RavePopmattersIn the hands of another artist, Girls Against God might have ended up as a fairly run-of-the-mill book of memoirs of the sort that an accomplished and acclaimed avant-garde singer-songwriter like Hval would doubtlessly have found no trouble selling. What she produced instead is something more abstract, unpredictable, and daring. It is not a memoir, although there are clear overlaps between her protagonist and her own background, yet in some ways it can hardly be called a novel either ... Girls Against God is compelling, surprising, and frequently inspiring ... an [...] important aspect of the novel\'s success is Hval\'s undeniable writing talent. Girls Against God is original, powerful, and successful enough (even with its incredibly unlikely premise) to make it a much higher work of literature than any typical genre story.
Yannick Haenel Trans. by Teresa Fagan
RavePopMatters... exactly the sort of novel that I had been awaiting for such a long time. I wanted something that challenged me, and Hold Fast Your Crown does that to such a point that I am challenged even to describe its plot ... undeniably a mess, and yet it works, in no small measure thanks to Haenel\'s strange and haunting prose ... If you like literature that is reflective and stimulating, then Hold Fast Your Crown will give you what you are looking for in spades ... not a book for everyone. I can very well imagine some readers being bored by the wandering plot or angered by the madness of the narrator...Having said that, I cannot help but feel that the novel is unwieldy by design, and that there is an order subtending the chaos ... it shocked me, excited me, angered me, compelled me, delighted me more than any French book I\'ve read that has been written in the last 50 years, and as far as I\'m concerned that\'s all I need to highly recommend Haenel\'s book.
Maylis De Kerangal Trans. by Sam Taylor
MixedPopMattersThe simplicity of the story belies the novel\'s stylistic efficiency, which is frankly amazing. De Kerangal is excellent at writing about food ... The segments about food alternate with equally well-executed descriptions of streets, restaurants, markets and cities, which are brought to life with impressionistic sensitivity ... Though the novel is ostensibly about cooking, I would much sooner recommend this as a guide (or even a model for) the craft of writing. De Kerangal has a real gift for juggling narrative techniques that captivate the reader and make her world feel alive ... Unfortunately, what the novel boasts in style, it lacks in substance...often reads like it\'s sketching some sort of aesthetic concern through its story...sticks so closely to the simplicity and the linearity of its premise that deeper meanings are only glimpsed and never found ... As importantly, the narrator (or perhaps the author) too often comes frustratingly short of self-awareness ... There can be no doubt that de Kerangal is an impressively talented writer...When you are ensconced in such disarming romanticism, who needs to bother with responsibility? Not The Cook.
Antoine Laurain, Trans. by Louise Rogers-Lalaurie
RavePopMattersThe essence here is not the investigation, but the murky reasons behind the crimes, and these reasons are at once nostalgic and satirical, romantic and cynical. The plot has a touch of the surreal about it ... Smoking Kills won\'t satisfy you if you\'re looking for a fast-paced crime novel, but it works—and impressively well—in all other respects: the writing here is light, distinctive and drenched with irony. The narrator\'s laconic and sometimes downright insulting comments on everything that surrounds him make for a cynical joy to read ... The book\'s constant interplay between themes of personal and social freedom is not just delightful, it\'s also distinctly adult and unassuming ... factoring in one of the most savage, most gloriously satisfying endings I\'ve read in ages, I can\'t help but recommend this book for what it is: a gem.
