Charles’s Reviews > L'Homme surnuméraire > Status Update

Ah quel livre ! Profite bien de ta lecture !

I'm curious. What is this book about? I hope you'll write your review in English so that I can enjoy it as well :)

The Sporty Bookworm wrote: "Ah quel livre ! Profite bien de ta lecture !"

Merci! Content de finalement en arriver à ce livre. Sais-tu qu'il est difficile à trouver de ce côté-ci de l'océan et m'est parvenu cet hiver par cargo? C'est fou.

J wrote: "I'm curious. What is this book about? I hope you'll write your review in English so that I can enjoy it as well :)"

Well, it's unlikely that I would review this one in English, but Patrice Jean has become a bit of a favourite author for addressing the current-day masculine condition with a definite cynical bend in his novels. They're at the same time wonderfully written and politically incorrect, which isn't a given: I don't encounter such a combination terribly often. In this one, his most popular title as far as I know, a middle-aged man grows disillusioned with family life, while a younger one seems confronted with both unattractive professional expectations and a growing distaste for everyday interactions, or maybe generally life in society. There's a subtlety to their respective questioning, and this isn't conducted without some humour showing through, cynical as it may be.

@Charles Cyr: That’s a really interesting take. The combination of literary quality and unapologetically “politically incorrect” themes is indeed rare, especially when it’s handled with subtlety rather than blunt provocation. The contrast between the middle-aged man’s domestic disillusionment and the younger man’s broader dissatisfaction with social and professional life sounds like a clever way of exploring similar anxieties from different angles.

The mix of cynicism, humour, and sharp social observation sounds like exactly the kind of tone that can make these themes work without becoming preachy. Definitely makes me curious about Patrice Jean. I wonder if there are some translated books from him.