La passion des femmes

by Sébastien Japrisot

Sur une plage déserte, à la fin d'un bel après-midi d'été, un jeune homme tombe, blessé d'un coup de fusil en pleine poitrine. Tour à tour, les femmes qui ont compté dans sa vie racontent l'aventure qu'elles ont partagée avec lui, qui les a conduites à l'abattre. Mais qui dit la vérité ? Emma, l'angélique mariée enlevée la nuit de ses noces ? Bélinda, la splendide prostituée de «La Reine de Cœur» ? Zozo, la pensionnaire du même endroit ? Caroline, la trop jeune veuve prise au piège d'un monstre ? Frou-Frou, la petite manucure parisienne devenue star à Hollywood ? Yoko, la délicieuse et impudique Japonaise ? Toledo, l'infirmière américaine en Birmanie ? Marie-Martine, l'avocate à qui il appartient de sauver la tête de celui qu'elle a toujours aimé ? Les confessions de cette étonnante galerie de femmes sont autant de facettes où se réfléchit un héros multiple et contradictoire, et, pour délirantes qu'elles soient, le puzzle se recomposera.

Genres: Fiction, France, French Literature, Mystery Thriller, Literature, Mystery

480 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1986

About the author

Sébastien Japrisot was a French author, screenwriter and film director, born in Marseille. His pseudonym was an anagram of Jean-Baptiste Rossi, his real name. Japrisot has been nicknamed "the Graham Greene of France".
Famous in the Francophony, he was little known in the English-speaking world, though a number of his novels have been translated into English and have been made into films.
His first novel, Les mal partis was written at the age of 16 and published under his real name (see also author profile of Jean-Baptiste Rossi).

Reviews

[Ieva · Rating 2 out of 5]

Šis noteikti nav omulīgs detektīvs, un pat detketīvs tas īsti jau tomēr nav - tās bija ķļūdainas manas gaidas, balstoties uz kādu ieteikumu. Šī nu ir tāda grāmta, kādu iromājos, kad domāju par frančiem - tsoņas sievietes viena pēc otras grib vienu vīieti un visas nejauši viņu nozūmē (bet nenozūmē, jo viņam ir laikem ne tikai zelta loceklis, bet arī dzīvību nobēdzinājis tai dimanta olā, akā uz salas pasaules malā kopā af Kaščeju). Pirmos stāstus vēl lasīt kaut cik interesanti, bet pēc trešās jau paliek pilnīgi vienalga, kura tad viņu nozūmēs un vai vispār kādai tas izdosies.

[Natalia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Роман кажется легким, сюжет повторяется, развивается почти одинаково в каждом из рассказов женщин о загадочном мужчине, в которого нельзя не влюбиться. Но, на мой взгляд, неверно было бы прочесть книгу только как микс саспенса и эротики, эти линии лежат на поверхности, а Жапризо, безусловно, большой мастер и этот роман - его очень личное размышление о жизни и творчестве.
Я бы сказала, что этот роман очень "французский", в нем есть и приятное обаяние Ривьеры, и ирония, и желание посмеяться над литературными штампами. Очень чувствуется влияние кинематографа, особенно сюрреалистического направления.
Иногда мне казалось, что повествование начинает пробуксовывать, но сразу же, как это чувство появлялось, внимание автора переключалось на новую героиню и мой интерес моментально возвращался.
Жапризо отлично пишет монологи героинь, у каждой тут свой язык, свой характер, свое лицо. За калейдоскопом их историй мы видим странный образ мужчины, который, как кукловод, приводит мир этих женщин в движение, в результате образ каждой из них запоминается и становится почти живым.
Тема "оживления" - еще одна из неочевидных на первый взгляд. Оживление любовью, или творчеством, или страстью.
Роман по форме напоминает сжатую пружину, каждая героиня - новый виток, а в финале - взрыв, удивление, новые эмоции. Очень сильный роман, и хотя он не похож на другие произведения Жапризо, я не могу представить, что такой роман мог бы написать кто-то другой.

[Colleen Green · Rating 2 out of 5]

Picked up this book at a high school book sale and got 2/3 through it, but I just cannot read another sexist sub-story. Each of these stories seems to perpetuate misogynistic stereotypes, racist and sexist beliefs, and rape myths.

At first I found the differences in the women’s stories interesting and how they perceived their interactions with the soldier. It was interesting to unpack what was truth, but each of the stories was just peppered with vignettes about rape, women needing to pleasure the man and being in-fatuously in love with him, receiving and seeking pleasure from forced sex. By the time I got to the Yoko story, I could read no more. Her story was not only misogynist (enjoying being raped by multiple men and conceding to give herself to one each day of the week but taking a break on Sunday- really???) but also incredibly racist as her story was the only one told in broken English, making her seem uneducated, subservient and almost sub-human. Disgusting!

