Eugène Savitzkaya

Lettres à Eugène. Correspondance 1977-1987 is apparently the first volume of correspondence of the French author Hervé Guibert, who died in 1991. Guibert's novels consist of fictionalized autobiography, which shows his gruesome life and death suffering from AIDS. During his lifetime Guibert was friends with Michel Foucault, and if ever their correspondence would be published that should be an interesting volume.

Unfortunately, Lettres à Eugène. Correspondance 1977-1987 is not. This volume collects the correspondence between Guibert and the Belgian poet Eugène Savitzkaya. Both Guibert and Savitzkaya were born in 1955, and their correspondence begins in 1977, with Guibert's letter of admiration on the publication of Savitzkaya's short novel Mentir. Although this was his first novel, by 1977 Savitzkaya had already published six volumes of poetry. In 1977, Hervé Guibert published his first collection of prose, La Mort propagande (reviewed last year). This letter is followed by a thank-you letter, by Savitzkaya. A similar short courtesy exchange ensues four years later, in 1981, when Guibert sends Savitzkaya his fotonovela Suzanne et Louise (1980). Their correspondence does not really take off until after February 1982, when they met in Paris. The last letter is dated January 1987. In this year, the two authors did not need to exchange letters much, because they both stayed as resident writers at the Académie de France in Rome, popularly known as the Villa Médicis.

This means that the whole correspondence actually only covers a period of about four years. They may mark the beginning of the literary career of both authors, but these years are rather uneventful, and the correspondence reflects that. The authors were not lovers, so, although their friendship is warm, it is of no special interest. Hervé Guibert was not diagnosed with AIDS until the following year, 1988. Hence, the correspondence does not ponder on any significant part of the author's life.

Perhaps this is the reason, Guibert acceded to its integral publication in his literary testament in 1991, allowing publication of this correspondence, but forbidding the correspondence of all and any other letters with other correspondence. Lettres à Eugène. Correspondance 1977-1987 is published as an annotated edition, bringing together some 80 letters of both authors. However, on the whole it is rather uninteresting.… (altro)

Eugène Savitzkaya (1955) is a Belgian author from the predominantly French-speaking city of Liège. Savitzkaya is mainly known as a poet, although since 1998, only prose works have been published, relatively short novels of a very poetic quality.

Exquise Louise (English: "Exquisite Louise") is a short novel, written in vignettes. Each prose fragment sings the praise of the narrator's daughter Louise, celebrates Louise.

The book is a sheer joy to read. Obviously, other books have been written to adore women, but not usually such exalted adoration of a child. In fact, much writing about children in the past two decades or so tends to view children in a very problematic way. Either stories are told from severely mentally disturbed children, whether or not from the perspective of a child or unreliable narrator, or children are caught up in a variety of smut and perverse phantasies.

Exquise Louise is not like that. This short novel basks in freshness and pure sincerity. Over the course of less than 100 pages, the reader is invited to observe Louise growing up from a new-born baby to a young adolescent of about 15 years old. This high speed means that at the turn of almost every page there are new refreshing images to describe Louise in her development.

The poetic quality of Exquise Louise is born out by the structure of short prose vignettes, and subtle rhyme and repetition, which ties the book closely to the author's background as a poet.

The opening pages express the wonder of the child being born.

Elle est Louise.

A short sentence repeated several times in the first vignettes.

Elle est Louise.

The novel must particularly appeal to young parents, or parents who raised children may remember the speed of children's development and the wonder at the miraculous shape of the tiny feet, the tiny hands, and when on the opening page the narrator sings praise of Louise's legs, there is just the tiniest wink to the reader of praising the legs of a woman, just the right way to position the book.

However, merely singing the praise of a new-born baby would not make the book literature. But the way the narrator sees the child does. These observations are pared with poetic word play, as for instance:

Elle est Louise. Louise est pierre, désormais le prénom est repris aux garçons. Elle est dure, obstinée et lisse, personne ne peut l'attraper et rien ne peut entraver sa marche. Tous les pierres sont filles et les garçons ne sont que de petits cailloux, des rochers détachés de la montagne de pierre. Louise est la mer et la forêt et la nuit entière. (p. 11)

This vignette goes on to compare Louise to the light and the stars, the fire and the river; musique; the night, air and void, rain and wind.

Elle est Louise au centre de sa maison.

Readers can trace the fast pace of Louise growing up by landmark events, such as the loss of milk teeth:

C'était une toute petite dent de lait couleur ivoire vivant, la perle des perles. Elle vint avec un peu de sang, pour preuve d'origine. (...) Édentée d'une dent, âgée d'un jour de plus, Louise s'alla coucher, serrant sa dent dans son poing. Elle tenait enfin sa monnaie d'échange qu'elle déposa sous l'oreiller, puis fit plus ou moins paisablement le voyage de la nuit. (p. 39)

Sometimes the tone of the prose is burlesque: If you have a garden, whether small or large, do not hesitate to admit some children into it. One or two will be more than sufficient. Children are preferable to cats or dogs, that will bring you nothing more but excrement and other irritations... (p.50).

There is no difficulty to understand what Louise means when she talks about "the domestic tyrant".

Thus, Exquise Louise is an ode to the young Louise. It describes the true wonder of parents, but with the sharp observation of the poet. It describes everyday scenes and mixes them with the everlasting. It raises every most ordinary child, to the exalted height of myth.

Louise appela les chevaux et les chevaux réspondirent à Louise. De très loin.

(...)

Louise appela les corneilles et les corneilles réspondirent du haut des arbres.

(...)

Louise appela les chats et tous les chats à la ronde réspondirent à Louise.… (altro)