Invasive species. You who enter here, abandon all logic, all idea of understanding what you are reading. And let yourself be seduced by this text, this story where absolutely NOTHING happens, in a dreamlike, hushed universe, where reeds invade everything and become the only authorized subject of conversation for the rare inhabitants of the town of Nova Radom (NoRa ).
Scientists whose purpose of research (astronomy?) is unknown, are recruited at the Pillitzsee congress, like the narrator, Jean. He agrees to participate, as Curator, in the Program decided by the Directory: build a gigantic telescope “capable of going back in time, exploring the limits of the universe, contemplating the birth of the world”. But nothing comes. He carries around his boredom all week, waiting for Saturday evening when we meet at the Maison Commune to drink Gûl, a type of oily alcohol made from reeds, which helps fight against the stench and miasmas that these these are broadcast. The reeds obscure everything – to run, the train must have a mowing locomotive -, except in spring, one month a year, when the atmosphere softens and the light returns. The years pass, slowly, and we are not even allowed, in Nova Radom, to talk about it. Jean will in turn welcome a new Curator. And the Bygone Times will last a long time. We think of Buzzati, Gracq, Jacques Abeille and his Statuary gardens. A fantastic cold, elegant wine, served by limpid, captivating writing. From Villemin, enter the dream.
Jean Villemin
The land of standing herbs
The Dilettantes
Edition: 2000 copies.
Price: €17; 128 p.
ISBN: 9791030801491
