The Man Who Planted Trees [1953] by Jean Giono – ★★★★
"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The one who plants treThe Man Who Planted Trees [1953] by Jean Giono – ★★★★
"The creation of a thousand forests is in one acorn." Ralph Waldo Emerson
"The one who plants trees knowing that he or she will never sit in their shade, has at least started to understand the meaning of life.” Rabindranath Tagore
In this short story by French author Jean Giono, our narrator travels through the French Alps when he meets one farmer who lives alone on one barren expanse of land. Retired and without a family, the farmer made it his daily job to plant trees, and he planted some one hundred thousand trees wherever he could do so. Our narrator is soon perplexed, but starts to find out more about this man and his personal mission, touched by the farmer's perseverance to do good.
This is a moving story of human will to do something beautiful and worthwhile before it is too late. I also could not help but read the story as a response to the horrors of war (World War I is mentioned in the story) and the loss of so many lives. This also got me thinking of Morel who, in Romain Gary's book The Roots of Heaven, tried to make sense of the post-World War II environment through ensuring the welfare of elephants. As the war takes lives, these courageous people either promote or plant life to ensure renewal and regeneration. This is only a symbolic side-note, and the prime theme of Giono's short story is surely far-reaching actions of benevolence and altruistic environmentalism. Even the most selfless people can only do what they are physically capable of doing given their immediate circumstances, but it is also true that nothing reveals a person's character quite so well as what they do in their free time when they do not have to do anything....more
The Tube/L'ingénieur aimait trop les chiffres [1958] – ★★★1/2
Boileau-Narcejac, a pen name of French crime writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, The Tube/L'ingénieur aimait trop les chiffres [1958] – ★★★1/2
Boileau-Narcejac, a pen name of French crime writers Pierre Boileau and Thomas Narcejac, may be known for their books D’entre les morts and Celle qui n'était plus, that were successfully adapted into major films Vertigo and Les Diaboliques, but their other thriller output is also worth checking out.
The Tube/L'ingénieur aimait trop les chiffres centres around an atomic energy research centre in Paris where one of the leading engineers, Sorbier, is found dead, presumably murdered by a gunshot. This seems to be an impossible crime since the murderer could not have possibly escaped after the crime - the window area below Sorbier’s office was guarded, and another exit also had eyewitnesses standing nearby. And, what about the mysterious letter received by the deceased just before he died? Can it shed clues as to the identity of the murderer? Moreover, a potentially dangerous object of some great research value is found stolen from Sorbier’s office – a tube/cylinder that can be activated to lead to a great explosion. Inspector Mareuil (not that dissimilar to Simenon’s Inspector Maigret) takes this case, questioning Sorbier’s co-workers Renardeau and Belliard, as well as Sorbier’s beautiful wife Linda. More mysteries emerge, including other “impossible” murders, and the point of Boileau-Narcejac was also probably to show the increased technocratization of the society where humane principles become sidelined and forgotten. The crime resolution is a little too straightforward and unbelievable in this case, but this detective thriller still presents an intriguing conundrum and is a page-turner with a unique setting....more
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