My love, she heard herself whisper.You see, my darling," she said to the absent man, "you see, even when I don't think of you, in me it thinks of you.
Belle du Seigneur is a novel written by Albert Cohen whose writing began in 1930, and was finally published in 1968. This great novel of no less than 1100 pages (Folio editions) is considered a classic of the twentieth century, as well as a classic of the literature of love.
Belle du Seigneur is such an extraordinary book that it is difficult to talk about it. It is as if a heart too full could not let out a single emotion under penalty of exploding. This novel gave us the same effect.
My Beautiful Ariadne
The story begins in 1935 when Adrien Deume, who works at the League of Nations in Geneva, waits to receive his promotion to move up in rank. Adrien Deume is a thirty-year-old who has probably been too brooded by his parents. Adrien is married to a certain Ariane d'Auble, descendant of a bourgeois family in Switzerland. Adrien was the first to "recover" her when she was at her lowest after the loss of her first love Varvara, a young Russian student who died of typhus.
From the beginning of the novel, a certain distance between the two spouses is palpable. Ariane seems very disinterested in her husband's life, while he never ceases to rejoice in his future promotion, and thinks only of it. However, unlike Ariadne, it is very joyful to be able to share this with her. He does not hesitate to show her his love and prove to her that this promotion will be beneficial for him and for her. At this stage of the novel, we can already feel a total imbalance in the couple. While Adrien tries to do everything possible to please Ariane, she, on the contrary, would like to be left alone (she is almost never present when Adrien is with his parents; she hates Adrien coming into his room; she does not care what Adrien tells her about the League of Nations etc…).
In other words, Ariadne is deeply bored in her marriage and it is an almost empty Ariadne that we meet at the beginning of the novel.
His Majesty Solal des Solal
On the other hand, we meet Solal des Solal, the director of the League of Nations where Adrien works. Solal, from the beginning of the novel, is presented to us as someone charismatic. First, the fact that he is director shows that he has managed to rise to the highest place. He is someone who carries within him the power. In addition, he comes from the Solal family, and he was "the chosen one" to have the same first name as his last name. This gives a major clue about the place that this individual represents: both in his family but also in society. He's not just anyone.
We can all the more realize it when Adrien, recently promoted, invites Solal several times to dinner, and that the latter will never come. The Deume family puts everything in place to prepare the perfect evening – at the height of Solal's importance – but always finds themselves empty-handed, enjoying dinner for three.
The dinner episode:
It seemed essential to us to talk about this passage of the book. It takes place over about a hundred pages, and is very equivocal.
Adrien and his parents are under tremendous pressure to impress Solal. They prepare dinners worthy of a wedding; They pay attention to the smallest detail. Everyone prepares carefully, and they even repeat what is possible to say or not in the presence of the Great Solal.
SPOILERS: However Solal will never come. As a reader, the wait seems so long, as much as for the Deume who seem to be waiting for their hour of glory. The fact that she never happens shows how pathetic the Deume are. Adrien tries somehow to "become someone", but maybe this is not accessible to all. Adrien is a good person but who surely does not have the ability to achieve more than he already is. Which brings us to the second point of these episodes of failed dinners: Adrien is not enough for Ariane.
This long wait when the Deume see the hands advancing on the clock and no car noise is heard may reflect the deep boredom in which Ariane has been whirling for years. She can no longer get out of this boredom, and finally nothing happens, ever. She is like imprisoned with Adrien. He is a good person but he does not correspond to him. Everything is too latent, too soft. Without emotions, without excitement. Moreover, during these dinners, Ariane stays in her room all the time. In the first part of the book Ariadne clearly seems to be depressed. She is rarely seen, she finds no interest in anything and she is very inactive.
These pages of the novel are decisive in the story: they show all the dysfunction that happens within this family. They make you uncomfortable and reveal anxiety. As readers, like Ariane, we feel the need to get out of this suffocating atmosphere to find something liberating.
It will happen, but appearances are deceiving.
Outside, universal, a tireless rain told their misfortune. Locked in the mousetrap of love, condemned to the labors of love in perpetuity, they lay close to each other, beautiful, tender loving and aimless. Aimlessly.
A (real?) passionate love
As said before, Belle du Seigneur has become a must-read novel about love. But is it really love?
Ariane and Solal have become a mythical duo. Published in 1968, the relationship between Ariane and Solal is totally out of the norm compared to anything that had ever been written in terms of romantic relationships. Between sex, intimate scenes and raw violence, Cohen was a precursor. Belle du Seigneur does not age, and even, it seems more contemporary than ever.
This novel represents what could be called today a toxic relationship: a balance of power is imposed and destabilizes the balance of the couple.
A breathtaking cobblestone
Reading Belle du Seigneur tends to put some people off. Indeed, such a long novel about a single love story, what can happen?
Well, to be honest, not much. And yet, it is one of the most engaging books we have ever read.
The singularity of this novel is found in the long interior monologues of the characters. For pages and pages, we can read what is going on in Ariadne and Solal's heads. It is both disconcerting and fascinating: the words put one after the other do not make sense but the whole makes sense. These thoughts written on paper bewitch us and unconsciously plunge us into the story. So much so that we feel concerned by this love story; you become an actor. As you read Belle du Seigneur, you will feel hypnotized by the words.
Belle du Seigneur is a romance novel with a tragic destiny. Loving each other, living madness, landing in routine, loving each other, not supporting the other, wanting to kill the other, then being in love again, then… Finally, isn't it possible to both love and hate someone?
Hoping that Belle du Seigneur will please you as much as we do, we wish you the most exciting reading it can be.
Note: Have you ever listened to a song that reminded you so much of the book you're reading now? This was our case. Listen to Lorde's "Sober II (Melodrama)" as you read Belle du Seigneur, and tell us if you felt that connection between the song and the book!
