The Sunday of Life by Raymond Queneau
Translated by Barbara Wright
However much I plan my reading for one of our club weeks, it never quite turns out how I expected it… After wallowing in some wonderful crime books, I didn’t really fancy picking up another one, nor getting into something as long as “Forbidden Colours” or “Log from the Sea of Cortez”. So I started digging around in the stacks to see if I could find anything else from 1951 and I stumbled across this title. Some online sources state the publication date as 1952, but the book itself clearly says 1951 – so that’s good enough for me!
Queneau is a writer I’ve covered before, reviewing his “Exercises in Style” here. That was a rather clever collection of pieces (as you might expect from the OuLiPo literary group) but not really a novel as such. However, “The Sunday of Life” takes a more traditional structure, telling the unusual tale of Valentin Bru and his wife Julie/Julia. The book is set in the 1930s, and Bru is a soldier coming to the end of his term in the army. A young man in his twenties, he attracts the attention of Julie Segovia, owner of a haberdashery shop he walks past regularly. Although considerably older than him, Julia has set her sights on the young soldier and sends her sister Chantal off to find out more about him (which she does, by sleeping with a superior officer!) Bru seems a vague young man, with no real aim in life, and finds himself persuaded to marry an older lady with a decent income, and this he does in due course. However, Julia’s brother-in-law Paul, Chantal’s husband, is not happy as they had lined up their teenage daughter Marinette (who never actually appears in the book, but is constantly referred to in unflattering terms!) to inherit from Julie in due course. There is plenty of family discord going on, although the two sisters do seem attached, and the wedding proceeds with Bru taking a rather ramshackle honeymoon on his own, getting lost in Paris on the way.
Things get stranger, however, as the story progresses. Bru converts the shop and becomes a purveyor of photo frames; he makes friends with all the locals and becomes someone they come to confide their secrets in; Julia seems to develop a kind of clairvoyance just around the same time that a local medium sets up shop; and meanwhile war seems to be brewing in Europe. Paul changes his job and Valentin is re-enlisted in the army, which doesn’t seem to bother him at all. Julie has a health malfunction, and Valentin is sent off to a posting where he tries to become a saint! Let’s face it, their lives really aren’t dull!
“The Sunday of Life” was a real lift in many ways after some of the darker elements of books I’ve read this week; it’s full of wonderful sparkling wordplay and larger than life characters. Puns abound (as well as plenty of very bad language!); and the names of characters are constantly changing, particularly that of Julia and the surname of Paul and Chantal, which often vary from paragraph to paragraph! I could try to quote you some choice parts but I doubt they would work out of context and there are so many it would be hard to choose. I have to say, though, that the translator comes in for some high praise for me, because it must have been very hard to take the work in French and convey the wordplay in a different language!
Underneath all this, of course, are some more serious matters. The war continues to loom larger as the book progresses, and ironically Paul does very well out of it, taking up a business making firearms. Valentin, who is something of an innocent, narrowly avoids many scrapes and seems to live a charmed life. The whole fortune-telling plot seems to be making a point about people’s willingness to be deceived, particularly about the forthcoming conflict – the discussion of, and questioning about, whether there will be a war is a constant thread through the story. There’s also much consideration of the passing of time, with one section particularly focusing on Bru’s relationship with the clock over the road and attempting to capture each minute as it passes. And perhaps that’s the point of the book, to show how people pass their time in life!
The days that pass, which turn into the time that passes, are neither lovely nor hideous, but always the same. Perhaps it rains for a few seconds sometimes, or the four-o’clock sun holds time back for a few minutes like rearing horses. Perhaps the past doesn’t always preserve the beautiful order that clocks give to the present, and perhaps the future is rushing up in disorder, each moment tripping over itself, to be the first to slice itself up. And perhaps there is a charm or horror, grace or abjection, in the convulsive movements of what is going to be and of what has been. But Valentin has never take any pleasure in these suppositions. He still didn’t know enough about the subject. He wanted to be content with an identity nicely chipped into pieces of varying lengths, but whose character was always similar, without dyeing it in autumnal colours, drenching it in April showers or mottling it with the instability of clouds.
I imagine that there are many clever subtexts going on in the book (I’ve read that it’s very Hegelian, but since I’ve never read Hegel I couldn’t comment). Whether or not that’s the case, “The Sunday of Life” is a witty, often slapstick read with a wonderful array of entertaining characters and funny situations, which nevertheless leaves you thinking about what it was trying to say for quite a while after. I’m rather glad I stumbled upon this one as a late entrant for the #1951club as it turned out to be a real joy and another brilliant read for the week!
(Have to add kudos to this old Alma Classic for crediting the translator Barbara Wright on the cover!)
Tredynas Days
Apr 15, 2017 @ 06:51:33
I hadn’t heard of this one by RQ; sounds interesting. Is there a particular Oulipian constraint at work? Sounds like it has some of their typical random qualities.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:15:40
I didn’t pick up a constraint as such, but there’s plenty of wordplay which seems to be something that Queneau is fond of – plus it’s very entertaining.
Harriet Devine
Apr 15, 2017 @ 08:02:26
I’m so full of admiration for your willingness to read so widely and experimentally. And hooray for the translator for having to cope with the use of language!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:14:28
I *do* like to read fairly widely (though I often draw the line at modern books….) The translator did an amazing job here – it can’t have been easy!
