The Stranger Next Door (1995) By Amelie Nothomb

French Title: Les Catilinaires (1995) d’Amélie Nothomb

“Les Catilinaires is a novel by Amélie Nothomb published in 1995. The title refers to the Catilinaires, a series of speeches made by Cicero against Catilina, a Roman politician accused of conspiracy. However, the book is not a direct account of these historical events.

In the novel, ‘Les Catilinaires’ explores the story of a couple, Émile and Juliette, whose peaceful life is disrupted by the arrival of a mysterious and silent neighbour, Palamède Bernardin. He insinuates himself into their daily lives, creating an oppressive and tense atmosphere.

The novel focuses on themes of intimacy, solitude and obsession, rather than political conspiracies. Amélie Nothomb uses the title to evoke the idea of a silent and omnipresent threat, in the image of Cicero’s speeches denouncing the threat posed by Catilina to the Roman Republic.

Main themes of the book :

• Intimacy and solitude: The novel explores how Palamedes’ presence affects the couple’s relationship and their sense of intimacy.
• Obsession: Palamède becomes an obsession for Emile and Juliette, who are unable to get rid of him.
• The boundary between private and public: The novel questions the boundaries between private and public life, particularly through Palamède’s invasive presence.

In fact, let’s start from the beginning. I’m really going to tell you everything in my own way, even if it means blurring a few lines so that you’ll be surprised when you read this book.

A couple decide to move to a house away from people and noise to live a peaceful life. I have to admit that I wasn’t quite sure of the couple’s age range, it seemed to me that they were retired… but it wouldn’t make much difference if they were a fairly young couple in their late twenties or early thirties, because the situation would be just as awkward and disturbing. To be perfectly honest, when I think back on this story, I imagine all the protagonists much younger.

The nearest neighbour isn’t right next door, but you can still see his house several hundred metres away. On the first day, this neighbour, Palamède, knocks and when the door is open, he enters uninvited and sits down. He answers questions with difficulty, his eyebrows furrowed, although the couple try to be polite and tell themselves that this is his special way of welcoming them to the region. Two hours later, he leaves…

And so every day he returns, always between 4pm and 6pm. He sits in the same place, grunting Yes or No rather than answering the questions properly.

That’s it! The stage is set!
And once again, in a Nothomb novel, you ask yourself “But what would I do in the protagonists’ place? Not be there between 4pm and 6pm? And do what? Leave the door closed? What if he tried to break it down to get in anyway?

And that’s just the beginning, because this gentleman is also married! Later, they also discover Palamède’s wife, who apparently lives for one thing only. What kind of wife could such a man possibly be married to? In short, the neighbours will ruin this old couple’s life to the bitter end.

As a result, the title might suggest that Palamède embodies a form of passive-aggressive “conspiracy” against the couple, invading their privacy and personal space. Amélie uses the title to highlight the tension and unease that develops between the characters, as well as to explore these themes of obsession, loneliness and invasion of privacy.

Another review reminded me that the narrator is an old Latin-Greek teacher who, on retirement, moves to the countryside with his wife, in order to live out the rest of his life in style. But I also read that Palamède Bernardin is a rather serious stoic. Which I think is completely wrong, especially if you consider stoicism as a philosophy that advocates self-control, resignation in the face of external events and the search for wisdom through reason.

In short, it’s a story that gives the narrator a chance to question himself. When something fun starts to become a real phobia and the biggest problem for the old couple.

The questions that arise during and after reading this book are: what does this neighbour represent? What message is he trying to send us? Is emptiness a whole?

In the end, it’s a strange, rather ambiguous book… which goes to show that emptiness makes us think. It’s the story of the invasion of nothingness on our illusory happiness.

It’s a very black comedy, with a lucidity that is both funny and devastating.