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Kamouraska
Au milieu du XIXe siècle, dans la ville de Québec, une femme veille son mari qui va mourir.Elle n''est là qu''en apparence car elle revit, instant par instant, fragment par fragment, sa propre histoire. Une histoire de fureur et de neige, une histoire d''amour éperdu.Un livre passionné, violent, romantique qui permit à Anne Hébert de s''imposer comme l''une des romancières les plus importantes de notre époque.Prix des Libraires 1971, Kamouraska a été adapté à l''écran par Claude Jutra.
256 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1970
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2,026 people want to read
About the author
Anne Hébert
47Ìýbooks75ÌýfollowersAnne Hébert was a Canadian author and poet. She won Canada's top literary honor, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 141 reviews
September 23, 2023
A Canadian historical novel, translated from the French, based on a real murder in Quebec in 1840.
We have a love triangle. A woman has several children by her physically and verbally abusive husband. He’s a heavy drinker and is constantly threatening to kill himself and his wife, saying things like “I’m making a noose for two.�
She falls in love with her American doctor and they decide the husband needs to go. Early on in the story we know the husband gets murdered so the mystery that keeps the story going is who did it and how? All through the book we get excerpts from her trial and what happened at the trial. At times is seems like the wife is the murderer. But maybe it was the doctor? Or her maid?
Much of the story is told retrospectively, a long time afterward, and the woman has remarried a much older man who is dying from illness and old age. She worries about the looming death of a second husband and the scrutiny it will bring to her.
And how’s this for advice coming from her mother-in-law: “My son is a good boy. But he will go off on his little flings once in a while…I’m not going to say you should try to get used to it…Simply ignore it. …Don’t forget that, and you’re sure to be happy. No matter how my son mistreats you.� Maybe she should do that quote in cross-stitch for her daughter-in-law and ask her to hang it in her kitchen.
The entire story is told in good, clear writing in very short sentences. An example:
“Yes, no doubt I am. That’s what it means to out of your mind. To let yourself be carried away by a dream. To give it room, let it grow wild and thick, until it overruns you. To invent a ghastly fear about some wagon wandering through the town. To imagine the driver ringing your doorbell in the middle of the night. To go on dreaming at the risk of life and limb, as if you were acting out your own death. Just to see if you can. Well, don’t delude yourself. Someday reality and its imagined double are going to be one and the same. No difference at all between them. Every premonition, true. Every alibi, gone flat. Every escape blocked off. Doom will lie clinging to my bones. They’ll find me guilty, guilty before the world.�
The woman is the main character, so some of the story is told as her re-living testimony from the trial. Some of the story she dreams; some is present-day, and at times it is hard to know exactly what is what. But all in all a very good story that held my attention all the way through. All the sleigh rides will remind you of Dr. Zhivago!
The author (1916-2000) won Canada’s top literary prize, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry.
Top photo, book cover art, Laurentian Homestead by French Canadian artist Clarence Gagnon (1881-1942)
Leaving Church by Clarence Gagnon from RoyalCanvas.ca
Canadian postage stamp honoring the author from postagestampguide.com
[Revised, spoiler hidden, shelves added 9/23/23]
We have a love triangle. A woman has several children by her physically and verbally abusive husband. He’s a heavy drinker and is constantly threatening to kill himself and his wife, saying things like “I’m making a noose for two.�
She falls in love with her American doctor and they decide the husband needs to go. Early on in the story we know the husband gets murdered so the mystery that keeps the story going is who did it and how? All through the book we get excerpts from her trial and what happened at the trial. At times is seems like the wife is the murderer. But maybe it was the doctor? Or her maid?
Much of the story is told retrospectively, a long time afterward, and the woman has remarried a much older man who is dying from illness and old age. She worries about the looming death of a second husband and the scrutiny it will bring to her.
And how’s this for advice coming from her mother-in-law: “My son is a good boy. But he will go off on his little flings once in a while…I’m not going to say you should try to get used to it…Simply ignore it. …Don’t forget that, and you’re sure to be happy. No matter how my son mistreats you.� Maybe she should do that quote in cross-stitch for her daughter-in-law and ask her to hang it in her kitchen.
The entire story is told in good, clear writing in very short sentences. An example:
“Yes, no doubt I am. That’s what it means to out of your mind. To let yourself be carried away by a dream. To give it room, let it grow wild and thick, until it overruns you. To invent a ghastly fear about some wagon wandering through the town. To imagine the driver ringing your doorbell in the middle of the night. To go on dreaming at the risk of life and limb, as if you were acting out your own death. Just to see if you can. Well, don’t delude yourself. Someday reality and its imagined double are going to be one and the same. No difference at all between them. Every premonition, true. Every alibi, gone flat. Every escape blocked off. Doom will lie clinging to my bones. They’ll find me guilty, guilty before the world.�
The woman is the main character, so some of the story is told as her re-living testimony from the trial. Some of the story she dreams; some is present-day, and at times it is hard to know exactly what is what. But all in all a very good story that held my attention all the way through. All the sleigh rides will remind you of Dr. Zhivago!
The author (1916-2000) won Canada’s top literary prize, the Governor General's Award, three times, twice for fiction and once for poetry.
Top photo, book cover art, Laurentian Homestead by French Canadian artist Clarence Gagnon (1881-1942)
Leaving Church by Clarence Gagnon from RoyalCanvas.ca
Canadian postage stamp honoring the author from postagestampguide.com
[Revised, spoiler hidden, shelves added 9/23/23]
August 12, 2015
"I'm going to be married. My mother has said yes. And so have I, deep in the darkness of my flesh. Will you help me? Tell me, Mother, will you? What's your advice? And you, dear aunts? Tell me, is it love? Is it really love that's troubling me so? Making me feel as if I'm about to drown..."
