Michaël Ferrier's 'Fukushima, récit d'un désastre' Reviewed by Philippe Forest

Philippe Forest reviews Michaël Ferrier's book 'Fukushima, récit d'un désastre,' published by L'Infini / Gallimard. Ferrier, a French writer living in Tokyo for fifteen years, experienced the March 11, 2011 earthquake and tsunami from a distance—far enough to avoid the tsunami and worst radiation, but close enough to feel the violence and ongoing devastation. Forest describes the book as a 'roman-sismographe' (seismograph novel) that captures the disaster through 'choses vues' (things seen) in Tokyo and the ravaged Tohoku region. The narrative blends personal experience with reflections on literature's limits and resources, inspired by Bashō and Ōe. Forest argues the book surpasses other accounts in its power to reveal the event, forcing readers to reconsider assumptions. The review emphasizes the ethical and aesthetic implications of writing about catastrophe, contrasting lived experience with fiction. Forest praises Ferrier's style, which dislocates syntax and overturns perspectives to convey the earthquake's violence. The book serves both as a testimony to the disaster's ongoing human, social, and environmental consequences and as a meditation on how literature can witness such events.