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White
It is 2015. Edmée and Pete are engineers on a remote research station in Antarctica. Both are running from tragic events at home. In this setting of magnificent desolation, just fifteen kilometres from the South Pole, a love affair begins to flourish - until there is a catastrophic power failure at the base . . .
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First published January 1, 2003
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About the author
Marie Darrieussecq
73 books247 followersMarie Darrieussecq was born on January 3, 1969. She was raised in a small village in the Basque Country.
While finishing her PhD in French Literature, she wrote her first novel, Truismes (Pig Tales) which was published in September 1996 by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (POL), who have published all her subsequent novels as well. After the success of Truismes, Darrieussecq decided to quit her teaching position at the University of Lille to concentrate on writing her novels. Her first husband was a mathematician, her second is an astrophysicist. She gave birth to a son in 2001 and to a daughter in 2004.
She endorsed Ségolène Royal's candidacy during the French Presidential Elections of 2007.
While finishing her PhD in French Literature, she wrote her first novel, Truismes (Pig Tales) which was published in September 1996 by Paul Otchakovsky-Laurens (POL), who have published all her subsequent novels as well. After the success of Truismes, Darrieussecq decided to quit her teaching position at the University of Lille to concentrate on writing her novels. Her first husband was a mathematician, her second is an astrophysicist. She gave birth to a son in 2001 and to a daughter in 2004.
She endorsed Ségolène Royal's candidacy during the French Presidential Elections of 2007.
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
March 21, 2013
This isn't my "usual" type of book, but having just read and enjoyed last years Booker prize winner, which also isn't my "usual" type of book, I thought I'd give it a go, brave new world and all that.
This could, notionally, be thought of as sci-fi, it's set in the near future, too near if anything, the idea that we'll have 3D holographic videocalls in 2015 is probably pushing things a little, as is the prospect of a manned mission to Mars in the same year, so there's scope to suggest that this isn't our Earth, however I don't think presenting a science fiction story is really the aim of this novel.
I'm not entirely convinced presenting a story full stop is the aim, as the plot, such as it is, is wafer thin, our two "heroes" take up contracts in an Antarctica research station for 6 months, they do their work without any real drama and then, one incident aside which I won't mention, they leave again. This takes around 150 pages!
In between those points the narrative seems to be more about the style of writing, rather than what actually happens, it's a study of isolation, the protagonists are 3,000 miles from civilization, in the most desolate place on Earth, with only the other members of the team to rely on but even here the interactions between the team members is only given lip-service, the main two characters, on the whole, don't even get their own viewpoints, rather the story is told by an unnamed group of "ghosts" that follow the characters around, reading their memories to inform us where they came from and why, the viewpoints drift from current time, into and out of dreams and memory, the ghosts themselves are somewhat unfocused narrators (as you might expect perhaps), short sentence fragments dominate the style (must have been an interesting exercise for the translator), to some effect but this feels very much like ordering a steak in a restaurant, just so you can enjoy the sauce that comes with it, rather than the meat itself. From that point of view this is the vegetarian option.
On the upside, it isn't a long book but it still took me several days to get through, whereas the aforementioned Booker winner, The Sense of An Ending, which is a similar length, was knocked off* in one evening. It's not the most flowing read.
I won't say I didn't enjoy White, I'm glad I've read it but I probably won't read it again. Like I said, not my usual kind of book but that may actually say more about me than it does about White...
*This is an in-joke for those that have read The Sense of An Ending.
This could, notionally, be thought of as sci-fi, it's set in the near future, too near if anything, the idea that we'll have 3D holographic videocalls in 2015 is probably pushing things a little, as is the prospect of a manned mission to Mars in the same year, so there's scope to suggest that this isn't our Earth, however I don't think presenting a science fiction story is really the aim of this novel.
I'm not entirely convinced presenting a story full stop is the aim, as the plot, such as it is, is wafer thin, our two "heroes" take up contracts in an Antarctica research station for 6 months, they do their work without any real drama and then, one incident aside which I won't mention, they leave again. This takes around 150 pages!
