Moon in a Dead Eye
(2009, 2013) by Pascal Garnier; transl. by Emily Boyce
I
picked up Moon in
a Dead Eye
recently, knowing nothing about Pascal Garnier and having read very
little contemporary French literature in translation. Nonetheless,
the brief description of the story sounded intriguing, and at just
130 pages, it would be a quick read.
It's amazing what a skilled, careful writer can do in such a small
space.
At
first, you're reading about a newly-constructed gated community and
the senior citizens who have moved to it for their retirement.
Everything seems fine, in fact, more
than fine
(which should make you at least a little bit suspicious). Yes, only a
few people have actually moved to the community, and most of the
houses are empty; and yes, the groundskeeper is a bit creepy and the
weather isn't that great. But
things should start looking up, right?
Pretty soon, the Nodes, the Sudres, Lea, and Nadine (the events
coordinator) start spending more time together, sightseeing and
hanging out on the beach. And then, slowly but surely, everything
starts falling apart. Odette starts seeing a fly everywhere that no
one else sees, Maxime becomes hyper-paranoid about the gypsies who
have gathered down the road from the community, and Lea's "spells"
(in which she shuts down and has no memory of it afterward) become
more frequent.
And when Martial, a seemingly peaceful, rational man, becomes
interested in Maxime's gun (which he keeps with him to protect them
from the gypsies), it's all downhill from there.
What
makes Moon
so deliciously creepy and disturbing is that Garnier tells the story
of these hapless people in a jaunty yet ironic way, inviting us to
both pity and laugh at them. The reader is carried along effortlessly
until she stops and thinks back on what she's just read, and then
everything seems much more menacing than at first glance.
You'd better believe I'm going to read more Garnier.
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