Jonathan
Apr 15, 2017 @ 09:11:07
I’m glad you liked this one as it will probably be the first Queneau book I’ll try. I think the blurb initially attracted me to it. I’m glad all these smaller publishers exist.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:13:16
Me too – and this was an excellent read, very funny too. Hope you like it!
heavenali
Apr 15, 2017 @ 09:18:27
Interesting. Queneau is yet another author you are introducing me to. I love the stylish cover of that Alma classics edition.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:12:52
It *is* striking – Alma books usually are. This was such a fun read, but you have to be a reader who’s not bothered by four letter words! (I’m not).
MarinaSofia
Apr 15, 2017 @ 10:14:58
You have missed nothing by not reading Hegel – or at least the Hegel that we had to read as the precursor of Marx, Engels and dialectic materialism was deadly, deadly dull. Our knowledge of philosophy was Aristotle, Socrates, Plato, then jump directly to Hegel, Marx, Engels and Lenin…
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:10:49
Eeek! I think I’m better off getting my philosophy of life from novels! 🙂
Annabel (gaskella)
Apr 15, 2017 @ 10:15:40
Have you not read Zazie in the Metro? It was mad and rather wonderful. This is one I shall look out for.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:10:25
No, I haven’t yet – but I have a copy and I’m rather keen to get it off the shelves soon!!
Jeff
Apr 15, 2017 @ 11:03:23
It’s great to see anything by an OuLipo author, even if, like much of their output, it’s not terribly clear what the system is that drove the book. It doesn’t sound like my kind of read. Alma kindly sent me a copy of Exercises in Style some years ago when I had a different blog, and that’s a singular text. Queneau is well-known in continental philosophy for assembling the lecture materials for Kojeve. This gave French readers their first inroads into Hegel. Did you spot any synthesizing going on in the novel? Can’t beat it!
I just checked, and as I suspected, you might not see anything too systematic in the novel – OuLiPo was founded nearly a decade later. Did it therefore feel in some way an anticipatory Oulipian novel?
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:10:00
Well, I didn’t see patterns as such, more hidden philosophy – I guess the pondering of time and its passing was part of that, kind of what is the meaning of life. And whether you should plan a life like Julie/a does or whether you should let life you take it where it will like Valentin does. There’s a lot to be pondered on, lots of wordplay and it’s very funny too!
Elle
Apr 15, 2017 @ 11:24:14
Oh, I’ve had Zazie in the Metro on my list for ages—it’s so nice to see another Queneau, with as much wit and brio.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:08:19
I really must read Zazie – this one was such fun and I’ve heard great things about Zazie!
litlove
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:06:23
What a lovely review! I’ve only read Zazie dans le metro (which is brilliant) and Exercises en style by Queneau, and I really enjoyed them both so I don’t know why I haven’t branched out further!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:07:42
It’s a fun read, and I’m sure there’s more to it than I’m seeing. Fortunately I have Zazie lurking on the TBR! 🙂
BookerTalk
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:45:51
I had to look up that term OuLipo – they sound a strange bunch. One of the comments I picked up was that they were into “literary bondage” – not absolutely sure what that involves are you?
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 15:51:29
🙂 I’m no expert, despite having read quite a lot of their books, but it means basically writing within a set of self imposed constraints. For example, Perec’s A Void is written without the use of the letter E; and his Life: A User’s Manual has a very complex construction which I don’t really understand but it reads quite brilliantly!
BookerTalk
Apr 15, 2017 @ 17:05:31
How curious. I’d have thought it was hard enough to write a book without making it harder by self imposed rules.But then maybe they thought it would stimulate even greater innovation and experimentation
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 17:15:38
I think that was the idea, yes – sometimes more successful than others, I suspect! 🙂
Caroline
Apr 15, 2017 @ 17:43:57
I have also read Zazie dans Le metro and Exercises de style. I always thought he must be hard to translate. I haven’t read this though.
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 15, 2017 @ 17:47:45
I can’t imagine how complex it is to translate his work, but the results are fantastic. I really *must* read Zazie soon!
Caroline
Apr 15, 2017 @ 17:48:46
Yes, you must. It’s fabulous.
1streading
Apr 16, 2017 @ 14:50:18
I’ve only read Exercises in Style and have always intended to try more – this sounds like an excellent counter-balance to the depressing fiction I normally go for!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 16, 2017 @ 20:52:55
It’s very witty and very funny in places – but with a hidden seriousness I think! 🙂
madamebibilophile
Apr 16, 2017 @ 21:21:02
I’ve not read this but I really enjoyed Zazie and Exercises in Style. You’ve convinced me I’ll have to hunt down a copy!
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 16, 2017 @ 21:22:41
I’m very keen on reading Zazie now – especially as I have a copy to hand…. 😉
madamebibilophile
Apr 16, 2017 @ 21:24:45
She’s wonderful 🙂
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Simon T
Apr 17, 2017 @ 19:40:59
I’ve only read Exercises in Style, but this sounds right up my street – I couldn’t really work out how he’d write an ‘ordinary’ novel structure, but this makes sense for him. (The Hegel influence would be lost on me too, though!)
kaggsysbookishramblings
Apr 17, 2017 @ 20:19:45
It’s great fun (as long as you don’t mind bad language!) and nothing like Exercises really. I’m looking forward to reading his Zazie.
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