Piercing

by Larry Tremblay, Linda Gaboriau (Translator)

In “The Axe” a literature professor arrives at the door of one of his students in the middle of the night. On his way he has stumbled (with a flask of whiskey) through the pouring rain, stopping in a city park to vandalize the statue of an angel, tormented by the image of his life’s work, ninety-seven poems he has left behind in flames in his apartment. The student has turned in an assignment (which the professor has brought along in his briefcase): a carefully wrapped hatchet.In “Piercing” a teenage runaway, Marie-Hélène, seeks to escape the mediocrity of her small-town family life, only to end up in a very different kind of urban “family,” a cult of dominance and body piercing presided over by Kevin, the maimed and orphaned son of a millionaire. They live in a church converted into luxury condos, with a strange ageless and toothless woman who plays guardian to him and his test-tube son a 20 year old computer nerd working on an MA thesis on securitization.In “Anna on the Letter C” a lonely, virginal typist transcribing the “c” words for a dictionary project lives just blocks away from the church where Rasputin-like Kevin holds court. But her world is not inhabited by the angels and demons of “Piercing.”Taking pity on a middle-aged stalker (a seedy, sweating chain-smoker, retired from his job as a projectionist in soft-core porn cinemas), she invites him to her apartment for tea. As they sit, awkwardly making conversation, she confesses that she is a virgin. Her feelings for him waver between repulsion and compassion. His desire for her is palpable as heat lightning flashes in the summer night.

130 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 11, 2006

About the author

Larry Tremblay is a writer, director, actor and specialist in Kathakali, an elaborate dance theatre form which he has studied on numerous trips to India. He has published more than twenty books as a playwright, poet, novelist and essayist, and he is one of Quebec’s most-produced and translated playwrights (his plays have been translated into twelve languages).

Reviews

[D'Ailleurs · Rating 4 out of 5]

Κρίμα που πέρασε απαρατήρητο, η αίσθηση της σχεδόν θρησκευτικής σύνδεσης όπως αυτή αναλύεται στο ομώνυμο διήγημα είναι άκρως ενδιαφέρουσα, όπως και ο (θα μπορούσε να ήταν ερωτικός) μονόλογος στο πρώτο και το casualness μεταξύ δύο ετερόκλητων ανθρώπων στο τρίτο. Ας επανακυκλοφορήσει από τους Αντίποδες για να γίνει αναγνωστικό trend, αφού καμιά φορά νομίζω διαβάζουμε εκδότη και όχι έκδοση.

[Katerina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Πήρα το βιβλίο αυτό επειδή είχε μεγάλη έκπτωση και ήθελα να πάρω κάτι. Ουδέποτε είχα ακούσει τον Tremblay. Μου άρεσε πάρα πολύ η πρόζα του, θεατρική και ποιητική ταυτόχρονα.

[David Cantin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ce n'est pas un hasard si ce livre est paru dans la prestigieuse collection Blanche chez Gallimard. Il s'agit sans aucun doute d'un des livres les plus bouleversants du répertoire québécois.