Liberal democracies, which are very fragile, are being undermined by far-right populists. Irish writer Paul Lynch sounds the alarm about the dangers weighing on European democracies in The Song of the Prophet (Albin Michel), a dystopian book of rare power. Authoritarianism arrives insidiously, without tanks or flashing lights. It settles in a banal way and gradually eats away at freedoms. Then one day, the prohibitions arrive: the rights to strike, to demonstrate, to express, etc. are trimmed in the name of order and security.
In the Irish writer's fifth novel, it all begins with a simple summons from a unionist teacher, Larry Stack, to the secret police premises. He is summoned to prove his innocence in a non-case. Ireland descends into totalitarianism. In bookstores, January 2, 2025.
Paul Lynch says he started writing the book in 2018 under pressure from the major political events of the time: Trump in power (already), Brexit, the war in Syria and – above all – the refugee crisis. The Irish author is alarmed by the very right-wing shift of certain European governments. In this dystopia which echoes current events, Ireland is giving itself to the extreme right. The police see their prerogatives extended and a new secret police is created. A resistance is trying to organize itself.
Larry Stack's family is fighting to survive. After her husband's arrest, Eilish Stark tries to give their four children a future. The present is made up of disappearances, arrests and executions. To leave is to die a little, to stay is to die a lot. Many people go into exile, forced to choose between the precarious status of refugees or the coffin. And often, future refugees risk their lives trying to reach more welcoming shores.
The form and the content. First of all, the form, solid blocks without paragraphs punctuate an empathetic and nevertheless anxiety-provoking story. The reader, seized by a form of great urgency, is caught by a narrative arrhythmia. The original style accentuates the distressing atmosphere that permeates Paul Lynch's work. The bottom, then. The Song of the Prophet is a novel, a political manifesto that questions consciences. What would you do in Eilish Stark's place? What Paul Lynch describes so carefully is undoubtedly happening all over the world. The novelist, for whom “If you have to censor your speech, then you are in danger”warns of what may happen, and the dangers of creeping tyranny. Before it's too late. The Song of the Prophet, prix Booker Prize 2023, a great immersive novel full of empathy and commitment. Paul Lynch, a conscience awakener to read as soon as possible. Essential.
(The Song of the Prophet, Paul Lynch, translated by Marina Boraso, Albin Michel, 293 pages, 22.90 euros)
