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In “Ceci n’est pas un fait divers” (Julliard), Philippe Besson highlights the horror of such a crime and its impact on those around the victim.
By Elise Lepine
Sober. Philippe Besson or the nuances of shock.
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“IDidn’t he do it on purpose? She settled for the bare minimum: “Yes.” A calm, definitive “if”. Which sent us straight to hell. Those who love Philippe Besson often take the train, as if to rush straight into the heart of reality. After having taken us, in his previous novel, on board the Paris-Briançon which crashed into a truck in 1966, causing the death of five people, he invites us there this time alongside a 19-year-old dancer whose life has just been shattered. If the Parisian jumps on a TGV in the direction of his native province, without even taking the time to buy a ticket, it is because his little sister, Léa, 13, has just told him by telephone that “dad just killed mom”. Great author of the intimate, Philippe Besson seizes what the s…
Philippe MATSAS/Leextra via opale.photo