Our Reading Journey

In the Winter of 2022, we delved into the dizzying and cruel aftermath of November 1918. Our discussion centered on the bond between Albert and Edouard, two brothers in arms whose survival becomes a burden to a France desperate to enter the Roaring Twenties. We analyzed the central irony of the novel: a state that glorifies the fallen with cold stone monuments while treating its living, disfigured veterans as social debris.

The highlight of our debate was the national scam—a plot of absolute cynicism where the duo sells fake war memorials to the very society that rejected them. We explored the character of Edouard Péricourt, the artistic genius whose “broken face” (gueule cassée) led him to create a series of haunting, theatrical masks. For our members, this was a study in identity as a performance—using art not to heal, but to hide and to strike back at a hypocritical world. We analyzed the novel as a picaresque tragedy, where the pacing of a thriller meets the weight of history. We concluded that the book is a devastating critique of patriotic morality, proving that in the wake of total war, the only true victory is found in the audacity of survival.

About the Author

Pierre Lemaitre (b. 1951) is a rare literary talent who transitioned from being a master of the roman noir (crime fiction) to a winner of the Prix Goncourt in 2013. His background in suspense gives Au revoir là-haut its breathless, cinematic quality—a trait successfully captured in Albert Dupontel's 2017 film adaptation. Lemaitre is celebrated for his ability to weave complex social critiques into high-stakes, popular narratives, cementing his place as a modern successor to the great 19th-century realists.