This book should have stayed on the table and in the 1980s when it was written. And It’s total bullshit that this guy is held up as a great French writer. This just goes to perpetuate harmful stereotypes about women.

[Robin Kuritzky · Rating 5 out of 5]

J'ai adoré. Parce que Japrisot m'emballe, l'histoire particulière est super, et, évidement le sujet indiqué par le titre est fascinant. Pour employer ses propres paroles..."on était comme dans un labyrinthe de plus en plus compliqué, il fallait drôlement faire attention pour le suivre..." avec ses histoires tout commence assez simple mais imbues d'un énigme qui vous séduit, et là, l'imprévu commence jusqu'à à la fin ou vous vous dites "Ça alors!." Aussi j'apprécie bcp tous l'argot et sa manière parfaite de l'utiliser. J'ai suivi ce roman par un film de Japrisot que j'avais acheté -L'Étè Meurtrier - probablement son meilleur, et qui me rappelle drôlement une amie de ma fille, très séduisante d'ailleurs.

[Jami · Rating 2 out of 5]

The detail was great but I must be too much of a feminist to enjoy reading what these women went through and allowed to happen. It was very provocative and erotic but not in romantic or even liberated way.

[Julia Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

im between four and five stars but the ending just ruined it for me. i wouldve been fine with him dying and that being it. love all the girls tho i think yoko was my favorite it was the easiest to follow even though her grammar was bad, being stranded on the island was a good plot line. i don't know how christophe pulled. like honestly how did all of these women fall for him. i swear it had to be bc he was cute and had good sex. like it's giving ted bundy. but i enjoyed the stories. the writing was good and i liked how the book was set up BUT HAVING THE WHOLE BOOK BE FAKE!!! UNACCEPTABLE

[Andy · Rating 3 out of 5]

More erotica from Mr. Japrisot, this time in the form of testimony from eight women. The testimony is for the defense of a rakish good-looking wartime Bel Ami style rogue who's stepped into their lives and thrilled them with his dashing ways. There's a surprising lack of suspense compared to other Japrisot efforts, and the ending is so incredibly lame you'll be throwing your book at the wall. I almost did!

[Jehnie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had a hard time staying interested in this story. I appreciate the idea, but not the implementation. Honestly, I spent a lot of the book wondering how different it would be if it were written by a woman; I found all of the characters very dated and viewed through the eyes of a man.

[Estela Ladeiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

.."Nunca nada se passa, nem tão mal, nem tão bem, como se julga"..

Um livro de escrita criativa e texto fluido, num enredo de drama e mistério, em que temos um crime como pano de fundo..
Qual das mulheres falará a verdade?
A resposta ficará em suspenso até à última palavra desta aventura, onde as confissões de uma espantosa galeria de mulheres são as várias facetas do carácter de um herói múltiplo e contraditório.

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Varias mujeres relatan sus respectivos encuentros con un singular francés, fugitivo supuestamente inocente de un brutal crimen. La excusa para un ejercicio narrativo - yendo desde la aventura al drama erótico - rematan en un desenlace cojo debido a un eux ex machina poco convincente.

El truco no resulta espléndido, pero el viaje en compalía de sus variadas mujeres - cada una con una sólida construcción de personalidad - consige al menos entretener.

[Clara · Rating 3 out of 5]

not bad but not good

[Lavinia Darlea · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, soft pr0n is always entertaining, but it was not what I expected from this book. So yeah ... easy read, not much else though.

[Sharon McNeil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as A Very Long Engagement or One Deadly Summer.

[Lee Manning · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am not good at books with multiple points of view, and this one is certainly that. However, it held my interest consistently throughout, with just enough of thee puzzle-to-solve aspect to keep the Sherlock Holmes part of my brain fully engaged. I found it to be a fasscinating hybrid of detective story and character analysis.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't love this book. I am giving it three stars because I think it was clever and well written, but I wasn't drawn to any of the characters.
Interesting and intricately told, but it lacked depth, i thought.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

LOVED "A Very Long Engagement", and yet couldn't get through half of this one by the same author. C'est la vie!

[Lesley · Rating 3 out of 5]

very strange. intriguing enough to keep you reading to find out what will happen.

[Elle Belle · Rating 2 out of 5]

As much as I like Japrisot, this is MEH and too much melodrama.

[Chrissy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Vic Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

read in french : la passion des femmes