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Poetry. What can one say of Pinget, as he comes through in Miss Wright's loving translations, except that he conveys, amid much wilful murk, an impression of integrity, intelligence and power? -- John Updike. Having translated thirteen earlier works by Pinget, Barbara Wright has much to say about this important personage of contemporary French letters, and appends a useful afterword to this volume: TRACES OF INK is Robert Pinget's last published book. It came out in the spring of 1997, and was followed that summer by a colloquium in Tours celebrating every aspect of his work; this was a happy, successful occasion which Pinget much enjoyed. Only a month later, though, he had a stroke and died. It is fitting that Pinget's last work is written in a notebook form, his signature genre despite his writing of both novels and plays. Pinget helps us to stay alive and sustain our own enquiry -- Barbara Wright, (Afterword).
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"In this first comprehensive study of Pinget published in English, Leonard A. Rosmarin argues that each of Pinget's novels, plays, and even narratives represents successive stages in an inner voyage of exploration. As Pinget probes deeper and deeper into his imaginary universe, its confines, Rosmarin asserts, seem to expand, opening up innumerable perspectives, bringing forth all kinds of disquieting paradoxes." "Rosmarin shows how Pinget's fascination with the subconscious explains, at least in part, his attraction to the Nouveau Roman. Lucid control is a means to an end, Rosmarin maintains, with the end being the in-depth exploration of the unfathomable riches hidden within the subconscious. Because the subconscious contains an infinite variety of possibilities to explore, Pinget has always found it necessary to devise a special tone for each novel he embarked on." "Ultimately, Rosmarin observes that Pinget, like his enigmatic protagonists, has embarked on an endless search for a magical formula - the essential truth or truths of his being that will make him whole again."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved
The Inquisitory consists entirely of the interrogation of an old, deaf servant regarding unspecified crimes that may or may not have taken place at his master's French chateau. The servant's replies - which are by turns comic, straightforward, angry, nostalgic, and disingenuous - hint at a variety of seedy events, including murder, orgies, tax fraud, and drug deals. Of course, the servant wasn't involved with any of these activities - if the reader chooses to believe him. In trying to convince the inquisitor of his innocence, the servant creates a web of half-truths, vague references, and glaring inconsistencies amid "forgotten" details, indicating that he may know more than he's letting on.
This volume explores the influence of the avant-garde French novel form known as Nouveau Roman on experimental prose fiction and post-war literary culture in Britain.
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