In between those points the narrative seems to be more about the style of writing, rather than what actually happens, it's a study of isolation, the protagonists are 3,000 miles from civilization, in the most desolate place on Earth, with only the other members of the team to rely on but even here the interactions between the team members is only given lip-service, the main two characters, on the whole, don't even get their own viewpoints, rather the story is told by an unnamed group of "ghosts" that follow the characters around, reading their memories to inform us where they came from and why, the viewpoints drift from current time, into and out of dreams and memory, the ghosts themselves are somewhat unfocused narrators (as you might expect perhaps), short sentence fragments dominate the style (must have been an interesting exercise for the translator), to some effect but this feels very much like ordering a steak in a restaurant, just so you can enjoy the sauce that comes with it, rather than the meat itself. From that point of view this is the vegetarian option.
On the upside, it isn't a long book but it still took me several days to get through, whereas the aforementioned Booker winner, The Sense of An Ending, which is a similar length, was knocked off* in one evening. It's not the most flowing read.
I won't say I didn't enjoy White, I'm glad I've read it but I probably won't read it again. Like I said, not my usual kind of book but that may actually say more about me than it does about White...
*This is an in-joke for those that have read The Sense of An Ending.
January 6, 2014
This is less a novel, more a poetic exploration. This edition is a translation from French so I can't know what the original was like, but this is a beautiful read. It's less about the characters and more about the place - the loneliness of the Antarctic, the startling landscape, the kinds of mind-tricks it might play with you (twin or triple suns, for instance), the precarious nature of life there. It focuses loosely on two characters, narrated by a collective spirit-chorus of people who have perished there.
There is no dialogue, only description, which is played poetically with the texture of an intense song. It's more of a study than a plot, but in spite of that it doesn't feel aimless. And I'm a reader who likes to hear a story; I don't like meandering books. Somehow this gets the balance right - a rare feat.
So why only three stars? Well, there is a plot climax, but frankly it seems stupid. Also, if you have the edition above, it's written on the flyleaf - a great big spoiler before you even start the book, which gives you the impression that a lot more story is to come. So don't read the flyleaf or you'll come to the punchline long before you should. Such blunders aren't the fault of the writer, though; she didn't prepare the cover material, so I'm not deducting stars for that. But the climax itself is rather banal and hinges on a system that is stupid - rather spoiling the whole impression.
Despite all this, I loved the language and the poetic vision. I'm keeping this book to dip into again.
There is no dialogue, only description, which is played poetically with the texture of an intense song. It's more of a study than a plot, but in spite of that it doesn't feel aimless. And I'm a reader who likes to hear a story; I don't like meandering books. Somehow this gets the balance right - a rare feat.
So why only three stars? Well, there is a plot climax, but frankly it seems stupid. Also, if you have the edition above, it's written on the flyleaf - a great big spoiler before you even start the book, which gives you the impression that a lot more story is to come. So don't read the flyleaf or you'll come to the punchline long before you should. Such blunders aren't the fault of the writer, though; she didn't prepare the cover material, so I'm not deducting stars for that. But the climax itself is rather banal and hinges on a system that is stupid - rather spoiling the whole impression.
Despite all this, I loved the language and the poetic vision. I'm keeping this book to dip into again.
May 15, 2022
Best experience of "the white" of Antarctica I've read. A must if you love The Thing. The ghost element was...fun. A bit novel, but I didn't walk away with much from it. The novel, novella?, did have a real lull towards the end, which I feel is odd given how dense and tight the writing is otherwise. And the conclusion didn't mean much to me either. But I adore Darrieussecq and think the first 70 or so pages is just perfect. She really has the alien austerity of "the white" down to something simply essential.
December 19, 2018
The book opens with the alternating journeys of Edmée (a Frenchwoman who has settled in the US) and Peter (raised in Iceland but of unknown origin), on their way to Antarctica. Edmée is taking the sea route, Peter the air, and a significant section of the novella is devoted to bringing alive these deeply uncomfortable journeys with strangers.
