Alain Robbe-Grillet died last month--maybe the most innovative French writer of his generation. He was also renowned as a filmmaker and it's not hard to see why when you read some of his fiction. He belongs to a group of French writers known as the Nouveau Romanticists who first appeared in the 1950's and included the Nobel prize winning Claude Simon, along with others like Michel Butor and Nathalie Sarraute who more or less rejected (at least in part) the philosphical pretensions of the post WWII existentialists who had become by that time almost the establishment in French letters. In terms of literary movements happening around the same time--maybe different in style and scope were the first appearances likewise of some of the most important Latin Boom writers and also the beginnings of the Beat movement in the United States. Any number of other first rate writers were either associated with or influenced by the Nouveau Romanticists--for instance Beckett, or Pinget or Le Clezio. They had a profound effect on French literture in the 2nd half of the 20th century.

What we get from a Robbe-Grillet is a cinematic and psychological effect. Plot or narrative is played down. An avalanche of repetitive observations allows the reader to imagine the action in his or her own head. By constantly repeating particular points, by focusing on peripheral objects, he fleshes out the makings of a story for the reader. In this respect the writer makes a demand on the reader and in that sense treats him as an equal in the creation of the story. One can see it this way anyway.

Of the two short novels here--Jealousy--has a Carribean like setting on a banana plantation. An adulterous flirtation between a married man and the wife of another as seen through the eyes of her husband. An intensity builds as the husband constantly reviews certain images of the flirtation--trying to make sense of them only to have expand into an ever widening arc of potentialities.

The somewhat Kafkaesque nature of In the Labyrinth has a sick and wounded soldier wandering through an unfamiliar city looking for a mysterious stranger to deliver a package and so fulfill a wish of a dead comrade. A claustrophobic atmosphere permeating empty corridors of buildings with an enemy army on the outskirts of the city on the point of entrance.

In any case--these aren't as difficult as my description might make them seem--they do require some concentration but they are not only thought provoking but rewarding as well. ( )

These two stories really are Robbe-Grillet at his best. Completely turning plot/narrative/story conventions on their head. I know for many people, Robbe-Grillet is hard to read, or rather he gets on their nerves with the repetition of actions and the constant returning to scenes that are tweaked slightly to reveal more about the character or action taking place. But for me these stories just draw you in, dragging you into the psychosis of the lead characters. ( )

A rare story with a lot of symbolic value and a main character whose pain you can feel. One of my favorites from my required reading list in college. ( )

3.25 ( )