Dealing with domestic violence in a work of fiction requires a lot of rigor, judgment and caution. And Lead to ruin gives the impression that its author missed a little.
Taking the form of a long interior monologue, Jean-Nicolas Paul’s first novel paints the portrait of a relationship contaminated by social norms, responsibilities, but above all… misogyny.
Because if the character of Alexandre travels the roads wondering what could have led him to commit the irreparable, we, the reader, quickly realize that we are faced with a profoundly sexist internal discourse. Obviously, Alexandre is a character and Jean-Nicolas Paul does not seek to promote this violence, but if the objective was to make a “phenomenological description”, it would have been necessary to broaden the spectrum of analysis to show how hatred of women is no stranger to this type of crime.
The author’s style, his rhythmic pen which takes his breath away, is the strong point of this book whose contours lack finesse. It is quite painful to read the lamentations of someone who has just killed his partner and who tries to explain it to himself by dwelling on the events which made him “become a submissive man”. With the sharp increase in femicide in recent years, it seems to us that even fiction has a responsibility.
Lead to ruin
Head first
114 pages