Ebook - Golem

ebook - Golem

By : Pierre Assouline

Score : 6/10

Year : 2015

Publisher : Gallimard

ISBN : 9782072552458 

Pages: 170* (258)

Language : French

Before my review, I specify that I first borrowed (from the library) the physical version, ISBN 9782070146185, but that I had to return it, and replaced it by borrowing the ebook edition read and commented on here. The 258 pages of the paper edition became 170 in the scanned version.

Challenges carried out at the LucieBulle club: Bibliobook (from library). 

I move on to the back cover, because it is misleading.

Gustave Meyer, international chess grandmaster, sees his life turned upside down on the eve of a tournament when he is suspected of the murder of his ex-wife. Deeply disturbed, the fugitive decides to investigate himself to prove his innocence and resist the pressure that invades him. From library research on Kabbalah to meetings with neuroscience specialists, the oldest and most futuristic theories lead him to a terrible discovery. Will he be strong enough to face the truth?

In reality, Gustave Meyer saw his life turned upside down a few weeks before the tournament, not the day before.

In fact, he leaves his friend, a surgeon, after a consultation, because he suffers from headaches, and wonders if the operation he underwent for his epileptic seizures is related. As he leaves the hospital, two police officers take him away, without explaining to him what he is accused of, and following a situation of general confusion, Gustave takes off.

Subsequently, he learns that he is in fact suspected of having killed his wife, and sets out on his own investigation - evading the police. Someone pointed out that this escape with a lack of traceability is unlikely today, and although I agree that it is unlikely, there are real criminals who make a new life and disappear - moreover, some are still untraceable after many years - so this aspect does not bother me in the novel.

Golem begins like a crime thriller: we have a suspicious death; a fugitive suspect; a police on his trail. Then, the story takes a philosophical turn, through the escape of Gustave Meyer, and his personal research into his state of health which leads him towards disturbing discoveries, concerning what he is becoming - a sort of modernized Golem...

In fact, the real problem with the novel is this: it is based on myths of the Golem, this artificial human, supposedly created by a rabbi in the 16th century, and which, like other legends and myths, was translated, modified and spent the following centuries being retold so many times, that a modern addition which is in fact much more realistic today - within the limits given in the novel, and not within the proponents of the 'original' golem - we have enough culture to explore.

However, Pierre Assouline throws at us cultural references from all horizons throughout the book, like a sort of intellectual feat in the image of the prodigious memory of the hero, and this weighs down, in my opinion, the main goal (apparently ?) of this specific novel: that of raising philosophical questions.

Thus, the journey undertaken, the cities and especially the people encountered, and what Gustave is becoming, raise the question of memory, firstly individual - he remembers old chess games and can reuse as soon as necessity knocks at his door (that of his escape and the need for money).

Then, does this individual memory remain in existence, or does the collective memory erase it? What are the risks, or advantages, of the intangible world of the Internet and Information? These are interesting reflections, which he has woven with the Jewish identity of this main character,  whose quests also gives an overview of the post-humanist universe, without deepening it, any more than the thriller mix , philosophy, religion and travelogue that make up Golem.

The second problem is the abrupt passage of the manhunt - all in all very limited in its capabilities and with an aspect of a bizarre friendship which forms between the main investigator, Nina, and the suspect's daughter - but above all the outcome which passes so quickly, that we don't see the link between two crucial moments between stalking still there, and hey, is it already resolved? Shall we move on to the post-investigation?

In fact, if I read until the end, it was because, despite these points, the narrative pen has very beautiful sentences here and there, very colorful, poetic, and philosophical. Golem has been compared with Umberto Eco's The Name of the Rose; not having read it, I cannot express myself on it. On the other hand, I find it in the vein of The Da Vinci Code, by Dan Brown, but in a more literary version and with more sophisticated sentences - with more intrigue, we want to know both if Gustave really killed his wife and if that's why he's fleeing, or if there are other reasons, and also know why he's golemized.

Well, the author admits in the epilogue: "From my point of view, I inspired it as a thriller, just because I like thrillers" and "Basically, it's a way of conveying my thoughts ,... but in a simpler way" and we see here a precise decision behind this story - which navigates as best it can through the twists and turns of cultural references, probably too numerous.

So, after careful reflection, I must say that my opinion is mixed: in wanting to give everything, Pierre Assouline gave too much: cultural information, travel, research, but also not enough - how do we go from a chase to a resolution so quickly? why do we have clichés and a feeling of unfinished business and missed potential?