Kamel Daoud: The Mearsault Investigation

This is very impressive. When I read about it I was surprised that no one had thought of doing this before.

At the start it makes some very good points about the style of the original ( insofar as one can talk about literary style of a work in translation) where the detached coldness was a reflection of the coldness of the narrator..which of course is part of the point of the original ( style at the service of content). But this is also flecked in this narrator...both of them are detached from their worlds.

In a very important way the main focus of this book is as a study in grief and the effects of loss and how that has a traumatic and lifelong effect on an individual. The characters nee ad trapped by events in the past.

There is a major dramatic event halfway through the book which I found totally convincing. I think if I had known about it before starting I would have had doubts about it...isn't that a bit too neat compared with the events in the past/ the Camus account...but it did work, hence my discretion about what that event is. It made emotional sense but still did not really give emotional closure. The narrator here, in fact, is very like Coleridge's Ancient Mariner...someone driven to tell his tale to whomsoever will listen as a form of personal redemption but while it does seem to help, at the end one did not feel that he had achieved the personal salvation and rest which he is clearly seeking.

One thing I was unsure about ( and would welcome comments from those who have also read the book) is whether, given the background and experiences of the narrator, if his narrative voice was not too sophisticated and perceptive. Really not sure about this. How authentic is that and is it more the author's voice than the characters?

I did, strongly feel however, that the novel lost impetus in the two final chapters. They gave the impression of being afterthoughts. Again would like to know the opinions of other readers.

Well worth reading and discussing though.