A realization I've made over the past few months is I have to read more Quebecois writers. Every single female Quebecois writer I've come across has been wonderful. I've read an Hébert novella and a collection of poems, this is the first time for me to read a full book and what an experience. I love it when poets write novels. And this one, although was difficult to follow at the start, is amazing and full of intrigue. And it was apparently based on a true story, one which took place in 19th Century Quebec.
Elisabeth d'Aulnières and Antoine Tassy, squire of Kamouraska. What else would a girl want? This is called a gothic mystery but I saw it as something more, as a woman in despair. She is abused, her husband openly cheats on her, and she perhaps falls for the first man who is kind to her, the first man she opens up to about her husband's abuse. Using this American Protestant man, Hébert shows how different he was from Catholic French culture:
"They're afraid of you, Doctor Nelson. As if, under all that obvious selflessness of yours-- too obvious, perhaps-- some fearsome identity lies hidden...That original flaw, deeper than your Protestant religion, deeper than your English language..."
I enjoyed this book very much. You feel the despair of a woman trapped, having nowhere to go, being forced to bear children and stay in a loveless marriage. This is the despair of a very young woman who seems to have aged before her time because of turmoil. Very beautifully written.
A realization I've made over the past few months is I have to read more Quebecois writers. Every single female Quebecois writer I've come across has been wonderful. I've read an Hébert novella and a collection of poems, this is the first time for me to read a full book and what an experience. I love it when poets write novels. And this one, although was difficult to follow at the start, is amazing and full of intrigue. And it was apparently based on a true story, one which took place in 19th Century Quebec.
Elisabeth d'Aulnières and Antoine Tassy, squire of Kamouraska. What else would a girl want? This is called a gothic mystery but I saw it as something more, as a woman in despair. She is abused, her husband openly cheats on her, and she perhaps falls for the first man who is kind to her, the first man she opens up to about her husband's abuse. Using this American Protestant man, Hébert shows how different he was from Catholic French culture:
"They're afraid of you, Doctor Nelson. As if, under all that obvious selflessness of yours-- too obvious, perhaps-- some fearsome identity lies hidden...That original flaw, deeper than your Protestant religion, deeper than your English language..."
I enjoyed this book very much. You feel the despair of a woman trapped, having nowhere to go, being forced to bear children and stay in a loveless marriage. This is the despair of a very young woman who seems to have aged before her time because of turmoil. Very beautifully written.
May 26, 2021
anne hebert, where have you been all my life?? and why are you all out of print?? and why did i buy you years ago and only pick you up now?? i declare again: canadians are one of the worlds best story-telling communities. i have rarely been disappointed by a canadian. and its not just blood-pride, if ayana is wanting to chime in. because its everything: the pacing, the novelty of narrative structure, the descriptive passages... unless i'm just more attuned to it because of some long-buried ancestral tug. but then why do i also respond so well to nigerian and irish fiction? why am i using this "review" to muse about something so extratextual? am i just in canada-lust right now because of the leonard cohen concert? regardless, and more on point, this book is excellent. i will seek her books out like i did with maritta wolff and jonathan carroll and liz jensen and all my other favorite out of printers. and i will have a tea party. in canada. so.
May 18, 2021
I received the English translation of this highly regarded French-Canadian novel as a prize in High School French. Naturally, I read it (although it was definitely not prescribed reading for my all girls' high school!) I was swept away by this scandalous story of a woman who plotted with her lover to kill her terrible husband. Somehow she gets away with murder - or so you think, at first. Her lover, the American doctor, abandons her and she is left to give testimony in her defense.
I felt so awful for Elisabeth: married off to an older man in order to mitigate the terrible scandal; forced to produce child after child as punishment for her transgressions. It kind of put me off of any desire to get married and settle down for quite some time. In fact, I don't think I ever truly got over Elisabeth's horrific life sentence: she was forever trapped!
This was a very powerful depiction of a woman's limited options at that given time in history. We still have a long way to go, but I do give thanks for the progress we have made thus far. Not a cheerful read, but very beautifully written. There is a film adaptation of this novel which was very good. I think it might still be available on Youtube.
January 31, 2022
Un 'true crime' descrito con la avasalladora prosa poética de la autora canadiense Anne Hebert. En concreto, un crimen pasional que sucedió en el este de Canadá en 1839.
La narración comienza cuando Elizabeth d'Aulnières, ahora Madame Rolland, vela la agonÃa de su segundo marido, y recuerda el asesinato de su primer cónyuge. Tiene forma de un extenso monólogo interior, mezcla de recuerdos, visiones onÃricas y alucinaciones. También se incluyen otras voces: el subsiguiente juicio, los vecinos, los testigos, la familia, el amante y todos los implicados en el suceso. No hay una lÃnea temporal, sino que va dando saltos hacia delante y hacia atrás, de modo que a veces es difÃcil seguir la historia.
Lo mejor es el uso del lenguaje poético y cómo describe los sentimientos de la protagonista, asà como la naturaleza y el paisaje donde tienen lugar los hechos. También los interiores de las casas, la vida doméstica, las criadas, los tejidos, las sensaciones... es una descripción muy detallada tanto del mundo interior como exterior, que nos transporta a un lugar y una época.
