Customer Reviews

The Stranger Next Door

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

When Emile Hazel retires from teaching, he and his spouse Juliette move to an isolated home in Southern France. The radical change in lifestyle from the urban classroom to a locale with only one neighbor seems perfect to the Hazels. However, they are soon visited by their extradinarily obese sole neighbor, Dr. Bernardin, who demands a cup of coffee. The doctor keeps them company for several hours, but fails to hold up his end of any conversation.

The uninvited doctor starts visiting the resentful Hazels every day. Subtle and direct efforts to end the daily coffee break fail miserably, almost as if the doctor is immune to any actions by his "hosts". The Hazels eventually invite the doctor and his equally obese spouse for dinner. However, the next day, Bernardin renews his solo visits until a frustrated Emile literally shoves the doctor out the door. When Bernardin stops coming, a guilty Emile investigates why and soon finds himself even more deeply bound to his former guest.

THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR is a frightening psychological drama that rips asunder the veneer of politeness in modern civilization. The Hazels and their only neighbor(s) are all wonderful caricatures, a parody that surprisingly makes them all seem like genuine but grotesque human beings. Only a talent as good as Amelie Nothomb could accomplish such a feat in a poignant tale. Readers need not be concerned that this is a translation because Carol Volk does a terrific job without missing a beat.

Harriet Klausner

Enile Hazel and his wife Juliette finally reach retirement age and the two, who have been in love since their childhood, move to their perfect retirement home--out of the city and in a secluded spot. That is, away from everyone except for a doctor and his wife who live in a nearby house. The doctor pays the Hazels a visit one day but sits most unappreciatively in a living room chair only answering Mr.Hazel's questions with one-word answers. When this neighbor returns every day at precisely 4 p.m., things begins to get uncomfortable for everyone.

I love the way the author constructed this story. It's short and to the point. I can't tell whether or not the author is poking fun at any of the characters because they are all so pitiful. The main character is a wimp who, at first, simply lets his neighbor call the shots. The neighbor is obnoxious and demanding. The wife of the neighbor has to be absolutely one of the most disgusting and repulsive characters I've ever encountered on the written page. The story itself is mesmerizing in a mysterious and creepy sort of way. I like how the action turns inside out, how the characters sort of turn into each other. I wonder what it all means. Perhaps it's a statement on man's need for solitude versus dependency. Or maybe it's to say that we can never predict how we'll behave in a given situation and will try different behaviors until we find one that works. Whatever meaning the author intends, this novel certainly is thought-provoking and well worth reading!

U.S. publishers apparently have a plan to make Americans believe that all French writers are obsessed with Strangers -- that is, outsiders who live according to codes or manners beyond the bounds of that which most of us consider Normal. After all, we're familiar with Camus' L'Etranger, Gide, Genet and Celine. So Amelia Nothomb's THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR shouldn't strike us as so -- strange. Like Duras, Saurraute and other excellent French writers who've taken to heart the lessons of trimmed-down prose provided by THE GREAT GATSBY and early Hemingway, Nothomb tells an engaging story in a brief 150 pages. Through a series of encounters with the very odd couple living next door, the narrator -- Emile -- learns that he does not know himself so well as he had imagined. Eventually the strangers next door reveal to him the Stranger that lives within himself. Nothomb tells her tale so simply, the reader may have a tendency to shrug and say the story is completely unbelievable. However, the simplicity belies the probability and enhances the creepiness of the story. I'm reminded of the apparently illogical incidents that occur in Cornell Woolrich's stories: Incidents that simultaneously appear inevitable thanks to his direct prose and the world it builds. The horror resulting from those events is still horror; if such occurrences weren't inexplicable, would we still shudder? In THE STRANGER NEXT DOOR, Nothomb displays a great talent for pinpointing the terrors we hide internally. I look forward to reading more from her pen.

I often marveled at lenght of books by Amelie Ntohomb, it is not common (enough) that you can stumble upon book, that can make you think, and discuss your beliefes, and which you can read in just a couple of hours. But, that is just exactly what this book does.

Amelie Nothomb doesen't need many characters, here she needed four. Retired proffesor of Greek and Latin and his wife, together with their neighbours make universe, with just right ammount of complexity that is necessary to build any kind of story. As often, in her work, one, almost banal thing, starts bizzare stream of events whic later result in a brutal, but quite propriate end.

And where does it fail then? Well, try to read Hygiene of Murderrer (I don't know if this is the exact translation), or Antichrista and you'll notice that every one of her book follows the exact path. And reader has the feeling that he has seen it all before, and that everything became, from exploration of human conduct, just poor retelling of a same old tale, caused by the lack of poetic imaginnation.

Maybe she presents strong arguments in certain aspects of her books, but she lack inventivness to become the great writer.
It is just an average book, and if you read any of her work before, there really is no need to read this on too...Everything said here is just repetition...

Amelie Nothomb has created a story whose characters carry the plot along. A retired couple exhile themselves to a house in the woods for what they hope will be an uneventful passing of their final days. Soon enough however, they discover that their neighbor, the town doctor, is a terrible nuisance. The Stranger Next Door depicts the struggles of the couple as they battle to come to an understanding of their neighbor and his wife. The descriptions are wonderfully amusing and unlike any most readers might have come across.

This is a highly memorable story, which, to me, makes it an excellent book. The characters and story are highly unique and well developed. Nothomb is a talented author. Those reviewers who make comments based on the author's country of origin and not on the merit of the work itself have no business writing reviews. I would venture to say that Nothomb would not want to be pigeon-holed that way. I look forward to reading her other works and highly recommend this book.

Amelie Nothomb has created a story whose characters carry the plot along. A retired couple exhile themselves to a house in the woods for what they hope will be an uneventful passing of their final days. Soon enough however, they discover that their neighbor, the town doctor, is a terrible nuisance. The Stranger Next Door depicts the struggles of the couple as they battle to come to an understanding of their neighbor and his wife. The descriptions are wonderfully amusing and unlike any most readers might have come across.

I'll be blunt: I hated this novel. In the beginning I kept asking," Why not just open the door?" It was one of those novels that is so supremely far-fetched, it's almost like art. Not like good art, the type you look at and say, "Oh, beautiful landscape, lovely tree," but the kind where someone wraps themselves up in aluminum foil and stands in the middle of an art gallery. Then people who don't know much about anything, but have a few bucks in their pockets say, "This is making such a statement! It's true, we all isolate ourselves away in this fashion ..." or some other such nonsense.

This is how the book felt for me. Pretentious. I just couldn't buy it from beginning to end and thought the main characters needed to grow a pair.

I only would like to say that even if this book is not the best of Amelie Nothomb 's book , it's still a great book . And we are here for speaking about books not for talking about stupid prejudices about French people .

i just want to precise that the author amelie nothomb is not a frenchwowan but belgian ! please don't amalgam