Jay McInerney's New Novel 'Rendez-vous sur l'autre rive'

Éditions de l'Olivier has published the French translation of Jay McInerney's new novel, 'Rendez-vous sur l'autre rive.' The book is translated from American English by Thierry Decottignies. Its ISBN is 9782823624502.

The Novel and Its Characters

The novel continues the story of Russell and Corrine Calloway, a couple in their sixties. They are the central characters of a series that began in 1992 with 'Trente ans et des poussières' ('Brightness Falls'), followed by 'La belle vie' ('The Good Life') and 'Les jours enfuis' ('Bright, Precious Days'). The pandemic arrives just as they had begun to lose hope that anything new would happen in their lives.

The book is described as perhaps the most "crepuscular" of all McInerney's works. It deals with the passage of time, a long and tumultuous love, and the city of New York itself. The narrative explores the permanence of things and the impermanence of desire. It is about a couple who loved each other deeply, tore each other apart, lost each other, kept their distance, and did not see themselves growing old.

McInerney's Literary Trajectory

Jay McInerney first gained attention over forty years ago with his debut, 'Bright Lights, Big City,' published in French as 'Journal d'un oiseau de nuit.' The source notes that this novel documented the drift of New York youth at the time, nostalgic for what they had not lived. The source excerpt cites a belief that only youth has an ear sensitive enough to perceive the music of the spheres of a given era, and that McInerney was that young author decades ago.

It argues that, unlike his contemporary Bret Easton Ellis and his renewed postmodern feats, McInerney has consistently deepened his singular furrow, book by book, with increasing scope. The Livreshebdo.fr article states that McInerney has, "in the manner of a Fitzgerald," composed the most precise and incisive portrait of his own lost generation. It claims future historians will only need to study his novels to understand how the remnants of the American dream definitively dissipated from the Reagan years to the Trump era. The source also notes that McInerney never completely shed these inaugural garments of mourning.

Style and Themes

The author's signature tastes are on full display. The source suggests the novel can also be read as a New York guide to gastronomic and, especially, oenological elegance, reflecting McInerney's own great passion for wine. His irony toward the "rich and beautiful people" is described as more devastating than ever. Yet, simultaneously, his gaze rests on each character with "infinite delicacy and even empathy."

For Russell, Corrine and the others, the curtain may have fallen. But, as the source concludes, the night will remain forever tender.