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Streets of Paris, Streets of Murder #3
The Prone Gunman
Manchette at the height of his powers in a corrosive parody of "the success story."
155 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
About the author
Jean-Patrick Manchette
66 books261 followersJean-Patrick Manchette was a French crime novelist credited with reinventing and reinvigorating the genre. He wrote ten short novels in the seventies and early eighties, and is widely recognized as the foremost French crime fiction author of the 1970s - 1980s . His stories are violent, existentialist explorations of the human condition and French society.
Manchette was politically to the left and his writing reflects this through his analysis of social positions and culture. His books are reminiscent of the nouvelle vague crime films of Jean-Pierre Melville, employing a similarly cool, existential style on a typically American genre (film noir for Melville and pulp novels for Manchette).
Three of his novels have been translated into English. Two were published by San Francisco publisher City Lights Books (3 To Kill [from the French "Le petit bleu de la côte ouest"] and The Prone Gunman [from the French "La Position du tireur couché"]). A third, Fatale, was released by New York Review Books Classics in 2011.
Manchette believed he had gone full circle with his last novel, which he conceived as a "closure" of his Noir fiction. In a 1988 letter to a journalist, Manchette said:
" After that, as I did not have to belong to any kind of literary school, I entered a very different work area. In seven years, I have not done anything good. I'm still working at it."
In 1989, finally having found new territory he wanted to explore, Manchette started writing a new novel, La Princesse du Sang" ("Blood Princess"), an international thriller, which was supposed to be the first book in a new cycle, a series of novels covering five decades from the post-war period to present times. He died from cancer before completing it.
Starting in 1996, a year after Manchette's death, several unpublished works were released, showing how very active he was during in the years preceding his death.
In 2009, Fantagraphics Books released an English-language version of French cartoonist Jacques Tardi's adaptation of Le petit bleu, under the new English title 'West Coast Blues.' Fantagraphics released a second Tardi adaptation, of "La Position du tireur couché" (under the title "Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot" ) in the summer of 2011, and has scheduled a third one, of "Ô Dingos! Ô Châteaux!" (under the title "Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell") in summer 2014. Manchette himself was a fan of comics, and his praised translation of Alan Moore's Watchmen into French remains in print.
Manchette was politically to the left and his writing reflects this through his analysis of social positions and culture. His books are reminiscent of the nouvelle vague crime films of Jean-Pierre Melville, employing a similarly cool, existential style on a typically American genre (film noir for Melville and pulp novels for Manchette).
Three of his novels have been translated into English. Two were published by San Francisco publisher City Lights Books (3 To Kill [from the French "Le petit bleu de la côte ouest"] and The Prone Gunman [from the French "La Position du tireur couché"]). A third, Fatale, was released by New York Review Books Classics in 2011.
Manchette believed he had gone full circle with his last novel, which he conceived as a "closure" of his Noir fiction. In a 1988 letter to a journalist, Manchette said:
" After that, as I did not have to belong to any kind of literary school, I entered a very different work area. In seven years, I have not done anything good. I'm still working at it."
In 1989, finally having found new territory he wanted to explore, Manchette started writing a new novel, La Princesse du Sang" ("Blood Princess"), an international thriller, which was supposed to be the first book in a new cycle, a series of novels covering five decades from the post-war period to present times. He died from cancer before completing it.
Starting in 1996, a year after Manchette's death, several unpublished works were released, showing how very active he was during in the years preceding his death.
In 2009, Fantagraphics Books released an English-language version of French cartoonist Jacques Tardi's adaptation of Le petit bleu, under the new English title 'West Coast Blues.' Fantagraphics released a second Tardi adaptation, of "La Position du tireur couché" (under the title "Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot" ) in the summer of 2011, and has scheduled a third one, of "Ô Dingos! Ô Châteaux!" (under the title "Run Like Crazy Run Like Hell") in summer 2014. Manchette himself was a fan of comics, and his praised translation of Alan Moore's Watchmen into French remains in print.
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December 31, 2022
"Dobofsky opened his mouth to shout. Terrier quickly shot him once in his open mouth and again at the base of his nose. At the discreet sound of these shots, the redhead turned. Terrier also turned, and they found themselves face to face just as Dubofsky's head, which was split open, full of holes, and shattered like the shell of a hard-boiled egg, hit the sidewalk with a squishy sound."
Whoa, baby, now that's some scene! But let's step back. There's more to Jean-Patrick Manchette's action-packed, fast-paced noir crime thriller than simply blood, bullets and bodies. The author's compressed literary prose has much in common with two modern movement of French literature: the existentialism of Jean-Paul Sartre and the Nouveau Roman of Alain Robbe-Grillet.
For starters, let’s consider the above quote from the first few pages of the novel. We have the dead man’s shattered head creating a squishy mess counterpoised with objects described by brad name on those same pages: the killer’s little Bedford van, his Ortgies automatic pistol with a Redfield silencer, his Gauloise French cigarettes, the victim’s Tyrolean hat. In the modern world of mass produced, long lasting brand name products, there is one part of life that is almost out-of-place, completely de trop: sweating, fleshy human bodies with their unending bodily needs.
Thus we have our first clear-cut glimpse of existential alienation and Nouveau Roman’s focus on objects, in detail, over character. Indeed, many the time the author contrasts sleek, smooth, shiny attractive merchandise against cruddy humans soiled by acne, blackheads, blotches, stringy hair - squat, plump, dumpy or skinny men and women forever slobbering, belching and farting. The author’s depicting the human body as a sack of filth echoes the language in Sartre’s Nausea and The Wall as well as Alain Robbe-Grillet's The Erasers and Jealousy. French existential and Nouveau Roman themes of disgust, ugliness and estrangement, anyone?
True to Jean-Patrick Manchette form, The Prone Guman is all action, nothing but action, including subplots and interludes – novel as Pulp Fiction-style cinema, the narrator functioning as the camera’s eye hovering over professional killer Martin Terrier completing an assignment in England, returning to Paris in order to gather his belongings, bid adieu to his girlfriend and inform Cox, his boss, that he’s quitting in order to embark on a new phase of life. Make that new phase of his hyperviolent life since Cox and the unidentified Company he represents have other plans, big plans, for their hired gun.
Let’s pause here to observe this apartment jam-packed with ultramodern furniture and Pop Art, Op Art and Kinetic Art (our eyes needn’t linger on Cox’s lips sticky with maple syrup or the short guy with black eyes and big belly leaning on a balcony railing). Terrier is standing in the middle of the room, a tall, handsome man with blue eyes and brown hair. Feel free to picture Martin Terrier as Sean Penn or Woody Harrelson; actually, since I myself fell in love with lethal Aimée Joubert from Manchette’s Fatale, somewhat fancifully I switch genders and picture Terrier as a slim, fetching knock out – Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah – complete with piercing eyes ready to inflict damage on anybody foolish enough to stand in her path.
As Terrier leaves Paris in a Citroën DS 21 for his home town, we learn of his plan: when age eighteen he asked his teenage sweetheart Anne Freux to wait ten years for him, at which time he would return for her. Anne agrees. A ten year plan! One is reminded of Joseph Stalin’s five year plan for the USSR back in the twenties. Let’s not forget Jean-Patrick Manchette was a disenchanted Marxist and infused his fiction with a strong political slant. Stalin’s five year plan lead to a living hell for millions of Russians. Any guesses as to where Terrier’s ten year plan will lead?
One scene has Terrier back in Paris at the Châtelet station of the Paris Métro. In a station recess, Scandinavians play a version of Franz Schubert ’s Death and the Maiden on flute, harmonica and violin. In another part of the station a half dozen rockers are pounding away on another rocker in order to steal his boots. Are these rockers French, Eastern European, Caribbean? Could be any nationality since, as Cox points out to Terrier, the world is all the same nowadays, there’s no escape. In other words, we are all one world culture. Thus Jean-Patrick highlighted back in 1981 when his novel was published a phenomenon that has become an integral part of our everyday vocabulary: globalization.
Ah, globalization. This gets back to the nebulous Company orchestrating the string of political assassinations. Is the Company Russian? American? French? German? Is it perhaps a sinister side of a corporate conglomerate or a hidden international political or economic alliance? In the new globalized culture, does it really matter? Curiously, the person who appears to be a top dog of the Company has no name but is simply referred to as “Blue Suit.”
I’m well aware a movie was made based, in part, on the novel, a movie I have no interest in seeing. For me, Manchette’s novel is more than enough – I’ve read the book and listened to the audio multiple times, each time coming away with new jewels of insight. And I can promise you, the ending will be a surprise, bringing to mind another influential well-known writer frequently associated with existentialism and absurdity: Samuel Beckett. To discover the degree of accuracy of this comparison, I urge you to read The Prone Gunman twice: first time as crime thriller and then again as a deeply probing mediation on the absurd nature of modern life. One thing for sure – you will keep turning the pages.
French author Jean-Patrick Manchette, 1942-1995
November 30, 2019
”’Basically,’ said Maubert, ‘anyone could do your job. I bet they pay you well, but anyone could do it. You’re paid for running the risk. For the responsibility. I mean, if you’re nabbed one day, you’re nabbed as a killer--that’s what I mean when I say risk. They don’t pay you for your skills.’”
Martin Terrier is a hired killer who decides it is time to retire. He had, before venturing out in his chosen profession, elicited a promise from his childhood sweetheart, Anne, to wait for him. He will return in ten years.
Now unless you are going off to fight the Trojan Wars and your sweetheart is Penelope, the chances of any person waiting for anyone to reappear after ten years is somewhere south of zero. If you have seen the movie Before Sunrise, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have trouble hooking back up after a year apart. Even if Anne is a woman of immense fortitude and stoically waited for ten years,...Martin is a bit late.
Things in his life do not go as planned.
Killing for hire doesn’t come with a retirement plan. In fact, “The Company” he works for is reluctant to let him go. He is, after all, a ticking time bomb of knowledge. He has the type of information knocking around in his brain that a government would pay large sums for or they may just toss him in a dank hole in some undisclosed location in some third world country willing to look the other way as they explore his ability to be reticent.
First problem is that The Company is not going to just let him walk off into the sunset. The second problem is that Anne is married. She will not go down in literary history as the woman who waited. She didn’t wait years, nor months, barely a matter of weeks. Out of sight, out of mind, and I’m not sure that Martin deserved any more consideration than what she gave him.
The reunion is...interesting.
”Terrier gave her an ironic smile and poured her a stiff shot of J&B. Anne sighed and sat down on the bed. She took a sip. Terrier sat down next to her, took her by the head, and kissed her. She let him do it. Her mouth was passive, studious, plump, and tasted like scotch.
‘Stop,’ she whispered after Terrier released her.
‘Undress.’
She took off almost all her clothes.
‘The panties, too,’ said Terrier.”
Jean-Patrick Manchette is a student of hardboiled noir, and as you can see from this example, he must have had grit in his teeth at the end of each day of writing. I love the description of her mouth. When I look at synonyms of the word studious, which seems like an odd descriptive term to put with passive, there are several interesting interpretations of what he could mean with the use of that word.
I also find it interesting that Martin’s favorite drink is J&B Scotch, which also happens to be the drink of choice of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Is there some correlation between drinking J&B and having murderous impulses? I’ve never drank J&B, but I may have to snag a bottle the next time my wife is safely out of town for the weekend and see if I start to develop fiendish ideas in a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sort of way.
If you love the hardboiled genre, you can not ignore Manchette. He pares down all the excess baggage in every sentence he writes. His books are short, clean, and laced with the right amount of cynicism. He is the French response to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. So grab a bottle of J&B (well, you might wait until we see how my experiment goes first. :-)), and look through the crosshairs with Martin Terrier for a few hours.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
Martin Terrier is a hired killer who decides it is time to retire. He had, before venturing out in his chosen profession, elicited a promise from his childhood sweetheart, Anne, to wait for him. He will return in ten years.
Now unless you are going off to fight the Trojan Wars and your sweetheart is Penelope, the chances of any person waiting for anyone to reappear after ten years is somewhere south of zero. If you have seen the movie Before Sunrise, Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy have trouble hooking back up after a year apart. Even if Anne is a woman of immense fortitude and stoically waited for ten years,...Martin is a bit late.
