Antoine Volodine will conclude his literary career with the simultaneous publication of 11 novels by 11 different publishers. Starting August 24, Robert Laffont, Le Seuil, Actes Sud, Minuit, Verdier, and La Volte will each release a work under the pseudonym Infernus Iohannes, the new pen name of Jean Desvignes. The septuagenarian writer, who won the Prix Médicis in 2014 for Terminus radieux , describes this project as a final "fireworks display," motivated in particular by old age and illness.
Ranging from 150 to 320 pages, the books bear titles such as * Ultimes sursauts * (Final Surges) , *Mémoire, mode d'effroi* (Memory, Mode of Terror) , * Survies minuscules* (Tiny Survivals ) , and *Malaise chez les plongeuses* (Discomfort Among the Divers ). All are part of the * Retour au tar * (Return to Tar) series , the final volume of which is the 49th and last work in the post-exotic project conceived by the author since the 1980s. In accordance with an announcement made several decades earlier, the cycle concludes with the phrase "I am silent."
The final chapter of "post-exoticism"
The 11 works explore ghostly universes marked by cruelty, absurdity, the catastrophes of the 20th century, the failure of revolutions, and a frequently biting humor. Volodine further develops his concept of "post-exoticism," a deliberately closed literary world in which multiple voices intervene, associated with the numerous pseudonyms used throughout his career. The stories notably feature characters evolving in the limbo between life and death, a reference to the "bardo" of Buddhist tradition.
The novels can be read independently and in any order. The author has adapted their format to suit the identities of the different publishing houses, alternating short stories, tales, dialogues, and works accompanied by photographs. He hopes that bookstores will keep the entire collection in stock long enough to allow his most loyal readers to explore, at their leisure, this exceptional conclusion to a work built over more than forty years.
