“In the next volume, ‘The Dark Sun’, which will be devoted to ancient Egypt, I resonate the transhumanism of Silicon Valley with the death rites of the pharaohs, this obsession with survival”, confided Éric -Emmanuel Schmitt interviewed at Homeworkin December 2021, about the third volume of his admirable and colossal historical fresco which should be available in eight volumes.
After “Lost Paradise” and “The Gate of Heaven”, published last year, where he revisited the Flood and the construction of the Tower of Babel respectively, the philosophical novelist has kept his promise and transports us to the Egypt of the pharaohs and in present-day California — or at least in the not-too-distant future.
We find Noam, his half-brother and sworn enemy Derek, and Noura, the woman he has loved for 8000 years. Immortals, they kept the appearance of their 25 years. Over the centuries, they have known various existences, deaths and rebirths. We also meet Tibor, Noam’s mentor and Noura’s father, who bears the weight of years on his body. Failing to care for his neighbors, the man several thousand years “seeks the secret of death” in the shadow of the pyramids.
Although Abraham appears in it, “Dark Sun” revolves around the fate of Moses, central figure of Exodus, the second book of the Old Testament, and Britta Thoresen, 15, daughter of Noura and Sven, her husband Swedish, who bears a strong resemblance to a young Swedish environmental activist. “With a different brain, Britta took to heart what her intellect grasped and transformed herself, almost in spite of herself, into an activist. »
When Britta is the victim of an assassination attempt, Noam, Noura and Sven accompany her to California so that she can be treated at Eternity Labs. However, the story focuses on the fate of Noam in ancient Egypt where, separated from Noura, he knows love in the arms of other women, including those of Féfi, perfumer and pimp from Memphis, Neferu, daughter of the pharaoh, and Méret, which saves babies abandoned on the waves of the Nile.
Besides, one would like to reproach the author for getting lost in innumerable love scenes. Yet in these sensual digressions, where he celebrates feminine desire, Schmitt reminds us that eternity can turn out to be a poisoned gift: “Who do we love when we love? A body of course, but a soul, a character, a look, a momentum. Méret’s light, energetic, generous, remained undamaged in this crumbling flesh. »
Rich in vivid descriptions, footnotes just as captivating as the main narrative, and larger-than-life characters, The passage of time captivated by its relevant reflection on immortality and transhumanism. Beyond the considerations on the human desire to play God and postpone the deadline for his death, what commands admiration once again is the erudition of Éric-Emmanuel Schmitt and the ease with which he demystifies the great biblical stories that have shaped our collective imagination.