In the Absence of Men

I was charmed by 'Lie to Me' when I had heard it as an audiobook two years ago. So, when I saw this book, I wasted no time in getting hold of it. As usual, this is yet another first person, heartfelt, intense narration of love, its vulnerability, its strength and its loss like the previous one. What makes this one different is the space and time in which the pattern of love and its loss was experienced. Second world war is raging fiercely. A sixteen year old boy is crossing paths with a man who’s going to be one of France’s renowned writer in the years to come. His name is Marcel P. Our narrator is charmed by this author, the author’s interest in him, his youth, his tenderness; he can’t help but keep the game of seduction on in various parlours and cafe houses he finds himself with the writer. That sixteen year old boy is also laying his guards down to a young soldier. He is opening his clothes, making his heart naked to someone he shouldn’t be with. And thus, Besson pulls his readers into this intense drama of belongingness, games of witticisms, a fire of joy and tears within a span of less than 200 pages. Earlier I didn’t know the author being referred to was really my beautiful Proust, but I made many guesses through the hints Besson had dropped. My restlessness forced me to look up things on Google and my suspicions were confirmed. Don’t worry, you don’t need to have read Proust to read it. You can still go into this novella without any prior knowledge of him because this story isn’t about him, it’s about the sixteen year old narrator and his little life of being a gay youth in the middle of such a Great War. However, if you have read some of Proust, this book will be a fun experience as it very neatly picks up moments from the books to give a sense of biography of him. I repeat, this is not a book about Proust but in so many ways, I felt this is a book about him without his voice being dominant. This is a book where his life is shown through someone else’s eyes and I thought that was quite fascinating to me. Besson’s writing, sometimes, is quite reminiscent of Andre Aciman’s. There were instances that made me wonder if they’re different at all! Nonetheless, I will recommend this book to you heartily. I think it is bound to be loved, sadly, we love stories that are full of despair and drama (with a tinge of happiness).

The character building and intricacies of a teenager discovering himself with the aid of a celebrated author had this reader rivited. The setting was WWI, Paris, and the details are woven into a solid story this reader could relate to.There are a number of twists and turns that come together in the tragedy of missed opportunities.

Depois de Lie With Me, fiquei com vontade de ler mais do Besson e o escolhido foi esse seu primeiro romance. Sem saber do que se tratava, fiquei positivamente surpreso quando percebi que o Marcel que aparecia como personagem era ninguém menos que Proust - e quando a ficha caiu, o livro ganhou mais e mais camadas de significado. Quem gosta de Proust vai se deliciar com essa homenagem ao autor (e alguns temas de sua obra), que se passa na época da I Guerra Mundial e que vai desde os horrores da guerra até as sensações delicadas e evocativas de encontrar um primeiro amor, para apenas perdê-lo para a brevidade do tempo em que ele pôde realizar-se. Recomendo

Beautiful and well written book. It's both tender and cruel. Really loved it, as I love all the books I've read of this author. I recommend it.

I love the style of this novel, with its absence of certain punctuation that keeps its pages tidier, and the author's stunning prose.

This is the second book I’ve read by the author. It’s poetically and beautifully written, maybe a little long and elegiac for some but I loved the story and the prose and the evocation of the war era and the love between men in those times. I would highly recommend it. It’s a moving and beautiful read.