization, and seems to suggest that poverty on Rodriguez is due to the departure of Europeans. Goodreads should allow a new rating of 0 specifically for this book which is by far the worst I have read

[Ricardo Munguia · Rating 2 out of 5]

Novela corta con una premisa sencilla que da un giro interesante. La historia es la de el autor (o eso nos da a entender) en su viaje a la isla Rodrigues en búsqueda de un tesoro que su abuelo buscaba pero no fue capaz de encontrar. Siguiendo los mapas y anotaciones de su abuelo, el lugar que nuestro protagonista encuentra es muy diferente al que tenía idealizado y mientras busca el tesoro perdido, reflexiona sobre su abuelo y el destino de su familia.

Lleno de interminables descripciones sobre la isla y sus ensenadas y cañadas y lleno de reflexiones románticas sobre su abuelo junto con algún guiño histórico o notas sobre interpretar claves secretas o direcciones en un mapa, por momentos puede resultar aburrido y tedioso. Afortunadamente la novela es lo suficientemente corta como para parar antes de que se vuelva realmente inmanejable. Al final la novela te deja con algo más profundo que la búsqueda de un tesoro, pues las reflexiones parecen ser profundas, pero en realidad a mí parecer solo parecen serlo pero no lo son en realidad.

La novela me pareció regular y con la medida justa, si buscas algo sumamente descriptivo, que combine reflexiones con paisajes naturales creo que te puede gustar, de lo contrario, prepárate para leer la que quizá sea la búsqueda de tesoro más lenta jamás escrita

[Marce Matamoros · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a strange book. I expected not to like it at all, based on some comments I had heard about Le Clezio being really dense and boring, but I actually felt good after reading it. I wont say it's my favorite book, I wouldn't even recommend it as a "must" reading for anyone, but actually it is pretty engaging in terms of introspection. The book covers the journey of a writer (Le Clezio himself) on a remote island in the Indic Ocean, trying to follow the steps of his gold hunting grandfather, and most of all, understanding his reasons, motivations, feelings and overall mystic surrounding the treasure hunt.
As mentioned, not a "must", but I liked it more than I was expecting, plus it is a short book so you wont spend that much time on it.

[Pollo · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pocas veces la búsqueda de un tesoro había sido tan aburrida. Hasta que en la última parte descubrimos que en realidad no se está tratando de encontrar el cofre enterrado de un pirata, sino la verdad escondida de un exjuez que perdió su casa. Así como hay libros sobre el padre (Kafka, Auster) este es del abuelo y si te gustan las largas descripciones de la naturaleza, reflexiones y poca acción te puede interesar. No ha sido el mejor acercamiento a la obra del Nobel 2008.

[Jorė · Rating 5 out of 5]

i found this a beautiful testimony to Le Clézio grandfather who had in himself some Don Quixotian need to follow not even the dream, but an illusion.

However, read first Chercheur d’or (prospector), which is a fictional version of the story. Then these travel notes and musings will make more sense and will nicely compliment the fiction

[Rose Jones · Rating 2 out of 5]

Good for practising my French (bird and tree knowledge has increased) but just not particularly entertaining and turns towards the trite.