The two books studied in this section are subtitled ‘novel’. Going by what has been said in the preceding four chapters, we can bet that a novel written by Guibert will deal with bodies and death and that it will be motivated by a sentiment of love. We can also wonder what role the image will play in this novel and what the relationship between truth and falsehood will be. It will also be interesting to see whether a ‘je’ (‘I’) narrator makes an appearance and, if so, under what identity(ies).

DES AVEUGLES

Des Aveugles was published by Gallimard in 1985. It tells the story of a sightless couple (Robert and Josette) who live in an institution, the calm of which will be disturbed the day the masseur ‘Taillegueur’ appears on the scene and becomes Josette's lover. The ‘récit d'épouvante’ (‘horror story’) announced on the back cover does not materialise; it could be said at a pinch that a roman noir is triggered from page 110 onwards, Josette having sworn to kill Robert if her coat is ruined. The murder plan will only be discussed on page 122 and Josette will quickly drop it once she finds out that Taillegueur has made love to a little boy (p. 128). It is Taillegueur who will die accidentally, trying to trap Robert, and Josette will be swallowed by the lagodon; the roman noir will have taken up only twenty pages or so. Love will lead to death.