Dark hair, tall black hat, matching outfit, and vermilion lipstick as the only touch of color, novels often described as “grim”, passion for death, solitude, suffering, deformity, Amélie Nothomb is quickly associated with a tortured, even unsettling persona. And yet, when you meet her, it’s her pure, frank, clear eyes, that piercing gaze seeking to see beyond, to understand the human being in front of her—this is the image that remains in memory! Unforgettably so.
When one encounters Amélie Nothomb, they discover a person of great sensitivity, realizing this instantly. And if we no longer doubt her genius, we readily accept that the peculiar writer is much more human and genuine than the average person.
Her latest work, “Killing the Father,” available since August 18, 2011, and even the 17th in certain Nice bookstores that host the author every two years for a signing session, discusses once again man’s perversion (and not only that). It touches on flaws, virtues, madness, deceit, trust, hope, the trauma one can have related to a relationship, of any kind, the bonds we believe we have with people we consider close, and the perception from the other side, which can be entirely different, sometimes. It once again explores beauty, useful or not bodies, soul. But it also, for the first time, talks about magic.
The story takes us to the United States, specifically Nevada, where the main character, Joe, 14, finds himself on the streets, abandoned by his own mother, spending his time in intense training and performing magic tricks through which he earns his living and makes acquaintances. One day he will meet someone whom he will choose as a father.
The novel transitions from affinities to deep connections, encompassing education, rebellion, jealousy, or simply love. All finely built around the theme of magic. We discover a city constructed in the desert and immediately dismantled once the celebrations are over: Burning Man. True to life. Amélie Nothomb describes its peculiarities: lightness, talent, temptation, freedom, sharing. We encounter illegal substances that give a high to the main characters of this new work, while others need no such substances to reach the madness they acquired from their experiences.
And as always, the ending surprises.
If Amélie knows how to use her personal experiences to enrich her books with real images described in an incomparable way (her style is quickly recognizable), she remains true to herself by imagining stories out of the ordinary. We wonder how she could have made the journey from point A to point B, with detours that do not betray this arrival in the least, and yet once discovered, each appears as clues.
A trick of… magic. A masterstroke. Once again.
