다다를 수 없는 나라

by 크리스토프 바티유

잊혀짐으로써 죽어간 이들과 잊음으로써 자유로워진 이들의 기나긴 여행
프랑스 작가, 크리스토프 바타유의 대표작『다다를 수 없는 나라』. 스물 한 살에 발표한 이 작품으로 처녀작 상과 되마고 상을 수상하였다. 정제된 언어와 짧은 문장으로 자신만의 독특한 문체를 구성해 새로운 작품세계를 보여주고 있다. 일곱 살 된 어린 베트남 황제 칸이 프랑스의 루이 16세의 궁에 도착한다. 그는 군대와 선교사들을 보내어 힘으로 하느님의 왕국을 회복해 달라고 간청하고, 곧 폐렴에 걸려 죽게 된다. 세월이 흐르고 남녀로 구성된 프랑스 선교사들이 베트남을 향해 배를 타고 떠난다. 그들은 일 년이 넘게 걸려서 사이콩에 도착해 남쪽 지방의 농사꾼에게 복음을 전파한다. 하지만, 프랑스에서는 대혁명이 일어나고, 어수선한 가운데 프랑스는 동방으로 떠난 선교사들을 까맣게 잊어버린다. 선교사들은 그 동안 배운 모든 것을 버리고 처음부터 새롭게 배워가기 시작하는데…..

Genres: Fiction

182 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Jeffrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short and sweet. A fascinating slice of history sparsely written in a style that might easily have commenced with "Once upon a time..." But more than that, I would say this is the story of a spiritual journey that leads away from dogma and toward the essence of spirituality.

[Dennis Littrell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bataille, Christophe. Annam (1996) *****
In far off Vietnam during the time of the guillotine

There is a dreamy otherworldly quality in the work of Christophe Bataille, the kind of quality that intrigues and seduces our sensibilities. Here the story is about some monks and nuns who leave France just before the revolution to travel by ship to Vietnam. Ultimately this is a love story, a sweet and tender tale of the spirit becoming flesh in a far off land where creepers creep and the rain is incessant and where everywhere there is greenery. There is a lyrical quality in Bataille's prose, something like poetry that pleases the eye and the ear even in translation. Perhaps some of that is due to the sensitive work of translator Richard Howard.

Bataille tells a story with simplicity. He tells it chronologically but tersely with just a stroke of color here and there, a bit of dialogue, a snatch of inner monologue, and from time to time a little catching up of details not previously mentioned. He begins with a child emperor from Vietnam who has come to France to implore Henry XVI to help his father the Prince Regent regain his position of power taken from him by a peasant's revolt. But the strange child, who became a toy of "bored courtiers hungry for novelty" is ineffectual and dies of pneumonia.

And then we have the former Bishop of Adran, who had been taken with the child, commission two ships to sail to Vietnam to bring salvation to the heathens there; and so we have our main set of characters, a small group of Dominican clergy and nuns who brave the long and tortuous voyage to eventually arrive at the city of Saigon in the Mekong Delta. And after some long years we have Brother Dominic and Sister Catherine living in utter simplicity as peasants in the highlands of Vietnam in a place called Annam.

This is a tale that emphasizes the earthy quality of life, the spirituality that comes with living a life of Zen-like simplicity in contrast to the world of affairs of church and state and war and trade. It is a search for a return to the Garden of Eden. On another level this tale hints of a world to come with France as a colonial power in Vietnam and then as France removed.

The book is short, 87 pages. Temporally speaking it is like a novel as each paragraph and the space between consume so much of time, and yet it is like a short story in its compression of the lives and times of its characters. Bataille is a fine talent and I will read more of his work.

--a review by Dennis Littrell

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

may bump this to 5 stars once it marinates in my head longer. It's the tale of a French nun and priest who, from 1792 through around 1810 live in Vietnam. They arrive as missionaries but, when the Revolution occurs in France, they are left cut off from everything they knew at home. This leads them to slowly and steadily rethink their lives and their faith, eventually leading them to find true solace in one anothers' arms. It's a story that, if written by most authors, would be a sprawling gag-fest of epic proportions. Bataille, however, gives us an incredibly concise and poetic 90-page parable with virtually no direct dialogue. It's rare to find a story of real depth and meaning that you can read in one sitting, but this is it. Being so short and so well-done, I'd recommend this to anyone.

[Quỳnh Nguyễn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Lấy bối cảnh 300 năm trước vào thế kỉ 18, một đoàn gồm các giáo sĩ và binh lính tiến hành cuộc viễn chinh sang Việt Nam. Điểm đặc sắc ở câu chuyện nà y nằm ở những miêu tả tinh tế cảnh sắc thiên nhiên sử dụng ngôn từ chau chuốt, đậm chất thơ. Không cần gọi tên nhiều địa danh hay sự vật, tác giả vẫn có thể tái hiện vẻ đẹp êm đềm, bình yên của miền quê vùng đồng bằng châu thổ. Đặc biệt, tác phẩm này dịch rất mượt, người đọc như đọc một tác phẩm do tác gia người Việt viết vậy.
Một cơn dông chiều tà, pha một ấm trà đặc cùng một đĩa mứt đào, ngồi trước hiên nhà, thả mình vào "bóng hoàng hôn buông xuống trong khí bụi chiều tà" hiện ra qua từng dòng văn.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books tells te story of the life and death of a group of Monks and Nuns that go to Vietnam as missionaries at the end of the 18th century. Although the book is only 87 pages long it very moving and powerful, almost poetic....

[Kobe Bryant · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not nearly as cool as it sounded

[Lessidisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chronique d'une expédition fictive pour christianiser le Vietnam, qui met en scène des personnes qui ont réellement existé. Se lit en une heure.

[Stéphanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Le Vietnam 18ieme siècle des religieux partent, après un an de traversée ils atteignent Saigon et la ils enseignent les évangiles tout en découvrant une une culture une autre façon de vivre un autre climat.
Très intéressant on y retrouve le Vietnam d'aujourd'hui dans sa façon de vivre et tellement intéressant et bien écrit on y ressent les sensations.

[Patrick Barry · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting story rooted in an era aeound 1800 when French colonialism was trying to get rooted in Viet Nam. In 1787, the child emperor of Vietnam comes to France to ask Louis XVI to send troops and missionaries to support his kingdom. His requestis refused and theb emporer soon thereafter succombs to pneumonia. One year later, two French ships carrying religous and soldiers are sent to Vietnam to help Vietnamese Prince Nguyen Anh, in exile in Siam, recover his throne. The missionaries soon go about there work. Back in France there is revolution. There will be no help forthcoming for the missionaries, soldiers and crucially Nguyen Anh. When the Prince is able to sieze power, he gets his revenge. Only a monk and nun survive and this is their story. Concise and short, it was a quick read. It is an interesting portrayal of Viet Nam at that time. A worthwhile read.

[Roderick Craig · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un tout petit roman, qui n'a pas grand chose d'historique et prend une grande liberté avec l'histoire. Réflexion sur la confrontation de la foi chrétienne de quelques missionnaires européens et de la spiritualité des peuples du Vietnam...

[Benjamin Lemoine · Rating 4 out of 5]

One of the few books I've read in French. Very enjoyable.

[Ianluna · Rating 4 out of 5]

comparisons with endo's silence are a bit overstated, but should still be on the shortlist of "favorite novels on apostasy." elegant in its austerity.

[Ken Ficara · Rating 4 out of 5]

http://books.kenficara.com/2007/07/th...

[David Steece, Jr. · Rating 5 out of 5]

You can read it in an hour, but you'll never forget it.

[R.K. Cowles · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 1/2 stars