The Bathroom [Paperback]

Jean-Philippe Toussaint (Author), Nancy Amphoux (Translator), Paul De Angelis (Translator)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 17, 2008

First published in France in 1985, The Bathroom was Jean-Philippe Toussaint's debut novel, and it heralded a new generation of innovative French literature. In this playful and perplexing book, we meet a young Parisian researcher who lives inside his bathroom. As he sits in his tub meditating on existence (and refusing to tell us his name), the people around him—his girlfriend, Edmondsson, the Polish painters in his kitchen—each in their own way further enables his peculiar lifestyle, supporting his eccentric quest for immobility. But an invitation to the Austrian embassy shakes up his stable world, prompting him to take a risk and leave his bathroom . . .

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An original and significant writer, whose fiction can be as engaging as it is surprising." --The Times Literary Supplement

"Toussaint is a genuinely funny writer . . . small erotic moments are captured perfectly . . . makes me long for more by Toussaint." --Kirkus Review

"The combination of the absurd and the conscious intellect recalls such other French-language writers as Raymond Queneau in a style that is elegant, erudite, and joyously superficial." --Publishers Weekly

Language Notes

Text: English, French (translation) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 102 pages
• Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press; First Dalkey edition (November 17, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1564785181
• ISBN-13: 978-1564785183
• Product Dimensions: 7.4 x 5.3 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 4.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #736,491 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bathroom by Jean-Philippe Toussaint, March 2, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bathroom (Mass Market Paperback)

In this first person monologue, the protagonist tells us about his thoughts, his surroundings, and the other people around him. Each situation reveals his humor suggesting that this is a comedy. We gradually discover that the scenarios, in retrospect, lack credibility, that something unreal or surreal is going on, but almost always whimsically, not Kafkaesque. Until one day there is a climactic event after which we know we have been duped, that perhaps none of it was real, that it may all have been the meanderings of a troubled mind. Still, we cannot be sure. Intriguing is the simple, unembellished prose, perhaps in the manner of our own mental perambulations. Is this why it is appealing?

2 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Bathroom is Bald, December 26, 2008

By 

Exordia N. (Iowa City, Iowa USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Bathroom (Paperback)

Jean-Philippe Toussaint's fidelity to The Bathroom is shaky and tenuous. I strolled into the book thinking that he (nameless Parisian man) was going to spend the entire novella in the bathroom. He spent like two minutes in it.

However, I did enjoy the part where he threw the dart at Edmondsson's forehead, his girlfriend/wife, and the Polish artists deskinning of the squids. His mediation on immobility was a fascination and later a fixation (for me), using Mondrian artwork, on rain, and most conspicuously, the bathroom. Also, the deterioration of the relationship between Edmondsson and the nameless Parisian man was an engaging read. Most interestingly its minimalistic/monochromatic/deadpan depiction.

I wonder though if Toussaint (probably a saint of the most obscure, Parisian sense or a type of pastry) had isolated his protagonist in the bathroom the entire time would I have rated the novel a 5? Instead of a four.

0 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars French humour, February 3, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Bathroom (Hardcover)

A very good novel. Short, entertaining. French humour is maybe rare, but here the main character is excellent; deciding to live in his bathroom, trying to prevent time from passing.I keep asking myself if he succeeds?