Things in his life do not go as planned.
Killing for hire doesn’t come with a retirement plan. In fact, “The Company” he works for is reluctant to let him go. He is, after all, a ticking time bomb of knowledge. He has the type of information knocking around in his brain that a government would pay large sums for or they may just toss him in a dank hole in some undisclosed location in some third world country willing to look the other way as they explore his ability to be reticent.
First problem is that The Company is not going to just let him walk off into the sunset. The second problem is that Anne is married. She will not go down in literary history as the woman who waited. She didn’t wait years, nor months, barely a matter of weeks. Out of sight, out of mind, and I’m not sure that Martin deserved any more consideration than what she gave him.
The reunion is...interesting.
”Terrier gave her an ironic smile and poured her a stiff shot of J&B. Anne sighed and sat down on the bed. She took a sip. Terrier sat down next to her, took her by the head, and kissed her. She let him do it. Her mouth was passive, studious, plump, and tasted like scotch.
‘Stop,’ she whispered after Terrier released her.
‘Undress.’
She took off almost all her clothes.
‘The panties, too,’ said Terrier.”
Jean-Patrick Manchette is a student of hardboiled noir, and as you can see from this example, he must have had grit in his teeth at the end of each day of writing. I love the description of her mouth. When I look at synonyms of the word studious, which seems like an odd descriptive term to put with passive, there are several interesting interpretations of what he could mean with the use of that word.
I also find it interesting that Martin’s favorite drink is J&B Scotch, which also happens to be the drink of choice of Patrick Bateman in American Psycho. Is there some correlation between drinking J&B and having murderous impulses? I’ve never drank J&B, but I may have to snag a bottle the next time my wife is safely out of town for the weekend and see if I start to develop fiendish ideas in a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde sort of way.
If you love the hardboiled genre, you can not ignore Manchette. He pares down all the excess baggage in every sentence he writes. His books are short, clean, and laced with the right amount of cynicism. He is the French response to Raymond Chandler and Dashiell Hammett. So grab a bottle of J&B (well, you might wait until we see how my experiment goes first. :-)), and look through the crosshairs with Martin Terrier for a few hours.
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
July 29, 2019
Σε αυτό το υπερδραστήριο βιβλίο με μια ξεχωριστή νουάρ λογοπάθεια μη αναστρέψιμη,
λείπει κάθε ίχνος, κάθε στοιχείο, κάθε σκιά συναισθηματισμού.
Ο τρόπος του συγγραφέα στην προώθηση της γρήγορης εξέλιξης και την μετάβαση απο κάθε πιθανή άποψη
σε αλματώδη συμπεράσματα,
προκαλεί τον αναγνώστη να αποκρυπτογραφήσει αιτίες άθλιων καταστάσεων, κατάλοιπα τραγικών επιπτώσεων και εισαγωγές στον συναισθηματικό κόσμο του «σκοπευτή».
Για να προσδώσει την πρέπουσα βαρύτητα των αισθημάτων δεν χρησιμοποιεί την κοινή τεχνική των υπερβολικά εκτεθειμένων διαλόγων, ούτε καν τις ενδοσκοπικά ατομικές βόμβες που μεταφέρει κάθε ψυχή.
Χρησιμοποιεί την επανάληψη.
Επανάληψη σε περιγραφικές αναλύσεις τόπων,
τρόπων, ιδεών, τέχνης και απαράμιλλης αποστασιοποίησης.
Η πορεία ενός κρύου λυτρωρικού ανέμου που γιατρεύει και επιτείνει την αυτοκαταστροφή, κάποιο μουντό χειμωνιάτικο ξημέρωμα δίνει αρρωστημένες επιμειξίες στις ανθρώπινες σαρκικές και πνευματικές ενώσεις.
Ο αναζωογονητικός παγωμένος άνεμος ανοίγει και κλείνει την ιστορία μας, ενώ παράλληλα παρασύρει μέσα του περιγραφικές εικόνες ξανά και ξανά, μέχρι που αποκτούν τεράστια σημασία.
Ο κόσμος των θρυμματισμένων ψευδαισθήσεων που ονειρεύεται για να ζήσει ο «σκοπευτής» απαλλαγμένος απο κάθε μισθοφορική δολοφονία δεν υπάρχει πια για εκείνον.
Η μόλυνση που προκλήθηκε στον οργανισμό του μέσα απο τις πολυετείς και μεγάλες πολιτικές αλληλεπιδράσεις, του απαγορεύουν των είσοδο στους ειρηνικούς κόσμους και τα ερημωμένα νησιά του προσωπικού του παραδείσου.
Αγαπημένε «σκοπευτή» οι ηθικά κενοί χαρακτήρες που έχτισαν σύνορα γύρω απο την ζωή σου δεν σε προετοίμασαν γενικά και ειδικά ώστε να εχεις ικανότητες και συναισθήσεις μιας κανονικής ύπαρξης.
Το βιβλίο είναι αγρίως σκοτεινό και σκληρό.
Ο Manchette κρατάει το σφυρί της ζοφερής πραγματικότητας και χτυπάει με όλη του την δύναμη στην καρδιά του απροετοίμαστου αναγνώστη.
Το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο είναι που κάνει τον συγγραφέα να παραιτηθεί απο την γραφή.
Με επαναλήψεις αποσπασματικές αναλαμβάνει την ευθύνη και ισοπεδώνει κάθε ψήγμα ελπίδας μέσω της μεταφυσικής αταβιστικής, δολοφονικής αυτοκτονίας.
😈💜
🔫
Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.
λείπει κάθε ίχνος, κάθε στοιχείο, κάθε σκιά συναισθηματισμού.
Ο τρόπος του συγγραφέα στην προώθηση της γρήγορης εξέλιξης και την μετάβαση απο κάθε πιθανή άποψη
σε αλματώδη συμπεράσματα,
προκαλεί τον αναγνώστη να αποκρυπτογραφήσει αιτίες άθλιων καταστάσεων, κατάλοιπα τραγικών επιπτώσεων και εισαγωγές στον συναισθηματικό κόσμο του «σκοπευτή».
Για να προσδώσει την πρέπουσα βαρύτητα των αισθημάτων δεν χρησιμοποιεί την κοινή τεχνική των υπερβολικά εκτεθειμένων διαλόγων, ούτε καν τις ενδοσκοπικά ατομικές βόμβες που μεταφέρει κάθε ψυχή.
Χρησιμοποιεί την επανάληψη.
Επανάληψη σε περιγραφικές αναλύσεις τόπων,
τρόπων, ιδεών, τέχνης και απαράμιλλης αποστασιοποίησης.
Η πορεία ενός κρύου λυτρωρικού ανέμου που γιατρεύει και επιτείνει την αυτοκαταστροφή, κάποιο μουντό χειμωνιάτικο ξημέρωμα δίνει αρρωστημένες επιμειξίες στις ανθρώπινες σαρκικές και πνευματικές ενώσεις.
Ο αναζωογονητικός παγωμένος άνεμος ανοίγει και κλείνει την ιστορία μας, ενώ παράλληλα παρασύρει μέσα του περιγραφικές εικόνες ξανά και ξανά, μέχρι που αποκτούν τεράστια σημασία.
Ο κόσμος των θρυμματισμένων ψευδαισθήσεων που ονειρεύεται για να ζήσει ο «σκοπευτής» απαλλαγμένος απο κάθε μισθοφορική δολοφονία δεν υπάρχει πια για εκείνον.
Η μόλυνση που προκλήθηκε στον οργανισμό του μέσα απο τις πολυετείς και μεγάλες πολιτικές αλληλεπιδράσεις, του απαγορεύουν των είσοδο στους ειρηνικούς κόσμους και τα ερημωμένα νησιά του προσωπικού του παραδείσου.
Αγαπημένε «σκοπευτή» οι ηθικά κενοί χαρακτήρες που έχτισαν σύνορα γύρω απο την ζωή σου δεν σε προετοίμασαν γενικά και ειδικά ώστε να εχεις ικανότητες και συναισθήσεις μιας κανονικής ύπαρξης.
Το βιβλίο είναι αγρίως σκοτεινό και σκληρό.
Ο Manchette κρατάει το σφυρί της ζοφερής πραγματικότητας και χτυπάει με όλη του την δύναμη στην καρδιά του απροετοίμαστου αναγνώστη.
Το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο είναι που κάνει τον συγγραφέα να παραιτηθεί απο την γραφή.
Με επαναλήψεις αποσπασματικές αναλαμβάνει την ευθύνη και ισοπεδώνει κάθε ψήγμα ελπίδας μέσω της μεταφυσικής αταβιστικής, δολοφονικής αυτοκτονίας.
😈💜
🔫
Καλή ανάγνωση.
Πολλούς ασπασμούς.
March 23, 2019
Ο Μαρτέν Τεριέ, γνωστός στους κύκλους της διεθνούς τρομοκρατίας και με το όνομα ‘κύριος Κριστιάν’, εκπαιδεύτηκε από την KGB στη σχολή της Οδησσού. Πέρασε από τα παλαιστινιακά στρατόπεδα και την κουβανέζικη DGI, έδρασε στην Αφρική, την Ιταλία και τη Νότια Αμερική, και πλέον κατηγορείται για ένα σωρό φόνους. Ο πληρωμένος δολοφόνος Μαρτέν Τεριέ, λοιπόν, εκτελώντας ένα ακόμη συμβόλαιο θανάτου, βρίσκεται ξαπλωμένος στο μεταλλικό δάπεδο ενός μικρού φορτηγού κι έχει λάβει την πρηνή θέση του σκοπευτή, έτοιμος για βολή. Ώσπου […]
Μέσα από μια γραφή στεγνή/λιτή κι εξαιρετικά αποστασιοποιημένη, ο μοναδικός στυλίστας J.P. Manchette δημιουργεί ένα σκηνικό ακραίας βίας, όπου οι αντιήρωές του, πιόνια συνήθως σε ένα παιχνίδι συμφερόντων, σκοτώνουν για να μην σκοτωθούν. Κι ο Manchette είναι εκεί, κρυμμένος στο μισοσκόταδο, με την ‘κάμερα’ ανά χείρας, έτοιμος να απαθανατίσει, βήμα-βήμα, τις αδιέξοδες περιπλανήσεις των ντεσπεράντος του, που νομοτελειακά θα καταλήξουν σ’ ένα ακόμη λουτρό αίματος.
Μέσα από μια γραφή στεγνή/λιτή κι εξαιρετικά αποστασιοποιημένη, ο μοναδικός στυλίστας J.P. Manchette δημιουργεί ένα σκηνικό ακραίας βίας, όπου οι αντιήρωές του, πιόνια συνήθως σε ένα παιχνίδι συμφερόντων, σκοτώνουν για να μην σκοτωθούν. Κι ο Manchette είναι εκεί, κρυμμένος στο μισοσκόταδο, με την ‘κάμερα’ ανά χείρας, έτοιμος να απαθανατίσει, βήμα-βήμα, τις αδιέξοδες περιπλανήσεις των ντεσπεράντος του, που νομοτελειακά θα καταλήξουν σ’ ένα ακόμη λουτρό αίματος.
March 29, 2016
This book is terrible. Terrible. It has a great premise, and a good plot - until the last 25 pages or so, where it completely falls apart and also has an ending which makes the book terrible. TERRIBLE.
Martin Terrier left his house at age 18. He kissed his girlfriend Anne goodbye. She was 16. He made her promise to wait for him. He would come back for her in 10 years. He joins the army, and after serving, he becomes a mercenary.
As a ruthless, efficient killer Martin excels. He is a serious badass. After 10 years saving up money, he wants out. He goes to tell his boss.
"It seems that you're not going to work for someone else. You're simply going to get out. I can easily understand that. Still, you should have talked to me about it. You can't just disappear without warning."
"But that's just what I'm going to do."
See? Badass.
Cox, his boss, tries to convince Martin to stay.
"The company has an important project in preparation," said Cox. "Just one, as far as you're concerned. You can get out afterward. I daresay we'll even make things easier for you. You know we can make things easier. On the other hand, we can make a lot of difficulties for you."
"I'd advise against trying to fuck with me." Terrier smiled again.
So badass.