El problema para mà ha sido que ya desde las primeras páginas y la lectura del resumen editorial, conocemos prácticamente la totalidad de los hechos, de manera que el aliciente para seguir leyendo es recrearse en el lenguaje y las descripciones, más que saber cosas nuevas. Es una narración que se centra en los detalles de cómo se llevó a cabo el crimen, y en los sentimientos de Elizabeth, pero que no ofrece una intriga o una recompensa lectora más allá de la estética, lo que la hace totalmente previsible.
A mà me gustó mucho el primer libro de Anne Hebert que leÃ, Los alcatraces, pero confieso que aquà su intensa prosa y estructura complicada me han llegado a agobiar y que hubiera necesitado algún punto de interés narrativo para justificar el esfuerzo lector.
La narración comienza cuando Elizabeth d'Aulnières, ahora Madame Rolland, vela la agonÃa de su segundo marido, y recuerda el asesinato de su primer cónyuge. Tiene forma de un extenso monólogo interior, mezcla de recuerdos, visiones onÃricas y alucinaciones. También se incluyen otras voces: el subsiguiente juicio, los vecinos, los testigos, la familia, el amante y todos los implicados en el suceso. No hay una lÃnea temporal, sino que va dando saltos hacia delante y hacia atrás, de modo que a veces es difÃcil seguir la historia.
Lo mejor es el uso del lenguaje poético y cómo describe los sentimientos de la protagonista, asà como la naturaleza y el paisaje donde tienen lugar los hechos. También los interiores de las casas, la vida doméstica, las criadas, los tejidos, las sensaciones... es una descripción muy detallada tanto del mundo interior como exterior, que nos transporta a un lugar y una época.
El problema para mà ha sido que ya desde las primeras páginas y la lectura del resumen editorial, conocemos prácticamente la totalidad de los hechos, de manera que el aliciente para seguir leyendo es recrearse en el lenguaje y las descripciones, más que saber cosas nuevas. Es una narración que se centra en los detalles de cómo se llevó a cabo el crimen, y en los sentimientos de Elizabeth, pero que no ofrece una intriga o una recompensa lectora más allá de la estética, lo que la hace totalmente previsible.
A mà me gustó mucho el primer libro de Anne Hebert que leÃ, Los alcatraces, pero confieso que aquà su intensa prosa y estructura complicada me han llegado a agobiar y que hubiera necesitado algún punto de interés narrativo para justificar el esfuerzo lector.
January 10, 2014
On cold nights like this one, my thoughts turn to images of winter that have found a place in my imagination, waiting out the good weather to come from the shadows when the wind blows the snow in drifts.
One of them is the scene in Claude Jutra's movie of Anne Hébert's terrific nevel Kamouraska. Based on the true story of the 1838 murder of Seigneur of Kamouraska by an American doctor in love with the Seigneur's wife, Hebert's novel shows us a respectably married woman remembering her great passion and the murder of her first husband.
Much of the action takes place inside Elisabeth Rolland's head as she waits beside the bed of her dying second husband. The style is stream of consciousness at times, and it can take some effort to figure out just what is happening, But it contains an engrossing, frigtening account of how the doctor fled with his rival's body across the snow-blasted countryside of the Lower St. Lawrence. That by itself is worth taking the time to unravel the story.
Hébert wrote in French but the English translation by Norman Shapiro captures some of the original text's force and beauty. And Jutra's film is breathtakingly beautiful, as well as considerbly clearer than the novel. For a while it was unavailable on video, but I found this (possibly pirated) copy on Youtube:.
One of them is the scene in Claude Jutra's movie of Anne Hébert's terrific nevel Kamouraska. Based on the true story of the 1838 murder of Seigneur of Kamouraska by an American doctor in love with the Seigneur's wife, Hebert's novel shows us a respectably married woman remembering her great passion and the murder of her first husband.
Much of the action takes place inside Elisabeth Rolland's head as she waits beside the bed of her dying second husband. The style is stream of consciousness at times, and it can take some effort to figure out just what is happening, But it contains an engrossing, frigtening account of how the doctor fled with his rival's body across the snow-blasted countryside of the Lower St. Lawrence. That by itself is worth taking the time to unravel the story.
Hébert wrote in French but the English translation by Norman Shapiro captures some of the original text's force and beauty. And Jutra's film is breathtakingly beautiful, as well as considerbly clearer than the novel. For a while it was unavailable on video, but I found this (possibly pirated) copy on Youtube:.
Read
December 28, 2020Blood and snow. Passion and violence. Deathbeds. Fever. Madness. Forbidden passion destroying the lives of everyone in its wake. The dark tension-filled drama of long Russian novels. or , but the snows are Canadian and the language is French.
Madame Rolland is caring for her husband on his deathbed. For years, she has been the image of respectability � crisp and frigid perhaps, but imminently respectable. Yet her mind is unable to extricate itself from her past. She is haunted, preyed upon by the passion and violence of her former life. Hallucinatory images from the past block the reality of present life from her psyche.
The instability of Elisabeth Rolland’s mind is reflected in the style of the writing. The narrative switches from present to past with no warning or apology; the main character is described in both 3rd person and 1st person, depending on the time stream she is experiencing; the stream of consciousness narration expresses the emotion of the story far more than the chronology of the plot.
This was by no means an easy book to read � either in its content or its narrative flow. It expressed the aura of the Canadian winter with crystalline beauty, but I found myself resenting the lack of clarity or control in its emotional trajectory. The stream of consciousness style made it easy to enter into the emotion of the moment, but more difficult to step back and analyze the actions of the characters. When I found myself feeling sympathetic towards the characters who were plotting homicide, I knew this book would not be a re-read for me.
