2024 BOOK REVIEW #17: RADE TERMINUS BY NICOLAS FARGUES

Rade Terminus by Nicolas Fargues who was himself an expat directing an Alliance Francaise in Madagascar is a brilliant novel of French of all ages and genders losing their minds for different reasons in Antsiranana, also known as Diego Suarez.

Using different viewpoints to simultaneously spout outrageous cliches and deep truths, the novel reminded me of my own experiences as an audiovisual attache's assistant at the French embassy in Jakarta back in the late 90s, meeting the oddest of characters, from my boss who wanted me to find him cocaine to a closeted gay aficionado of classical music who would come into my office as I presented an occasional radio show.

In the book, one Malagasy goes in the opposite direction to study in France and gets nowhere quickly with the little money he has, and the scorn he is given while asking for help, the opposite initially of the slightly or fully depraved foreigners in the tropics.

Those who aren’t careful can get tricked though, or caught up above their heads, and their humid paradise can quickly turn into a rotten hell. I like to tell the story of a colleague who after a gruesome motorcycle crash had his leg start to drip black, signaling his own immediate return to France, while we pursued our shenanigans.

Some never leave, some live to tell their tales, however long they stayed. Some get burned and prefer to stay silent. In this book's case, we are in the twisted minds of many a protagonist, whose stories collide into each other, with dramatic outcomes.