Martin breaks up with his current girlfriend. He makes preparations to leave. Then things start happening. His apartment is ransacked, all his belongings are destroyed. His cat goes missing, only to later be mailed to him, disemboweled. The girlfriend he broke up with is gangraped, tortured, and then killed.
Martin picks up a tail.
""Was it you who ransacked my apartment?"
"What? No. No."
"Do you know who did?"
"Absolutely not."
With his left hand, Terrier grabbed him by the collar and pushed him back into the Capri. At the same time, he got behind the wheel, took out his automatic, and rested the end of the barrel against the pale young man's throat.
The young man blinked. Terrier pressed the cigarette lighter. The eyes of the motionless young man followed his gestures.
"I'm going to burn out an eye," said Terrier.
After the interrogation,
"You're going to let me go now, aren't you?"
"Sure."
Terrier drew back a little on his seat and stopped pressing the barrel of the HK4 against the throat of the young man. The latter tearfully rubbed his neck.
"Oh! Thank you, thank you!"
"Take this message to Cox," said Terrier as he put a slug into his heart.
Then, Terrier goes to find Anne, the woman he left 10 years ago. With his hard-earned money, he's ready to start a life with her.
The fact that violent people are coming after him, and he's bringing the whole mess to her door doesn't seem to occur to him. Sometimes he's very stupid.
Much to his shock and hurt, he finds out that Anne is married. To a total prick named Felix. Felix is weak. He is terrified of Martin because he knows... he KNOWS that Anne will leave him for Martin in a minute. Felix dresses expensively and knows about music, film, art and books. He is cultured. But he is a weak, cowardly man with little backbone. The face-off between Felix and Martin is laughable. Felix sneers at Martin's lack of education and his lack of taste, but behind his sneering face he is breaking inside. He knows Martin is a better man than he is.
This never becomes clearer than when armed men break in and hold Martin, Felix, and Anne at gunpoint...
...
This sounds great, doesn't it? Well, it is great. But let me tell you, it is completely not worth reading because you will be angry, disappointed, and frustrated by the end of the novel. I don't know why or how Manchette can screw this up so badly.
Let's break some things down:
KILLER
Martin is such a badass. When it comes to killing, interrogation, beatings, guns, knives, destroying evidence, being a genius with set-up and follow-through - Martin shines. He is ruthless, fast, efficient, patient, methodical, and very smart. Even during one scene when Martin is drunk, he easily and skillfully puts men down. He brushes off pain and injuries as if they were scratches. He's a machine! :)
LOVER
However, Martin has a problem. He's insecure and fumbling with women. And he's a bad lay. Here's a conversation from a woman he picked up in a bar.
""Tell me, did we fuck last night?" asked Terrier.
"Only a little. You don't remember?"
"Not really. Was I good?"
"You were loaded."
"But for a guy who was loaded, was I good?"
"You piss me off," the girl said.
This isn't the result of him not being with women. He sleeps with tons of women. But he never seems to develop any confidence or any real skills in bed. I have no idea if this is because no woman ever took the time to teach him one or two things, or if it's because he can't maintain an erection for very long (that's hinted at) or ... I don't know. I'm rather thankful Manchette avoids details here. But this is a huge problem for Martin, because he's come back. He's come back to claim his woman. And while he's very impressive in a lot of ways (handsome, dangerous, exciting, and able to handle things in a effortless, take-charge manner), is that really going to mean anything to Anne when he is unable to satisfy her sexually?
ANNE
This is a complicated character. I thought that she was amazing in a lot of ways. She is great under pressure. Brave, quick-thinking, and fast-acting. She doesn't hesitate to do what's necessary. That's badass - and extra badass since unlike Martin, she has no training or experience. Just grit. I like it. She surprises Martin with her intelligence, quick actions, and ruthless nature.
I also like how she takes direction from and is obedient to Martin when it comes to matters of danger. She never questions him and obeys him instantly whenever it comes to something like a hostage situation, a dangerous situation, being on the run, etc. This doesn't make her a doormat - it makes her smart.
And she's definitely NOT obedient when it comes to their romantic relationship, TRUST ME. However, my point is that I HATE books where someone is obviously an expert at x, and gives great orders and advice to people who know nothing about x, and then the people whine/argue/refuse. I am so grateful that Anne does none of those things and actually listens to Martin because Martin knows what he's talking about.
But, she has some problems. She is a bit too fond of the drink. And she's an adrenaline junkie, which I think is dangerous and leads to bad decision-making.
WRITING STYLE
The writing style here is without emotion. Manchette just tells you what is going on, as if you are watching a film. You are never, ever inside a person's head. Not even in third person. No one's emotions or motivations are revealed to you, unless they choose to speak about them with another character. And then, of course, you have no idea if they are lying or not.
You either love this or hate it. Me, I love it.
MOVIE
The film is almost nothing like the book. Feel free to see the film - I liked it much more than the book. Don't really worry that if you hated the book you'll hate the film. The film is not only much different than the book, it's much better.
Tl;dr - Imagine the worst possible ending to this book. Now imagine it 10x worse. Yeah. The last 30 pages or so are like watching a train wreck. It's horrible. You're cringing the entire time. The basis of the book is solid, I have no idea why Manchette chose to destroy his whole book like that. Did he think it was "artsy" or "deep" or something? I don't know. But it's shit. Avoid reading this one... it's not worth it. I can't give it one star because the concept and the first 75% were great. But last quarter of the book is serious garbage. So... two stars.
Martin Terrier left his house at age 18. He kissed his girlfriend Anne goodbye. She was 16. He made her promise to wait for him. He would come back for her in 10 years. He joins the army, and after serving, he becomes a mercenary.
As a ruthless, efficient killer Martin excels. He is a serious badass. After 10 years saving up money, he wants out. He goes to tell his boss.
"It seems that you're not going to work for someone else. You're simply going to get out. I can easily understand that. Still, you should have talked to me about it. You can't just disappear without warning."
"But that's just what I'm going to do."
See? Badass.
Cox, his boss, tries to convince Martin to stay.
"The company has an important project in preparation," said Cox. "Just one, as far as you're concerned. You can get out afterward. I daresay we'll even make things easier for you. You know we can make things easier. On the other hand, we can make a lot of difficulties for you."
"I'd advise against trying to fuck with me." Terrier smiled again.
So badass.
Martin breaks up with his current girlfriend. He makes preparations to leave. Then things start happening. His apartment is ransacked, all his belongings are destroyed. His cat goes missing, only to later be mailed to him, disemboweled. The girlfriend he broke up with is gangraped, tortured, and then killed.
Martin picks up a tail.
""Was it you who ransacked my apartment?"
"What? No. No."
"Do you know who did?"
"Absolutely not."
With his left hand, Terrier grabbed him by the collar and pushed him back into the Capri. At the same time, he got behind the wheel, took out his automatic, and rested the end of the barrel against the pale young man's throat.
The young man blinked. Terrier pressed the cigarette lighter. The eyes of the motionless young man followed his gestures.
"I'm going to burn out an eye," said Terrier.
After the interrogation,
"You're going to let me go now, aren't you?"
"Sure."
Terrier drew back a little on his seat and stopped pressing the barrel of the HK4 against the throat of the young man. The latter tearfully rubbed his neck.
"Oh! Thank you, thank you!"
"Take this message to Cox," said Terrier as he put a slug into his heart.
Then, Terrier goes to find Anne, the woman he left 10 years ago. With his hard-earned money, he's ready to start a life with her.
The fact that violent people are coming after him, and he's bringing the whole mess to her door doesn't seem to occur to him. Sometimes he's very stupid.
Much to his shock and hurt, he finds out that Anne is married. To a total prick named Felix. Felix is weak. He is terrified of Martin because he knows... he KNOWS that Anne will leave him for Martin in a minute. Felix dresses expensively and knows about music, film, art and books. He is cultured. But he is a weak, cowardly man with little backbone. The face-off between Felix and Martin is laughable. Felix sneers at Martin's lack of education and his lack of taste, but behind his sneering face he is breaking inside. He knows Martin is a better man than he is.
This never becomes clearer than when armed men break in and hold Martin, Felix, and Anne at gunpoint...
...
This sounds great, doesn't it? Well, it is great. But let me tell you, it is completely not worth reading because you will be angry, disappointed, and frustrated by the end of the novel. I don't know why or how Manchette can screw this up so badly.
Let's break some things down:
KILLER
Martin is such a badass. When it comes to killing, interrogation, beatings, guns, knives, destroying evidence, being a genius with set-up and follow-through - Martin shines. He is ruthless, fast, efficient, patient, methodical, and very smart. Even during one scene when Martin is drunk, he easily and skillfully puts men down. He brushes off pain and injuries as if they were scratches. He's a machine! :)
LOVER
However, Martin has a problem. He's insecure and fumbling with women. And he's a bad lay. Here's a conversation from a woman he picked up in a bar.
""Tell me, did we fuck last night?" asked Terrier.
"Only a little. You don't remember?"
"Not really. Was I good?"
"You were loaded."
"But for a guy who was loaded, was I good?"
"You piss me off," the girl said.
This isn't the result of him not being with women. He sleeps with tons of women. But he never seems to develop any confidence or any real skills in bed. I have no idea if this is because no woman ever took the time to teach him one or two things, or if it's because he can't maintain an erection for very long (that's hinted at) or ... I don't know. I'm rather thankful Manchette avoids details here. But this is a huge problem for Martin, because he's come back. He's come back to claim his woman. And while he's very impressive in a lot of ways (handsome, dangerous, exciting, and able to handle things in a effortless, take-charge manner), is that really going to mean anything to Anne when he is unable to satisfy her sexually?
ANNE
This is a complicated character. I thought that she was amazing in a lot of ways. She is great under pressure. Brave, quick-thinking, and fast-acting. She doesn't hesitate to do what's necessary. That's badass - and extra badass since unlike Martin, she has no training or experience. Just grit. I like it. She surprises Martin with her intelligence, quick actions, and ruthless nature.
I also like how she takes direction from and is obedient to Martin when it comes to matters of danger. She never questions him and obeys him instantly whenever it comes to something like a hostage situation, a dangerous situation, being on the run, etc. This doesn't make her a doormat - it makes her smart.
And she's definitely NOT obedient when it comes to their romantic relationship, TRUST ME. However, my point is that I HATE books where someone is obviously an expert at x, and gives great orders and advice to people who know nothing about x, and then the people whine/argue/refuse. I am so grateful that Anne does none of those things and actually listens to Martin because Martin knows what he's talking about.
But, she has some problems. She is a bit too fond of the drink. And she's an adrenaline junkie, which I think is dangerous and leads to bad decision-making.
WRITING STYLE
The writing style here is without emotion. Manchette just tells you what is going on, as if you are watching a film. You are never, ever inside a person's head. Not even in third person. No one's emotions or motivations are revealed to you, unless they choose to speak about them with another character. And then, of course, you have no idea if they are lying or not.
You either love this or hate it. Me, I love it.
MOVIE
The film is almost nothing like the book. Feel free to see the film - I liked it much more than the book. Don't really worry that if you hated the book you'll hate the film. The film is not only much different than the book, it's much better.
Tl;dr - Imagine the worst possible ending to this book. Now imagine it 10x worse. Yeah. The last 30 pages or so are like watching a train wreck. It's horrible. You're cringing the entire time. The basis of the book is solid, I have no idea why Manchette chose to destroy his whole book like that. Did he think it was "artsy" or "deep" or something? I don't know. But it's shit. Avoid reading this one... it's not worth it. I can't give it one star because the concept and the first 75% were great. But last quarter of the book is serious garbage. So... two stars.
October 1, 2020
Since I have recently reread some of Jacques Tardi's comics adaptations of Manchette's novels, I thought I would read one in its original, and this one is sometimes named as his masterpiece. I began thinking I was understanding what he was attempting only as I was well into it and looked into Manchette's biography a bit to find he was a decided political leftist, associated with the Situationist International.
Early on I was reading it as Camus's The Stranger with lots more action. Brutal violence, in prose stripped to bare description, without emotion. The Stranger is, after all, a crime novel, but that's only part of it. Camus lays out his philosophical ideas about existentialisn in The Myth of Sisyphus and other places, and The Stranger is above all a philosophical novel set in 1942, at the height of the rising scourge of Naziism, much loved by the anti-Nazi underground as reflecting/critiquing relevant attitudes of the time.
