A novel that bears a name that still makes people shiver: Stalin. Is he an eminently romantic character? When we take hold of such a significant character in history with a capital H, also anchored in collective memory, to what extent does the novelist allow himself to distort his actions?
You may be familiar with the expression “emptying the sea with a teaspoon”? Emptying the sea, however, is the completely crazy mission that has been assigned to the main character of Fabien Vinçon’s new novel.
Not a huge sea, but a large saltwater lake located in Central Asia, which is still 68,000 square kilometers: the Aral Sea. To achieve this, this ambitious and servile engineer is not going to go with the back of the spoon, at the risk of triggering an ecological disaster, the revolt of the local inhabitants, and – who knows – the anger of the giantess who lives in water background. And all this to please the whim of a man to whom nothing can be refused as he terrorizes all those around him: comrade Iossif Vissarionovitch Dzhugatchvili, the Little Father of the Peoples, the man of steel: Stalin.
” Stalin drank the sea “, the second novel of Fabien Vincon skilfully blends historical backdrop with unbridled fantasy. A book full of adventures that says a lot about the leaden screed and the excesses of totalitarianism.
Reportage : Marjorie Bertin visited the exhibitionHabibi, the revolutions of lovepresented at the Institut du Monde Arabe. This brings together 23 young artists who, through their artistic practices, question sexual and gender identities. Intimate and political works that tell other love stories.