On arrival, this group of scientists and engineers must inhabit temporary structures near the South Pole while the permanent base is being constructed. Edmée and Peter have arguably the two most important roles of all. She is in charge of communications, while Peter is the heating engineer.
Through their daily struggles with the elements, we learn some of Edmée and Peter’s histories, from which we can extrapolate why they might want to spend a year at the end of the world. Sometimes the vast emptiness is poetic and beautiful, sometimes it is disorienting, alienating, even frightening. Both lead characters are reading the diary of Scott’s final expedition, musing on his tragic end somewhere near them.
Read my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2018/12/...
On arrival, this group of scientists and engineers must inhabit temporary structures near the South Pole while the permanent base is being constructed. Edmée and Peter have arguably the two most important roles of all. She is in charge of communications, while Peter is the heating engineer.
Through their daily struggles with the elements, we learn some of Edmée and Peter’s histories, from which we can extrapolate why they might want to spend a year at the end of the world. Sometimes the vast emptiness is poetic and beautiful, sometimes it is disorienting, alienating, even frightening. Both lead characters are reading the diary of Scott’s final expedition, musing on his tragic end somewhere near them.
Read my full review: http://www.noseinabook.co.uk/2018/12/...
November 29, 2017
Darrieussecq är en stilist av rang, att läsa ”White” innebär en unik språklig upplevelse. Hon leker med minnen, grammatik, ljudbilder, fragment, fakta och karaktärer på ett chosefritt sätt. Lite som David Lynch alltså, men utan att fastna i en ondskefull, psykotisk syratripp. ”White” är aldrig tråkig och jag blir ständigt överraskad – på gott och ont. Den skulle må bra av ett tydligare händelseförlopp eller ett par laddade scener som ställer hela berättelsen på sin spets. Nu rör den sig ryckigt framåt i fragment och varken det hotfulla landskapet, de traumatiska minnena eller karaktärernas kärlekstörst blir levande på allvar.
October 8, 2022
New author to me and something I picked up from a charity shop. Quite original in the way it is written and the setting. The ghosts add interest. However it dies start to plod to what seems like the inevitable 'sex scene'. Last 40 pages are pretty dull and seem to me overly 'poetic'. Would read more by her though based on the first 2/3rds of this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 27, 2018
The copy I read was a translation from French to English so I'm not sure if the translation is the reason that the writing was patchy, jolty, and obscure to understand; or if it was the author.
I rather think it was the translation though.
I rather think it was the translation though.
April 27, 2021
it's an interesting concept and beautifully written, but too self-consciously weird and runs out of steam long before the end.
December 26, 2023
Je crois m’être ennuyé.
November 20, 2018
The story is very scientific and captures an element of space and time, upon earth, in connection with an activity and investigations taking place upon another planet, Mars. A NASA project that once was or still is, if we allow ourselves to be subject to media updates, occurring.
The Protagonist is named Edmée Blanco (Blanco also means White and empty/nothing in Spanish translation), the name for me as the reader interpreted many words within the book into a satirical psychological comedy. (Possibly a misinterpretation - this is a translated book!)
Dipping in and around her past, present and foreseeable future, it appears the ghosts are wherever she goes. Edmée (who I will refer to as E), she leaves her partner behind, she is employed by NASA and heads for Antarctica. E decides that of all the male crew accompanying her on the White Project and without any knowledge of personality, purely based on looks, she is attracted to Peter, did I mention she was already married?
White is a powerful story, it is filled with description and metaphor that allows the readers mind to project themselves into Antarctica, and almost become one of the ghosts observing, watching over E and Ps shoulders with the other ghosts who also have a voice.
The story offers the thoughts of what if? E, is she a vulnerable young woman surrounded by men.
White encompasses several hooks, what exactly happened? What are these people running away from, if anything at all? What is going to happen?
The narrative shifts from one perspective to another, from present to past and into dream state which is extreme, yet cleverly done. Once the reader finds the narrative groove, White is a story to become lost and enchanted within, for the description enchants and draws the reader deeper into E and Ps back story and many other character’s present lives.
