Well, this was a mindfuck. Admittedly, it was slow to get going and the first third of the book left me feeling "meh" and I did consider giving up on it. I am glad I persevered because the creepiness factor ramped right up and it finished strong.

The book poses a few questions about what is real and what is fiction, leaving the reader an opportunity to come to a range of conclusions about it, but it was really well done. It wasn't irritating in the way some books are where all the loose ends aren't tied up or the author pulls a "haha, this was all a dream and none of it happened" twist, leave the reader feeling conned.

I enjoyed trying to work out how much of the story was true or made up, and the real motivations of L. and whether she was even real or not. ( )

The first 150 pages of this book are a real drag, a weak story about self-indulgent and self-absorbed people that you can't possibly care about. From there on in, however, it does improve, although never reaching great heights. The author Delphine suffers a massive case of writing block and starts challenging everything she believed in. She then meets L., the woman she has always wanted to be, sophisticated, cool and beautiful. Gradually , however, L. moves from being a supportive friend to obsessive controller of Delphine's life. Things really take a downward turn when Delphine secretly tries to cure her writer's block by planning to write a book about L.'s life based on the fragments L has told her. When L. discovers this, the situation become Misery-like. The shock revelation at the end however will come as no surprise. Not a great read by any means, but if you can get through the first third of the book, it is worth continuing. It drags itself above being self-indulgent tripe by quality terse writing and cultivating a genuine interest in seeing where its going. Worthwhile in the final analysis. ( )

A longer review is forthcoming but I have to say I was disappointed. I’ve never read any books by de Vigan and I expected to love this, based on the blurbs and the synopsis and the rave reviews on Goodreads. It’s a metafictional novel that’s a slow burn; voice-driven and atmospheric. These are all stuff I would expect to enjoy and interest me. My problem is the language and style. To me, a first-person novel that deals with a character’s interiority, because it relies utterly on the narrator’s voice, needs a unique sensibility and language that enables the reader to see things differently. The prose in this book is curiously generic and pedestrian. It’s a book that is totally about writers and writing, and it’s strange that the language is so uninspired. This was translated from French by George Miller. I don’t know French, so I can’t tell if this is just the author’s style or a weakness in the translation. It felt clunky, too-literal.

(My full review is here: http://www.popmatters.com/review/based-on-a-true-story-by-delphine-de-vigan/)

Would appreciate it if anyone who read the book can respond to a question I have in the spoiler tag:


At any point, does L. relay a story to Delphine about her mother’s suicide? I can’t recall and flipping through I can’t find anything. L. only talks of her husband’s suicide, right? Isn’t this a glaring clue that L. is, in fact, Delphine when Delphine starts transcribing the audio material? Also, looking through descriptions of de Vigan’s “autobiographical novel” Nothing Holds Back the Night, it’s de Vigan who found her mother’s body after her suicide, I think? And with the narrator in this book named Delphine, and de Vigan’s mother’s name in Night given as Lucile, it suggests that L. is a “past self” haunting Delphine. Or a ghost of her mother; not a literal ghost, but the sense of a return of something or someone from Delphine’s past. Also, the last page of madness suggests it’s Delphine reenacting a split self, as a result of trauma due to her family history.

Or on the whole I think L. stands for many things: like a Greek chorus of the voices of literary critics, reviewers, and readers; in other parts, like a combination of all the fiction that Delphine has consumed (all the stuff that she has read and internalised and that has influenced her work, which is a statement about the nature of creativity and writing); and perhaps a ruptured sense of self, Delphine’s imaginary friend all grown up, a version of the self she wants to be and is afraid of. This is in addition to the obvious fact that L. has disappeared without leaving a single trace and being seen/noticed by anyone in Delphine’s life, despite having lived with her for a time and spending all their time together.

All this is interesting to think about; I only wish the reading experience wasn’t so enervating, the language and style lacking any form of enchantment or beauty.
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This is one of those cases where the novel and reader just weren't compatible. I thought that the story had definite promise and the premise was very intriguing. However, it was a very slow buildup and I quickly lost attention. By the time the story got good, I realized that I wasn't very invested in it and didn't really care too much about the outcome. I will say that I quite enjoyed the writing style of the author; it flowed very nicely and you can tell the author took the time to carefully choose her words. I think that this novel would be best suited for someone looking for a slow, deep character-based book rather than something thrilling.

I received this novel as an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. ( )

Un livre qui se lit facilement, agréablement, flirtant avec l'autobiographie, avec la folie, des sentiments présentés avec une finesse que j'aime beaucoup, sans doute parce que je me retrouve dans la plupart, un suspens qui monte doucement mais sûrement, un dénouement qu'on attend depuis le début, mais sans que ça soit pesant, je dirais même que le rythme est plutôt juste bien trouvé pour que la mayonnaise prenne. J'ai dévoré.

Entre [b:Misery|10614|Misery|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1270545451s/10614.jpg|3230869], [b:Fight Club|5759|Fight Club|Chuck Palahniuk|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1357128997s/5759.jpg|68729] et [b:Single White Female|1180497|Single White Female|John Lutz|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1181685984s/1180497.jpg|1168381]

Refaire sa vie, qu'est-ce que ça voulait dire, s'agissait-il seulement de ça: faire, défaire, refaire? Comme si nous n'avions qu'un seul fil à tricoter.

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