The Prone Gunman opens with a double murder by a contract killer, Martin Terrier. He has been doing this work for ten years, at the beginning of whch he had told a woman he will come back for her. He wants out of the life, and has the stash of money he would need to settle down with her. He encounters two problems; first, the childhood sweetheart, not having heard from the tight-lipped anti-hero for all these years, has married someone else, and second, the company that hires him doesn't want to let him stop killing for them. It will take a bit of blood to resolve these issues.
None of the characters are in the least admirable. All is desperation. As with Meurseault, it is possible love (or something like it) may redeem Terrier, but he is caught in this world of greed and violence, so it is a long shot. I was reminded of the political novels of Dashiell Hammett, such as Red Harvest. I think Manchette, who participated in the 1968 Paris uprising, is using the dark noir format as Hammett sometimes did to explore existential and political desperation in contemporary society. Lean and mean and powerful. Really great, highly recommended to fans of existentialism and noir crime fiction alike.
PS: I realize that I had first read Tardi's adaptation of this book, entitled Like a Sniper Lining Up a Shot, which I will now reread and review. I also learned that Manchette was a fan of comics, having himself transkated Alan Moore's The Watchmen into French.
Early on I was reading it as Camus's The Stranger with lots more action. Brutal violence, in prose stripped to bare description, without emotion. The Stranger is, after all, a crime novel, but that's only part of it. Camus lays out his philosophical ideas about existentialisn in The Myth of Sisyphus and other places, and The Stranger is above all a philosophical novel set in 1942, at the height of the rising scourge of Naziism, much loved by the anti-Nazi underground as reflecting/critiquing relevant attitudes of the time.
The Prone Gunman opens with a double murder by a contract killer, Martin Terrier. He has been doing this work for ten years, at the beginning of whch he had told a woman he will come back for her. He wants out of the life, and has the stash of money he would need to settle down with her. He encounters two problems; first, the childhood sweetheart, not having heard from the tight-lipped anti-hero for all these years, has married someone else, and second, the company that hires him doesn't want to let him stop killing for them. It will take a bit of blood to resolve these issues.
None of the characters are in the least admirable. All is desperation. As with Meurseault, it is possible love (or something like it) may redeem Terrier, but he is caught in this world of greed and violence, so it is a long shot. I was reminded of the political novels of Dashiell Hammett, such as Red Harvest. I think Manchette, who participated in the 1968 Paris uprising, is using the dark noir format as Hammett sometimes did to explore existential and political desperation in contemporary society. Lean and mean and powerful. Really great, highly recommended to fans of existentialism and noir crime fiction alike.
PS: I realize that I had first read Tardi's adaptation of this book, entitled Like a Sniper Lining Up a Shot, which I will now reread and review. I also learned that Manchette was a fan of comics, having himself transkated Alan Moore's The Watchmen into French.
October 26, 2013
The novel is so tightly plotted one can barely tear oneself away. It is slim enough to read in an evening, however, if you are so inclined. Manchette wrote screen plays also, and the writing in this novel is spare enough to read almost as an outline with its own stage directions.
A hitman completes what he thinks is his final job, deposits his take with his financial advisor, then heads back to find the woman he left behind whom he hopes is still waiting for him ten years later. She hasn’t been waiting.
Machette is a master of cool, though his hitman does betray his nerves on occasion, by irritability, or by a tightening of the lips. The language is so un-upholstered, we zip along from one hideout to another, watching our hitman eliminate threats until the his old boss comes hunting him down—for more work, or to close his file—we can’t be sure.
It occurs to me that someone learning a language could use this book to effect. Sentences are short and punchy and generally only have one clause:
A hitman completes what he thinks is his final job, deposits his take with his financial advisor, then heads back to find the woman he left behind whom he hopes is still waiting for him ten years later. She hasn’t been waiting.
Machette is a master of cool, though his hitman does betray his nerves on occasion, by irritability, or by a tightening of the lips. The language is so un-upholstered, we zip along from one hideout to another, watching our hitman eliminate threats until the his old boss comes hunting him down—for more work, or to close his file—we can’t be sure.
It occurs to me that someone learning a language could use this book to effect. Sentences are short and punchy and generally only have one clause:
”To get back to Paris, they headed towards Orleans, where they got on Autoroute A10. It was cold but dry. The little van went fast.”A generation of thriller writers benefitted from Manchette’s oeuvre. He brings the thrill back into the genre. How Manchette manages to grab (and hold) us with so little verbiage is the real mystery.
February 29, 2024
Not a usual genre for me, gratuitous violence, no likable characters or issues to care about, but atmospheric and fast-paced.
Two and a half stars.
Two and a half stars.
May 26, 2023
Manchette can do no wrong. Crazy that these books aren't better known.
Really perfectly demonstrates the hitman's dilemma: once you start killing, how do you stop? And do you keep from ending up on the hitlist? And when you're working for an arm of the state? Hooo boy
Gotta hunt down Tardi's graphic novel adaptation.
Really perfectly demonstrates the hitman's dilemma: once you start killing, how do you stop? And do you keep from ending up on the hitlist? And when you're working for an arm of the state? Hooo boy
Gotta hunt down Tardi's graphic novel adaptation.
April 8, 2015
I found this book a somewhat major disappointment, I mean I don't hate it I just dislike it. I will say this, at least I know to skip the movie.
The book is about a killer (hit man) who has decided to...retire. He wants to quit. See the "love of his life" was a rich girl and he was, well he was sort of the son of a brain damaged drunk. So he went off to get rich, she promised she'd wait for 10 years and it's been 10 years...
I won't spoil the book for you if you want to read it for yourself. I will say that except for one twist the book is pretty predictable and it's downer with no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel (except of course for the proverbial train).
I can't recommend this one, I really didn't care for it even if I don't actually hate it. Mostly it's a "meah" story that leaves you with a "blah" feeling.
The spoiler below will contain the twist that made me roll my eyes so don't read it if you don't want what is a really big spoiler.
The book is about a killer (hit man) who has decided to...retire. He wants to quit. See the "love of his life" was a rich girl and he was, well he was sort of the son of a brain damaged drunk. So he went off to get rich, she promised she'd wait for 10 years and it's been 10 years...
I won't spoil the book for you if you want to read it for yourself. I will say that except for one twist the book is pretty predictable and it's downer with no light at the end of the proverbial tunnel (except of course for the proverbial train).
I can't recommend this one, I really didn't care for it even if I don't actually hate it. Mostly it's a "meah" story that leaves you with a "blah" feeling.
The spoiler below will contain the twist that made me roll my eyes so don't read it if you don't want what is a really big spoiler.
July 18, 2020
Πριν τρία χρόνια είχα γράψει τα εξής:
"Έχει περάσει αρκετός καιρό από τότε που το διάβασα, όμως τώρα βρήκα το θάρρος να γράψω για το συγκεκριμένο του αγαπημένου Γάλλου.
Θα ξεκινήσω με το γεγονός πως ο Manchette εδώ προσπάθησε να γράψει το καλύτερο του βιβλίο και, σε σημεία, τα κατάφερε. Η πρόζα του είναι πιο μελετημένη, η πλοκή είναι κλασική νουάρ, η βία σχεδόν ταραντινική και ο κεντρικός χαρακτήρας σου κάθεται καλά, αλλά... στο τέλος είχε κι εκείνες τις τελευταίες 30 σελίδες. Το είδα και σε άλλες κριτικές πως ο Manchette στο τέλος καταστρέφει ό,τι έκτισε σε αυτές, όσο διάβαζα όμως αρνούμουν πως θα μπορούσε να μου χαλάσει μια τόσο όμορφη εμπειρία απλά και μόνο για κάτι λίγες σελίδες.
Αλλά απογοητεύτηκα. Σαν ο Manchette να έπαθε κρίση ταυτότητας ή να θέλησε να κλείσει όπως-όπως το βιβλίο και η μόνη λύση που το ερχόταν στο μυαλό να ήταν να το γυρίσει στο πολιτικό θρίλερ, σε βάρος όμως της ήδη κτισμένης αφήγησης και ενός ολοκληρωμένου έργου. Κρίμα γιατί αγαπώ την γλώσσα και το στυλ, όμως εν τέλει το βιβλίο μοιάζει με "αρπαχτή".
Τα τρία αστεράκια είναι το δίκαιο, μιας και δεν πρέπει να είμαστε τόσο άδικοι και να κρίνουμε ολόκληρο το σύνολο βάσει ενός και μόνο αρνητικού."
Τρία χρόνια μετά δεν είναι πως άλλαξαν τα δεδομένα, όμως με πιο νηφάλιο και ώριμο κεφάλι μπορώ να πω πως άλλαξε ο τρόπος που διαβάζω. Σε αυτή την δεύτερη ανάγνωση και με γνώμονα το τέλος όλα όσα με ξενέρωσαν τότε ήταν εκεί και εξηγούνταν. Τίποτα δεν μοιάζει πλέον αυθαίρετο ή βεβιασμένο, πόσο μάλλον το ίδιο το βιβλίο σαν "αρπαχτή". Ο Μανσέτ πάντα θαύμαζε τους Αμερικάνους μαέστρους του είδους όμως εδώ κάνει την απόλυτη αντι-αμερικανιά με έναν ήρωα που απογυμνώνεται από τα πάντα: το κορίτσι δεν τον θέλει, πέφτει σε παγίδες, τα βάζει με δυνάμεις μεγαλύτερες από τον ίδιο και τα βρίσκει σκούρα. Δεν υπάρχει το καλό τέλος που θα σε κάνει να χαρείς, όπως στις ταινίες, και απλά να πας παρακάτω, αλλά αυτό που κλείνεις τις τελευταίες σελίδες απογοητευμένος και αδικαίωτος, χαράσσοντας το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο στη μνήμη σου για πάντα. Ο Μανσέτ δεν είχε πάθει κρίση ταυτότητας, εγώ άργησα να βρω την δική μου.
Χωρίς πολλά περισσότερα μιλάμε για ένα αριστούργημα.
"Έχει περάσει αρκετός καιρό από τότε που το διάβασα, όμως τώρα βρήκα το θάρρος να γράψω για το συγκεκριμένο του αγαπημένου Γάλλου.
Θα ξεκινήσω με το γεγονός πως ο Manchette εδώ προσπάθησε να γράψει το καλύτερο του βιβλίο και, σε σημεία, τα κατάφερε. Η πρόζα του είναι πιο μελετημένη, η πλοκή είναι κλασική νουάρ, η βία σχεδόν ταραντινική και ο κεντρικός χαρακτήρας σου κάθεται καλά, αλλά... στο τέλος είχε κι εκείνες τις τελευταίες 30 σελίδες. Το είδα και σε άλλες κριτικές πως ο Manchette στο τέλος καταστρέφει ό,τι έκτισε σε αυτές, όσο διάβαζα όμως αρνούμουν πως θα μπορούσε να μου χαλάσει μια τόσο όμορφη εμπειρία απλά και μόνο για κάτι λίγες σελίδες.
Αλλά απογοητεύτηκα. Σαν ο Manchette να έπαθε κρίση ταυτότητας ή να θέλησε να κλείσει όπως-όπως το βιβλίο και η μόνη λύση που το ερχόταν στο μυαλό να ήταν να το γυρίσει στο πολιτικό θρίλερ, σε βάρος όμως της ήδη κτισμένης αφήγησης και ενός ολοκληρωμένου έργου. Κρίμα γιατί αγαπώ την γλώσσα και το στυλ, όμως εν τέλει το βιβλίο μοιάζει με "αρπαχτή".
Τα τρία αστεράκια είναι το δίκαιο, μιας και δεν πρέπει να είμαστε τόσο άδικοι και να κρίνουμε ολόκληρο το σύνολο βάσει ενός και μόνο αρνητικού."
