How do people react when fear takes over? What do people do when a stranger comes who
holds up a mirror and shows them what cowards they are?
A group of
people turning against a person cannot be controlled, all people in the mob
feel safe, protected by the collective that makes sure no one is to blame individually.
The
stranger, the person who does not belong is sacrificed for the greater good and
people tell themselves that they really had no choice, it was him or they.
In a small
town a murder is committed. Brodeck is asked to write a report about it. The
murdered man was a stranger. In the beginning his arrival was seen with some optimism,
but soon he made people feel uncomfortable with his questions and writing
things down in a little notebook. What did he want, this strange man, why had
he come to the village and who sent him?
Brodeck is
asked by the village notables to write this report, to ask for witness-statements
and come with an explanation. He cannot refuse this order, he himself is an
outsider as well. Years ago when he was a little boy, he came to village and
grew up there, but people never forgot he was not born there. During the war,
this became painfully obvious.
When he
writes his report, Brodeck also writes about his experiences in the camp he was
during the war and what he had to do to survive.
Brodeck is
always an outsider, as long as things are good he is tolerated, but as soon as
things turn bad he is excluded again. That he returns to the village after the
war is something else people do not like. He is a living reminder of their cowardice
and they blame him for that.
Philippe Claudel never tells where or when the story is set,
and normally this irritates me. In this case, it was no problem because the
where (Alsace), and the when (just after WWII) becomes obvious quite soon, even
when it is never explicit. But words like Jewish or Holocaust are also never
mentioned, and it also becomes very clear that this is what the book is about.
Brodeck’s report is a story about fear, cowardice, survival,
quilt and forgiveness. It is a story that grabs you by the throat and makes you
feel ashamed about what people can do to each other.
Again, this is a beautiful novel by French author Philippe Claudel. Not with the poetic sentences I know from his previous
books, but every sentence here is very precise and the sober way of writing
makes an even deeper impact.
Brodeck’s report is not a book you can read quickly between
other things, it has too much power for that. You need to give it time to fully
sink in, because even when you close the book, the story stays with you for a
long time.
Original French
title: Le rapport de Brodeck
Published in 2007
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