Volodia

Who hasn't wished misfortune on a loathsome individual? There is no shortage of candidates in our fantasies, but one of them is easily identified: a paranoid, self-important dictator who invades the neighboring country in the name of an obscure idea of geo-historical grandeur. To determine the best way to kill Volodia, four scenarios are tested and debated by a panel of scientists: in an underground labyrinth; in a strange ivory tower; in a giant aquarium under the eyes of the assembly at the United Nations; and with fire, of course, purifying and ancestral.

Nourished by obscene medieval tales, Vladimir Sorokin's brutal anticipation and Antoine Volodine's caustic ostalgy, this novel reminds us that putting to death is one of the possible tales to tell in the face of reality.

Reviews and comments

" A caustic, dense, excessive and necessary little tale. As are all exutoires. " - Thierry Raboud, La Liberté, 5.3.2023