Τρία χρόνια μετά δεν είναι πως άλλαξαν τα δεδομένα, όμως με πιο νηφάλιο και ώριμο κεφάλι μπορώ να πω πως άλλαξε ο τρόπος που διαβάζω. Σε αυτή την δεύτερη ανάγνωση και με γνώμονα το τέλος όλα όσα με ξενέρωσαν τότε ήταν εκεί και εξηγούνταν. Τίποτα δεν μοιάζει πλέον αυθαίρετο ή βεβιασμένο, πόσο μάλλον το ίδιο το βιβλίο σαν "αρπαχτή". Ο Μανσέτ πάντα θαύμαζε τους Αμερικάνους μαέστρους του είδους όμως εδώ κάνει την απόλυτη αντι-αμερικανιά με έναν ήρωα που απογυμνώνεται από τα πάντα: το κορίτσι δεν τον θέλει, πέφτει σε παγίδες, τα βάζει με δυνάμεις μεγαλύτερες από τον ίδιο και τα βρίσκει σκούρα. Δεν υπάρχει το καλό τέλος που θα σε κάνει να χαρείς, όπως στις ταινίες, και απλά να πας παρακάτω, αλλά αυτό που κλείνεις τις τελευταίες σελίδες απογοητευμένος και αδικαίωτος, χαράσσοντας το τελευταίο κεφάλαιο στη μνήμη σου για πάντα. Ο Μανσέτ δεν είχε πάθει κρίση ταυτότητας, εγώ άργησα να βρω την δική μου.
Χωρίς πολλά περισσότερα μιλάμε για ένα αριστούργημα.
April 7, 2020
Όταν ξεκίνησα να διαβάζω αυτό βιβλίο, και όντας το πρώτο του MANCHETTE, ήταν αδύνατο να διανοηθώ, ακόμα κι όταν έφτασα στη μέση, ότι αυτή η πλήρως αποστασιοποιημένη, εκνευριστικά ξερή, κινηματογραφική γραφή, που συχνά ζουμάριζε στα ρούχα, στη μάρκα του ουίσκι και στα διαφημιστικά τασάκια, μπορουσε να λειτουργήσει τόσο επιδέξεια και τόσο αρτίως ενορχηστρωμένα στην τραγική πτώση του κεντρικού ήρωα. Διότι πρόκειται αναμφισβήτητα για τραγωδία αριστοτελικών προδιαγραφών: υπάρχει η ΥΒΡΙΣ και η ΤΙΣΙΣ ενός επαγγελματία φονιά που αποφασίζει να αποσυρθεί, υπάρχει το ΕΛΕΟΣ και ο ΦΟΒΟΣ του αναγνώστη που -τι περίεργο;- πιάνει τον εαυτό του να λυπάται έναν δολοφόνο, καθώς αντιλαμβάνεται όσο προχωρά η αφήγηση το αδύνατον των επιλογών του. Και βέβαια υπάρχει η ΤΡΑΓΙΚΗ ΕΙΡΩΝΕΙΑ και οι ΘΕΟΙ του τέλους του 20ου αιώνα, που αθέατοι κινούν τα νήματα της δράσης του ήρωα. Ο οποίος τιμωρείται, αλλά τιμωρείται με έναν αδυσώπητα ειρωνικό τρόπο!
Και τι ναπει κανείς για το συναισθηματικό πλήγμα που επιφέρει στον αναγνώστη το τρικ της εναρκτήριας και της καταληκτικής παραγράφου του μυθιστορήματος!!!
4,5 αστεράκια
"Στην ουσία", είπε ο Μωμπέρ, "ο οποιοσδήποτε θα μπορούσε να την κάνει αυτή τη δουλειά που κάνεις. Βάζω στοίχημα ότι σε χρυσοπληρώνουν. Αλλά θα μπορούσε να την κάνει ο καθένας. Σε πληρώνουν για τον κίνδυνο. Για την ευθύνη που φορτώνεσαι. Θέλω να πω: αν σε πιάσουν ποτέ, θα σε πιάσουν για φόνο. Αυτό εννοώ όταν λέω 'κίνδυνος'. Δεν σε πληρώνουν για την ικανότητά σου" [σελ. 156]
Υ.Γ. Η Ξανθιά αδυναμία του ήρωα οδηγεί κατευθείαν στον ECHENOZ ("ΟΙ ΨΗΛΕΣ ΞΑΝΘΙΕΣ, εκδ. ΠΟΛΙΣ 2002)
Και τι ναπει κανείς για το συναισθηματικό πλήγμα που επιφέρει στον αναγνώστη το τρικ της εναρκτήριας και της καταληκτικής παραγράφου του μυθιστορήματος!!!
4,5 αστεράκια
"Στην ουσία", είπε ο Μωμπέρ, "ο οποιοσδήποτε θα μπορούσε να την κάνει αυτή τη δουλειά που κάνεις. Βάζω στοίχημα ότι σε χρυσοπληρώνουν. Αλλά θα μπορούσε να την κάνει ο καθένας. Σε πληρώνουν για τον κίνδυνο. Για την ευθύνη που φορτώνεσαι. Θέλω να πω: αν σε πιάσουν ποτέ, θα σε πιάσουν για φόνο. Αυτό εννοώ όταν λέω 'κίνδυνος'. Δεν σε πληρώνουν για την ικανότητά σου" [σελ. 156]
Υ.Γ. Η Ξανθιά αδυναμία του ήρωα οδηγεί κατευθείαν στον ECHENOZ ("ΟΙ ΨΗΛΕΣ ΞΑΝΘΙΕΣ, εκδ. ΠΟΛΙΣ 2002)
February 15, 2017
[Book: 3.5, film: 3.0] This short thriller doesn't have the style of writing (or rather translation) I expected from an author published by NYRB and Serpent's Tail, but it always keeps the action moving along - even if that does include a few abrupt jumps.
A prime example of action-hero-as-psychopath, Martin Terrier - a hitman far more deadly than the average small yappy-type dog - may not provoke a great deal of sympathy, but he makes for a gripping story if you can deal with a few dated attitudes. I found myself caring about these characters little more than one would a Looney Tunes cartoon (although sometimes Anne's inconsistency felt very authentic, especially remembering how young she is). In the first half, several scenes and sentences were hilariously tropish and old-fashioned (it sounded more like 1971 not 1981) and there were phases with a higher laugh-to-page ratio than plenty of so-called humour books. What's all this asking him if he's some kind of crook after he's beaten people up or brandished a firearm? Are some of the characters actually 5 year olds? Things got a tad more serious in the second half, although there were always moments of genre-typical unbelievability.
Clunks in the translation suggested the French had been taken too literally, and the jarring, frequent use of "the man" or "the woman" about a character talked about in close third person in directly preceding sentences momentarily made me wonder if someone else had appeared. Another habit may be based on a tic of French literature that doesn't translate well: a use of the conditional, speculating about what characters mght be thinking, despite the narrator being omniscient a moment earlier. I've noticed similar this week in Maylis de Kerangal's Mend the Living: in English it sounds as if the writer's forgotten they're working on fictional characters they can control, not writing a biography or speculation about acquaintances.
Manchette, as with quite a few older thriller writers, was evidently a gun nerd: every model - and there are many different ones - is named, a few are disassembled, and they are described as if they're as familiar from their names as common cars. (Got me wondering how readers used to learn about so many - perhaps a few decades ago, spotters' guides to guns used to seem no more dodgy reading for the average pre-teen boy than would a guide to aircraft. It made me curious what some of these guns were like, but paranoia inhibited me from looking them up online so I remain none the wiser.) There are also great descriptions of late-70s clothing: powder-blue suits, beige turtlenecks and the like, among the features that give some scenes visual cool amongst the brutality.
Any existentialism here is fairly subtle - except perhaps at the end. (Described elsewhere as "a corrosive parody of the success story".) One could easily read The Gunman as a straight-up thriller with a downbeat ending. Don't expect overt social commentary a la Nordic Noir, or Sartre-like musings.
Not all of the literary world may be keen on James Patterson's 'BookShots' plan, but although I doubt I'd enjoy Patterson's prose, I think he's got an excellent point about format. I can't be the only person who, when they want to read crime and thrillers, would like shorter fast-moving stories. Instead novellas are often reflective litfic, and crime novels 400pp+ and padded with exposition. Manchette is one of the exceptions, as is Pascal Garnier - perhaps it's a French thing.
Maybe the subliminal influence of Orthofer's Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction was also at work when I thought of Garnier. Not half way into The Gunman, and quite enjoying it, I got the urge to read Garnier - whom I'd previously thought looked a bit boring. (You know, the way part of you is still a teenager and you think something looks like it's for middle aged people - but you actually are nearly middle-aged yourself, and you've enjoyed plenty of stuff you wouldn't have liked at 15). The same day I realised I was even interested in reading Simenon; I checked and Orthofer describes Garnier as a blend of Manchette and Simenon.
I was interested to see what had been done with filming The Gunman: the protagonist was more cold-blooded than Hollywood likes its heroes these days, and some of the female characters and their scenes would also need a whole lot of adjustment for the 2010s.
Turned out it wasn't really a film of the book, it was an 'inspired by'. Some of the differences made it more coherent: e.g. the way Felix and Anne were integrated into [Jim] Terrier's backstory as a mercenary. In a different African country, Congo not French North Africa to move with the times. It also made the politics more obvious - and it was very interesting how they'd changed the protagonist. Why didn't they call him Turner instead of Terrier? That's what I was hearing at first. To make him more sympathetic, he'd been trying to atone for his crimnal past by doing aid work. And the brain injury - which I thought was going to be used to explain some of his more outrageous behaviour later in the book - only made him into a sort of Retired Badass, one of my favourite action tropes, along with One Man Army. Which he pretty much is too.
It was odd how the adaptation went politically forwards in some respects and backwards in others. They made Stanley white for no good reason except possibly to cast Michael Elphick, who doesn't get nearly enough chances to play superannuated crimnals; they did add Idris Elba as a new character, but they could have easily had two black guys. The difference was obvious between 2015 Anne who's sexually upfront and the 1981 version whose behaviour was hard to make sense of until I realised she was culturally caught between "nice girls don't" and the sexual revolution. And despite the 2015 Anne having a serious job - an MSF doctor - she was nowhere near so good in a crisis as 1981 Anne. (Alexa didn't exist in this version.) She's just one of those terrible female characters who's competent when life is calm, and perhaps - as here - even has a job that means she'd be good with emergencies, yet she's incapable of doing anything but scream and cry when there's a fight or shooting.
Interesting seeing that Penn evidently hasn't had cosmetic surgery & fillers, and the difference between his appearance and that of the typical Hollywood man implies most other male stars have had work done. That combo of heavily lined face + body in good shape is a thing IRL, but you hardly ever see it on film & TV apart from Iggy Pop. Although there was inauthenticity in another way: Penn looked like someone who'd spent months in the gym working on nothing but arms and upper back; it wasn't the harder, wirier, more even physique most would acquire from the long term physical labour the character did.
There should still have been plenty of fun action stuff. It was there but something was missing. It had that hard-to-define greyness of lacklustre direction. The angles, the picture, occasionally the minutiae of what characters were doing, just didn't quite have the buzz a good action film should. Only rarely was it as gripping as the trailer. (And oh man, they used Gil Scott Heron's 'Me and the Devil' in that too. Nowhere to be heard in the film.)
A prime example of action-hero-as-psychopath, Martin Terrier - a hitman far more deadly than the average small yappy-type dog - may not provoke a great deal of sympathy, but he makes for a gripping story if you can deal with a few dated attitudes. I found myself caring about these characters little more than one would a Looney Tunes cartoon (although sometimes Anne's inconsistency felt very authentic, especially remembering how young she is). In the first half, several scenes and sentences were hilariously tropish and old-fashioned (it sounded more like 1971 not 1981) and there were phases with a higher laugh-to-page ratio than plenty of so-called humour books. What's all this asking him if he's some kind of crook after he's beaten people up or brandished a firearm? Are some of the characters actually 5 year olds? Things got a tad more serious in the second half, although there were always moments of genre-typical unbelievability.
Clunks in the translation suggested the French had been taken too literally, and the jarring, frequent use of "the man" or "the woman" about a character talked about in close third person in directly preceding sentences momentarily made me wonder if someone else had appeared. Another habit may be based on a tic of French literature that doesn't translate well: a use of the conditional, speculating about what characters mght be thinking, despite the narrator being omniscient a moment earlier. I've noticed similar this week in Maylis de Kerangal's Mend the Living: in English it sounds as if the writer's forgotten they're working on fictional characters they can control, not writing a biography or speculation about acquaintances.
