Better Later than Never ...François Weyergans.
Le quart d'heure académique… François Weyergans ! Under the dome of the French Academy in Paris, June 16, 2011, the assembly holds his breath... A solemn atmosphere is all pervading , guests hand-picked, strict entry protocol and dress code: tie and Academician attire. They are waiting and whispering, the lucky elected man, François Weyergans, Belgian novelist, who won the Prix Goncourt in 2005 with his novel "Three days with my mother". In March 2009, François Weyergans was elected to the French Academy in the chair 32, The chair was cursed after the Alain Robbe-Grillet's death that has already been much written. At 3 p.m, the Republican Guard raises the sword by to the beating of the drum. The "Immortals" are entering: Simone Veil, Max Gallo, Jean d'Ormesson, Jean-Marie Rouart and Erik Orsenna, who chairs the session with flying colours. He states that "Mr. Weyergans is slightly behind ..." The audience laughs. When his son spoke, he thought about Maurice Bejart, a long time friend, inherited the sword with the short motto “The more I think, more I think”. As tradition demands, he also pays tribute to Maurice Rheims, the previous famous occupant of seat 32. "I was a player, he was your friend. Will I cry or tell you that I do not deserve me? I come to say thank you, along with my characters. Reality and fiction always end up helping each other. " Orsenna launches into an inspired speech, describing the original writer. Obviously a question is on their mind. Can we say that there is a Belgian eroticism? It is true that women are very active in his work, beginning with his mother, Jeanne Maurice, who has obviously made the trip. There is something intriguing.... Patronymic Maurice, trick around him. The name of his mother is Maurice and the first name of his friend Béjart also; his predecessor name is Maurice Rheims. People of a like mind assembled together ? May be. Let us rather, what is the meaning of the first name "Maurice" ? Maurice is a “ thinking reed, "more intellectual than materialistic. He has the spirit and a critical tendency to scepticism, sometimes wearing a little sceptical or ironic smile at the corner lips. He is good at analysis, has an intuitive mind. He is a man listens more than words, he often has a unique approach to life, he is seen as a man ‘apart’. He is a tender and emotional, just waiting to share with others. He is very shy and feels very uncomfortable in the face of emotional untimely demonstrations .. A man hyper-anxious. François Weyergans is he an unconscious ‘Maurice’? The love life is important for him and yet ... If you read “ Three days with my Mother” visit to his mother is a pretext for a long monologue about his personal life. This novel gives us right to the tales of his romantic and sexual excesses, his difficulties with the taxes, his difficulties in completing the projects, he undertakes in a frenetic way, difficulties to being a father and husband, all coated with literary, musical and cultural references.
With humor, he writes his charming novel.
The more I think, more I think ... I'm late!
Un peu d'humour belge, on ne se prend jamais au sérieux
"Maurice tu pousses le bouchon trop loin"
june 2011.