How's the Pain? by Pascal Garnier - Translated by Emily Boyce - #BookReview

 

"The sound coming from somewhere in the darkness was barely audible, but it was enough to shatter his sleep. The drone of the moped grew louder until it was directly beneath his window, grating on his nerves like a dentist's drill boring into a decayed tooth. Then it faded into the distance, leaving nothing behind but a long rip through the fabric of the sleeping city. He hadn't opened his eyes or moved except to twitch his mouth in annoyance at the buzzing mechanical insect."

My past is a joke, my present's a disaster, thank goodness I have no future

Death is Simon's business. And now the ageing vermin exterminator is preparing to die. But he still has one last job down on the coast, and he needs a driver.

Bernard is twenty-one. He can drive and he's never seen the sea. He can't pass up the chance to chauffeur for Simon, whatever his mother may say.

As the unlikely pair set off on their journey, Bernard soon finds that Simon's definition of vermin is broader than he'd expected...

Veering from the hilarious to the horrific, this offbeat story from master stylist Pascal Garnier is at heart an affecting study of human frailty.

***

This book was a detour from my usual reading fare and I really enjoyed it. It is rather bizarre at times and the characters were eccentric but the story really drew me in from the very beginning.

It is a short novel with only just over 170 pages but it has much to commend it within it's covers. It is a gloomy and unconventional story and brings together characters who are very much at odds with one another which I think brings a unique quality to this story. Simon, Bernard and Fiona are far from characters who sit comfortably on the page with one another but it is this that gives the novel a real spark.

It is a novel which is simultaneously dark and humorous and is very cleverly written.

First published in France in 2006 and then in the UK six years later, this short novel has much to offer the reader. 

Have you read any of Garnier's books. I am very tempted to read more of this author's work in the near future.

ISBN: 978 1910477922

Publisher: Gallic Books

About the Author:

Pascal Garnier was born in Paris in 1949. The prize-winning author of over sixty books, he remains a leading figure in contemporary French literature, in the tradition of Georges Simenon. He died in 2010.

About the Translator:

Emily Boyce is an editor and in-house translator at Gallic Books. She lives in London.