Atonement

by Gaétan Soucy

Book Overview

Atonement is Sheila Fischman's translation of Gaetan Soucy's brilliant novel, originally published in French as L'Acquittement. Twenty years after leaving the tiny village of Saint Aldor, Louis... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0887847803
• ISBN13: 9780887847806
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: House of Anansi Press
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.29 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 5.4" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

A BREATHTAKINGLY BEAUTIFUL WORK

After reading Gaetan Soucy's incredible THE LITTLE GIRL WHO WAS TOO FOND OF MATCHES, I couldn't wait to get my hands on this earlier novel -- and I was not disappointed. Soucy is one of my favorite discoveries in literature. This slim volume (104 pages) drew me quickly into the author's created world, weaving the story with a sense of mystery unlike anything I've ever read. There is a sense of starkly-drawn, detailed images combined with an eerie sense of unreality at work here -- there were times when I didn't know which was which. The feelings that torment the main character, organist-composer Louis Bapaume, come alive within these pages -- his pain and loss, his guilt, his love of his music, all become real within us as we experience the strange events depicted here. Bapaume has journeyed from his home in Montreal to the small, remote village of Saint-Aldor -- but for what purpose? The mystery of this unfolds slowly, like a delicate flower, in Soucy's hands -- we learn a little more of Bapaume's mission as we learn a little more about him, and we are left 'hanging' until the final pages.I was so taken with the story and the author's style that I re-read the book immediately upon finishing it. The overall effect is not unlike viewing a painting -- every painstakingly worked detail is even more beautiful upon re-examination. I only wish there were more works available in English by this author.

this novel will blow you away

WOW, ONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING NOVELS I'VE READ IN A LONG TIME. POWERFULLY SPIRITUAL, AND FULL OF AMAZING IMAGERY! A MUST READ!