Madame Rolland is caring for her husband on his deathbed. For years, she has been the image of respectability � crisp and frigid perhaps, but imminently respectable. Yet her mind is unable to extricate itself from her past. She is haunted, preyed upon by the passion and violence of her former life. Hallucinatory images from the past block the reality of present life from her psyche.
The instability of Elisabeth Rolland’s mind is reflected in the style of the writing. The narrative switches from present to past with no warning or apology; the main character is described in both 3rd person and 1st person, depending on the time stream she is experiencing; the stream of consciousness narration expresses the emotion of the story far more than the chronology of the plot.
This was by no means an easy book to read � either in its content or its narrative flow. It expressed the aura of the Canadian winter with crystalline beauty, but I found myself resenting the lack of clarity or control in its emotional trajectory. The stream of consciousness style made it easy to enter into the emotion of the moment, but more difficult to step back and analyze the actions of the characters. When I found myself feeling sympathetic towards the characters who were plotting homicide, I knew this book would not be a re-read for me.
April 1, 2022
Entre a esta historia sin saber nada, y debido a eso pude disfrutar el libro en su totalidad.
Es cierto que en las últimas 50 páginas, el uso de lenguaje y, la afloracion de maldad en sus personajes me dejo anonadada.
Aparte, las descripciones del paisaje frÃo, sus personajes, testigos y, el monólogo interior: inmerso en delirios del recuerdo del pasado y su presente, están narrados con una maestrÃa de aplauso.
Eso si, un dramonon! De la mano de una escritora que no deja de asombrarme, por el uso de lenguaje y la prosa seca y directa. Me encanto.
Es cierto que en las últimas 50 páginas, el uso de lenguaje y, la afloracion de maldad en sus personajes me dejo anonadada.
Aparte, las descripciones del paisaje frÃo, sus personajes, testigos y, el monólogo interior: inmerso en delirios del recuerdo del pasado y su presente, están narrados con una maestrÃa de aplauso.
Eso si, un dramonon! De la mano de una escritora que no deja de asombrarme, por el uso de lenguaje y la prosa seca y directa. Me encanto.
Shelved as 'did-not-finish'
August 21, 2019Oh my God, what eye-rollingly awful writing. There are more exclamation points and ellipses than actual words� like a cheap knock-off of Wilkie Collins, and Collins is pretty crappy to begin with. Even more than that, the most nausea-inducing melodramatic plot—with no character development whatsoever. And, yes indeed, I was able to ascertain all of that by page 15: you couldn’t pay me to read past that.
January 31, 2013
Ok, ça semble d'être un romance-novel, mais en fait, c'est l'histoire d'une femme au 19ème siècle qui se lutte avec les constrictions imposés par la société québécoise de ce temps-là , une société traditionale et suffocante. Anne Hébert à été influencé par les mouvements féministes des années 70s et à voulu écrire un roman féminist d'époque. C'était un projet bien réussit, je pense, mai moi, j'ai eu de la peine quand je l'ai lu. L'atmosphère du roman est très lourde et on est parfois exaspéré par les pensées circulaires de la protagoniste. J'avais l'impression que moi aussi je me suffoque avec les personnages.
February 19, 2016
This is an exquisitely well written book on one of my favorite themes, but it's also incredibly dense. I've been far too scatterbrained while reading it to fully appreciate it. I imagine Kamouraska is best read on a retreat away from any sort of distractions and especially any sort of stress, because this cannot be read while stressed. You have to pay attention to every sentence, and I failed at that big time.
It's probably worth more stars.
It's probably worth more stars.
February 5, 2022
3.5 - Un grand roman, un peu long sur les bords. Fiévreux, de bord en bord on se sent en calèche sur la 132 dans une tempête, ayant hâte de rentrer tellement il fait froid. Écriture évocatrice, un autre roman où on est dans un espace de délire où on ne sait plus ce qui est vrai ou faux.
December 14, 2018
This cryptic novel written in 1970 by Anne Hébert, a French-Canadian writer who eventually moved to France and died there in 2000, is considered a must-read in the world of Quebecois literature. Hébert's story takes place in the town of the novel's title, a small community in Quebec. The time is the mid-19th century, decades after France's Canandian territories were taken away by England. Nevertheless, the Quebec motto "Je me souviens" ("I remember . . . my language, my culture, my religion") is evident everywhere in this story among the characters who are vividly of French ethnicity. At the center of the story is Elisabeth d'Aulineres, an unhappy wife of a brutal husband, who has an adulterous affair and bears her lover's child. So desperate is she to be with her lover, that she attempts to poison her husband. He survives, but is later shot dead by her lover, who then turns chicken and abandons Elizabeth by fleeing over the border to Vermont. Elizabeth serves time in jail, then is released, and later remarries, and has more children, though her second husband never really trusts her. Much of the book involves Elizabeth's shifting back and forth from consciousness to unconsciousness as she sleeps and unwillingly dreams of the dreadful turning point in her life. At times, she flashes back to her paranoia about being caught by the police for her crime. Generally, the narrative pattern is third person when Elisabeth is awake and tending to her her second husband or her children, and first person when she drifts into dreams, although Elisabeth's fearful, first-person thoughts may slip in pell-mell at any point. Hébert is able to fit Elizabeth into the role of victim rather than criminal by suggesting that her first husband was such a scoundrel that her and her lover's crime were justified. The psychological quagmire into which she is thrust, though, is a piteous one, and Hébert makes a strong statement about the plight of married women in general during this time period.
