Éric Chevillard: Du hérisson | Of the Hedgehog (2002)

 

Some people have said that Éric Chevillard's book is about nothing, that it's not a novel, has no plot, no characters, no development, etc. I'd say that's a reasonable summation in a sense, although that obviously sounds negative, and this hugely enjoyable book is anything but negative.

The actual way the format appears is probably unique: 534 paragraphs of more or less the same length, although only one full stop at the end of any of them – the final paragraph – because every paragraph ends in mid-sentence and the rest of the sentences are carried over to the next paragraph. Also, almost every paragraph contains the phrase 'naïf et globuleux'*

The story, such as it is, concerns a writer sitting at his desk to write his autobiography (with old-fashioned pencil and paper it seems, as he has a rubber). Trouble is, a hedgehog has appeared as if from nowhere on his desk and starts to eat the rubber, which causes some consternation in the author. And then the hedgehog starts to eat his writing paper.

In fact the hedgehog hijacks the author's book, takes up his thoughts, quotations on hedgehogs from naturalists Buffon and Daubenton are made, imaginary naturalists Zeiger and Opole are mentioned (usually together, although they have conflicting ideas), and so on.

 Whereas the author initially felt animosity towards this gatecrasher, a genuine affinity between the author and the hedgehog develops: like the non-human mammal, the author is solitary, he even envies the hedgehog its protective muscle which means he can just retreat into a spiny ball.

And the reader is treated to a huge number of details about the hedgehog and his defense mechanisms, his sex life, his life span, his daily routines, etc. This must surely be one of Chevillard's best?

*The only exception I noted was a paragraph spanning from pages 85 to 86: a mistake, or one of Chevillard's test tricks to see who is or isn't paying attention?

My Éric Chevillard posts:
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Éric Chevillard: Oreille rouge | Red Ear (2005)
Éric Chevillard: L'Explosion de la tortue (2019)
Éric Chevillard: La Nébuleuse du crabe | The Crab Nebula (1993)
Éric Chevillard – Au plafond | On the Ceiling
Éric Chevillard: Le Désordre azerty
Éric Chevillard: Dino Egger
Éric Chevillard: Le Vaillant Petit Tailleur
Éric Chevillard: Le Caoutchouc décidément
Éric Chevillard: Palafox
Éric Chevillard: Un fantôme
Éric Chevillard: Du hérisson | Of the Hedgehog
Éric Chevillard: Démolir Nisard | Demolishing Nisard