Devotion and Disorder

by Marie Cardinal

Everything in Elsa's life seems calm and ordered. She is a successful psychologist, has an adorable daughter Laure, and is passionately devoted to the cause of reason and science. Then she discovers her daughter's heroin addiction, and abandons everything to try and save her child's life. This complex study of addiction, obsession, and maternal love is by one of France's most distinguished novelists.

Genres: Fiction, Roman, France, Novels

192 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1987

About the author

Cardinal was born in French Algeria and was the sister of the film director Pierre Cardinal. She received a degree in philosophy from the Sorbonne and in 1953 married the French playwright, actor, and director Jean-Pierre Ronfard. They had three children: Alice, Benedict and Benedict. From 1953 to 1960 she taught philosophy at schools in Salonica, Lisbon, Vienna and Montreal.

Cardinal published her first novel, Ecoutez la Mer (Listen to the Sea), in 1962. During the 1960s she published three more novels and was involved with films as well. In 1967 she had a role in Jean-Luc Godard's film, Deux Ou Trois Choses Que Je Sais D'elle and played the role of Mouchette's mother in Robert Bresson's film, Mouchette.

In 1972 Cardinal published La Cle Sur La Porte (The Key of the Door), followed by Les Mots Pour Le Dire (The Words to Say It) in 1975; these two novels were best sellers and established her reputation. Les Mots Pour Le Dire was the first book by Cardinal to be published in the United States.

Reviews

[Ocean · Rating 3 out of 5]

I struggle to pinpoint what this book really is about but maybe it simply is a reflection on addictions. There are so many subjects intertwined, but it is done well. I didn't find any interest in the story per say, this shrink mother who tries to save her daughter from drugs.. The book is broken down in three parts and I found the first one boring to be honest with you, very déjà vu. But then, recovery happens and it isn't explained in great details but it felt very real. I think it simply cannot be explained, as the process is different for everyone and often doesn't make much sense even to the addicts themselves.
It very much felt like a philosophical book tainted with psychology but perhaps the fiction form does make it an easier read. Instead of just throwing facts at you, it follows more of a narrative.
It isn't perfect but some parts really resonated with me in the analysis of the problem and it was lovely to read about a mother-daughter relationship in a way that isn't cliché, crudely if you will. I don't think the characters really matter. You could put almost anybody in their place and it wouldn't change much. It is the reason why it took me so long to get through this small book but eventually, I think it also makes it a lot more relatable.

Overall, it was really nice and I would recommend it to those with addictive personalities/tendencies + the mentally ill that use self destructive coping mechanisms + The recovered + Maybe those that are trying to understand their loved ones.

[Ann · Rating 2.75 out of 5]

Pretty average psychological novel from ~ 1987. The frame work is that of Elsa, a middle-aged child psychologist, approaching a ghost writer to write a book about her experience trying to help her daughter, Laure, battle a heroin addiction. The first part of the book is the most powerful: Elsa's shock at realizing that her beautiful, smart daughter has become an unrecognizable stranger, completely lost in the clutches of her addiction, and her feeling of powerlessness based on her realization that her natural tendency to create order out of chaos, and her knowledge of psychology, are completely useless in this situation. In the part, we hear that Laure has kicked drugs, and the focus is even more on Elsa. This is where it became a bit more tedious. For instance, the ghostwriter becomes more and more intrigued by his client, and Elsa's early work history as secretary to a professor of thermodynamics starts to take over the story. The main purpose of this, as far as I can see, is to bridge Elsa's need for order and her professional desire to make sense of mental disorders, to her exposure to terms like "entropy", "friction", "heat transfer" while typing the professor's article. Perhaps it's not unexpected that a writer whose first big success was titled "Les mots pour le dire" , an autobiographical novel about a successful psychoanalysis, would cheerfully adopt these physics term for vaguely defined psychological concepts. But I can't say I was impressed; it sounded far-fetched and contrived to me. So definitely a book that started strong and then petered out. Also, I noticed that AIDS was not mentioned at all in this book, despite the first cases in France having been detected in around 1982.

[Ely]

Dnf. I think I’m not ready to read this book.

[Ella · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very beatifully written, I didn't know what to make of the romance element of the story

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

1991 notebook: A mother comes back after six weeks away to find her flat full of syringes, debris, her daughter is a heroin addict, she discovers, and she has to chip her way out of the mess, finds herself talking through the night to a mad dealer. Good feel of a plunge into another world.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

The other side of the mother-daughter relationship.