Giraffe

by Marie Nimier

Childhood feelings of abandonment manifest themselves in many adult in this literate and profoundly perverse novel, a lonely man becomes obsessed with an animal over which he has complete control. As a boy, narrator Joseph-who was raised by foster parents and communicated with his widowed, alcoholic father through letters-torments his adoptive family's dog until it goes insane. "I never liked animals.... There is something in their way of resembling us that I can't stand." Yet, at 18, he gets a job at the Vincennes Zoo in Paris, where he cares for a young giraffe named Solange. Joseph tends Solange with cool efficiency at first. But when he accidentally discovers a 19th-century painting of a giraffe and its African keeper, Yussef, he imagines that he and Solange are the subjects reincarnated. Though he behaves antisocially toward his human co-workers, Joseph/Yussef begins lavishing attention on Solange. He reads to her, waiting in vain for some sign of understanding. When he senses that she is flirting with an ostrich in a neighboring cage, he murders the bird. His monologue is at once disarmingly funny, pathetic and sinister. Nimier capably limns a character who hates domestic creatures' dependency and derives guilty, sexual pleasure from sadistic memories. Only after Joseph allows Solange to die-a fate divulged in the book's first sentence-can he acknowledge that he loved her. The narrative loses momentum in the aftermath of Solange's death, but the substantial force and wit of Joseph's words retain their stunning effect. Nimier has published five novels in France; this one was a finalist for the Prix Goncourt.Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

199 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

French author, playwright and novelist, the daugther of writer, journalist, and screenwriter Roger Nimier and Nadine Nimier.

Selected bibliography
Novels

* Sirène, Paris : Gallimard, 1985
* La Girafe, Paris : Gallimard, 1987
* Anatomie d'un chœur, Paris : Gallimard, 1990
* L'Hypnotisme à la portée de tous, Paris : Gallimard, 1992
* La Caresse, Paris : Gallimard, 1994
* Celui qui court derrière l'oiseau, Paris : Gallimard, 1996
* Domino, Paris : Gallimard, 1998
* La Nouvelle Pornographie, Paris : Gallimard, 2000
* La Reine du silence, Paris : Gallimard, 2004 (Prix Médicis, 2004)
* Les Inséparables, Paris : Gallimard, 2008 (Prix Georges-Brassens, 2008)
* Photo-Photo, Paris : Gallimard, 2010

For children

* Comment faire d'une mouche un éléphant, Paris : Bayard, 1997 (illustrationsNicole Claveloux)
* Comment l'éléphant a perdu ses ailes, Paris : A. Michel jeunesse, 1997 (illustrations Hélène Riff)
* Une mémoire d'éléphant, Paris : Gallimard, 1997 (illustrations Quentin Blake)
* Oumtata à Paris, Paris : Nathan jeunesse ; Montreuil : CPLJ, 1997 (illustrations Jochen Gerner)
* Les Trois Sœurs casseroles, Paris : A. Michel, 2000 (illustrations Frédéric Rébéna)
* Charivari à Cot-Cot-City, Paris : A. Michel, 2001 (illustrations Christophe Merlin)
* Le Monde de Nounouille, Paris : A. Michel, 2001 (illustrations Clément Oubrerie)
* Etna : la fille du volcan, Paris : Paris musées, 2003, (illustrations Hervé di Rosa)
* "Les trompes d'Eustache", Paris: Gallimard jeunesse, 2005 (illustrations William Wilson)
* La Kangouroute, Paris : Gallimard jeunesse, 2006 (illustrations William Wilson)

Miscellaneous

* Un enfant disparaît, Paris : Mercure de France, 2005
* Vous dansez ?, Paris : Gallimard 2006
* Nouvelles, pièces radiophoniques, performances, autres textes pour la Danse (voir liste complète sur le site de l'auteur)

Reviews

[Lea · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bizarre little novel from 1987 about a young man who becomes the caretaker of a giraffe at a zoo in Paris and "falls in love with her", or something akin to it. It's not a twee story, it's very disturbing and morally more than dubious and full of violence and sexual thoughts that make your skin crawl (but no actual beastiality if that's anything to go by). The thing that confounded me about this novel: why does it work and why did I need to read it in one go? It's really engrossing and you're really entranched in a troubled person's mind for the 200 pages.

My only criticism: I'm not sure if the story-within-a-story aspect fully worked for me, but I'm often a little resistent to those. But overall, I'd really like to read more by Nimier. A very unique novel.

[Leni · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good. But bizarre. Sometimes quite disturbing. But overall, tough to put down. I've never detested a main character so much and yet been so intent on continuing to read on.

[Mélanie GARCIN · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un des livres les plus étranges que j’ai pu lire.
Le personnage principal est fortement antipathique. Ce livre offre un point de vue assez rare en mettant en avant des vices et envies détestables. Bizarrement ça fonctionne.

[richard · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nimier's narrator's sadism, and the actions in the novel that flow from it, make for a difficult read; but she successfully gets you inside his mind to the extent it becomes comprehensible. Whether you wanted to be there or not is another question; be warned.

[Brian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I had to add this to my favorites because it has stuck with me longer than any other book has. I wanted to hate it when I read it, but I still think about it often.

[Lyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

English story written in the french avant garde, if I must say...