Bison (novel)

Buffalo is the twenty-fourth novel of Patrick Grainville, published in Éditions du Seuil on January 2, 2014.

History

Twenty-six years after publishing "L'Atelier du peintre" Buffalo became a new occasion for Patrick Grainville to find a central character of painting. In 1845 when George Catlin came to France to introduce his paintings and Indian objects to the king Louis Philippe I,[1] he fascinated at the same time George Sand[2] and Charles Baudelaire who was excited with the symphony of the red and the green in his paintings.[3]

In 1831 George Catlin decided to break with his bourgeois environment, his comfort, to leave for going around tribes to save the memory of the Indians, the disappearance of which he apprehended. The plot takes place about thirty years before Western conquest and white invasion. George Catlin established among Sioux and became the privileged observer of their rituals, hunt for the buffalo, Sundance, war with Crows, etc. He was also seen among other Red Eagle, their leader and proud warrior, Black Impetus, his brother of weapon, in the grip of changeable and dark moods, Lame Knee, impressive pisteur, White She-wolf, a crow prisoner, woman artist, rebel and loving,[4] Two Coloured Bird, the ambiguous shaman, and Cuisses, the amazing squaw who saved her life. George Catlin painted continuously and was obsessed with the collection of objects which he intended for «his big Indian museum»,[5] until the day when White She-wolf decided to escape.

Reception

Being "bewitching"[6] and "splendid",[7] Bison was considered to be one of the key novels of literary winter 2014[8] and received a very good reception,[9] following the example of the big successes of the author. The style of Patrick Grainville, «master of epic poems[10]», was received there as appeased, modest and respectful.[11]

Bison received the Grand prix Palatine of the historical novel on April 8, 2014[12] and the Literary Prize of the Caen Lycéens on April 7, 2015.[13]

Editions

See also

References
  1. La réception du musée indien de George Catlin par Claire Le Thomas
  2. Curiosités esthétiques, Salon de 1846, VI De quelques coloristes, Œuvres complètes de Charles Baudelaire, Michel Lévy frères, 1868, II., p. 123-124.
  3. Bison de Patrick Grainville, Delphine Peras, décembre 2013, p. 64.
  4. Peintures de guerre, peinture d'amour, Astrid de Larminat, Le Figaro littéraire 9 January 2014, p. 4.
  5. Bison, éditions du Seuil, 2014, p. 118.
  6. Vous allez les dévorer, Pierre Vavasseur, Le Parisien du 6 janvier 2014, p. 36.
  7. Un pinceau et des plumes, Gilles Martin-Chauffier, Paris Match no. 3373 du 9 janvier 2014, p. 5 et 18.
  8. « Un style baroque, une œuvre dense, foisonnante, la patte de Patrick Grainville règne sur la littérature française depuis plus de 40 ans. », La petite rentrée littéraire a tout d’une grande, Marie-Françoise Gihousse, Éditions du Groupe l'Avenir du 9 janvier 2014.
  9. Trio gagnant : Grainville, Kerangal, Kureishi, éditorial de Vincent Jaury, et dossier de Damien Aubel consacré à Bison dans Transfuge no. 74, January 2014, p. 3, 18 et 26-31.
  10. Grainville est sioux, Véronique Cassarin-Grand, Le Nouvel Observateur no 2565 2 January 2014, p. 90.
  11. L’inoubliable portrait de George Catlin, Jocelyne Remy, Le Bien public, 10 January 2014.
  12. Le grand prix Palatine pour Patrick Grainville, Marie-Christine Imbault, Livres-Hebdo, 9 April 2014.
  13. Le bison et les Indiens de Patrick Grainville séduisent les lycéens, Benoît Lascoux, Ouest-France, 8 April 2015.

Bibliography

Bison de Patrick Grainville, Nelcya Delanoë, Recherches amérindiennes au Québec, volume XLIII, 2013.

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