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CRITIQUE:

In and Out of Prison

If there's any underlying theme to this novel, it's the theme of (relationships as) imprisonment.

Albertine Sarrazin wrote "Astragal" when she herself was in prison. At the beginning of the novel, Anne (the protagonist) was in prison on a five year sentence (the charge wasn't revealed).

Before her imprisonment, Anne worked as a prostitute in Paris. In prison, she had a number of relationships with other women. One of the women, Cine, was subsequently released and, while Anne was still in prison, wrote to her about a nightmare in which "you had fallen, very badly, from very high up, your ears were bleeding and there was nothing I could do for you, nothing except cry..."

This might imply that Anne's eventual escape would be tantamount to a fall.

Last Year's Lover

Anne described Cine as "last year's lover" (who had since been replaced by another prisoner called Rolande). Anne was -

"...Tired of her [Cine's] certainties, of her possessive extremes, of the mark she thought she had left on me, of her maternalism, my big girl, my little baby..."

Anne saw Cine's relationship as a burden -

"Then, you whose friendship I loved, you wanted to burden me with your love. You believed that you, you would be able to graft feelings onto me, sew a piece of your heart to me..."

Over the Wall

Anne eventually escaped prison by climbing over the wall and jumping clumsily onto the ground outside. She effectively became a fugitive, by breaking her ankle.

She dragged herself to the road that went past the prison, where she was discovered by a man named Julien (also the name of Albertine's husband).


Albertine and Julien Sarrazin, 1965 (Source:)

Changing Prisons

Both Anne and Julien knew that the prison authorities would try to find and apprehend her. Their task was to find a safe place where Anne's ankle could be healed without them being apprehended.

Outside prison, Anne and anyone who protected her were at risk of being discovered by the police. Anne realised:

"My new freedom imprisons me and paralyses me..."

As she moved from safe home to safe home, she became aware that those around her were hiding a fugitive from the law:

"It was true, it was a glaring truth, my foot was a menace to all of us."

Besides, she recognised that the different moves and relationships were only "changing prisons."

Anne knew "there was a stew of shattered bones and flesh inside there, and that a great deal of art and patience would be needed to put it back in order."

Julien told her -

"I'm looking for a hideout, some place where they'll take care of you. But it's still too close, both in distance and in time. You know they're looking all over, even in the hospitals."

Back to Man

Notwithstanding the state of her ankle and her extreme pain, Anne embarked on a heterosexual relationship with Julien:

"Julien was calling me back to man."

Anne declared that, with Julien, "I discover the pain of love."

She acknowledged "the complete and mysterious affinity between us from the very start...":

"There are certain signs imperceptible to people who haven't done time: a way of talking without moving the lips while the eyes, to throw you off, express indifference or the opposite thing; the cigarette held in the crook of the palm, the waiting for night to act or just to talk, after the uneasy silence of the day."

Série Noire

Back in Paris, Anne resumed her hustling, in between visits from Julien. Her public exposure on the street, in hotel rooms and in johns' apartments meant that there were many who were looking for her, not just her johns.

Albertine Sarrazine wrote lucidly about delinquent and transgressive life in Paris from her own personal experience. The novel was also expertly translated by Patsy Southgate.

This novel should appeal to fans of Anais Nin, Anna Kavan and


SOUNDTRACK:
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Echo and the Bunnymen - "Over the Wall"



RVG - "Squid"



RVG - "Nothing Really Changes"



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