The Mercy Room--Gilles Rozier

First off, the title--where does one get The Mercy Room for Un Amour sans résistance? That, of course, is a trivial quibble aimed at American editors who feel they need to pump up the value of a book through its title.  The French title is a far more accurate, and unfortunately for the book, the theme that is not sufficiently explored and teased out in the course of the novel.

Briefly, a narrator about whom we know neither name nor sex (this is the big sell on the bookjacket) works for the Germans in occupied France as a translator of key documents. One day this narrator encounters a soldier that s/he had encountered before.  He is a Jew and he is in a gestapo headquarters.  The narrator manages to sneak this man out of the building and hide him in the basement of her/his home.  There they become erotically engaged over a Yiddish translation of the poetry of Heinrich Heine.  (It sounds more ludicrous in the description of it than it actually plays out in the book.)

As noted, one of the "selling points" of the book was the identity of the narrator about whom we know nothing regarding name or gender.  And unfortunately, that is perhaps one of the least interesting points of the book.  More interesting is the question of what is collaboration and what is resistance and when does one shade into another.  This is a compelling question from a variety of points of view, and one that puzzles a great many people of faith as we contemplate the question of material cooperation with evil. Unfortunately, while some effective probes are made in this direction and in the direction of the role of art and literature in engagement, much of the effect is lost to the experiment in presenting a sexless narrator--a "trick" that might have been better reserved for a book all of its own--certainly a worthwhile and interesting tack, but given the depth of the other subject matter, one that tends to divert from the main course and the most interesting aspects of what could be treated here.

Overall, the writing is fine, clear, and convincing.  The experiment, successful as far as it goes, but distracting.  The story interesting, but not sufficiently fleshed-out.  It serves, in its present state, unfortunately, as a palate-cleanser but not really as a full meal.

***

Comments

  1. I am fascinated by the concept of collaboration so it sounds like this book is for me. Great review!

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  2. Dear Connie,

    Always a pleasure and a privilege to be of service. I hope you find it interesting and rewarding--there are many good things about the book (the writing is quite fine is some places).

    shalom,

    Steven

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