Béatrice Commengé's Et il ne pleut jamais naturellement Reviewed

Olivier Renault's review in artpress praises Béatrice Commengé's book Et il ne pleut jamais naturellement (Éditions Gallimard) as a rare, brilliant text weaving intelligence, sensitivity, and beauty. The narrative explores the brain as a central character, following the narrator's father Louis from childhood to old age, where memory falters. After his wife Eugénie's death, Louis withdraws into his home. The book interlaces their love story—Louis in Algiers, Eugénie in Brussels—through letters, with the narrator commenting years later. A parallel thread traces poet Hölderlin's life and brain, from the Garonne to Tübingen, linking poetry, love, and madness as alterations of brain and heart.