Michel Braudeau's 'L'Interprétation des singes' Blends Pop Art and Gothic

Michel Braudeau's novel 'L'Interprétation des singes' (681 pages) intertwines cosmetic surgery, paid sects, and identity as a target, set against a French backdrop that opens with a feudal hunt. The story moves between Meudon, depicted as a vampire castle, and Thai massage parlors, where exploitation is secondary to a sense of mutual aid. Braudeau, director of La Nouvelle Revue française, draws from Alexandre Dumas, William Burroughs, and pop art, boosting serial and Grand-Guignol formulas. The character Bayard, a repeat villain from earlier novels, undergoes facial grafts, becoming an object of discourse change. The novel features drug-fueled nature descriptions, quoting Virgil on LSD. Braudeau's style incorporates Jarry, Roussel, Queneau, Perec, Simon, Bukowski, and Tabucchi, maintaining a materialist coherence. The NRF, under his editorship, aims to open a space of freedom and diversity four times a year.