by Jacques Roubaud
Besides the fact, that it is a disturbing story about friendship and betrayal, I found it interesting that it follows self imposed formal restrictions. Roubaud is member if the Oulipo movement. The basic principle of the movement is to chose some rules to follow – most likely only invented of one piece of art – and applying them strictly throughout the text. For example, a rule could be to use just one vowel. That sounds strange and tiring to the reader. But the art is to still tell your story and to make forget that you are following these formal restrictions.
In this novella it is about 55,000 lost golf balls the protagonist has to gather as fulfillment of a promise he made as an adolescent to his best buddy. This trick turns an otherwise ordinary life into an extraordinary one.
The edition I bought had the additional pleasure of being well designed and made out of superb material. As times go by this aspect becomes more and more important to me.
In this novella it is about 55,000 lost golf balls the protagonist has to gather as fulfillment of a promise he made as an adolescent to his best buddy. This trick turns an otherwise ordinary life into an extraordinary one.
The edition I bought had the additional pleasure of being well designed and made out of superb material. As times go by this aspect becomes more and more important to me.
Facts:
English title: n/a
Original title: La Dernière Balle perdue
Published: 2003
