Reserved for a Bookring, once I have all his novels in hand.

I thought that "The Immaculate Conception" by Soucy was a stunning book. This one is better: more accessible, more profound, funnier, and more inventive. Soucy is being compared to Samuel Beckett (and Italo Calvino, Paul Auster), with good reason. I plan to read all four of his books available in English:

• L'Immaculée conception (1994) (translated as The Immaculate Conception; published in France as 8 décembre)
  
• L'Acquittement (1997) (translated as Atonement)
  
• La petite fille qui aimait trop les allumettes (2000) (translated as The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches)
  
• Music-Hall! (2002) (translated as Vaudeville!)

From the bookjacket (and a fair synopsis, even though phrased in MarketingSpeak):

"This wickedly inventive fabulist tale heralds the arrival of an utterly original voice in contemporary fiction. Alone with their authoritarian father on a vast estate where time has stopped, two siblings speak a language and inhabit a surreal universe of their own making, shaped by their reading of philosophy and tales of chivalry.

"When their father dies and the children set out to bury him, they encounter the inhabitants of the neighboring village for the first time, and the pair's cloak of romance and superstition falls away to reveal the appalling truth of their existence....

"A brilliant, masterful story in which nothing is as it first seems, The Little Girl Who Was Too Fond of Matches is a triumph of suspense, linguistic invention, and a surprising playfulness that peers into the heart of guilt, cruelty, communication, and violence."

[Translated by Sheila Fischman, "the pre-eminent translator of French fiction in Canada."]

BOOKRING

The simple etiquette:
1) Journal when received
2) Message next reader for post address
3) Read and journal (within four weeks would be gracious)
4) Send and journal as posted

The order of go:
Dunzy::Vancouver BC>worldwide/18Sept07 (Lettermail CDN$2.70)
ajsmom::Quesnel BC>worldwide
bibliotreker::Philadelphia PA>North America
rednumbertwo::Halifax NS>North America

Received with thanks (and in store-shelf condition), Wordsnark. I look forward to reading this soon.

RELEASE NOTES:

This is a devastatingly inventive tale, shot through with linguistic pizzazz and the blackest humour.
I downed it in one gulp while nursing an overnight fever -- probably optimal conditions for tackling it!

TESTIMONIAL: If this one hadn't been bookringed, I might well have never caught up with it, which would have been my loss.
Thanks, Wordsnark; it's off to the next ringer.

Woohoo! Book is here and I will start it asap.

Thank goodness for pregnancy insomnia - I finished this book at 4AM and disturbing as it was, managed to get back to sleep. A veritable wordsmith, is Soucy - I loved the language (even in translation) and the gradual revealment of the horrors that took place chez les Soissons. I liked that I had to pay attention and at time re-read bits to make sure I had it all straight. Brilliant.

I will PM bibliotrekker now and get this out in the mail this week. Thanks so much, wordsnark - I will be on the lookout for more Soucy as I have now enjoyed two of his books (Immaculate Conception being one of the rare books I have read twice this year).

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent via air mail to bibliotreker.

Received today, think I'll get right on it; I'm ready for a short read. Thanks for forwarding, ajsmom

This was a bit hard for me to follow with the strange ways of the family and language of the girl/boy. It sort of reminded me of the "Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time" where the autistic boy lived in a world of his own, and no one could quite understand him. Of course, this was a quite different situation.

Will send this on to the next reader as soon as I get an address.

It's here! I'm really looking forward to getting into this one. Thanks for the card, bibliotreker!

How can such a disturbing book be so funny? I really enjoyed this, I liked the feeling of a mystery being revealed slowly. As the end approached, and the full horror became apparent, I was totally engrossed. The language was spectacular, and even though I felt like I could see the french peeking out, the translation was good. I wouldn't mind reading it again in french.

This will be sent back to Wordsnark shortly, to complete the bookring. Thanks for bringing this book (and author) to my attention!

Sent back home today. Thanks so much for sharing, Wordsnark.