For his first novel, James Noël gives us an incisive literature published by Zulma. Between fiction and reality, the author makes us see behind the scenes of NGOs and the gap sometimes between the victims of a disaster and the aid provided by abroad.
Born in 1978, James Noël is a Haitian poet. Following the earthquake of January 12, 2010, he created the magazine IntranQu'îllités. In the south of the island, in Port-Salut, he set up artist residencies. In the heart of paradisiacal landscapes, the artist-in-residence's mission is to take a tour of schools. In addition, James Noël wants, through this initiative, to give a breath of creation and reconstruction for this island that he cherishes so much.
In Belle Merveille, through the main character, Bernard, he links his experience as a survivor of Haiti's most devastating earthquake with his relationship with an Italian volunteer. He paints us all at once, his feelings, his doubts, his anger, his love and his misunderstanding. Not to mention, his poetry.
"The heart of the city is broken, but hasn't stopped beating"
Haiti, January 12, 2010.
"This is the first time the city has had such a raw and cruel experience, the experience of raw death, the experience of death cast in concrete. »
Through a series of paintings, James Noël depicts a myriad of perspectives on the "goudougoudou" that plagued his native land. Nearly 300,000 dead: a very bleak toll for Haitians. In the language of the country, " beautiful wonder" means any event that is difficult to believe but that turns out to be true. These words shine through a musicality, a poetry, contrasting with the horror of disaster.
Through the eyes of Bernard, the main character, James Noël describes this reality. The corpses under the rubble, the threat of the earthquake, the testimonies of people who saw it coming and who lived it. The whole city is personified and becomes a breath of humanity.
"The city is beheaded, but it still screams all throats outside, as if to wonder about its powers of gushing, its surges of rules at the height of men. »
With an incredible poetry and mastery of the language, the author manages to create this organic, almost corporeal link between the island of Haiti and the inner life of each.
"The city shook on the left, the city shook on the right. Its center exploded. »
A critique of the media sphere
Beyond a sublimation through poetry, James Noël slips into his first novel an incisive criticism of Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and the media in general.
To illustrate this complicated relationship of the media sphere with regard to the events in Haiti, he gives life to Amore, an Italian humanitarian who invites Bernard to join her in Rome. Through this love story, he addresses the difficulty of linking personal reconstruction and reconstruction of the country. But it also reveals all the light that can arise from the darkest events.
"You butterfly that travels above what was, what is sometimes what will be… »
Christmas addresses the violence of this word "reconstruction" uttered by the organizations very soon after the earthquake. He denounces the sometimes traumatic relay of the media: the images of buried bodies, the " heroic" image of the foreigner who came to the rescue of the Haitian population.
In short, Belle Merveille is a little gem of poetry. In a unique and personal language, James Noël manages to account for a complex reality with great skill and gentleness. This is a novel that we highly recommend and could be a beautiful book to offer for this holiday season!
Lauren Mary
