Amazon.com: By a Slow River: Philippe Claudel: Books

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14 Reviews

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
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4.2 out of 5 stars (14 customer reviews)

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9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like discovering a classic, June 17, 2006

By

Jane, reading groupie (Houston, TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: By a Slow River (Hardcover)

I was especially fascinated by Claudel's handling of the theme of murder during a time of war (WWI): on a gut level it's a perfectly crafted who-dunnit, with an amazing twist. The policeman who narrates the story thinks he's a pretty sharp judge of human nature, but he learns a thing or two not just about his neighbors but ultimately about himself, as he tries to solve the murder of little girl while the sons of the nation are being slaughtered at the front near his town. Ultimately he finds you can't completely uncover anyone's nature, not even your own. This is such an interesting book and such a beatifully told story--like discovering a classic--I want all my friends to read it so we can discuss. You'll be thinking about these characters long after you put the book down. Held me from start to finish. Bravo!

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11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Heartbreakingly beautiful, July 1, 2006

By

Dr Beverly R Vincent "deadzone" (The Woodlands, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: By a Slow River (Hardcover)

This is one of the most beautifully written novels I've read in a long time. I can only imagine what it must have been like in its original French. At the same time, it is an existential story of cold, lost men, the grey souls alluded to in the book's original title.

The stark juxtaposition of life-as-usual in a small town and the bombs of a world war bursting only a few kilometers away defines the novel. Its non-chronological construction gives readers snapshots in time and then backs up to show the confluence of events that conspired to create the gritty reality contained in those images.

Profoundly touching, and full of observations that make me as a reader nod in agreement.

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7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars terrific psychological historical thriller, June 17, 2006

By

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER) (TOP 1000 REVIEWER) (REAL NAME)

This review is from: By a Slow River (Hardcover)

Former Police officer Dadais reflects back two decades to December 1917, the French villagers are shocked when the strangled corpse of ten years old girl Belle "Morning Glory" Bourrache is found by the banks BY A SLOW RIVER that slices through a small, unnamed French village. The townsfolk find the crime hideous as the murder of a child could only have been done by an animal. On the other hand he wonders how everyone including him takes for granted that the nearby battles against Germans will leave both sides filled with uncountable numbers of dead.

Dadais remembers how he struggled to uncover the identity of the repulsive killer. Clues are not readily available but the stubborn Dadais insists that two suspects stick out, egotistical retired sexagenarian "Mr. Prosecutor" Pierre-Ange Destinat and that shadowy Breton war deserter, who admits he committed the murder, but Dadais knows he would have confessed to anything under the torture used to extract his admittance. Others wonder if Dadais wonders if others are as determined to hide the identity of the real culprit as he is to find him..

This is a terrific psychological historical thriller masked somewhat as a police procedural. Dadais is wonderful protagonist looking back at the case that obsessed him and his townsfolk when at the same time they understood the absurdity of caring about one death when millions were "legally" dying nearby. Philippe Claudel cleverly echoes Joseph Stalin's alleged comment that "one death is a tragedy, a million deaths is a statistic." Readers will appreciate this off beat suspense thriller as they wonder just who murdered that little girl.

Harriet Klausner

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Inside This Book (learn more)
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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
little canal

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Lysia Verhareine, Morning Glory, Father Lurant, Judge Mierck, Madame de Flers, Hippolyte Lucy, Edmond Gachentard, Pierre Ange Destinat, Fantin Marcoire, Old Destinat

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