Manchette, as with quite a few older thriller writers, was evidently a gun nerd: every model - and there are many different ones - is named, a few are disassembled, and they are described as if they're as familiar from their names as common cars. (Got me wondering how readers used to learn about so many - perhaps a few decades ago, spotters' guides to guns used to seem no more dodgy reading for the average pre-teen boy than would a guide to aircraft. It made me curious what some of these guns were like, but paranoia inhibited me from looking them up online so I remain none the wiser.) There are also great descriptions of late-70s clothing: powder-blue suits, beige turtlenecks and the like, among the features that give some scenes visual cool amongst the brutality.
Any existentialism here is fairly subtle - except perhaps at the end. (Described elsewhere as "a corrosive parody of the success story".) One could easily read The Gunman as a straight-up thriller with a downbeat ending. Don't expect overt social commentary a la Nordic Noir, or Sartre-like musings.
Not all of the literary world may be keen on James Patterson's 'BookShots' plan, but although I doubt I'd enjoy Patterson's prose, I think he's got an excellent point about format. I can't be the only person who, when they want to read crime and thrillers, would like shorter fast-moving stories. Instead novellas are often reflective litfic, and crime novels 400pp+ and padded with exposition. Manchette is one of the exceptions, as is Pascal Garnier - perhaps it's a French thing.
Maybe the subliminal influence of Orthofer's Complete Review Guide to Contemporary World Fiction was also at work when I thought of Garnier. Not half way into The Gunman, and quite enjoying it, I got the urge to read Garnier - whom I'd previously thought looked a bit boring. (You know, the way part of you is still a teenager and you think something looks like it's for middle aged people - but you actually are nearly middle-aged yourself, and you've enjoyed plenty of stuff you wouldn't have liked at 15). The same day I realised I was even interested in reading Simenon; I checked and Orthofer describes Garnier as a blend of Manchette and Simenon.
I was interested to see what had been done with filming The Gunman: the protagonist was more cold-blooded than Hollywood likes its heroes these days, and some of the female characters and their scenes would also need a whole lot of adjustment for the 2010s.
Turned out it wasn't really a film of the book, it was an 'inspired by'. Some of the differences made it more coherent: e.g. the way Felix and Anne were integrated into [Jim] Terrier's backstory as a mercenary. In a different African country, Congo not French North Africa to move with the times. It also made the politics more obvious - and it was very interesting how they'd changed the protagonist. Why didn't they call him Turner instead of Terrier? That's what I was hearing at first. To make him more sympathetic, he'd been trying to atone for his crimnal past by doing aid work. And the brain injury - which I thought was going to be used to explain some of his more outrageous behaviour later in the book - only made him into a sort of Retired Badass, one of my favourite action tropes, along with One Man Army. Which he pretty much is too.
It was odd how the adaptation went politically forwards in some respects and backwards in others. They made Stanley white for no good reason except possibly to cast Michael Elphick, who doesn't get nearly enough chances to play superannuated crimnals; they did add Idris Elba as a new character, but they could have easily had two black guys. The difference was obvious between 2015 Anne who's sexually upfront and the 1981 version whose behaviour was hard to make sense of until I realised she was culturally caught between "nice girls don't" and the sexual revolution. And despite the 2015 Anne having a serious job - an MSF doctor - she was nowhere near so good in a crisis as 1981 Anne. (Alexa didn't exist in this version.) She's just one of those terrible female characters who's competent when life is calm, and perhaps - as here - even has a job that means she'd be good with emergencies, yet she's incapable of doing anything but scream and cry when there's a fight or shooting.
Interesting seeing that Penn evidently hasn't had cosmetic surgery & fillers, and the difference between his appearance and that of the typical Hollywood man implies most other male stars have had work done. That combo of heavily lined face + body in good shape is a thing IRL, but you hardly ever see it on film & TV apart from Iggy Pop. Although there was inauthenticity in another way: Penn looked like someone who'd spent months in the gym working on nothing but arms and upper back; it wasn't the harder, wirier, more even physique most would acquire from the long term physical labour the character did.
There should still have been plenty of fun action stuff. It was there but something was missing. It had that hard-to-define greyness of lacklustre direction. The angles, the picture, occasionally the minutiae of what characters were doing, just didn't quite have the buzz a good action film should. Only rarely was it as gripping as the trailer. (And oh man, they used Gil Scott Heron's 'Me and the Devil' in that too. Nowhere to be heard in the film.)
August 4, 2020
Οτι με πετυχε με πετυχε... Ο τροπος που καταφερε ο Manchette να κανει ψυχογραφημα χωρις να αναφερεται στις πτυχες του χαρακτηρα του ηρωα του ειναι μυστηριο και αξιος συγχαρητηριων. Ο ηρωας του βιβλιου ειναι αφελης και οξυδερκης ταυτοχρονα, ευπιστος και καχυποπτος και προφανως καταραμενος να αποτυχει. Δεν του εβαλα 4 αστερια γιατι ηθελα να ειναι μεγαλυτερο και γιατι το τελος το προεβλεψα. Ειχα καιρο και το απολαυσα ομως που λενε...
December 16, 2021
Δεύτερη φορά που διαβάζω το βιβλίο μετά από πάρα πολλά χρόνια, θυμόμουν μόνο το φινάλε περιέργως. Εξαιρετική εντύπωση μου έκανε όπως κ στην πρώτη ανάγνωση. Γρήγορη πλοκή, στακάτο κ αιχμηρό ύφος, σαρκαστικό κ έξυπνο χιούμορ, αιματοβαμμένες σκηνές κ πολλαπλά φονικά. Λίγη μελαγχολία για το φινάλε. Το χρειαζόμουν γιατί είχα χρόνια να διαβάσω τον συγγραφέα κ με την πρόσφατη έκδοση του «Νεκροτομείο πλήρες» που διάβασα πριν είχα αρχίσει να αμφιβάλλω για την πένα του κ για το αναγνωστικό μου γούστο πριν χρόνια. Ευτυχώς επιβεβαιώθηκα κ η αγάπη για τον Jean-Patrick βγήκε ζωντανή μετά από το φονικό. Κάτι σαν τον Τεριέ ένα πράγμα.
January 24, 2024
BAD! BAD! BAD!
The plot is less than childish, the characters are rudimentary and coarse, there's no ray of light in all this "story". Not to mention that the so-called hero is out of his minds and the bad boys (as usual in silly books) are smart enough to catch Martin but stupid enough in order to let him alive.
Ps: I have only the deepest despise for those who price human lives less than a pair of dirty socks..
The plot is less than childish, the characters are rudimentary and coarse, there's no ray of light in all this "story". Not to mention that the so-called hero is out of his minds and the bad boys (as usual in silly books) are smart enough to catch Martin but stupid enough in order to let him alive.
Ps: I have only the deepest despise for those who price human lives less than a pair of dirty socks..
May 24, 2012
Είναι πράγματι ένα βιβλίο που διαβάζεται μονορούφι, όπως μου υποσχέθηκε η αδερφή μου που μου το δώρισε. Η αλήθεια είναι πως μου αρέσουν τα βιβλία που έχουν πλοκή κι εξέλιξη, και στο συγκεκριμένο η πλοκή είναι αδυσώπητη. Δεν παύει στιγμή.
Πρόκειται βέβαια για μια αστυνομική ιστορία, ορθόδοξη και καλογραμμένη, την ιστορία τού Μαρτίν Τεριέ, ενός πληρωμένου δολοφόνου που εκτελεί την τελευταία του δουλειά και αποσύρεται για να βρει την εφηβική αγαπημένη του, που πριν δέκα χρόνια τής είπε να τον περιμένει! ( αφελή, ανόητε! ) Μονάχα που τα πράγματα δεν θα πάνε καθόλου ήρεμα κι όπως θα επιθυμούσε.
Βίαιες εξελίξεις κι ωμές περιγραφές σε απλή, στρωτή γλώσσα από έναν μετρ τού είδους και στην "Λέσχη του Βιβλίου" έχουμε μιλήσει και για την εικονιστορία "Tο Μελαγχολικό Κομμάτι της Δυτικής Ακτής" βασισμένη στο ομώνυμο δικό του βιβλίο. Προσωπικά, το στιλ τού Μανσέτ κάπου μου φέρνει στον νου τον Ντάσιελ Χάμετ.
Καλοεπιμελημένη η έκδοση τής Άγρας κι η μετάφραση τής Μαρίας Αγγελίδου ευανάγνωστη, αν και θα τής καταλογίσω πως στην φράση-κατακλείδα γράφει για "πρηνή στάση" ενώ, βέβαια, θα έπρεπε να κρατήσει την φράση τού τίτλου "πρηνής θέση". Επίσης μάλλον τής ξέφυγε, το πολύ γλυκό στα μάτια μου, βορειοελλαδίτικο, "Θα σε φτάσουν", μιλώντας για σφαίρες, πως δηλαδή "θα σου αρκέσουν" και που μάλλον θα έπρεπε να είναι "θα σου φτάσουν" (αρχή τού κεφ. 17). Δεν γνωρίζω, πάντως, αν όντως είναι βορειοελλαδίτισσα.
Βιβλίο που το συνιστώ σε όποιον αγαπά την αστυνομική λογοτεχνία και δεν το έχει διαβάσει ακόμα.
[ πρώτη παρουσίαση στην Λέσχη του Βιβλίου ]
Πρόκειται βέβαια για μια αστυνομική ιστορία, ορθόδοξη και καλογραμμένη, την ιστορία τού Μαρτίν Τεριέ, ενός πληρωμένου δολοφόνου που εκτελεί την τελευταία του δουλειά και αποσύρεται για να βρει την εφηβική αγαπημένη του, που πριν δέκα χρόνια τής είπε να τον περιμένει! ( αφελή, ανόητε! ) Μονάχα που τα πράγματα δεν θα πάνε καθόλου ήρεμα κι όπως θα επιθυμούσε.
Βίαιες εξελίξεις κι ωμές περιγραφές σε απλή, στρωτή γλώσσα από έναν μετρ τού είδους και στην "Λέσχη του Βιβλίου" έχουμε μιλήσει και για την εικονιστορία "Tο Μελαγχολικό Κομμάτι της Δυτικής Ακτής" βασισμένη στο ομώνυμο δικό του βιβλίο. Προσωπικά, το στιλ τού Μανσέτ κάπου μου φέρνει στον νου τον Ντάσιελ Χάμετ.
Καλοεπιμελημένη η έκδοση τής Άγρας κι η μετάφραση τής Μαρίας Αγγελίδου ευανάγνωστη, αν και θα τής καταλογίσω πως στην φράση-κατακλείδα γράφει για "πρηνή στάση" ενώ, βέβαια, θα έπρεπε να κρατήσει την φράση τού τίτλου "πρηνής θέση". Επίσης μάλλον τής ξέφυγε, το πολύ γλυκό στα μάτια μου, βορειοελλαδίτικο, "Θα σε φτάσουν", μιλώντας για σφαίρες, πως δηλαδή "θα σου αρκέσουν" και που μάλλον θα έπρεπε να είναι "θα σου φτάσουν" (αρχή τού κεφ. 17). Δεν γνωρίζω, πάντως, αν όντως είναι βορειοελλαδίτισσα.
Βιβλίο που το συνιστώ σε όποιον αγαπά την αστυνομική λογοτεχνία και δεν το έχει διαβάσει ακόμα.
[ πρώτη παρουσίαση στην Λέσχη του Βιβλίου ]
September 16, 2007
Manchette (even in translation) beats most modern noir writers in terms of sheer purity. After all, isn't "noir" French? Unfortunately, not many of his books have been translated into English, but this is, according to authorities, one of his best.
Jean-Paul Manchette was a French analog to the American lefty Dashiell Hammett. Manchette was a leader on the barricades in the French student uprisings in 1968, then turned to writing noir.
He depicts almost nothing of what the characters think, but is intensely scrupulous in reporting what they do. There is covert social criticism in what he writes because there is no sentimental resolution in the ending, no uplifting moralism, no last-minute revelation. This is what noir was supposed to be all about, a subversive reaction against the procedural mystery where everything is tidied up in the end for the "good" of society.
