It's unfortunate that I read the Radiguet so recently because this is a homage written 85 years later with the sole twist being that the illicit love is a gay one. Instead of betraying the trust of a soldier at the front, 16 year old Vincent sleeps with one. Meanwhile Vincent is flirting with the celebrated novelist Marcel P, who doesn't take a lot of identifying.
That said, it is a beautifully written novel which truly honours Radiguet's daringly frank style. Every sentence is expertly crafted. The deployment of tense and person is brilliant; the characterisation good but not really anything new. I must say I didn't like the epistolary section in the middle. Another quibble: the war never really convinced me. I appreciate that Besson presents Paris as a bubble but surely it can't have been totally cut off?
So - yes, I enjoyed In the Absence of Men, but I don't feel enlightened by it. Unless Besson's other works offer more originality (and judging by the outline of Lie With Me in the endpapers, it doesn't seem likely) I shan't be reading any more.
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