February 2, 2015
Though beautifully written, this story is not a comfortable one to read. The narrative jumps from first person to third and back and switches constantly from the past to the present, from a dream state to an awake one. A constant thread is the main character's excited nervousness and eventual terror. Based on the true story of a love triangle resulting in murder in 19th century Quebec, the book provides the reader with insight into the thoughts and feelings of a woman from that time.
January 22, 2024
"If not for you, Jerome, I would have been free. I'd have made my life over, like a worn-out coat you turn inside out."
Kamouraska is a historical novel written by Canadian Anne Hébert. Written in French, the book has been translated into many languages. I read the English version translated by
Norman Shapiro.
This classic in Canadian literature is inspired by a real nineteenth-century love triangle. It is based on the true story of the 1838 murder of Seigneur of Kamouraska by an American doctor in love with the Seigneur's wife.
Kamouraska tells the terrifying tableau of the life of Elisabeth d'Aulnieres: her marriage to Antoine Tassy - squire of Kamouraska - his violent murder, and her passion for George Nelson, an American doctor. Haunting and suspenseful, Kamouraska is the timeless story of one woman's destructive commitment to an ideal love.
3 stars
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February 9, 2025je crois que c’est vraiment très bien mais je sais pas, l’étincelle n’a pas pris�
January 31, 2020
The Clio Collective was right about Hebert. This is a good read about a woman, an abusive husband, and a murder.
January 14, 2024
Publié l'année de ma naissance, ce livre est considéré comme étant un classique de la littérature québécoise.
Ce roman a tellement marqué la littérature québécoise qu'il a fait l'objet de nombreux ouvrages scientifiques et d'un film.
Mais pour moi, la magie n'a pas opéré.
Je me suis rendue de peine et de misère à la page 100 et j'ai décidé de mettre fin au déplaisir que je m'imposait.
Les divagations de l'héroïne m'ont étourdie. Ses pensées délirantes sautent sans cesse d'une époque à une autre, de Sorel à Kamouraska, cela rendait ma lecture très ardue.
Ce roman a tellement marqué la littérature québécoise qu'il a fait l'objet de nombreux ouvrages scientifiques et d'un film.
Mais pour moi, la magie n'a pas opéré.
Je me suis rendue de peine et de misère à la page 100 et j'ai décidé de mettre fin au déplaisir que je m'imposait.
Les divagations de l'héroïne m'ont étourdie. Ses pensées délirantes sautent sans cesse d'une époque à une autre, de Sorel à Kamouraska, cela rendait ma lecture très ardue.
November 23, 2014
I really enjoyed the story at first, especially the writing. However, as the story progressed I found myself losing interest. I'm not quite sure why, I might not have been in the right mood for this...
November 15, 2020
Adoré. Quelle intensité, et le style ainsi que les images qu'elle crée pour dépeindre la palette d'émotions par laquelle passent ses personnages. Sublime.
November 5, 2023
so kamouraska on paper is great. i love the story, it's based on the actual murder of the kamouraska lord in 1839 supposedly killed by a "stranger", which anne hébert follows super closely. loved the story & outline. and it's only because of that that kamouraska gets a 3 star. but... before this, i had yet to see a prose kill a novel stone fucking dead.
i read for school and about the mixed-up chronology complex narration style and format as a reflection of 1960's québec makes total sense but damn, i literally cannot with the pov switch-ups in the narration and the poetic prose. i know she's originally a poet but god damn, i'm sick of it. and rlly, i will admit that sometimes that prose hit. there was just very few hits and so many misses for me. personally, i think it doesn't work with the story at all, not to shit on poetic prose all together. here, it's unnecessary, overwhelming and most importantly, rlly heavy. so many super short sentences, as if they're verses. the number of sentences with no verb, oh my god so manyyyy!! like you can do them, just don't over use them bcs this is a novel, not a collection of poems. this prose with the constant switch of character pov AND 1er/2nd/3rd person povs with no prior indication or clear separation was killing me the whole time i was reading. this shit was so super confusing, there was no indication of these switch-ups, like you only realize it when you are two sentences into the new paragraph (NOT into a chapiter - because it would switch any number of time in a chapiter). so it was this constant realization of "wait this isn't elizabeth anymore... who is this? *guessing who would say this* oh it's actually george nelson now.... *three sentences later* why is he referring himself to the third person? oh it's outside narrator style now. *literally the next one* 2nd person pov??" and i would have to re-read it to fully understand and annotate because im reading this for school so i have certain notes to make. it was such a fucking hassle for no fucking reason, it didn't need to be written like this. it was always super confusing when they would change anytime the story pleased.
so now im going to watch the 3hr movie of kamouraska to get a good chronology minus the prose and pov switches. i know this was just me hating on those two aspects but those things had me so fucked up, i could fight an american bison. also domestic abuse tw.
i read for school and about the mixed-up chronology complex narration style and format as a reflection of 1960's québec makes total sense but damn, i literally cannot with the pov switch-ups in the narration and the poetic prose. i know she's originally a poet but god damn, i'm sick of it. and rlly, i will admit that sometimes that prose hit. there was just very few hits and so many misses for me. personally, i think it doesn't work with the story at all, not to shit on poetic prose all together. here, it's unnecessary, overwhelming and most importantly, rlly heavy. so many super short sentences, as if they're verses. the number of sentences with no verb, oh my god so manyyyy!! like you can do them, just don't over use them bcs this is a novel, not a collection of poems. this prose with the constant switch of character pov AND 1er/2nd/3rd person povs with no prior indication or clear separation was killing me the whole time i was reading. this shit was so super confusing, there was no indication of these switch-ups, like you only realize it when you are two sentences into the new paragraph (NOT into a chapiter - because it would switch any number of time in a chapiter). so it was this constant realization of "wait this isn't elizabeth anymore... who is this? *guessing who would say this* oh it's actually george nelson now.... *three sentences later* why is he referring himself to the third person? oh it's outside narrator style now. *literally the next one* 2nd person pov??" and i would have to re-read it to fully understand and annotate because im reading this for school so i have certain notes to make. it was such a fucking hassle for no fucking reason, it didn't need to be written like this. it was always super confusing when they would change anytime the story pleased.
so now im going to watch the 3hr movie of kamouraska to get a good chronology minus the prose and pov switches. i know this was just me hating on those two aspects but those things had me so fucked up, i could fight an american bison. also domestic abuse tw.
