PARIS – French novelist Claude Simon, a Nobel Prize-winning pioneer of the experimental “new novel” style that emerged in the late 1950s and early 1960s, died last week.
He was 91. Born on October 10 1913, in the former French colony of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, Simon descended from a long line of southern French wine producers and cavalrymen.He spent most of his early years with his mother’s family in the southwestern town of Perpignan.Simon, who spent time at Oxford and Cambridge universities in Britain, once identified himself as a “wine-grower” first and “man of letters” second.Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin expressed his “very deep sadness” about the death of Simon, saying “French literature has lost one of its greatest authors”.”Claude Simon will remain as one of the great novelists of collective and individual memory,” Villepin said, according to a statement from his office.As a young man, Simon showed a passion for photography and painting.At 23, he joined the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.In World War II, he fought in the 1940 Battle of the Meuse and was taken prisoner, but later escaped and joined the Resistance.He began writing in 1945 with ‘Le Tricheur’ (‘The Cheat’), an existential fable that resembled ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus – also a French Nobel laureate.The Swedish Academy that awarded Simon the 1985 Nobel Prize for literature cited the 1981 novel ‘Les Georgiques’ (”The Georgics’) as perhaps his most important work.The book depicts his experience in the Spanish Civil War.At the time, he was the first Frenchman to win the Nobel since playwright and author Jean-Paul Sartre was honoured with the award but turned it down in 1964.The author of over 20 works, Simon’s major breakthrough as an exponent of the French “new novel” style came in 1960, with ‘La Route Des Flandres’ (‘The Road to Flanders’), set during World War II.The “new novel” style dispensed with such literary norms as plot and character development.Simon’s novels present characters in a state of emotional turmoil, often obsessed with memories.Simon’s intricate, free-flowing style make his works difficult to read – said to partly explain why he was not well-known even in France.Some critics compared his jumbled chronology and abrupt transitions to the techniques of William Faulkner, the American author.Simon, who acknowledged Faulkner was one of his influences, once said of his own work: “I am incapable of making up a story.All I write is taken directly from real life, I only copy reality.”Simon’s last novel, ‘The Trolley’ of 2001, recalled his life as a boy in Perpignan, and depicted how the foundation of a person’s life is what he remembers.”People will get to understand my work sooner or later.This is nothing new, that some authors are considered difficult,” he was quoted by Swedish news agency TT as saying in 1985.- Nampa-APBorn on October 10 1913, in the former French colony of Madagascar off the east coast of Africa, Simon descended from a long line of southern French wine producers and cavalrymen.He spent most of his early years with his mother’s family in the southwestern town of Perpignan.Simon, who spent time at Oxford and Cambridge universities in Britain, once identified himself as a “wine-grower” first and “man of letters” second.Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin expressed his “very deep sadness” about the death of Simon, saying “French literature has lost one of its greatest authors”.”Claude Simon will remain as one of the great novelists of collective and individual memory,” Villepin said, according to a statement from his office.As a young man, Simon showed a passion for photography and painting.At 23, he joined the Republican side in the Spanish Civil War.In World War II, he fought in the 1940 Battle of the Meuse and was taken prisoner, but later escaped and joined the Resistance.He began writing in 1945 with ‘Le Tricheur’ (‘The Cheat’), an existential fable that resembled ‘The Stranger’ by Albert Camus – also a French Nobel laureate.The Swedish Academy that awarded Simon the 1985 Nobel Prize for literature cited the 1981 novel ‘Les Georgiques’ (”The Georgics’) as perhaps his most important work.The book depicts his experience in the Spanish Civil War.At the time, he was the first Frenchman to win the Nobel since playwright and author Jean-Paul Sartre was honoured with the award but turned it down in 1964.The author of over 20 works, Simon’s major breakthrough as an exponent of the French “new novel” style came in 1960, with ‘La Route Des Flandres’ (‘The Road to Flanders’), set during World War II.The “new novel” style dispensed with such literary norms as plot and character development.Simon’s novels present characters in a state of emotional turmoil, often obsessed with memories.Simon’s intricate, free-flowing style make his works difficult to read – said to partly explain why he was not well-known even in France.Some critics compared his jumbled chronology and abrupt transitions to the techniques of William Faulkner, the American author.Simon, who acknowledged Faulkner was one of his influences, once said of his own work: “I am incapable of making up a story.All I write is taken directly from real life, I only copy reality.”Simon’s last novel, ‘The Trolley’ of 2001, recalled his life as a boy in Perpignan, and depicted how the foundation of a person’s life is what he remembers.”People will get to understand my work sooner or later.This is nothing new, that some authors are considered difficult,” he was quoted by Swedish news agency TT as saying in 1985.- Nampa-AP
