Malicroix

(Paperback)

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Fans of the style of William Faulkner will want to read Henri Bosco, four-time nominee for the Nobel Prize in Literature. Available in English for the first time, Malicroix tells the story of a recluse living in the French countryside, unraveling how he came to a life of solitude. Although relatively unknown today by readers of English, Henri Bosco (1888-1976) was a prolific, well-respected, and popular mid-twentieth century French writer. The author of over thirty volumes of fiction and poetry, he received the Grand prix national des lettres, the Grand prix de l'Academie francaise, and the Prix des Ambassadeurs. Malicroix, hailed as Bosco's "finest achievement" and praised for its "intimate blending of the real world and the world of myth" (F.W. Saunders), is extensively cited by Gaston Bachelard in his influential The Poetics of Space and The Poetics of Reverie. Bachelard calls Malicroix a "vast prose poem" and writes of returning again and again to this distinctive, haunting novel. Set in the early nineteenth century, Malicroix is the first-person narrative of a diffident, provincial young man who inherits from a great-uncle a house on an island in the Rhone, in the desolate and wild Camargue region. In order to actually acquire the house, the young man must live alone in it for three months, coming to terms with the huge and turbulent river (always threatening to flood the island and the countryside), the wild wind (blowing fiercely around his tiny shelter), and his own unaccustomed solitude. He must also complete a challenging task set by his great-uncle and resist the efforts of others who are bent on acquiring the house and the land for themselves. The novel traces the narrator's experiences as he comes into full possession not only of his inheritance but, more importantly, of himself.

Reviews

[A] charming back-to-nature fantasia . . . even the strange blood feud bequeathed from Malicroix against a neighboring clan has a timeless, romantic quality. Sam Sacks, The Wall Street Journal

"Readers partial to philosophical tangents will find much to enjoy here. . . . [A] work of tremendous lyricism."Kirkus

"[A] gothic historical par excellence . . . Boscos atmospheric investigation of the relationship between environment and mentality successfully merges haunted-house tropes and high modernism." Publishers Weekly

"In this vast prose-poem . . . the author takes the time to show the harrowing of space in which the house is to live like an anguished heart. . . . The real drama of Malicroix is an ordeal by solitude."Gaston Bachelard, The Poetics of Space

[Malicroix is] about solitude, and the anticipation of salvation . . . Boscos book is stranger than Id anticipated. Islands favor the moon, someone warns him as his residence on the island is about to begin. Dreams form over water, peopling it with unreal, captivating shapes; and if you dream too much, Sir, you will never leave this isle of magic. Ive read elsewhere that were all havingstrange dreamsat this moment; if for some reason you arent, Malicroix approximates that experience. Rumaan Alam, The New Republics Critical Mass: Text Message

The psychology of isolation, described with keenly observed interiority, fever dreams, and exalted, nearly animistic descriptions of nature are the highlights of these pages. . . . There is an almost mythical family curse at work on our narrator, but the real thrill of this book is the poetic power of the writer. David Todd, Booktrib (Minneapolis Star Tribune)

Bosco is sometimes thought of as kin to his near contemporary Jean Giono . . . [Malicroix] is both exciting and philosophical. The perfect book for a time when so many of us are thinking a lot about place. Eiger, Mnch & Jungfrau

Henri Bosco has done a masterful job of creating a sense of place . . . I loved this book, for the beautiful writing (and translation!) allowing me to contemplate the slow pace that we ourselves are now living . . . It is a time of seclusion that proves Martials worth, as he must overcome severe adversity and his fears. . . . perhaps we, too, would be well-served to sit quietly by the fire, calmly reviewing our lives. Dolce Bellezza

Bosco sustains a feeling of eerie uncertainty. . . [Malicroixs] atmosphere . . . is of a sinister dream-fog. M.A. Orthofer, The Complete Review

Author Bio

Henri Bosco (1888-1976) was a French writer who was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. His family was of Provencal, Ligurian, and Piedmontese origin, and much of his work focused on Provencal life. Joyce Zonana is a writer and literary translator. She is the author of a memoir, Dream Homes- From Cairo to Katrina, an Exile's Journey, and her writing has been published in Hudson Review, Signs, and Meridians, among other publications. She received an ALTA Emerging Translator Mentorship for her translation of Henri Bosco's Malicroix for NYRB Classics.