The Death of a Nobody (1911)
[I]n particular, it is with the literary movement
known as unanimism
(Romains coined the word
'l'unanisme' and used it in print for the first
time in 1905) that his name is associated. Most simply,
unanimism is the literary exploration of the life
of groups as distinct from the study of the
dynamics of the individual person. It claims
for the group a special status over and beyond the
individual; the central task of the literary work
is to examine and articulate the character,
personality, and particular qualities of groups
of all sorts, from the transitory collectivity of human
beings who huddle under an awning during a quick
shower to families and business and professional
associates who spend significant parts of their
lives together in subtle patterns of proximity. Under
Romain's leadership, unanimism flowered into something
more than a cult; it became a generic
name for a religious and social discipline, for
a philosophic stance, and for an interpretive art. The
mystery of the group became the cardinal problem
for the contemporary mind and it was to this
problem that Romains addressed himself.
-Maurice
Natanson, Afterword to the Signet Classics edition (1961)
The Death of a Nobody is the first installment in what grew into
a 27 volume cycle of novels, essays, poems, and plays called Les Hommes
de bonne volonté (Men of Good Will), in which Jules Romains
developed his theory of unanimism. It concerns the death of Jacques
Godard, a retired railroad engineer, who lived by himself in a flat in
Paris. His death is depicted as an event which effects a few acquaintances,
his fellow tenants, his aged father, and a young stranger. Romains
suggests that Godard continues to exist for a time, to the extent that
these people recall him, but with the death of his parents, is finally
forgotten. Romains uses a nearly cinematic technique, depicting various
characters;' reactions to death in narrative sequence, but as if they are
occurring contemporaneously. The novel is interesting both for this
stylistic innovation (keep in mind that when the book was written, cinema
didn't even really exist) and for the philosophy expounded, but I'd imagine
after a couple of entries in the series it would get pretty tedious.
This one is mercifully brief and worth reading.
(Reviewed:05-Feb-01)
Grade: (B)
