artsandevents: bookstalks

Wander Years: Philippe Claudel's Brodeck
A deft English translation of Claudel's outsider tale

Book Reviews

Brodeck, by French novelist and filmmaker Philippe Claudel, is a story about a provincial village that echoes a universal and eternal theme—the plight of the outsider. Claudel’s insightful prose, translated gracefully by John Cullen, renders the tale both literary and deeply philosophical: In an unnamed time, a stranger, “with his big trunks, his embroidered clothes, his mystery, his bay horse, and his donkey,” arrives in a small European village of 400 inhabitants. Settling in for what appears to be a lengthy stay but never divulging his name, he is dubbed “De Anderer,” or “the other.” The villagers don’t know what to make of the Anderer’s old-fashioned apparel and peculiar behavior but welcome him nonetheless. He quickly becomes an object of hatred, however, when his paintings of village life remind everyone of horrendous crimes they committed during a recently concluded war. As the village priest explains the Anderer’s work to the story’s eponymous protagonist: “That man was like a mirror, you see.…They each saw their reflection in him.…And mirrors, Brodeck—mirrors can only break.” After the villagers murder the Anderer, Brodeck is asked to write a report whitewashing their actions. He soon reaches the terrifying realization that doing otherwise could actually imperil him, because “to be innocent in the midst of the guilty [is], after all, the same as being guilty in the midst of the innocent.” As a result, he consents to write the sanitized official report. However, he also sets down the truth in a secret account that doesn’t merely relate what befell the Anderer; in probing the villagers’ mentality, he reveals ... Continued

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Books Picks

Event Calendar: This Week in Books

Fri. Jul. 3, 2009 - Thu. Jul. 9, 2009

  • Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi
    discusses and signs copies of Original Sins: Reflections on the History of Zionism and Israel.
    Busboys and Poets 14th & V,, 2021 14th St. NW. Thu., 7/9, at 6 p.m. Free. (202) 387-7638.
  • Olivia Gentile
    discusses and signs copies of Life List. Gentile's husband, comedian Andy Borowitz, also speaks.
    Politics and Prose,, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Thu., 7/9, at 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.
  • Alyssa Katz
    discusses and signs copies of Our Lot.
    Politics and Prose,, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Wed., 7/8, at 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.
  • Mary Kay Andrews
    discusses and signs copies of The Fixer Upper.
    Borders Rockville,, 11301 Rockville Pike, Kensington, MD. Wed., 7/8, at 7:30 p.m. Free. (301) 816-1067.
  • Reif Larsen
    discusses and signs copies of The Selected Works Of T.S. Spivet.
    Politics and Prose,, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Sun., 7/5, at 3 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.
  • Jim Lynch
    discusses and signs copies of Border Songs.
    Politics and Prose,, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Tue., 7/7, at 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.
  • CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHE
    discusses and signs copies of The Thing Around Your Neck.
    Politics and Prose,, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Thu., 7/2, at 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.
  • Brad Thor
    discusses and signs copies of The Apostle.
    Borders Baileys Crossroads,, 5871 Crossroads Center Way, Baileys Crossroads, VA. Mon., 7/6, at 7:30 p.m. Free. (703) 998-0404.
  • Bill Wasik
    discuss and sign copies of And Then There’s This.
    Politics and Prose,, 5015 Connecticut Ave. NW. Mon., 7/6, at 7 p.m. Free. (202) 364-1919.
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