In Parallel skies, the first novel by actor Henri Chassé, the characters are looking for each other. They seem to be expecting something from life. Chance will do things right in most cases. A lucky star also accompanies the novelist, a poet in his spare time, who makes his entry into fiction on tiptoe and with grace.
In the early 2000s, Henri Chassé published two collections of poetry for Écrits des Forges editions, including Storm Chunks, finalist for the Governor General’s Literary Awards 2008. His first novel demanded a whole new state of mind on the part of this seasoned actor.
“When you are a performer in the theater, if you are not part of a troupe, you are a little on the loose, according to the wishes of others. Kind of like the character of Thomas in the book. ”
The novel arrived slowly. I wrote poems, sentences, short stories based on themes given to me by my partner. Then some characters became recurrent.
Henri Chassé
When he learned that his friends, the poets Corinne Chevarier and Stéphane Despatie, were going to launch a new publishing house, Mains Libres, he offered them, almost timidly, what he had accumulated over time.
“The timeline they gave me allowed me to structure my work. This is how it works in the theater, with specific dates. I knew where I was going from then on. But I really believe in chance in life. Afterwards, we try to find all kinds of reasons to explain what is happening to us. ”
Next to his life
The real motivations of the characters in Parallel skies moreover only arrive at the end of a journey made mostly alone: upon the death of his mother, Thomas decides to give up his business in order to write; Élisabeth fled after the disappearance of her twin brother in an avalanche; Geneviève is an idle young woman, abandoned by her mother and afraid of commitment.
“There is a difficulty in living for many of them,” notes Henri Chassé.
They beat around the bush without ever opening it. They swim in the bottom of the water around a treasure without being able to touch it. Thomas is a bit like that, he stays next to his life.
Henri Chassé
This character accumulates his scattered writings in a box, but the resemblance to the author stops there. It’s not quite his alter ego.
“Half only. He’s a much more lonely person than I am. He has no family or brothers or sisters. There is something very linear about its path. But there is also a part of me in several other characters. I felt free while writing this book. There is no less freedom in fiction than in poetry. ”
Henri Chassé can also be recognized in the eyes of the bald eagle, the bird that flies over the St. Lawrence and appears a few times in the story. This omniscient bird and music, especially jazz, link all the characters who initially appear to us to be totally unknown to each other.
The importance of music
In fact, the music runs through the book from the first to the after-last page of the story. The novelist lists the titles at the very end, about thirty pieces of all kinds, including some song lyrics that slip into the book.
” Its important to me. I wanted to show a bit of everything. I have a very open musical culture, but it is certain that jazz has become very important in my life. The more it goes, the more I listen to it. ”
Jazz, melancholy, smirk, loneliness, lightness… words that can be found in several titles by the great Gilles Archambault.
I read his books. There is something that impresses me about him. It is never very serious, what he writes. It is not a melancholy which is heavy, but a relation to the lucid world. My characters, like hers, don’t need to be constantly entertained.
Henri Chassé
The novel is skillfully constructed so that one feels that the characters will eventually cross paths for one reason or another. The skies will not stay parallel forever.
The author will continue to explore other firmaments. He started taking notes for a future book at the suggestion of his editors. And the theater continues to call on him a lot.
“We are going to redo Nine by Mani Soleymanlou in January on tour. It had started in March 2020 and was stopped due to the pandemic. I will be in the cast of Dear Chekhov by Michel Tremblay at the TNM next May. I will also do a summer piece. In the business, at the moment, there is an incredible traffic jam. ”
Henri Chassé will be at the Book Fair from Thursday 25 to Sunday 28 November for dedications.
Parallel skies
Henri Chassé
Hands-free editions
180 pages