Jean-Philippe Toussaint on keeping readers on edge
In a France Culture interview, the novelist discusses "La Hantise," the latest installment of his Cycle Detrez, set amid the workings of European institutions.
Jean-Philippe Toussaint was interviewed on France Culture's "Les Midis de culture" on September 1 about his new novel, "La Hantise," which extends the Cycle Detrez. According to the program, the book takes the reader into the maze of European institutions and, in Toussaint's own account, gives in to the pull of the romanesque, the pleasures of plot and story rather than pure formal experiment.
Il faut que le lecteur soit toujours aux abois.
Jean-Philippe Toussaint
The line, which gives the interview its title, sums up how Toussaint frames his approach to fiction: keeping the reader unsettled, never quite secure in what is happening or where the narrative is heading. No further detail on plot, characters or publication date was given in the source material.
"La Hantise" is presented as part of an ongoing cycle centered on a character named Detrez, though the interview summary does not specify how many volumes precede it or what ties them together beyond the recurring figure.
Sources
This article was written from these reports.
