In the French-speaking literary production of this first part of the year 2021, one book seems to stand out from the crowd. Without doubt it does not owe its main quality to its stylistic inventiveness. Harry Koumrouyan’s language remains very classic, and one sometimes has the impression of reading a work by Gide or Mauriac, with the exception of the dialogues, which are more of our time. But Run in the waves has breath! The author perfectly masters the writing of an ample novel, with multiple twists – all perfectly believable – and featuring many characters.
Let us briefly summarize the argument of this opus, without revealing of course the vicissitudes, which give it a rhythm and at times a real suspense. Simon Gautier, seventeen, is a teenager from Geneva, attending the “high school”, in fact the college. He never knew his father. This one, Matt Eastland was the companion of his mother Pauline, before leaving her. So pregnant, she decided to raise her child on her own, in a quite possessive way.
Simon will go in search of this phantom father, of whom he only has a black / white photo. Which is the main theme of the novel. He will conduct a real investigation, which will lead him to the United States. He will always come closer to the goal of his research, in particular thanks to the help of a series of witnesses, who knew Matt, when he worked for the UN in Geneva or for the CIA in America.
The novel also progresses thanks to a series of flash-back, which let us know the past of the different characters. In this regard, we must note the empathy that binds the author to them.
Another quality of this novel is to describe with great accuracy the different environments in which these characters evolve. Whether it’s the school atmosphere of the college – probably Calvin College given its location; from the rather closed environment of the UN authorities, as Albert Cohen had done so well for the League of Nations; of the Protestant bourgeoisie living in the villas of the chic district of Vandeuvres, with its frozen and somewhat outdated rituals; of the various facets of New York that the author seems to know well.
It is said with a mixture of tenderness and humor, even irony, even if certain passages of the book turn out to be quite pathetic. And it all rings true, it ain’t no “literature” in the bad sense of the word, the reader believes it.
Without however ever getting lost in digressions that would make us lose the thread of the main action, Harry Koumrouyan comes to develop collateral themes, even giving his book the character of a spy novel for a moment. But we will not say more … As for the meeting of Simon and his father, it will eventually take place, but here too we leave the reader the pleasure of discovering an unexpected end.
The author, Harry Koumrouyan, was a teacher in Geneva, director of a college, then collaborator of a State Councilor. He now devotes himself to writing. Run in the waves is his third novel. A work to follow!
Harry Koumrouyan, Run in the waves, Vevey, Editions de L’Aire, 2021, 315 p
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