April 5, 2025
C’est étouffant, j’ai souffert durant toute la lecture. Pour cela, un peu long. J’ai dû faire des pauses pour souffler. Super écriture.
July 8, 2017
Un roman sombre, violent, presque morbide, et en même temps très exigeant envers son lecteur. Je dois reconnaître que la lecture du roman m’a paru particulièrement ardue : j’ai rarement eu affaire à un texte si difficile à aborder, si rébarbatif en quelque sorte. Un effort constant pour comprendre de quoi on parle, de quel moment, de quel lieu, de quel personnage, etc. Bref, se repérer n’est pas chose facile dans cet écrit et il y a fort à parier que ceci n’est pas dû au hasard ou à l’inhabileté de l’autrice. Les analepses, prolepses et pauses narratives sont légion. Le brouillage des repères rationnels semble miner le sang-froid du lecteur pour le précipiter dans le monde effrayant et bousculé de la passion, des sentiments aussi impétueux que pernicieux. L’héroïne principale, Elisabeth, présente d’ailleurs les traits distinctifs de la femme fatale : elle inspire l’amour fou tout en acheminant son amoureux vers sa perte. Et comme chaque figure de femme fatale, celle-ci n’est pas unilatérale mais porte bien à confusion : est-ce une victime de l’ordre social, de l’univers masculin implacable, est-ce une incarnation de la peur de l'homme face à ses propres désirs, face à sa propre étrangeté au monde structuré dont il se croit l'héritier et le pilier ou bien serait-ce une créature diabolique ? Le diabolisme est un motif résolument développé à travers la narration. Voici un exemple :
"Antoine Tassy mérite la mort. Il réclame la mort. Par son silence même. Par son inexplicable absence. Il vous provoque, comme il me provoque. Il veut se perdre et nous perdre avec lui. Ce désir de mort dans ses os depuis toujours. Allez-vous encore (évoquant la détresse d’un enfant blond, miroir de votre propre désespoir) éviter de sacrifier Antoine�? Tourner l’arme contre vous�? Le crime est le même."
Quant à la peinture de la passion à travers le style, celui-ci se fait volontiers expressionniste dans des passages comme celui-ci :
"Si je ferme les yeux, je te retrouve livré aux métamorphoses étranges des mâles et des hommes. Une image, particulièrement, me poursuit. Tu te souviens de ce coq, dans l’écurie, qui avait pris l’habitude de passer la nuit sur le dos de ton cheval�? Un matin, le coq s’est pris les ergots dans la crinière du cheval. Ton cheval se cabre. Se dresse sut ses pattes de derrière. Le coq entrave déploie toute son envergure. Tente de se dégager. A grands coups d’ailes exaspérées. Se débat en vain. Coq et cheval ne forment plus qu’un seul corps fabuleux. Un seul battement, un seul écart d’ailes et de fers. Un seul tumulte, hennissements, et cocoricos, emplissant l’écurie de sa clameur, abattant les cloisons de la stalle. Dans un arrachement de plumes et de crins, de planches cassées et de clous tordus.
Je crie. C’est toi, mon amour, cette fureur ameutée. Coq et cheval emmêlés, c’est toi, toi courant gaiement à l’épouvante et au meurtre. Sur un dangereux chemin de neige."
Certes, la grille féministe ne saurait qu’être la bienvenue dans ce roman, et avec elle tout un paradigme, celui du social. Il est curieux pour moi de découvrir un roman au fond bien romantique (dans le sens historique du terme) qui affiche une écriture très moderne, très mouvementée, très libre. Le romantisme rencontre le modernisme et le réalisme tout d'une pièce, ce qui ne devrait être possible que dans des sociétés comme le Québec. Par ailleurs, le récit est éminemment américain et plus précisément canadien, de par la présente prononcée de l’hiver, de certaines coutumes et réalités. La langue dont se sert Anne Hébert est plus généralement française : il n’y a pas de québécismes comme c’est le cas de Bonheur d’occasion de Gabrielle Roy, par exemple. Dans son ensemble, j’ai trouvé ce roman trop noir, prétentieux, désagréable et ennuyeux. Au niveau des idées, de la complexité esthétique et de l’imagerie il présente cependant des particularités et des profondeurs qui méritent certainement une analyse plus approfondie.
"Antoine Tassy mérite la mort. Il réclame la mort. Par son silence même. Par son inexplicable absence. Il vous provoque, comme il me provoque. Il veut se perdre et nous perdre avec lui. Ce désir de mort dans ses os depuis toujours. Allez-vous encore (évoquant la détresse d’un enfant blond, miroir de votre propre désespoir) éviter de sacrifier Antoine�? Tourner l’arme contre vous�? Le crime est le même."