The narrative toys with and tricks the reader’s mind, inviting us to consider the energy and the risks people in life take in their quest to be employed and busy their own minds. Some of the characters find peace in the mindful practice of meditation as they battle with the continual daylight and the mind trickery of broken sleep in Antarctica.
The perspective of the ghosts on the periphery, at first, they are a distraction, (they were for me as a reader) and I wondered what role they might be intending, are they there to kill, to observe or to be the untrustworthy narrator?
If the novella is read with a little depth to understand the reasons for Darrieussecq choosing to write White. I suggest that she wanted to share a piece of scientific time and wonder, in a setting of enchantment and detachment, suggestive that whilst NASA seeks life on Mars, there is little that the people of the planet know of the true essence of both Ice and Fire upon the planet earth. It is a profound story, and encompasses so many scientific questions of what if? and why?
The Protagonist is named Edmée Blanco (Blanco also means White and empty/nothing in Spanish translation), the name for me as the reader interpreted many words within the book into a satirical psychological comedy. (Possibly a misinterpretation - this is a translated book!)
Dipping in and around her past, present and foreseeable future, it appears the ghosts are wherever she goes. Edmée (who I will refer to as E), she leaves her partner behind, she is employed by NASA and heads for Antarctica. E decides that of all the male crew accompanying her on the White Project and without any knowledge of personality, purely based on looks, she is attracted to Peter, did I mention she was already married?
White is a powerful story, it is filled with description and metaphor that allows the readers mind to project themselves into Antarctica, and almost become one of the ghosts observing, watching over E and Ps shoulders with the other ghosts who also have a voice.
The story offers the thoughts of what if? E, is she a vulnerable young woman surrounded by men.
White encompasses several hooks, what exactly happened? What are these people running away from, if anything at all? What is going to happen?
The narrative shifts from one perspective to another, from present to past and into dream state which is extreme, yet cleverly done. Once the reader finds the narrative groove, White is a story to become lost and enchanted within, for the description enchants and draws the reader deeper into E and Ps back story and many other character’s present lives.
The narrative toys with and tricks the reader’s mind, inviting us to consider the energy and the risks people in life take in their quest to be employed and busy their own minds. Some of the characters find peace in the mindful practice of meditation as they battle with the continual daylight and the mind trickery of broken sleep in Antarctica.
The perspective of the ghosts on the periphery, at first, they are a distraction, (they were for me as a reader) and I wondered what role they might be intending, are they there to kill, to observe or to be the untrustworthy narrator?
If the novella is read with a little depth to understand the reasons for Darrieussecq choosing to write White. I suggest that she wanted to share a piece of scientific time and wonder, in a setting of enchantment and detachment, suggestive that whilst NASA seeks life on Mars, there is little that the people of the planet know of the true essence of both Ice and Fire upon the planet earth. It is a profound story, and encompasses so many scientific questions of what if? and why?
October 29, 2014
São muitos os romances à disposição dos aficionados da leitura. Por isso, para conseguirem espantar e convencer os leitores é exigida aos escritores uma diversidade e criatividade fora do comum. Uns são bem-sucedidos, outros não. Este é um caso negativo.
O palco escolhido para uma (suposta) história de amor é a Antárctida. Edmée e Peter fazem parte de uma equipa de engenheiros que durante seis meses está em missão na terra dos glaciares. Até aqui, o livro parece prometer uma boa história.
A única mulher na equipa nasceu em França e é casada com um administrador na NASA, tendo assim um compromisso à sua espera no regresso. Peter é uma pessoa isolada, que não gosta de se meter na vida dos outros nem que se metam na sua vida.
A história retrata a normalidade, num clima de quarenta graus negativos, na base do Projecto White enquanto se conhece um pouco (muito pouco) sobre as características dos restantes membros da expedição. E pouco mais do que isto.
