Tags
Amelie Nothomb, Book, Book Review, books, Fiction, French, French literature, Journal d'Hirondelle, novel, review
Une histoire d’amour dont les épisodes ont été mélangés par un fou” – Journal d’Hirondelle, Amélie Nothomb.
“A love story where the events were distorted by a lunatic” – Journal d’Hirondelle, Amélie Nothomb (unofficial translation)
Initial Thoughts: Last year, I went to a book sale hosted by a local library. Even though I had plenty of books, and summer was coming to an end, I really wanted to buy as many novels in French as a could. I figured that reading more in French would help me improve my written skills. Meanwhile, at the book fair, I stumbled upon Journal d’Hirondelle by: Amélie Nothomb. I had already been assigned to read Antechrista by: Amélie Nothomb for one of my French courses, and I decided to give it a try.
Summary
After being in a relationship that ended in a bitter heartbreak, a young man has lost all senses of reality. He becomes completely isolated from all sensations of pain and joy. In order to feel again, he decides to become an assassin. One day, after being assigned to assassinate a minister and his family, the man finds the journal of one of his victims. The journal stirs emotions inside him that he believed to be dead. After everything he has done, could he ever find redemption?