"Quatre-vingt-dix secondes" Daniel Picouly

It is difficult to say unequivocally what type of novel is Quatre-vingt-dix secondes. Certainly, this is a historical novel, because the action takes place in 1902 in Martinique, which from 1635 is the French domain. To say that a given year happens is not enough, because all the described events take place on a single day. However, we know the context and the older history of the heroes thanks to the stories of the peculiar narrator, which is the Pelée volcano. He is (or rather she, because he is called not a volcano, but the mountain) a fully conscious and omniscient being that has personality and preferences. It is him who introduces us to the space of Saint-Pierre, not only about his geography, but also about the people who inhabit it. At the end of the first chapter, he also introduces an important detail that affects the entire subsequent reading: announces his eruption and the death of 30,000 inhabitants of Paris, the Caribbean (as it was called Saint-Pierre).

The main heroes of blood and bones can be called Othello and Louise, young lovers, whose love seems tragic because of the girl's destiny to one of the richest people on the island. We also meet other characters who are struggling with more or less everyday problems. The importance of their life struggles, however, escapes the reader due to the upcoming catastrophe. The problems of slavery and its repercussions are also woven into the narrative, and the great politics into the background. These issues are, however, poorly marked and as if taken out of context. If it were not for the reader to be buried in the back of the reader's head, it would be difficult to find the theme of the novel.

Nature, whose representative is the Pelée volcano is not consistent. The volcano, and the old Indian goddess Pele himself, expresses his destructive tastes and explains the bloodlust. It seems not to worry about the fate of the people whose suffering she has announced, and yet directly affects the fate of Othello, saving him from death. Personification of the volcano is not the only fantastic thread in the book, because some characters, as it turns out, also have some mystical knowledge.

Finally, let me mention that the events described (or at least the basic facts) actually took place.

Generally, the book is quite well written, but in my opinion it is incoherent. It seems to me that the author wanted to move too many vagaries in too small a space, which he limited himself.