The Jardin des Plantes

Since his 1960 international breakthrough La Route des Flandres, Claude Simon has captivated readers worldwide with his relentless examination of life experience—in particular his own. Breaking from realistic narrative, obsessed with the power and betrayals of memory, The Jardin des Plantes is nothing less than an inquiry into what creates each of us.

While Simon admits that there are defining moments in life—eight days of battle during World War II were Simon’s unforgettable experience—The Jardin des Plantes rings with his refusal to be defined by any single event. His thoughts show the complexity, the fabulous chaos, that make up the experience of life for Simon and, he insists, for all thinking human beings. Simon’s memories—whether of everyday minutiae or passages from novels or the staggering experiences of war and death—unreel like films, constantly replaying or stopping and starting according to the whimsical or terrifying nature of his experiences. The juxtapositions may hold meaning or be nothing more than tricks of the mind. What is important is that each memory has a place in his mind and each has an effect on his self and the way he interacts with others.