Fiction (novels & short stories)

[Entropist]

Finished George Bernanos' Mouchette. This has got to be one of the best novels I've read. It encompasses the a few days in the life of a poverty-stricken 14-year old girl in rural France (reminded me somewhat of Chekov's unflinchingPeasants). Mouchette has no one to turn to, and for all intents and purposes, has no home (her father is alcoholic and abusive, her mother is deathly ill with tuberculosis, she is seen by all the villagers as nothing but a "little savage").

The amazing thing the author does is straddle both the Mouchette's feelings but also her inarticulation and incomprehension of those feelings, as lost in a dense fog. This was tricky thing to get away with (being written in the 3rd person). Its not just an interesting story-- it is very well written prose, but not dense or difficult to read either.

A memorable, haunting passage, where Mouchette is vaguely reflecting on the night before, when she is raped:

...She knew now that it had been a foretaste of a humiliation which was worse than all the others she had known, although similar to them. She had only entered more deeply into it, until her body had responded had responded by a mysterious suffering, spreading throughout her aching limbs. The suffering might fade, but not the mark which it had left. That was Mouchette's secret. She would never be able to tell anyone, because it was beyond her comprehension and her powers of expression. It would be the secret of her body.

I cry easily enough at movies and listening to some music. Books, usually not so easily-- only a few stories can get under my skin to that degree-- but this book was an intense emotional lashing. The book is not an exercise in sado-masochism though-- I empathized with the her character in a way I don't think I ever have in a novel before.

I got this book because my girlfriend had seen Bresson's 1967 film adaptation, which she liked, so I'm curious to see that next as well.

I give very few other books a ten out of ten (Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment and Toni Morrison's Beloved), but Mouchette is one of them. Fair warning: Have a box of kleenex handy while reading. HIGHLY recommended.