Du Boucheron, Bernard 1928-

PERSONAL:

Born 1928, in Paris, France. Education: Graduated from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and the National School of Administration (ENA).

CAREER:

Writer; worked in international aeronautics and engineering industries.

AWARDS, HONORS:

Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie Française, 2004, for The Voyage of the Short Serpent; Bourse Goncourt Jeunesse, 2006, for Un roi, une princesse et une pieuvre.

WRITINGS:

Court serpent (novel), Gallimard (Paris, France), 2004, translation by Hester Velmans published as The Voyage of the Short Serpent, Overlook Press (New York, NY), 2008.

Un roi, une princesse et une pieuvre (children's book), Gallimard Jeunesse (Paris, France), 2005.

Coup-de-fouet (novel), Gallimard (Paris, France), 2006.

Chien des os (novel), Gallimard (Paris, France), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Bernard du Boucheron was born in 1928 in Paris, France. He attended the Institute of Political Studies in Paris and the National School of Administration (ENA), and went on to work in international aeronautics and engineering industries over the span of his career. Du Boucheron was not initially a writer; he had a full life before ever deciding to become an author. He did not write his first book until he was in his mid-seventies, at which point he published the novel Court serpent in 2004, which was translated by Hester Velmans as The Voyage of the Short Serpent in 2008. Despite being his first effort, the book brought du Boucheron major critical acclaim, and he was eventually awarded the Grand Prix du Roman de l'Académie Française for the work.

Du Boucheron's The Voyage of the Short Serpent takes place in Greenland during the Middle Ages, and is written in the French tradition of stories in which one or a group of civilized individuals find themselves isolated in a decidedly uncivilized place. In this type of story, it is only a matter of time before the various trappings of the characters' cultured, polite, refined lifestyle begin to wear away, leaving them at their most basic and primal levels. I. Montanus is sent to the city of Nidaros (present day Trondheim, Norway), in order to introduce the Catholic religion to the residents of New Thule, a lost colony. Montanus soon discovers that the people living in New Thule do not have a moral compass as determined by Christian guidelines and mores. Instead of living moral lives, they wallow in sin and pleasures that he would prefer not to consider, and sodomy and bigamy are both rampant. Even worse, they also practice incest and cannibalism, concepts sure to disturb even modern readers for whom the earlier mentioned sins are hardly shocking.

However, Montanus's mission is fraught with dangers and misadventures. On the way to Greenland, frigid temperatures and storms strand his ship and freeze his crew, many of whom resort to eating their own frozen appendages when supplies run low. When they arrive in Greenland, they encounter men, women, and children who have been brutally slain. Montanus, though, is an inquisitor, and so he continues on to New Thule and strives to take charge. In order to set the tone of his presence, he sentences two locals to burn at the stake, and he continues to take hard measures for the sake of civilizing the colony. He succeeds, but ultimately for a very high price. A contributor to Kirkus Reviews found the book to be "sparse, rawboned and fascinating." Ian Chipman, in a review for Booklist, commented that the writing is "splendid," and that the book is a "strangely pleasurable and completely riveting read, if [you have] the stomach for it." Ligaya Mishan, writing in the New York Times Book Review, dubbed the book "a portrait of a society destroyed by its inflexibility, by its obstinate faith in its superiority."

Du Boucheron told CA: "When I write, I first visualize a place, a setting. Then I imagine a story that suits, and in some fashion ‘invades,’ the place. Then I set my ‘puppets’ of flesh and blood sparely, with maybe a soul. And I make them act. Mostly the choice of avenues for action is irrevocable: I very rarely revise, except style and action details. I write by hand. My wife puts my work on her computer.

"My favorite of my books is Coup-de-fouet. I find it spare, fast, and poignant as the story of a courageous, brilliant man who falls to pieces and becomes eventually a traitor to his own destiny."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Booklist, December 1, 2007, Ian Chipman, review of The Voyage of the Short Serpent, p. 23.

Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2007, review of The Voyage of the Short Serpent.

Library Journal, December 1, 2007, Emily Benson, review of The Voyage of the Short Serpent, p. 98.

New York Times Book Review, February 3, 2008, Ligaya Mishan, "The Bishop's Report," review of The Voyage of the Short Serpent.

Publishers Weekly, November 12, 2007, review of The Voyage of the Short Serpent, p. 38.

ONLINE

Complete Review Web site,http://www.completereview.com/ (August 13, 2008), author profile; review of The Voyage of the Short Serpent.

Duckworth Publishers Web site,http://www.ducknet.co.uk/ (August 13, 2008), author profile.

Houston Chronicle Online,http://www.chron.com/ (January 11, 2008), Robert Zaresky, "Humanity Decivilized," review of The Voyage of the Short Serpent.