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For his doctoral thesis on what it means to live in the countryside in the 21st century, ethnology student David Mazon leaves Paris and moves to a modest village in the French countryside. To better immerse himself in the spirit of the place, David becomes a frequent visitor to the Fisherman’s Cafe and the exuberant Mayor Martial. Martial is also the local funeral home owner and hosts The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild, a giant three-day celebration during which Death gives a respite so that the gravediggers-and readers-can have unabashed fun.
For his doctoral thesis on what it means to live in the countryside in the 21st century, ethnology student David Mazon leaves Paris and moves to a modest village in the French countryside. Settled on Matilda and Garry’s farm and quickly equipped with a helpful motorbike for conducting his research, the newcomer begins to keep a diary, recording small events and local customs, determined to define and capture the quintessence of rural life. To better immerse himself in the spirit of the place, David becomes a frequent visitor to the Fisherman’s Cafe and the exuberant Mayor Martial. Martial is also the local funeral home owner and hosts The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild, a giant three-day celebration during which Death gives a respite so that the gravediggers-and readers-can have unabashed fun.
In a fabulous profusion of food, libations, and words, with ceaseless back and forth between present and past, following the vagaries of the Wheel of Time in which Death resurrects the souls he captures, the author of Compass (2015 Goncourt Prize) reveals the popular culture in all its depth. He draws on mythology, literature, politics, and science to enliven a narrative full of estrangement, hilarity, and humor with their juices.
Can one write a novel in the manner of Rabelais in the 21st century without his attempt ending up as a caricature? Mathias Énard, the winner of the 2015 Goncourt Prize for his beautiful and thoughtful novel Compass, proves that he can. With The Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild, he offers us the most exuberant yet soothing novel we have read in a long time.
Few books on death can be uplifting as the Annual Banquet of the Gravediggers’ Guild.
This novel is a reflection of the art of the novel. It draws us into its dizzying cycles through revolutions, transformations, variations, or alternations of characters, places, and times. To create is to record the flights of fancy and expose oneself by stepping out of oneself and leading one’s readership to transcend oneself.
Énard’s novel is an ironic meditation on the fantasy of returning to rural life, echoing contemporary reflections on the relationship between man and nature and the desire to change one’s life and save the world. Delightful and refreshing.
Whose reincarnation is Mathias Énard: an enthusiastic troubadour, a cunning fox from a medieval fairy tale, or an educated postman from 1914? What is certain is that he follows the genius and mad compass of his imagination and once again invites the reader to get drunk on literature.
Mathias Énard