Quant à la peinture de la passion à travers le style, celui-ci se fait volontiers expressionniste dans des passages comme celui-ci :
"Si je ferme les yeux, je te retrouve livré aux métamorphoses étranges des mâles et des hommes. Une image, particulièrement, me poursuit. Tu te souviens de ce coq, dans l’écurie, qui avait pris l’habitude de passer la nuit sur le dos de ton cheval�? Un matin, le coq s’est pris les ergots dans la crinière du cheval. Ton cheval se cabre. Se dresse sut ses pattes de derrière. Le coq entrave déploie toute son envergure. Tente de se dégager. A grands coups d’ailes exaspérées. Se débat en vain. Coq et cheval ne forment plus qu’un seul corps fabuleux. Un seul battement, un seul écart d’ailes et de fers. Un seul tumulte, hennissements, et cocoricos, emplissant l’écurie de sa clameur, abattant les cloisons de la stalle. Dans un arrachement de plumes et de crins, de planches cassées et de clous tordus.
Je crie. C’est toi, mon amour, cette fureur ameutée. Coq et cheval emmêlés, c’est toi, toi courant gaiement à l’épouvante et au meurtre. Sur un dangereux chemin de neige."
Certes, la grille féministe ne saurait qu’être la bienvenue dans ce roman, et avec elle tout un paradigme, celui du social. Il est curieux pour moi de découvrir un roman au fond bien romantique (dans le sens historique du terme) qui affiche une écriture très moderne, très mouvementée, très libre. Le romantisme rencontre le modernisme et le réalisme tout d'une pièce, ce qui ne devrait être possible que dans des sociétés comme le Québec. Par ailleurs, le récit est éminemment américain et plus précisément canadien, de par la présente prononcée de l’hiver, de certaines coutumes et réalités. La langue dont se sert Anne Hébert est plus généralement française : il n’y a pas de québécismes comme c’est le cas de Bonheur d’occasion de Gabrielle Roy, par exemple. Dans son ensemble, j’ai trouvé ce roman trop noir, prétentieux, désagréable et ennuyeux. Au niveau des idées, de la complexité esthétique et de l’imagerie il présente cependant des particularités et des profondeurs qui méritent certainement une analyse plus approfondie.
May 31, 2020
« Le silence. Puis, une sorte de cicatrice fraîche sur le silence. »
(4/5, I really liked it)
KAMOURASKA ramassait la poussière de ma bibliothèque, non-lu, attendant mon attention depuis des lunes. Je plonge finalement.
Les premières pages, les premiers (très courts) chapitres, furent ardus. Je ne comprenais pas le rythme utilisé par l’auteure. J’étais cependant curieux. J’ai persisté, car, au niveau de l’intrigue, très tôt mon intérêt fut piqué.
Les courtes phrases, la narration qui passe du « je » au « vous » au « tu », puis au « elle ». Tous ces pronoms se rapportent à la même personne : Elizabeth, Elizabeth Aulnières, Elizabeth Tassy, Elizabeth Rolland. Le lecteur navigue, souvent dans un même paragraphe, parfois-même le temps d’une seule phrase, dans des époques différentes. Jeune fille, puis, à partir de ses 17 ans, comme épouse d’un seigneur de Kamouraska, puis comme future veuve d’un notaire de Québec. Aussi, alors qu’elle n’a que 19 ans et qu’elle est déjà mère de deux enfants, comme amante d’un docteur américain.
Dès le début, le lecteur sait que le premier époux d’Elizabeth est mort assassiné, qu’elle a été inculpée pour le crime, puis innocentée (à tord?). Le lecteur sait également que le second époux est mourant, que ses jours sont comptés. Dans sa tête, dans les songes qui l’accompagnent, Elizabeth revisite le passé : sa mère, ses trois tantes qui l’ont élevée à Sorel, la toujours présente Aurélie Caron, cet homme, Antoine Tassy, violent et méprisant, cet autre homme, George Nelson, le docteur Nelson, l’amour de sa vie, puis, le contemporain, Jérôme Rolland, celui à qui elle est fidèle depuis dix-huit ans. Ces trois hommes se partagent la paternité des huit enfants qu’aura Elizabeth, maintenant à l’aube de la quarantaine.
Tous ces ingrédients sont soumis au lecteur de façon non linéaire; on avance, on recule, un pas de côté. Une fois qu’il a compris le procédé littéraire utilisé par Anne Hébert, il est prisonnier de la recette. Il doit savoir. Qui a tué Antoine? Comment? Les courts chapitres le maintiennent accroché, le rappellent, l’enlacent.
KAMOURASKA, lauréat du Prix des libraires (de France), est considéré comme un classique de la littérature québécoise. On comprend pourquoi. Les tractations, les personnages étoffés et nuancés, la passion, le style littéraire singulier d’Anne Hébert en font un incontournable. J’en recommande vivement la lecture, avec pour notice de se donner le temps (30-40 pages?) pour apprivoiser l’approche et la narration multi-étagées.
« Je récite le "Notre-Père", du bout des lèvres. Soudain une grande fureur s’empare de moi. Me réveille d’un coup comme une somnambule. Me fait mordre dans quatre mots de la prière, les détachant du texte, les éclairant, les dévorant. Comme si je m’en emparais à jamais. Leur conférant un sens définitif, souverain. "Délivrez-nous du mal." Tandis que le mal dont il faut me délivrer, à tout prix, s’incarne à mes côtés, sur le banc seigneurial. Prend le visage congestionné, les mains tremblantes de l’homme qui est mon mari. »
(4/5, I really liked it)
KAMOURASKA ramassait la poussière de ma bibliothèque, non-lu, attendant mon attention depuis des lunes. Je plonge finalement.
