Hervé Le Tellier, perhaps inspired a little bit by A Visit from the Goon Squad and The Matrix movies, manages to turn a philosophical, quasi sci-fi novel that takes off from the disappearance of airplane into a deeply moving, often slyly funny page-turner about the human condition. It also includes romance, a religious summit, a pet toad, a conference room at the FBI named after J. Edgar Hoover's reputed lover and cameos by Donald Trump ("a blond wig on top of trout lips"), Emmanuel Macron and Stephen Colbert. And if that isn't enough, there are aperçus galore!
No one realizes how much hit men owe to Hollywood screenwriters.
Since King Arthur and his knights, if not before, military types have liked gathering in the round, most likely because circles profess equality while doing nothing to hide the true hierarchy.
Victor also has a photograph of his ate father in his wallet, a picture taken from an album, from the days when there were albums, when too many photos hadn't yet killed photos.
The mathematician studies this unsophisticated man [Donald Trump], and reaffirms the soul-destroying notion that by accumulating our individual obscurities we rarely achieve collective brilliance.
Old age is in every detail, like a straitjacket of filth.
. . . freedom of thought on the internets all the more complete now that it's clear people have stopped thinking.
At least love stops us constantly looking for some meaning to life.
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