Jean-Paul Manchette was a French analog to the American lefty Dashiell Hammett. Manchette was a leader on the barricades in the French student uprisings in 1968, then turned to writing noir.
He depicts almost nothing of what the characters think, but is intensely scrupulous in reporting what they do. There is covert social criticism in what he writes because there is no sentimental resolution in the ending, no uplifting moralism, no last-minute revelation. This is what noir was supposed to be all about, a subversive reaction against the procedural mystery where everything is tidied up in the end for the "good" of society.
February 12, 2021
Ενώ ξεκινά με πολύ ενδιαφέρον και η πλοκή περιέχει έντονα στοιχεία πολιτικού θρίλερ, οι τελευταίες 20-25 σελίδες αποπροσανατολίζουν, δημιουργούν σύγχυση στον αναγνώστη και, ενδεχομένως, εκνευρίζουν ή απογοητεύουν. Θεωρείται κλασικό, αλλά ο ίδιος ο Μανσέτ, στο τέλος, αποδομεί το ίδιο του το μυθιστόρημα.
Βαθμολογία: 3,4/5 ή 6,8/10.
Βαθμολογία: 3,4/5 ή 6,8/10.
May 13, 2012
There's a description of the work of Manchette that most people seem to agree on, cinematic, and I am not going to come along and start telling you otherwise. This was a dark piece of literature verite (told you I'd hold on to this term) written in such a spare, descriptive manner that as you read it you are reminded of great movies not great literature.
I'm not going to criticise an enjoyable novel for having the style of Jean-Pierre Melville or a protagonist that could have been Leon in a later generation of cool French cinema about a hitman but I'm also finding myself unable to enjoy the literature as much as would have liked/expected.
Perhaps it is my knowledge of the French noir ouevre in cinematic history but reading this almost felt like reading one of those novelisations of a movie, empty of all meaning yet being a non-stop descriptive feast of actions. I loved the matter-of-factness of the violence, the description of the removal of an ear for example hardly registered as an event more significant than making coffee and that enjoyment can only have come from the style being used from start to finish but it is not enough to make up for the lack of connection you have with any of the young men, young women, bearded men, black men, short fat men, blonde plump women that Manchette populates his novel with.
Martin Terrier, our protagonist for todays movie is an early incarnation of The Driver from Drive, a fact made plain by the glowing words of James Sallis used on the back of the book. The name Terrier makes anglo readers think of a small, fearless dog and you could almost certainly agree that he is fearless and he rarely stops to think his actions through but the word terrier in French has a different meaning - to burrow/to go underground - and I think this has as much meaning for the character as the English word; Manchette takes pains to point out that this job and the course of his life was destined to be this way, a criminal of the Paris underworld as opposed to the criminal bourgeois type that he grew up with but could never be one of.
As mentioned before, this is a dark noir filled with that fatalism that makes the great protagonists drive off a cliff at the end of the movie or walk in to a room filled with a hundred bad guys armed only with an empty hand in a coat pocket, that follows the girl around like a lost puppy despite knowing that his love for her is what's going to find him on the wrong end of a hangman's noose and if you like that kind of thing Manchette is well worth discovering.
I'm not going to criticise an enjoyable novel for having the style of Jean-Pierre Melville or a protagonist that could have been Leon in a later generation of cool French cinema about a hitman but I'm also finding myself unable to enjoy the literature as much as would have liked/expected.
Perhaps it is my knowledge of the French noir ouevre in cinematic history but reading this almost felt like reading one of those novelisations of a movie, empty of all meaning yet being a non-stop descriptive feast of actions. I loved the matter-of-factness of the violence, the description of the removal of an ear for example hardly registered as an event more significant than making coffee and that enjoyment can only have come from the style being used from start to finish but it is not enough to make up for the lack of connection you have with any of the young men, young women, bearded men, black men, short fat men, blonde plump women that Manchette populates his novel with.
Martin Terrier, our protagonist for todays movie is an early incarnation of The Driver from Drive, a fact made plain by the glowing words of James Sallis used on the back of the book. The name Terrier makes anglo readers think of a small, fearless dog and you could almost certainly agree that he is fearless and he rarely stops to think his actions through but the word terrier in French has a different meaning - to burrow/to go underground - and I think this has as much meaning for the character as the English word; Manchette takes pains to point out that this job and the course of his life was destined to be this way, a criminal of the Paris underworld as opposed to the criminal bourgeois type that he grew up with but could never be one of.
As mentioned before, this is a dark noir filled with that fatalism that makes the great protagonists drive off a cliff at the end of the movie or walk in to a room filled with a hundred bad guys armed only with an empty hand in a coat pocket, that follows the girl around like a lost puppy despite knowing that his love for her is what's going to find him on the wrong end of a hangman's noose and if you like that kind of thing Manchette is well worth discovering.
November 7, 2018
کتاب درباره یک آدمکش حرفه ایست که تصمیم گرفته است از شغلش کناره گیری کند اما در این راه هیچ چیز به این سادگی نیست.
روند کتاب کاملاً حس تماشای یک فیلم را داشت که خیلی جذاب بود. حتی حجم داستان هم تقریباً مطابق یک فیلم سینمایی بود و بنابراین دقیقاً همانی بود که باید باشد.
کتابی نبود که اگر نخوانده باشید چیزی را از دست داده اید اما اگر خواندید احتمال زیاد سرگرم خواهید شد.
خودم هم احتمالاً برای یک تفریح کوچک بار دیگر به سراغ مانشت خواهم رفت.
روند کتاب کاملاً حس تماشای یک فیلم را داشت که خیلی جذاب بود. حتی حجم داستان هم تقریباً مطابق یک فیلم سینمایی بود و بنابراین دقیقاً همانی بود که باید باشد.
کتابی نبود که اگر نخوانده باشید چیزی را از دست داده اید اما اگر خواندید احتمال زیاد سرگرم خواهید شد.
خودم هم احتمالاً برای یک تفریح کوچک بار دیگر به سراغ مانشت خواهم رفت.
April 10, 2016
Σκληρό, κυνικό, απίστευτα κινηματγραφικό. Ίσως το reservoir dogs των βιβλίων. Ο Jean-Patrick Manchette είναι μια συγγραφική ιδιοφυΐα.
June 20, 2020
Ίσως το καλύτερο μυθιστόρημα του Μαρσεγιέζου Μανσέτ, προσωπική άποψη ότι είναι, ο οποίος δικαίως θεωρείται ο κορυφαίος «Neo-Polar» συγγραφέας, αυτός που τόλμησε και εισήγαγε με μεγάλη επιτυχία το στοιχείο της πολιτικής στο γαλλικό αστυνομικό μυθιστόρημα. Και πως θα μπορούσε να είναι αλλιώς. Ο Μανσέτ, έντονα πολιτικοποιημένος ο ίδιος στους κόλπους της εξωκοινοβουλευτικής αριστεράς, τροτσκιστής, ήταν προιόν μιας κοσμογονικής αλλαγής σε όλα τα επίπεδα που επήλθε με τον Μάη του ’68.
Υπάρχουν συγγραφείς που σε μαγεύουν από τις πρώτες γραμμές. Αυτό είναι που συνέβη με εμένα και την πρηνή θέση του σκοπευτή. Η γραφή του, πιο κοντά σε Τσάντλερ και Χάμετ παρά σε οποιονδήποτε ευρωπαίο σ��νάδελφο του. Ο ήρωας του Μανσέτ, ο Μαρτέν Τεριέ, δεν είναι ένας σούπερ μπάτσος. Δεν είναι καν ένας χαρισματικός και ιδιόρρυθμος ιδιωτικός ντετέκτιβ κάτι σαν απόστολος του θεού επί της Γης ένα πράγμα, που επαναφέρει την ισορροπία και τη γαλήνη. Είναι ένας πληρωμένος δολοφόνος, μια φιγούρα βγαλμένη από αρχαία ελληνική τραγωδία, αντιφατικός, βασανισμένος και εγκλωβισμένος, χωρίς επιλογές και ορατές εξόδους διαφυγής. Ο Τεριέ, ένας κλασσικός αντιήρωας, μια μηχανή θανάτου, εξολοθρεύει ότι βρίσκει στον δρόμο του, για τα χρήματα και για λογαριασμό του αφεντικού του, του μυστηριώδους κυρίου Κοξ. Είναι ψυχρός, μεθοδικός και επίμονος, αλλά παράλληλα ένας ψυχικά ασταθής και προβληματικός τύπος. Ένας μοναχικός άνθρωπος που δε φοβάται τίποτ��, αλλά δεν εμπιστεύεται και κανέναν και που η μόνη του αδυναμία φαίνεται να είναι ένας εφηβικός έρωτας που μοιάζει περισσότερο με εμμονή.
Ο ρυθμός που επικρατεί στο κείμενο είναι ιλιγγιώδης, θυμίζοντας έντονα κινηματογραφική ταινία, γεγονός λογικό αν αναλογιστεί κανείς ότι ο Μανσέτ ήταν δηλωμένος σινεφίλ αλλά και κριτικός.
Όπως έχω πει και για την αδυναμία μου, τον Τζέιμς Τσέηζ, ο Μανσέτ μας οδηγεί λαχανιασμένους ως το τέλος, με σκηνές γεμάτες αίμα, ανθρωποκυνηγητά και αμέτρητους κάλυκες από το “εργοστάσιο όπλων” που παρελαύνει από το βιβλίο.
Το βιβλίο, γραμμένο το 1981, στα χρόνια που ο Ψυχρός Πόλεμος είναι σε πλήρη εξέλιξη και το Παλαιστινιακό στα φόρτε του, ενσωματώνει στην πλοκή του διάφορα σενάρια πολιτικών συνωμοσιών, που στο επίκεντρο τους θα βρεθεί μπλεγμένος ο Τεριέ χωρίς καν να το επιδιώκει.
Αυτό που για μένα αποτελεί το δυνατό σημείο του βιβλίου, πιθανώς για κάποιον άλλον να είναι και η αδυναμία του. Ο κόσμος δεν είναι πια ο ίδιος, το κλίμα του τότε είναι δύσκολο να κατανοηθεί από κάποιον που αυτά δεν τα έζησε ποτέ και γαλουχήθηκε σε ένα εντελώς απολίτικο και αποστειρωμένο περιβάλλον.
Ίσως να του φανούν μακρινά και ξεπερασμένα. Κάποιους μπορεί να τους απωθήσει η υπερβολική βία. Το βιβλίο δεν είναι για όλους αυτό είναι δεδομένο, υπάρχουν πιο εύπεπτα αναγνώσματα με πολύ πιο politically correct ή λαμπερούς, θελκτικούς στο κοινό ήρωες. Όμως πόσο ξεπερασμένος μπορεί να είναι οΜάης και τα μηνύματα του ; Πόσο «ξεπερασμένη» μπορεί να θεωρηθεί η σύγχρονη ιστορία του κόσμου μας;
Ο Μανσέτ δεν είναι απλά ο ιδρυτής του νεοπόλαρ και ένας φετιχιστής της βίας, πολλές φορές αναίτιας ή και παράλογης. Ο Μανσέτ είναι η φωνή μιας συνείδησης που κραυγάζει από τα συντρίμμια της χαμένης ηθικής και των ιδεολογιών.
Υπάρχουν συγγραφείς που σε μαγεύουν από τις πρώτες γραμμές. Αυτό είναι που συνέβη με εμένα και την πρηνή θέση του σκοπευτή. Η γραφή του, πιο κοντά σε Τσάντλερ και Χάμετ παρά σε οποιονδήποτε ευρωπαίο σ��νάδελφο του. Ο ήρωας του Μανσέτ, ο Μαρτέν Τεριέ, δεν είναι ένας σούπερ μπάτσος. Δεν είναι καν ένας χαρισματικός και ιδιόρρυθμος ιδιωτικός ντετέκτιβ κάτι σαν απόστολος του θεού επί της Γης ένα πράγμα, που επαναφέρει την ισορροπία και τη γαλήνη. Είναι ένας πληρωμένος δολοφόνος, μια φιγούρα βγαλμένη από αρχαία ελληνική τραγωδία, αντιφατικός, βασανισμένος και εγκλωβισμένος, χωρίς επιλογές και ορατές εξόδους διαφυγής. Ο Τεριέ, ένας κλασσικός αντιήρωας, μια μηχανή θανάτου, εξολοθρεύει ότι βρίσκει στον δρόμο του, για τα χρήματα και για λογαριασμό του αφεντικού του, του μυστηριώδους κυρίου Κοξ. Είναι ψυχρός, μεθοδικός και επίμονος, αλλά παράλληλα ένας ψυχικά ασταθής και προβληματικός τύπος. Ένας μοναχικός άνθρωπος που δε φοβάται τίποτ��, αλλά δεν εμπιστεύεται και κανέναν και που η μόνη του αδυναμία φαίνεται να είναι ένας εφηβικός έρωτας που μοιάζει περισσότερο με εμμονή.