Durante muito tempo, Edmée e Peter trocam olhares debaixo dos óculos e vêem-se sem nunca terem uma conversa com mais de seis frases. Até que ocorre uma falha de energia. O romance despoleta e o livro chega ao fim.
A anunciada "história de amor" não existe. Tal como não se trata de um romance assombroso e assombrado como se lê no resumo do livro. Para se escrever uma história de amor não basta juntar duas personagens que não se falam e subitamente fechá-los numa tenda para que o amor "floresça".
"O Projecto White" defrauda as expectativas, uma vez que não retrata qualquer história de amor e pode até ser vista como uma traição por parte da personagem feminina. Este romance não possui uma história interessante e cativante. Uma perda de tempo. Uma desilusão.
O palco escolhido para uma (suposta) história de amor é a Antárctida. Edmée e Peter fazem parte de uma equipa de engenheiros que durante seis meses está em missão na terra dos glaciares. Até aqui, o livro parece prometer uma boa história.
A única mulher na equipa nasceu em França e é casada com um administrador na NASA, tendo assim um compromisso à sua espera no regresso. Peter é uma pessoa isolada, que não gosta de se meter na vida dos outros nem que se metam na sua vida.
A história retrata a normalidade, num clima de quarenta graus negativos, na base do Projecto White enquanto se conhece um pouco (muito pouco) sobre as características dos restantes membros da expedição. E pouco mais do que isto.
Durante muito tempo, Edmée e Peter trocam olhares debaixo dos óculos e vêem-se sem nunca terem uma conversa com mais de seis frases. Até que ocorre uma falha de energia. O romance despoleta e o livro chega ao fim.
A anunciada "história de amor" não existe. Tal como não se trata de um romance assombroso e assombrado como se lê no resumo do livro. Para se escrever uma história de amor não basta juntar duas personagens que não se falam e subitamente fechá-los numa tenda para que o amor "floresça".
"O Projecto White" defrauda as expectativas, uma vez que não retrata qualquer história de amor e pode até ser vista como uma traição por parte da personagem feminina. Este romance não possui uma história interessante e cativante. Uma perda de tempo. Uma desilusão.
September 26, 2012
"One day, he will take a snow scooter and go to the South Pole, fifteen kilometers away. It will make a good excursion. And to the geographical South Pole, not the other, magnetic one, which shifts about with the waves. Maybe even he will sense something, waves, or a centre? Where the curves and currents converge? He will treat himself to that much. In such a silence, he will still be able to hear the alarm. The only snag is that you have to go in twos, the rules do not allow anyone to go on their own. Which only goes to show that he was quite wrong in coming here, where solitude is the rarest of luxuries. Physical solitude, that is, because here they really are alone, if you let yourself slide down the slope of nothingness. Seventy-five kilos of living flesh, against a continent of white nothingness. On metre eighty tall above kilometers of snow as old and ignorant as water is old and ignorant."
February 29, 2024
This is an intriguing read. The story, bit by bit unraveled, has a strong current of several motives: solitude and emptiness in a harsh nature (the bitterly cold Antarctiv), fed by adventures in the past (Scott, Amundsen) and two main characters finding their way fled from their regular present into, well, finding each other. The story has a good progression, well balanced.
The most significant ‘character’, however, is the author’s style: it is pointillism with words, it is evocatic poetic prose, it is staccato con spirito; this all works well for me. (I had to scale down the 3,5 * to 3 *). JM
The most significant ‘character’, however, is the author’s style: it is pointillism with words, it is evocatic poetic prose, it is staccato con spirito; this all works well for me. (I had to scale down the 3,5 * to 3 *). JM
December 4, 2007
Darrieussecq has one of the most unique styles of prose that I have ever read. The first few times I read her it took me a bit to find my footing, but once you do she can be a rather illuminating and other-worldly experience. Not necessarily great writing at times, but definitely creative and entertaining. Like some poetry can be.
October 28, 2013
This woman is a really good writer. I mean really good, I mean hit-me-with-a-baseball-bat good. Like brilliant in a way that few writers are (these days).
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews