"The Problem of Summer Time" by Marcel Ayme (1943,

My Post on "The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls" by Marcel Ayme, for Paris in July, 2015

French Literature and History on The Reading Life 

  

During Paris in July 2015 I read my first work by Marcel Aymé, his very famous short story, "The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls".  Earlier this year I read, but did not post upon, another wonderful short story from the same collection, "Sabine Wives".  His stories are not easy to classify, there are elements of Surralism and Science Fiction but over all I think most would see them as in the tradition of Magic Realism.  

"The Problem of Summer Time" is set in Paris in 1943, the city is occupied by the Germans.  Whatever his politics were, the narrator like everyone else in Paris keeps wishing time will speed forward and let these bad times be over.  One day the narrator wakes up and the Germans are gone.  It is 1959, his wife is 16 years older and he has also aged, he lives in a place he does not recognize and strangest of all he has a ten year old son and eight year old daughter he does not know anything about.  No one but him seems to notice anything odd or sense the missing years.   Soon he begins to seemingly travel back and forth between times.  He is not sure if this is real, it certainly is depicted as so, or a wish fulfillment based delusion.

This is a very well done story.  Anyone who has ever wished for something to be over can relate to the elegant narration.

Marcel Aymé (1902-67) was one of the great French writers of the twentieth century. Born in the Franche-Comté of Eastern France, he never lost touch with his rural origins, which influenced much of his work. Initially perceived as a man of the left, throughout his life Aymé espoused causes from across the political spectrum, for example apparently supporting Mussolini's colonialism in Africa whilst also campaigning for the abolition of the death penalty. He attracted much controversy for his writings for collaborationist magazines during the Second World War, and his defence of Nazi-sympathising friends including Louis-Ferdinand Céline and Robert Brasillach in the post-war years. Nevertheless Aymé retains an important place in French culture. He championed Serge Gainsbourg in his early career, writing the liner notes for his debut album Du chant à la une!. This collection of stories is particularly famous, and a dozen of his novels have been turned into films, among them the classics of French cinema La Traversée de Paris, La Vouivre and Uranus.  From Puskin Press Webpage

Host Webpage for Paris in July 2016

My posts so far for Paris in July, 2016

1.  The Dogs and the Wolves by Iréne Nemirovsky 

2.  Mavis Gallant -  Two Set in Paris works, a short story and a note book entry

3.  Five Nights in Paris by John Baxter.

4.  The Little Paris Book Store by Nina George

5.  "The Problem of Summer Time" by Marcel Ayme

There are a number of other stories in the Pushkin collection, I hope to once again post on Ayme during Paris in July 2017.

Mel us

"The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls" by Manuel Aymé (1947) A Story Clarice Lispector Inspired Me To Read for Paris in July # 6

Paris in July # 6. 

Paris in July # 6. , hosted by Tamara of Thyme for Tea is getting off to a wonderful start.  It goes way beyond just French literature, glorious as that may be, but has generated posts on many of the wonders of Paris from food, to movies, travel and more.  

So far I have posted on three short stories for Paris in July # 6.   I have lately been reading my way through the soon forthcoming The Complete Short Stories of Clarice Lispector.  I see the 85 stories in the collection as a world class literary treasure.  I think, and hope, once her short stories are widely read in the Anglophone literary community that she will be considered among the greatest short story writers of the 20th century, at least.  As I was reading Lispector's story, "Two Stories My Way" I was intrigued when the narrator says she has preformed a writing exercise in which she rewrote a story by Marcel Aymé.  I had never heard of Aymé so I Googled him and discovered he was a very well known Parisian writer (1902 to 1967) of novels, children's works, screen plays but he is most still read by his set in Paris stories with a bit of an absurdist twist.  His most famous short story, it has been made into a French and a German movie, seems to be "The Man Who Could Walk Through Walls".

The story is set in the 13th district of Paris, centering on a man with an burecratic office job which is basically writing letters.  He has contentedly had this position for years then a new supervisor takes over.  He makes him change the format of his letters and begins to nit pick his work.  One day at home to his great amazement he discovers he can walk through walls.  He consults a doctor who offers an explanation and some medicine, to be taken once a year.  He begins to enjoy his power, committing robberies and starts a romance with a married beauty.  The plot is really a lot of fun and is narrated in a very straightforward fashion.  I happily found a link to a new translation of this story so I will leave the rest of the plot untold.  This story is very much the descendent of Gogol and Kafka. 

Link to a translation 

Mel u