Ο ρυθμός που επικρατεί στο κείμενο είναι ιλιγγιώδης, θυμίζοντας έντονα κινηματογραφική ταινία, γεγονός λογικό αν αναλογιστεί κανείς ότι ο Μανσέτ ήταν δηλωμένος σινεφίλ αλλά και κριτικός.
Όπως έχω πει και για την αδυναμία μου, τον Τζέιμς Τσέηζ, ο Μανσέτ μας οδηγεί λαχανιασμένους ως το τέλος, με σκηνές γεμάτες αίμα, ανθρωποκυνηγητά και αμέτρητους κάλυκες από το “εργοστάσιο όπλων” που παρελαύνει από το βιβλίο.
Το βιβλίο, γραμμένο το 1981, στα χρόνια που ο Ψυχρός Πόλεμος είναι σε πλήρη εξέλιξη και το Παλαιστινιακό στα φόρτε του, ενσωματώνει στην πλοκή του διάφορα σενάρια πολιτικών συνωμοσιών, που στο επίκεντρο τους θα βρεθεί μπλεγμένος ο Τεριέ χωρίς καν να το επιδιώκει.
Αυτό που για μένα αποτελεί το δυνατό σημείο του βιβλίου, πιθανώς για κάποιον άλλον να είναι και η αδυναμία του. Ο κόσμος δεν είναι πια ο ίδιος, το κλίμα του τότε είναι δύσκολο να κατανοηθεί από κάποιον που αυτά δεν τα έζησε ποτέ και γαλουχήθηκε σε ένα εντελώς απολίτικο και αποστειρωμένο περιβάλλον.
Ίσως να του φανούν μακρινά και ξεπερασμένα. Κάποιους μπορεί να τους απωθήσει η υπερβολική βία. Το βιβλίο δεν είναι για όλους αυτό είναι δεδομένο, υπάρχουν πιο εύπεπτα αναγνώσματα με πολύ πιο politically correct ή λαμπερούς, θελκτικούς στο κοινό ήρωες. Όμως πόσο ξεπερασμένος μπορεί να είναι οΜάης και τα μηνύματα του ; Πόσο «ξεπερασμένη» μπορεί να θεωρηθεί η σύγχρονη ιστορία του κόσμου μας;
Ο Μανσέτ δεν είναι απλά ο ιδρυτής του νεοπόλαρ και ένας φετιχιστής της βίας, πολλές φορές αναίτιας ή και παράλογης. Ο Μανσέτ είναι η φωνή μιας συνείδησης που κραυγάζει από τα συντρίμμια της χαμένης ηθικής και των ιδεολογιών.
May 4, 2018
Gribēju nelielu atelpu no episkās fantāzijas.
Īss, bet notikumiem bagāts franču bojeviks par algotu slepkavu un viņa nedienām. Bet pat bojeviki frančiem ir dīvaini :D Asinīm un pakaļdzīšanās ainām pa vidu pavīd sauss, bet asprātīgs humors. Labi pavadīs laiks!
Īss, bet notikumiem bagāts franču bojeviks par algotu slepkavu un viņa nedienām. Bet pat bojeviki frančiem ir dīvaini :D Asinīm un pakaļdzīšanās ainām pa vidu pavīd sauss, bet asprātīgs humors. Labi pavadīs laiks!
January 30, 2024
حین مطالعه، دائما این حس را داشتم که یک فیلم اکشن هالیوودی با نمره آیامدیبی چهار و نیم را میبینم. زبان، توصیفها، صحنهها و حتی شخصیتها به ندرت از کلیشه فراتر میروند. خیلی نچسبید خلاصه!
February 10, 2010
This one flirted with me. I saw it on the clearance shelf at Half Price Books for $1 and I considered it on several visits, pulling it off the shelf and skimming it and putting it back. This erotic dance continued with my comings and goings at the store, and finally yesterday I said what the hell. I loved the cover design, the thinness and the slickness of the jacket, the text fonts, the idea that this was a hard-nosed noir in the classic tradition; the London & Paris settings and so forth. It seemed like I book I might not run across again, so I'd better not blow the chance. I picked it up today and started reading and sort of got hooked in. It starts with a beautifully described stalk and hit on a windy dark wintry day in Liverpool.
Let's see.
Fabulous read! Looks like I may have picked a winner here. Almost everything in this is a cliche. The hitman trying to leave the business, the organization not wanting him to, gunzels tailing him, an angry girlfriend left in the lurch, the lonely diners and gas stations along the way, the meetings with the shadowy bosses, the mysterious threatening phone calls, the casual violence, the double-crosses and the subterfuge. There's the girl from the past, too, of course. You've seen all this before and yet somehow it seems reinvented here. Sparse, vivid. Manchette's powers of description are assured. This is quite compelling.
FINAL:
It ends sadly, with a whimper rather than a bang. The nature of the "organization" comes as a bit of a surprise. I constantly felt as I read this that I'd seen all of this in other movies and books, as I've mentioned before, but the story is so well crafted; it's as if Manchette was saying, "Yeah, I know you've seen this before, but this is how to do it RIGHT."
Not the kind of thing I usually read, but well worth the (short) time invested.
Let's see.
Fabulous read! Looks like I may have picked a winner here. Almost everything in this is a cliche. The hitman trying to leave the business, the organization not wanting him to, gunzels tailing him, an angry girlfriend left in the lurch, the lonely diners and gas stations along the way, the meetings with the shadowy bosses, the mysterious threatening phone calls, the casual violence, the double-crosses and the subterfuge. There's the girl from the past, too, of course. You've seen all this before and yet somehow it seems reinvented here. Sparse, vivid. Manchette's powers of description are assured. This is quite compelling.
FINAL:
It ends sadly, with a whimper rather than a bang. The nature of the "organization" comes as a bit of a surprise. I constantly felt as I read this that I'd seen all of this in other movies and books, as I've mentioned before, but the story is so well crafted; it's as if Manchette was saying, "Yeah, I know you've seen this before, but this is how to do it RIGHT."
Not the kind of thing I usually read, but well worth the (short) time invested.
January 4, 2015
A short take:
After opening up with a typical and entertaining lone-hitman narrative, Manchette shoves his story into a shit-storm of crazy and violent tragedy.
More thoughts:
First, a random thought: I bet G.R.R. Martin would dig Manchette's brutal treatment of his characters. If Manchette were alive today and could sit in a room with Martin, the two would probably pat each other on the back and share evil laughs about their diabolical schemes. No character is safe!
The two Manchette translations I have read each include a short author bio, and each asserts that Manchette "saved" French noir fiction. I have not read enough to agree or disagree with this claim; if, however, French noir is intended to cast the world in despondent hues, then Manchette excels in this respect.
Me, I can dig it, though the downbeat end of both books brought down my mood, too. I put away this one thinking, "Huh; did I really like this?" Then I thought of something Mieville said about fiction that comforts versus fiction that throws you into an uncomfortable place. Manchette does the latter, and I respect this.
After opening up with a typical and entertaining lone-hitman narrative, Manchette shoves his story into a shit-storm of crazy and violent tragedy.
More thoughts:
First, a random thought: I bet G.R.R. Martin would dig Manchette's brutal treatment of his characters. If Manchette were alive today and could sit in a room with Martin, the two would probably pat each other on the back and share evil laughs about their diabolical schemes. No character is safe!
The two Manchette translations I have read each include a short author bio, and each asserts that Manchette "saved" French noir fiction. I have not read enough to agree or disagree with this claim; if, however, French noir is intended to cast the world in despondent hues, then Manchette excels in this respect.
Me, I can dig it, though the downbeat end of both books brought down my mood, too. I put away this one thinking, "Huh; did I really like this?" Then I thought of something Mieville said about fiction that comforts versus fiction that throws you into an uncomfortable place. Manchette does the latter, and I respect this.
May 4, 2016
Ένα φτωχόπαιδο ξεκινά ένα δεκαετές πλάνο να πιάσει την καλή και να γυρίσει νικητής για να πάρει μαζί του την κοπέλα που αγαπά, αλλά που η οικογένειά της δεν τον θέλει γιατί ούτε λεφτά έχει, ούτε καλλιέργεια, και να αλλάξει ρότα. "Εργάζεται" λοιπόν σαν πληρωμένος δολοφόνος για λογαριασμό μιας οργάνωσης, η οποία ποτέ δεν γίνεται ξεκάθαρο ποιά είναι, και όταν φτάνει η ώρα, δηλώνει παύση εργασιών. Αλλά σιγά μην είναι εύκολο να επιβάλλει εκείνος το πότε. Έτσι αρχίζει ένα ατέλειωτο κυνήγι με ένα από τα πιο ανατρεπτικά φινάλε που έχω διαβάσει. Αν και είμαι έμπειρη στα αστυνομικά και τα βιβλία μυστηρίου, αυτό το τέλος δεν το είχα υποψιαστεί. Ένα τέλος, που σε κάνει να αναλλογίζεσαι την τραγικότητα και την ειρωνία της ζωής και να αναρωτιέσαι μήπως διάβασες τελικά ένα μεταφυσικό θρίλερ.
Άψογος ο Μανσέτ, γράφει ένα νεο-νουάρ ή πόλαρ όπως είναι ο σύγχρονος ορισμός, με νεύρο, ζωντάνια, σασπένς, νομίζεις πραγματικά πως παρακολουθείς ταινία (μάλλον δεν είναι τυχαίο που ο συγγραφέας έχει γράψει ουκ ολίγα σενάρια για ταινίες). Σφαίρες, πτώματα, αίμα, μισές αλήθειες, μισά ψέματα, μηδενισμός και στο "βάθος-κήπος" ένας κάποιος ρομαντισμός. Ο ρομαντισμός των losers.
Διαβάζεται απνευστί.
Άψογος ο Μανσέτ, γράφει ένα νεο-νουάρ ή πόλαρ όπως είναι ο σύγχρονος ορισμός, με νεύρο, ζωντάνια, σασπένς, νομίζεις πραγματικά πως παρακολουθείς ταινία (μάλλον δεν είναι τυχαίο που ο συγγραφέας έχει γράψει ουκ ολίγα σενάρια για ταινίες). Σφαίρες, πτώματα, αίμα, μισές αλήθειες, μισά ψέματα, μηδενισμός και στο "βάθος-κήπος" ένας κάποιος ρομαντισμός. Ο ρομαντισμός των losers.
Διαβάζεται απνευστί.
August 26, 2023
The problem with these sort of conspiracy thrillers where a person goes up against the national security apparatus is that there's no way to end them. He either dies, is forced into hiding, or the 'good spies' realize it was all a big mistake.
There's some interesting action bits, but there's also a lot of nonsense. Like the part where he sees his girlfriend bang some dude and it causes him to lose his voice until he gets shot in the brain and that turns his voice back on. That actually happens.
There's some interesting action bits, but there's also a lot of nonsense. Like the part where he sees his girlfriend bang some dude and it causes him to lose his voice until he gets shot in the brain and that turns his voice back on. That actually happens.
January 21, 2010
Manchette writes stark, ironic, blackly comic noir with an air of political disgust and matter of fact absurdity and existentialism. This book works as perfect pulp thriller, while turning the genre on its head, filled with graphic violence, wild twists in the plot, perfect details, and comes to a brutal ironic ending which is almost impossible to predict. Kind of a variation on Melville’s Le Samouri and Greene’s Gun for Hire but it is a richer one.
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