Home » France » Jean Giono » Fragments d’un paradis (Fragments of a Paradise)
Jean Giono: Fragments d’un paradis (Fragments of a Paradise)
We are used to seeing the glories of and, at times, problems connected to the French countryside when reading Giono. This book takes a different tack. We get the glories and the problems but in this book they are of the maritime landscape. One crew member does make reference to the traditional Gionoesque landscape: My reason for coming home was to get out and relax in the countryside, and the kind of nature I wanted to see, more than “anything else, was ripe grain. Golden grain. That’s the kind of nature I’d have been delighted to see. He will not see any golden grain in this book.
The story concerns the expeditions of two ships -L’Indien and La Demoiselle which set sail for an expedition to Antarctica in 1940. Yes, it seems an odd time to be doing so but, though the date is not given, one of the crew mentions that he was recently at the Dunkirk evacuation. There is another reason, made explicitly clear by the captain. He wants to escape what is happening in Europe as do his crew. From now on I’m going to do my utmost not to land at any spot where we might risk encountering anything whatsoever that could remind us of places inhabited by ordinary men. They have a radio but it will remain locked up for the entire voyage. It is 1940 but they are using only sail, to avoid having to land anywhere there are humans, for coal and fresh water. Moreover they have supplies for five years. It should be pointed as, as the introduction makes clear, that Giono was a pacifist and was twice arrested for his pacifism and he wrote thid book between his two imprisonments. He describes it as the basis for a poem. It is a poem – in prose and stylistically simulating a report on a scientific journey into the unknown.
We only learn the nature of the expedition well into the book as, at the start, we are soon into full Conrad or, perhaps full Moby Dick. They encounter all the usual problems literary seafarers encounter such as storms, high waves, strong currents, wind, becalming and fog. As this is Giono, we are going to get a lot more. We/they meet a host of colourful – fish and other sea creatures and birds. Some of the fauna are easily recognised by the onboard naturalist while others are not. They may well be imaginary as we meet a giant- and I mean giant ray, far bigger than the ship with a sickly smell which makes the crew nauseous but there are other strange creatures as well.
As mentioned we get these descriptions early on before getting excerpts from the captain’s log about the practicalities of the expedition and his world-weary comments such as In spite of our scientific era and the advances we’ve made, it’s undeniable that we’re dying of boredom, of distress, and of poverty. I’m talking about a poverty of spirit and a poverty of spectacle. This is clearly Giono’s view of the world.
We follow the journey in some detail. The two ships separate as the La Demoiselle rode the waves well so went off on her own, while we follow the journey of L’Indien. We see them at Saxemberg Island, an island that probably does not exist but which one- and only one – crew member claims to have seen.
Tristan da Cunha very much does exist and they stop there to rest and get fresh water. We know that it was inhabited at the time but while our crew find evidence of recent human habitation, they do not find any humans.Noel Guinard is the storekeeper and seems to spend his entire time in his store, never coming on deck. However, when they arrive at Tristan da Cunha, he asks permission to go ashore to make a forge and then goes off on his own climbing right up the volcano, spending the night there and communing with nature.
The rest of the crew find fresh water and another giant and probably an imaginary sea creature, while the captain continues to expound his philosophy: I believe it’s of the greatest importance, gentlemen, that we not be turned into beasts. Our spirit has need of space and light, of fiery skies, and of the exaltation that all of these bestow.
The book essentially continues with tales of strange animals including a giant whale that has an ingenious way of capturing birds and the captain’s somewhat gloomy philosophy (I maintain we are perishing of pettiness and deadly boredom.)
It is certainly a fascinating book with its amazing sea creatures and their habits, a captain who tends to see the dark side though, given the war taking place in Europe that is not too surprising and the more interesting crew who have their own views and characteristics, not necessarily shared with the captain. Giono wrote it between prison sentences and you get the feeling he was not entirely sure where he was going and how to end it off.
Publishing history
First published in French 1948 by Gallimard
First English translation in 2024 by Archipelago Books
Translated by Paul Eprile