Les premières pages, les premiers (très courts) chapitres, furent ardus. Je ne comprenais pas le rythme utilisé par l’auteure. J’étais cependant curieux. J’ai persisté, car, au niveau de l’intrigue, très tôt mon intérêt fut piqué.
Les courtes phrases, la narration qui passe du « je » au « vous » au « tu », puis au « elle ». Tous ces pronoms se rapportent à la même personne : Elizabeth, Elizabeth Aulnières, Elizabeth Tassy, Elizabeth Rolland. Le lecteur navigue, souvent dans un même paragraphe, parfois-même le temps d’une seule phrase, dans des époques différentes. Jeune fille, puis, à partir de ses 17 ans, comme épouse d’un seigneur de Kamouraska, puis comme future veuve d’un notaire de Québec. Aussi, alors qu’elle n’a que 19 ans et qu’elle est déjà mère de deux enfants, comme amante d’un docteur américain.
Dès le début, le lecteur sait que le premier époux d’Elizabeth est mort assassiné, qu’elle a été inculpée pour le crime, puis innocentée (à tord?). Le lecteur sait également que le second époux est mourant, que ses jours sont comptés. Dans sa tête, dans les songes qui l’accompagnent, Elizabeth revisite le passé : sa mère, ses trois tantes qui l’ont élevée à Sorel, la toujours présente Aurélie Caron, cet homme, Antoine Tassy, violent et méprisant, cet autre homme, George Nelson, le docteur Nelson, l’amour de sa vie, puis, le contemporain, Jérôme Rolland, celui à qui elle est fidèle depuis dix-huit ans. Ces trois hommes se partagent la paternité des huit enfants qu’aura Elizabeth, maintenant à l’aube de la quarantaine.
Tous ces ingrédients sont soumis au lecteur de façon non linéaire; on avance, on recule, un pas de côté. Une fois qu’il a compris le procédé littéraire utilisé par Anne Hébert, il est prisonnier de la recette. Il doit savoir. Qui a tué Antoine? Comment? Les courts chapitres le maintiennent accroché, le rappellent, l’enlacent.
KAMOURASKA, lauréat du Prix des libraires (de France), est considéré comme un classique de la littérature québécoise. On comprend pourquoi. Les tractations, les personnages étoffés et nuancés, la passion, le style littéraire singulier d’Anne Hébert en font un incontournable. J’en recommande vivement la lecture, avec pour notice de se donner le temps (30-40 pages?) pour apprivoiser l’approche et la narration multi-étagées.
« Je récite le "Notre-Père", du bout des lèvres. Soudain une grande fureur s’empare de moi. Me réveille d’un coup comme une somnambule. Me fait mordre dans quatre mots de la prière, les détachant du texte, les éclairant, les dévorant. Comme si je m’en emparais à jamais. Leur conférant un sens définitif, souverain. "Délivrez-nous du mal." Tandis que le mal dont il faut me délivrer, à tout prix, s’incarne à mes côtés, sur le banc seigneurial. Prend le visage congestionné, les mains tremblantes de l’homme qui est mon mari. »
February 5, 2017
The style of this novel is "impressionistic". Usually I don't finish books with this style. This novel is different though -- despite the style, I can follow the story. (Not sure if that is because of the author Anne Hebert or because of the translator, Norman Shapiro.)
Here is a passage early in the novel that shows what I mean by "impressionistic".:
p. 8: “Madame Rolland draws herself up, straightens the pleats to her skirt, smooths back her hair. Over to the mirror, to find her own reflection, her best defense. My soul � my musty, mildewed soul � off somewhere. Held prisoner, far, far away. And yet I’m pretty. Still pretty. Let everything else come falling down around my head, why should I care? One thing is clear. One thing that keeps me going, through all the nagging fear, all the horror of my days. A man � One man � Lost. To stay pretty forever, for him. Just for him. Day by day love cleanses me.�
Later in the novel there are paragraphs full of "sentence fragments" strung together.
More comments when I'm finished with the novel.
Finished -- In terms of plot this story could have been told in 1/3rd the pages -- The impressionistic style involved a lot of repetition -- fortunately for reading comprehension, the story was told in more or less chronological order, framed by the heroine "remembering" what had happened 18 years ago --
Here is a passage early in the novel that shows what I mean by "impressionistic".:
p. 8: “Madame Rolland draws herself up, straightens the pleats to her skirt, smooths back her hair. Over to the mirror, to find her own reflection, her best defense. My soul � my musty, mildewed soul � off somewhere. Held prisoner, far, far away. And yet I’m pretty. Still pretty. Let everything else come falling down around my head, why should I care? One thing is clear. One thing that keeps me going, through all the nagging fear, all the horror of my days. A man � One man � Lost. To stay pretty forever, for him. Just for him. Day by day love cleanses me.�
Later in the novel there are paragraphs full of "sentence fragments" strung together.
More comments when I'm finished with the novel.
Finished -- In terms of plot this story could have been told in 1/3rd the pages -- The impressionistic style involved a lot of repetition -- fortunately for reading comprehension, the story was told in more or less chronological order, framed by the heroine "remembering" what had happened 18 years ago --
March 22, 2010
A feverish dream of a book. Radiant madness. Wonderful.
August 1, 2010
Read in my Quebecois literature class in college. Excellent story and writing.
October 19, 2012
Confusing as hell.
January 8, 2015
So boring, everything that's wrong with Canadian literature... had to skim the last 100 pages just to get through it.
January 18, 2018
What a weird, weird, weird novel. Oddly enjoyable. Oddly odd.
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