Philippe Rahmy's 'Béton armé' explores Shanghai through fragile body

Philippe Rahmy's book 'Béton armé', published by La Table Ronde, recounts his experience as a writer-in-residence in Shanghai. Despite suffering from osteogenesis imperfecta, a condition causing brittle bones and countless fractures, Rahmy confronts the city as both 'the city itself' and a 'detonation'—a permanent danger for his fragility and an enigma to decipher. He writes, 'The plan of a city is a slice of the brain of humanity.' The narrative oscillates between everyday epiphany and simple hallucination, describing official conference boredom offset by fireworks beauty or spontaneous insurrection. Rahmy embraces violence: 'I love the populace. I love the smell of gunpowder. I love the color of blood.' He portrays himself not only as a sufferer but also as a sadist who struck someone weaker. On his father's cremation: 'It was beautiful. It was a moment devoid of emotion or meaning.' His memories intertwine with his readings—'catalogs of deviations' (Sade and Sacher-Masoch)—and he asserts, 'These texts did not only open my mind. They also became my body.' Rahmy walks, observes, writes, illuminating his urban confrontation with images. He concludes, 'I will therefore be my own interpreter, or rather, my illness will serve as my Esperanto. All men are sick. Pain is a common language.' The review by Olivier Renault in artpress praises the work as 'great art, solid.'