Apocalypse BÃ(c)bÃ(c) by Virginie Despentes

Romania's mostgifted and famous writer, buthisnameanda possible NobelPrizehaveoften beenmentionedinthesamebreath , athome andabroad. Thishasmadehiminto a celebrity in a society stillunprepared to handle stardomculture and where, accordingly, renowned peoplearesimultaneously admired and envied,if not hated,forthe wrongreasons.Thus, the stories in thebookpaintthepicture ofa "picaro" Cártárescu, of"Cärtärescuas -the-famous-author" traveling throughhis country's backwater towns(Bacovia'sdestitute eastern Romania)or throughcosmopolitanwesternEuropeand running, overandoveragain,intoquasisurrealsituations , whichhe narrates withcomicgusto.In theprocess, he makesfunof himself, too,of the"celebrity" hehasbecome, but onlytobe detested bypetty "competitors " at homeor tobe treated as a space alien by surprisingly illiterateaudiences in Southern France. Whatunifiesthetwoworlds, we discover,is the Kafkaesque absurd of the incidentsderived fromignorance and culturalmisunderstanding . Indeed, Kafka - a "soft" one,a "Kafka à laRoumaine isathomebothintheamusing -grotesque "Anthrax" episoderecounted in theopeningtextas muchas in the"French tour"story, where ten Romanianwriters are paraded before French audienceslikeso manyhungerartists. At once sad andhilarious, "light" anddeep,criticalandtouching , Frumoasele straine is thethree-part countersaga ofthe famous Romanian writer as twentyfirst -century worldschlemiel. Christian Moraru University ofNorth Carolina, Greensboro Maryse Condé. En attendant la mont ée des eaux. Paris.J.C. Lattes. 2010. 364 pages. €19. isbn 978-2-7096-3321-5 MaryseCondé's twentieth novel refersback to her earliestmajor work,Ségou(1984),thehistory of a family inMalifrom thelateeighteenth century tothetwentieth. The main character of the new novel is BabakarTraoré,whose father was froma royalfamily in Mali and whosemother cameto Africa fromGuadeloupeto escape from herconventional upbringing. Babakar 's storybegins in Mali some forty yearsago,and endswiththe coming ofthehurricane toHaitiin 2010. Babakar is portrayed as a basicallygood man in an evil world. He trained as a gynecologist-obstetricianbecause his grandmother, a midwife,taughthim thather workwas a combatwherelifetriumphed overdeath.He leavesMali tostudyinMontreal, worksin the Côted'Ivoire, butescapesfrom the tribalviolencetherebetweenthe north and thesouth.He comesto workin Guadeloupeand chooses topractice amongthepoor,notin luxurious clinics. After he is called to delivera baby whose Haitian mother diesinchildbirth, headopts thegirl,whose happinessis now thepurposeofhislife. He takesthe childtoHaititomeetherfamily. His experiences are paralleled by thoseof two friends he meets alongtheway,whohavealso traveled toescapetheviolenceofwar. Movar,a poorHaitianmilitiaman, escapes to Guadeloupewhen the presidenthe supportedis forced out. Fouad, of Palestinian origin, whosefamily is killedin theLebanese -Israeli conflict, leaves Lebanonbecausehefeelsunwanted . TheAfrica Condéportrayed in Ségou haschanged. Family andoriginsarenolonger important. Babakarhas no ethnic, national, orreligiousidentity and realizesthathe willalwaysbe judgedguilty byall thosewhowanttocategorize people .He haslearnedthatthere isno earthly paradise."The oppressed, when theyare able, become the oppressors." Africa is nota generous mother buta land withgreat inequalitiesand no pity forthe weak;in Haitihe findsincomprehensible beliefinthesupernatural, and a mixture ofdictators, drugs, andnatural catastrophes. Whiletheportrait of Babakar has considerable power,En attendantla montée des eaux (Waiting forthewatersto rise)movesback andforth toooften, including firstpersonnarrations bymanycharactersand observations on toomany political upheavals. Thetitle evokes the possibility thatrisingwaters in the Caribbeanwill eventually destroy theregion, a prediction of one of Babakar'sfriends. This is one of Condé's morepessimistic works. Adele King Paris Virginie Despentes. Apocalypse Bébé. Paris.Grasset. 2010. 343 pages. €19. isbn978-2-246-77171-5 Virginie Despentes cametonational , even internationalattention withherfirst book,Baise-moi (1993; Screwme),especially after thefilm version, rather likea French Thelma and Louise,was censuredinitially foritssexualviolence.Sincethen Despenteshas written fournovels and an autobiographical essay, King Kong Théorie (2006).Apocalypse Bébé, widelyacclaimed, was on the 601WorldLiterature Today HHHH short listfor thePrixGoncourt and hasbeenawardedthePrixRenaudot . Apocalypse Bébéis the storyof twowomenwho arehiredto find Valentine, theteenagedaughter of a novelist, who has disappeared. LucieToledo,an insecurewoman offorty, whois afraidtoordertea ina baras itmaycreate an impression of weakness,is in striking contrast tohercompanion, a forthright , powerfulfigureknownas theHyena,a lesbianwho whistles at girlson thestreet, deals drugs, andiswilling touseviolence toget information. Valentine, thebébé ofthetitle, isthevictim ofa father whoignores her, as hetries toimprove hisliteraryreputation (evenwriting anonymous ,glowing reviews ofhiswork ontheInternet), andofa mother of North African origin wholeft when shewas a baby.Valentine is often drunk,on drugs,and extremely sexuallypromiscuous. She sleeps withall the membersof a rock band,who humiliate herbut still refuse to givehera pass fortheir concerts.Aftermeetinga young terrorist, shebecomes easypreyfor anextreme left-wing group. Despentes'sstoryis fast-moving , marked bywitty dialoguefilled withslang.She writesalternating chapters inthevoiceofLucie,who neverquite understands what is happening. Other chapters aretold from theperspective oftheHyena, Valentine, herfather, hermother, and her stepmother. The varying pointsofview skillfully createan ambiguous atmosphere. WhenValentinegoes to Barcelonato find her mother

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